SkyDog75

Any basic wireless bike computer will do what you're looking for. I'll second the CatEye suggestions from above. The CatEye Strada Wireless CC-RD300W and the CatEye Padrone CC-PA100W are both good options and can be found under $40 online. (The Strada is lighter and has a 'pace arrow' function that tells you if you're going faster or slower than average. The Padrone has a larger screen.)

And to add another opinion to the phone-versus-computer debate above... I like the convenience of a computer on the handlebars. No fussing over mounting a phone, draining its battery, or struggling to see its screen in the daylight. I change the battery in the computer once a year or so, and it's just there whenever I glance down.

BlazingPedals

The wired bike computers are great bang-for-the-buck. They're waterproof, easy to read, and a battery for one might last 2-3 years.

I've always been partial to the displays on the Cateyes. Their primary display is speed in big numbers, and you can select the secondary display -- average speed, trip odometer, etc. Some of the cheapies will pre-program the displays, i.e. current speed might go with clock, and average speed might go with cadence. So if you want to see Current speed and average speed at the same time, you're SOL.

doctor j

Speed & distance... wired.

I have a little over 27,000 miles on an old Specialized wired bike computer. I change the battery around once per year.

My other bike has a Sigma wired computer. 15,000+ miles on that one. Battery change annually.

If I suspect significant rainfall, I'll put a little square of kitchen plastic film over the head with a rubber band around the bottom of the mount on either one. If a lot of water gets between the head and the mount, you might lose some miles.

mrodgers

Or even from interference from the general area. Often we stop for a break or something to eat. I don't know if people's/establishments' WIFI interfere with my cheap wireless Bell, but I'll be sitting stationary and it will be clicking the miles off at sometimes I've seen up to 40 mph.

My cheap Bell wireless was troublesome from the start trying to get the 2 pieces to talk to each other. I have a Giant Escape 1 and with the bladed front forks, the sensor has to be mounted at an angle right at the inside corner of the fork. I would have to have the magnet contacting the sensor slightly with each revolution for it to work. I happen to have a small magnet disk on the side of my tool box in the garage so I attached it to the magnet on the wheel to make the magnetic field stronger and it works fine now.

A Cateye Velo 9 is on the list of stuff I want to get next Amazon order.

GerryinHouston

My rather expensive Specialized does most of what the cheap Bell I used to have before did (except temperature) and suffers from interference from my Planet Bike 5 LED light. I've seen 150 km trip in 25 mins... So, count your blessings... at least you didn't spend big bucks!

mighty_mouf89

So you guys make a great point with just using your phone as a GPS option. I'm new to the whole map thing while being on trails because it was primarily extensive wooded trails with my Rockhopper 29er so i never used a map. With me getting the Escape 1, that's naturally for paved trails, so how does it work? If i'm at a park or a nature paved trail and i use my GPS would that pick up the trail i'm actually on in case i get turned around or lost miles and miles out? or would an app do that? Or would the phone not do it at all and that's where i would need something like the Garmin820/1000?

canklecat

A purpose-made bike computer should give you more realistic and real-time speed. Worthwhile for that if it's important to you. I'm finally riding fast enough that a bike computer might be interesting rather than discouraging (I don't need to be reminded I'm crawling up a hill at 7.4 mph -- being passed by bugs, grandmas in wheelchairs and kids on Big Wheels are enough, thanks).

Smartphone apps record your rides and are handy for checking your progress in fitness, mapping favorite routes and avoiding routes you wouldn't want to repeat. You don't even need to share the info with anyone, so the social media aspect isn't a must. I didn't share any of my ride app info for almost a year. It just helped me evaluate my progress and encouraged me to keep plugging away.

But the smartphone apps I've tried always lag in speed feedback so they're less useful for real-time monitoring.

If you want to try some apps out of curiosity, Wahoo Fitness is free and the easiest to use. Very few options, all very straightforward. It also has the largest and most visible display for speed -- much better at a glance while riding than Strava or Cyclemeter on my iPhone 4s. So if I'm curious about near real-time monitoring I'll run Wahoo Fitness and stick the phone in the map pouch on my handlebar bag, plugged into an external USB battery for longer runtime since the phone won't go into sleep mode while running Wahoo Fitness unless you turn off the phone.

But Wahoo Fitness doesn't show much data by itself. It records it. But it doesn't display it. For that, you want Strava.

Eventually you'll get Strava anyway. I avoided it for a year but finally caved when I saw all my riding buddies were using it to share rides and routes. We're not fast, just casual 10-16 mph loafers, but we still enjoy seeing what each other is up to on rides. Occasionally we'll get together for group rides based on those routes.

Cyclemeter is good too, but for iPhone only. I paid for the app because I used the freebie version for a year and a year's app fee costs what a month of paid Strava premium costs. But I'm not sure I'd renew Cyclemeter next year because it does basically what Strava does, but doesn't have the wide user base with detail route maps with notes for segments. Or maybe I'll pay again out of loyalty.

I can upload data recorded by Wahoo Fitness and Cyclemeter to Strava. But not from Wahoo Fitness to Cyclemeter, or vice versa. Sometimes I run both, or all three, and compared data later. They're usually pretty close. The differences appear to be due to auto-pause/resume detection. Cyclemeter usually records me as faster than the others, presumably due to the auto-pause/resume kicking in once I've reached terminal velocity while ignoring my slowpoking around at tops of hills to catch my breath.

If I had to recommend two, I'd say Wahoo Fitness (already free) and Strava (free version). Run Wahoo for the larger, clearer display while riding. Then transfer ride data to Strava later -- although running both simultaneously doesn't drain my battery noticeably quicker.

canklecat

I use OsmAnd Maps & Navigation for offline map reference. I download maps for my region so I can call 'em up anytime. It's compatible with many types of maps including those designed for biking, hiking, city or rural routes, etc. Whether it shows your route as a bike/hike trail, or just a non-specific area near a public street, depends on the map selected.

OSM is a little slow on my iPhone 4s but if I need to refer to a map I'm lost and no longer in a hurry.

I don't even have a data plan for my iPhone 4s. I just use it for apps, photos/videos, etc. I carry a flip phone for emergency calls. Not a big talker or texter so I don't really need a smartphone for routine communications. I mostly use my laptop or desktop for online stuff.

There are also turn-by-turn navigation apps. I've tried a couple of them for walking around the neighborhood so they can work offline without a data plan -- but not very well. If I needed that feature I'd have to pony up for a data plan.

king_boru

I recently went with a Wahoo Blue SC, their fitness app and a QuadLock bike mount for my phone. Works really well. If you stretch the new Element Bolt is apparently really nice.

HerrKaLeun

I think a good compromise is to use the computer for instant speed (I also recommend cadence). That also lets you track miles of the bile for maintenance.

The phone can be used for tracking a trip. Samsung has "Health" apps that track your hiking, running, biking etc. with map, altitudes, speed, fastest parts etc. but for looking at the speed while riding I don't think a phone is great. If you don't have to "see" the phone during riding you can keep it tucked away in your pocket (GPS also works that way).

When you ride in woods or canyons you may lose GPS every once a while. When you zick-zack but GPS only gets two readings it assumes a straight line and very low average speed. At minimum you lose accuracy (you may only have 100' accuracy or even worse). That definitely will be less accurate than the computer.

mighty_mouf89

Herrkaleun,

Ok... i'll try and find one with cadence. If it has that feature, than i'm sure it'll definitely all the basic features like the current speed, avg speed, mileage, top speed, etc...

One thing i noticed about the CatEye Padrone which is the wireless version is you're not able to determine which stats you can see on the screen. So if you want to see your current speed, you're SOL. So not sure i'll like that with the Cateye. Since i have a Giant bike, i'm thinking of going with the Giant Axact+ Wireless that's for $60. Just came out not too long ago. It has a wider screen compared to the 13/14w. But i don't think it has the cadence feature. Here's a link:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/ax...computer-black

coominya

I love the cateye gear myself, though I wish they had kept the quality they had in their little tail-lights of a generation back. Can't buy these anymore




I use the bottom of the range sigma computers myself, the BC 8.12. I have 3 of them.


The white one is nice too

Road Fan

I've done well with Cateye Astrale 8, and some of the medium wired Sigmas. I've tried a higher-end Polar and a Sigma ROX 10, neither of which worked very well.

Nice thing about the Astrale 8 and the Sigmas I liked is that they do cadence and the Astrale senses rear wheel speed - good for a trainer.

edawg55

As on now I use a cheap backup phone with a Nite Ize HandleBand. The app I use is Urban Biker. You can set the back lighting to black and it won't drain the battery that much and is easy to see. I've been thinking on getting a low end computer but at some point I'll want a nice one so might as well just get it now. I've been looking at a Garmin 520 Wahoo Elemnt Bolt. I'll probably go with the Bolt.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nite-Ize-...phone/39116105

mighty_mouf89

I've been looking into the Garmin devices. Anyone has experience with the Edge Explorer 820?

HerrKaLeun

just wanted to share my experience with those computers. I recently purchased a Sigma Sport BC16.12 but returned it. Problem was for the crank magnet they didn't have a strap-on but just a magnet that I had to "magnet" to the pedal bolt (crank is aluminum). After a few miles it fell off and I lost it. it also had problems reading cadence all the time (speed worked). It read speed from front wheel. Obviously I don't recommend that.....

I purchased a Cateye Strada Cadence and installed it today. That one came with a strap-on crank magnet. Another advantage is it reads speed from the rear-wheel and only has one cable (combined 3-wire for speed and cadence). That makes it much cleaner layout. I haven't ridden it long yet. But a short test by cranking crank and a short test ride made it seem to work fine every time. One hiccup I had with that (and amazon reviews confirm that and provided a solution) I had to pad the sensor to get closer to the magnet. I chimed with with some layers of black plastic (my bike is black). Even with a wireless computer, you still would have that issue.

I also used some black electrical tape to tie the wire. My Giant Toughroad has a covered cable/hydraulic run under the down tube and I could hide the cable there. I guess you always can hide it with the rear brake or RD cable. check your bike on what may work. But a rear speed sensor with combined cadence cable will look much better than cadence and front speed sensor.

I don't want to push my opinion on wired/wireless on you or anyone. See above to see what I prefer. I think if you buy an expensive unit wireless can work, but with a cheap one you are calling for problems (WiFi, blinking light interference etc.).

For route tracking I use the Samsung Health app (if you don't have samsung phone there may be other apps). That shows and tracks me the map, altitude, fastest speed routes, a voice tells me after every mile something etc. they also have hiking, running etc. I don't look at it while I ride. Would be too distracting, my have glare issues, and would drain my battery. you also can set it to auto-pause and auto-resume so that breaks don't ruin your average speed.
For navigation I use Google maps which shows bikeable routes. But I use it as a map, meaning at each intersection I look at it to decide where to go. I guess I could use it like a navigation system, but my biking is more exploring and seeing what is there and deciding then. Some streets also may not be good and I chose routes that look safer. If you are outside cell-data coverage HERE may be a good app, but not sure if it has bike routes. Google also lets you download maps of relatively large (like a county or larger) area.
Maybe one of the bike computers does the same, but a phone I have anyway and the maps are always up to date. I have a car-emergency starter battery that also acts as a USB power supply which i could take with me if i wanted real-screen navigation. I have never used a bike computer with GPS, and have no idea if they provide better options, but they should have the same battery issue if they show you the route constantly.

Again, I'm not trying to convince anyone my way is the best. Hope this helps.