Probably start with something from CatEye perhaps. They have a range of different levels.

Your other option might be to prowl Craig's List and/or eBay for a used Garmin Edge, probably a 500/510/520 series. I would imagine you could get a fully functional Edge 510 for around $100, for example this.

Give some thought to what you want the data for. Is it enough to just see it while you're riding? Do you want post-ride analytics or Strava integration? These questions will drive you toward the right product for you. My suggestion would be to get something that is capable of collecting and sharing the data through some mechanism as opposed to being self-contained like some of the lower-end CatEye devices that aren't much more than an in-ride dashboard. Even if you don't use the data post-ride now you may (and probably will) decide you want to at some later date.

Hope this helps!

I have gone through a number of iterations of working with this information. I'm working on becoming competitive. It won't be easy, and I doubt I'll succeed this year, but next year I should be able to do it. I'm also working on churning out longer and longer rides. For those reasons, any and all data that I can gather matters to me. It keeps me informed while I ride, and then keeps me informed *after* I ride with enough information that I can compare and analyze to see where I need improvement.

All of which is to say this: Really think about what you're aiming for. Do you really want to *just* be able to see things while you're on the bike? Or do you want to check after the fact and see what's up, do comparisons with past, plan for future, etc? If you're looking for comparison and planning, then you probably want a bit more than heart rate, mileage, and speed while on the bike.

Personally, I went with the Garmin Edge 820. It's one of the most expensive options out there, but I did so for specific reasons that might matter to you in the long run. Here's why I chose that one:

• Battery life. With the screen on all the time, it still manages to significantly outlast my phone (phone will work for a good 3-4 hours non-stop, the Edge will go for around 12 or so hours, it looks like, maybe more).
• Navigation on board. This means I can use it to help me out in places where I would be totally lost. This also means it's likely useful long after the phone would be dead if I relied on the phone to get me out of an area I don't know to an area I do know.
• Incident Detection. I can set up emergency contacts, and they get a message if something happens. If I fall, if I have an accident/get hit, I get about 30 seconds to tell the Edge that I'm okay. If I don't, an emergency message goes out with enough information that they can find me. (requires having my phone with me and paired to the device)
• LiveTrack. I can send a message to family and friends at the start of a ride. This allows them to check on my progress as I ride. They can see where I am, how I'm doing, if I'm paused, etc. Again, requires having my phone with me and paired to the device.
• ANT+FE-C. When winter comes, I'm going to be back to indoor training. This feature lets the Edge control a smart trainer (that also supports ANT+FE-C), allowing it to help me simulate hills and go on long rides indoors, and improve my overall training.
• Data recording and disbursement. It records all the data from a ride (including GPS location, temperature, altitude, and data from any sensors you've connected), and stores it all in Garmin Connect. From there, I can send it to pretty much every single training program out there, including MyFitnessPal, Strava, TrainingPeaks, and RideWithGPS (the ones I currently use) automatically. This is where the analysis afterwards comes in.

You don't have to do any of this. You might even explicitly reject any desire to do any of this. That's okay. I'm just suggesting you consider some extra information before buying anything. If you're going to go down this road later, then you can save some money by only buying a bike computer once.

I hope it helps a little bit, at least.

First, let me apologize: I've got a lot to say about this, so my posts tend to be longer. It's not because they're necessarily the greatest thing ever, but rather because I've spent money pretty wastefully on this newly discovered passion. There's a lot I'd have skipped buying if I knew then what I know now. I hope I can help you avoid the same mistakes I've made. Even trying to do that, though, means a lot of text. I'll keep it down as much as I can, but that means I'll probably miss a few things you want to know more about. Feel free to ask, and I'll answer as quickly as I can. And feel free to PM me if you wish, or keep it public here.

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As @NorthCascades pointed out, you can also use an app on your phone. If your rides are only an hour or so, then I'd say to give Strava a try. It's not perfect, but it can do quite a bit of what you're after. I'm going to delve into a little bit of tech speak here, as it can help you to move forward. Keep in mind that I'm *not* an expert, not by a long shot. I'm simply someone who's spent too much in too short a time, and hoping to help someone else avoid at least some of the expense.

There's a *lot* of sensors out there that can track different things about the way you ride your bike. Speed (MPH), Cadence (your RPM when pedaling), Power (how hard you push the pedals), and heart rate are the ones that are most commonly used that I've come across. Others are very possible, but I haven't seen them mentioned much.

Sensors talk to *something*, and that something is commonly called a head unit. Currently, those sensors will use one of two methods to talk to that head unit: ANT+ or Bluetooth LE/Bluetooth Smart. ANT+ has been around for a while, is standardized, and nearly everything out there speaks it. Bluetooth is newer, not very standardized, and you therefore have to be more careful when purchasing anything as not everything speaks to everything else properly via Bluetooth. There's nothing *wrong* with Bluetooth, but it is different, and you need to be aware of that when purchasing anything.

Garmin doesn't do anything with Bluetooth other than talk to your phone. Bluetooth LE is unsupported by them at all that I've ever heard of. If you want to go the Bluetooth route (which is easiest for your phone to support), then Garmin will not be your friend. Others out there will. For instance, I believe that Wahoo makes at least one bike computer that speaks both ANT+ and BLE, as does Polar. Other companies exist and do similar. And a lot of sensors (but, again, not all of them) speak both ANT+ and BLE.

Now, here's where things get really interesting: Some phones have built in ANT+ support, some do not (notably, no iPhone has it, all Samsung Android phones appear to, Google's Pixel does not, etc). Of those that do not, you can (sometimes) get an adapter that supports ANT+. To do this, you'd get a type of cable called "USB OTG" (which stands for "on the go"), plug it in, and then plug in an ANT+ USB stick. I've done that with the Google Pixel, and it works well. Unfortunately, not all Android phones support USB OTG (you'll have to either research it or take the chance on buying it without knowing), and I've heard contradictory reports about being able to get an ANT+ adapter on an iPhone at all.

If your phone can support ANT+ (either directly or via an adapter), then you can pick and choose anything you wish out there. You can get sensors to track these things cheaply (except for power meters, those are decidedly *not* cheap), connect them to your phone, and use apps on the phone to track whatever stats you wish to track.

If not, then you can still do this, you're just limited to Bluetooth LE versions of the sensors. I didn't look at those at all, so I can't talk about their cost. I know they exist, I just don't know their cost.

Either way, your phone can be your head unit while you learn what you want to see in a dedicated bike computer.

The point of going through all that is this: You can keep your costs down, buy stuff that will work with your phone, and let you try things out that way while you figure out what actually matters to you. Strava works very well. I'd avoid Runtastic, though. I used them for a while, and after trying Strava dropped Runtastic entirely. I found Strava much more useful, much more in depth, and their free tier still helped me see how I was doing much better than Runtastic's premium tier even did.

Once you know the sort of things you really want to see, you can start looking at bike computers of all varieties. I'd strongly suggest, once you know the models of the ones you're even remotely interested in, heading to dcrainmaker.com and looking at his reviews of them. They are so in depth that you'll likely need 15-20 minutes to read each review, but you'll know everything good and bad about the unit you're looking at.

For basic HR and tracking, phone is always best to start, since virtually all tracking apps will sync with any BT HRM. You can get a bike phone mount on Amazon insanely cheap. However, Polar M450 is a super budget-friendly and really awesome bike computer. I have a bunch of friends who love it...and at around $170 or so, I think it's a great deal. Pairs with any BT HRM. However, if you are into a specific ecosystem, like Garmin, Polar, etc, it's usually easier to just stick with that. Or, if you use a site like Strava or TrainingPeaks to sync all of your different devices' data, then it doesn't matter who you choose.