If you are on a tight budget and want basic features (no cadence), I've been very happy with my sigma 906 from Nashbar. I think I paid less than $15 on sale. It's wired, long battery life and been very reliable.

I had an Ascent that was cheap and wireless. It was inaccurate and ate batteries like crazy.

wireless cadence/////. I have one cateye and one vetta. I like the vetta better vl110

Wireless is nicer because there are no wires to bend and break and because of cleaner look.
But, it cost more and you have to buy more batteries.

Cadence is useless. Hart rate is great.

I like Cateye but for if you want hart rate Polar is probably the best.

It sounds to me that one of these fancy computers would generate enough data from a one hour ride to keep a numbers geek in heaven for the rest of the day what with all the uploading and spreadsheets and such.

Knowledge is power.

Huh?

Another vote for the Cateye Strada. I have the wired, cadence model ($59.00 at LBS) on my road bike so that I can use the computer when the bike is on the trainer. I have become pretty accurate at knowing what my cadence is without the computer, so I don't use the cadence feature that often. I also have a Sigma 509 on my hybrid. It's also wired and has the basic functions, but it has a very large readout. The thing I like about the Sigma is that is has an auto display feature where it goes from mode to mode showing you the distance, ride time, time of day and odometer without you having to do it manually. You can shut auto display off and move to the different modes manually, as well. I think the 509 was $23.00 at my LBS. Both computers are probably cheaper on line, until you have to pay the freight charges.

My wife bought a Bontrager Trip 5W Wireless computer for her tadpole trike and we had to replace it the first week as it never did work correctly. The replacement (same model) worked for about two weeks and we started having all sorts of problems with it. It wouldn't reset, trip miles were off, speed was off and half the time, it failed to connect to the sensor. She replaced it with a Garmin Forerunner 405CX with heart rate monitor and cadence sensor ($255.00 on Amazon) and absolutely loves it. Only problem with the Garmin is that the battery has to be recharged after two rides and it's not user replaceable.

Nope. I noticed that I can ride threshold intervals on consecutive days above 90 RPM but not under so I just pedal faster and rack up more time in zone 4 each week. _Training and Racing with a Power Meter_ has an anecdote about a racer who got dropped climbing whenever he spent more than five minutes at power he could otherwise sustain for an hour but under 70 RPM so he switched to bigger cassettes and stopped getting dropped.

The inexpensive Polars (ex CS200CAD) still use a 5KHz EM transmitter for heart rate and presumably speed/cadence which suffer from power line/traffic light inductive loop interference (mine would sometimes show 60 MPH in that situation).

The expensive ones (cs500) use more robust 2.4GHz signals (like all ANT+ computers), have no back-light, don't download via a standard mini USB cable, and use non-standard sensors so that upgrading to something else (like a GPS unit with maps) means buying new sensors too. If you're going to spend that much money get a Garmin Edge 500 (or 800 if you want maps) or CycleOps Joule 1.0 ($170, much better battery life, no GPS).

I used to prefer wireless, like the Sigma 1606, but found that as my riding expanded, the computer did not.

Specifically, many wireless models do not work properly when using a headlight for riding in low light conditions (rain, dark, etc). Also, a unit with the sensor at the rear wheel allows at least speed and distance to be gathered when used on a trainer.

Double huh, no triple it. Of course cadence is good, it and heart rate are the 2 variables I check while riding.

If price is not an objective and if, as a newb you are quite certain that cycling has it's tentacles in you and you will be doing it for a long while, then spring for the Garmin.

As you can see, opinion varies.

I get a different one almost every year, I never like the one I have.

This one is OK, for me.

It has everything right there on the screen, and it's easy to see (not true of all of them)

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/planetbi...ia/8001new.jpg
It's also cheap and has free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Pr.../dp/B000AO7JL4

But everyone likes their Garmin!

I also wired Cateye with cadence (Astrale 8). Cadence is the main thing I look at, and even the computer on my beater/commuter/MTB is set up for cadence.

I guess according to BF the main thing you should look at is average speed.

will the stadas work with a trainer?

the cadence models mount on the back wheel, so yes, they will.

i *think* the non-cadence models mount on the front wheel, which means no...but don't quote me on that.

I use a Bogeer YT-816 bike Computer, from ebay 5-8$ and reliable,simply,inexpensive.

How about an smartphone with ANT+ wahoo accessories? For someone like me, newbie it works pretty well.

Another Garmin Edge 500 user/fan here.

+1. Unless you want to use HR and GPS off of the bike, then get one of their Forerunner watches (410, etc) and, optionally, a bike mount and cadence/speed sensor.

I have a Sigma BC1600 with cadence. It has been great for me. If you want to incorporate a HR monitor, be sure to look at ANT+. Polar has not bought into the ANT idea, so continues to make great monitors that can't be used with most bike computers.

With some experience you can tell your exact cadence without looking at your computer.
Therefore it is useless (as a feature).