Which bike computer?
Discussion
I procrastinated for months over the very same thing.
I'd always used Cateye wired computers and recorded individual rides and cumulative mileages in a hardback notebook. Then I eventually bought a second-hand Garmin Edge500, complete with HRM and cadence sensor from ebay. I find it to be very good, most of the time, although, as with all electronic 'toys' it can have a data-fart every now and then, whereby the figures and route traces it produces are garbage.
It doesn't have maps, but can be used to upload routes which it will guide you around. I tried that a couple of times, but honestly don't feel the need for the feature very much. I only have it to upload rides to Strava, which saves me the hassle of scribbling useless data into a book. Do your research, as there are occasional deals on these Garmins on various websites. Shortly after I bought mine on ebay, I could have nabbed one for a small amount more brand new.
If you ride off road at all, especially MTB through woodland singletrack, then the Edge500 is far better than the Edge200, as it samples data every second, rather than the 200's 5 second sample rate, so that it makes for a more accurate GPS trace when uploaded.
ETA: If you have trouble seeing small characters on screen, the display on the Edge500 is customiseable. You can have fewer data groups per 'page' which means larger characters, or you can have more data groups and smaller characters. I have 5 data groups on one page, 3 on the other, and they alternate every 20 seconds or so. You can have it 'cycle' through more pages than that too. Up to 5 off the top of my head. If a particular item doesn't appeal, you can ditch it altogether.
I'd always used Cateye wired computers and recorded individual rides and cumulative mileages in a hardback notebook. Then I eventually bought a second-hand Garmin Edge500, complete with HRM and cadence sensor from ebay. I find it to be very good, most of the time, although, as with all electronic 'toys' it can have a data-fart every now and then, whereby the figures and route traces it produces are garbage.
It doesn't have maps, but can be used to upload routes which it will guide you around. I tried that a couple of times, but honestly don't feel the need for the feature very much. I only have it to upload rides to Strava, which saves me the hassle of scribbling useless data into a book. Do your research, as there are occasional deals on these Garmins on various websites. Shortly after I bought mine on ebay, I could have nabbed one for a small amount more brand new.
If you ride off road at all, especially MTB through woodland singletrack, then the Edge500 is far better than the Edge200, as it samples data every second, rather than the 200's 5 second sample rate, so that it makes for a more accurate GPS trace when uploaded.
ETA: If you have trouble seeing small characters on screen, the display on the Edge500 is customiseable. You can have fewer data groups per 'page' which means larger characters, or you can have more data groups and smaller characters. I have 5 data groups on one page, 3 on the other, and they alternate every 20 seconds or so. You can have it 'cycle' through more pages than that too. Up to 5 off the top of my head. If a particular item doesn't appeal, you can ditch it altogether.
Edited by yellowjack on Tuesday 2nd December 23:34
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