What bike computer to get? GPS or Wired or wireless?
 

My trusted avocet 40 is starting to get flakey after about 20 years. I think it's the wires going into the pickup at the wheel hub.

so I am forced to start looking for a replacement and since avocet went out of business I will have to swtich brands.

I need only time traveled, distance and speed with max speed. I was looking at the gps units and they require recharging all the time.
I need a unit that doesn't need a battery or a charge every day or week or month.

What are good suggestions? I did a search and saw some recommendations for cateye mity 8 but it appears that is discontinued.

Is the wireless worth it or just go with the wired. I guess the cateyes attach to the rear wheel? unlike my avocet on the front?

You're looking for a pretty basic computer. Wireless units have twice as many batteries and use them up faster. Even at that, I'm thinking an annual battery change should sufice. The basic wired units are almost a commodity so I'd just grab whatever my LBS has on hand.

You don't want an inexpensive wireless computer due to interference problems near traffic lights and other electrical fields. You can get drop-outs or a reported 60 MPH while stopped which really throws off distances and average speeds. Stick with wired or get the Garmin which doesn't cost much more than a decent computer with 2.4 GHz sensors ($150 for an Edge 200) unless you have very special requirements (you want to record power data for something like PBP and can't live with the 14 hour battery life of an Edge 500).

I just happen to prefer wireless. My favorite right now is the Nightrider Rebel 5.0 or 8.0. THe HR monitor is built into the 8.0. They take at leat two batteries like the 2032 but you can mount the sending unit on the back whee lif you want. I dont get much cross interferance with the nightrider. A battery last maybe 6 months a year. The sending unit seems to last twice as long as the receiving unit.

Do you have a smartphone? For what you're looking to get out of it, a cycling computer app may be all you need. I've tested mine against a wired computer, and the accuracy of the GPS on the phone was very comparable. I've only had it fail once in the last 3 months.

Many people use Strava, and myself, I use Endomondo. It easily gives you average speed, top speed/low speed, lap times, distance, elevation, and even calorie estimates. You can see your route on a Google map, and it can highlight speed on the map itself. You can see the info on your phone or online. You have several data graph options on the website. And unless you want to be looking at the screen the whole time you're riding, the battery drain is minimal. I keep mine in my bag with the audible alerts on, and I can hear it give my distance and lap-time updates every few minutes while I'm riding.

Since my data needs are minimal, like yours, and I always ride with my phone anyway, this solution works really well...

i got a wireless just in case i wanted to swap it between bikes.

I prefer the wired models. My headlight causes the wireless computer to give odd readings such as going 100 MPH faster than I actually am. Even without a headlight, most rides over 20 miles will have me returning with a max speed over 100 MPH (I'm not quite sure when/where it happens but it messes up the average speeed etc.)

Thanx all.

I think I'll go with one of those sigma wired units. I like the idea of not losing the odometer mileage when you change battery and it seems to be close in function to my old avocet.

I have too much trouble remembering to recharge my phone and other electronics to have another unit that needs to be plugged in often. The edge looks like a kool unit but then I have my geocache oregon unit I use if I need gps on the ride. I should get a mount for that, I usually hang it off the handlebar with the carabiner.

I have a sigma bc 1009 and like it. I have had a problem with it when I left it attached to the bike during a tour in lots of rain recently. It simply didn't want to work, and the display fogged up, but after a couple of weeks in good weather, it has started to work again, and the fogging seems to have disappeared.