Can someone recommend a good bicycle odometer?

[Incitatus]

I'm not looking for a pricey gps style system, just something reliable that provides basic information like distance traveled and average mph.

[NYC_SKP]

1. If you have a smart phone use an app like RunKeeper.

Other than that, I do not have a good suggestion for a electro-mechanical unit.

[Systematic Chaos]

2. Your local bike shop will stock at least one nice bike computer. Amazon has a ton of them.

Just do a search for "bike computer" and a ton of useful little devices will appear to choose from.

Mostly they cost between $10 and $40.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I have a very basic Schwinn on-board system

and once calibrated (which was NOT as easy as it seems) it records very good data on mileage, MPH, etc.

The canned calibration settings based on wheel size were off by about 15%. A few sessions of riding measured mileage were needed to calibrate it correctly. Once set, the next time to deal with it was when the batteries croaked.

[Denninmi]

4. Specialized makes some very good ones.

From simple to more sophisticated.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/computers/speedzone-computers

[wtmusic]

5. I like the size of the display.

I currently use a Garmin Edge 500, which frankly is more trouble than it's worth.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. I use a CatEye wireless odometer

It's about $50, and it's always within a couple of hundredths of a mile in agreement with my phone's GPS, so it seems pretty accurate--just make sure you correctly specify your tire size in the program setup.

[Kolesar]

7. I have a ten year old Cateye--that's the only brand I will buy

I had a Specialized and a Nashbar computer that broke in time.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

8. In my previous post, I mentioned that the Cateye was within a couple of hundredths of my GPS

Since I wrote that, I've noticed a bigger difference between the GPS and the Cateye. I'm not totally sure what accounts for the difference. It's either the vagaries of my phone's GPS unit (entirely possible), or it's the fact that I've switched from riding at 85PSI to riding at 100PSI. I think that may make the diameter of the wheels just a little larger, and therefore, I'm going just a little more distance with each revolution of the tire than I was at 85PSI. It doesn't matter all that much. After a 43 mile ride last Saturday, the difference in the two trip meters was about half a mile. Not a huge deal.

[frylock]

9. I like Google Tracks on my Android device..

if you have an iPhone, try Map My Ride.