They are an often overlooked and forgotten about piece of kit, yet you rely on it every time you ride – your trusty computer. With the new Garmin and Polar computers feeding you more figures than anyone has time to analyse, I think its nice to get back to basics and look good while out putting the miles in. The Cateye Strada wireless is surely the best for this:

More than happy to endure all the rain, snow and UV rays you can throw at it, the Strada tells you how fast, far and long you’ve been and is one of the most compact units out there. I’ve never been a fan of complicated computers and this one tells me everything I need.

To me, the sign of a good computer is one which you don’t think or worry about. The Strada does this and in short, it’s a very popular and well tested piece of kit.

It has 8 functions: speed, average speed, max speed, miles, trip miles 1 & 2, total time and clock.

I have to admit to using mine purely for ride time and speed, having the trip 1 and 2 though will make life much easier for those of you who often swap bikes.

A useful feature is the pace arrow which indicates whether you’re above or below the average for your ride. It urges you to push on on the last few climbs to keep the average high and is easy to read quickly (seen below on the left hand side).

The neat and compact computer is accompanied by a sleek and simple to fit stem or bar mount and a wireless sensor. The bracket is easily swapped between stem/bar direction and once trimmed it sits neatly and hasn’t come loose or slipped at all.

To swap between read-outs, all you need to do is press the bottom of the computer where the 3 dimples are and it rocks on the base to press a button on the underside and voila! This makes changing the screen while racing simple, all its needs is a finger, palm or swipe and knocking it out of the base seems very hard (something I’ve never done/seen).

The sensor is the ‘square’ type which just needs 2 zip ties around your fork or stay to keep it in place:


Recently arrived here at PBK along with the white and black versions are a PINK and RED design. Also on order are the various TdF editions with POLKA DOT, GREEN JERSEY and YELLOW JERSEY designs.

Conclusions:

  • Good looking and simple computer.
  • Easy to fit to stem or bars and the sensor will fit almost any bike.
  • Durable and hardy – no reliability issues.
  • Simple to use, read and flick through the functions.
  • Soon to be available in a variety of designs.
  • Spares are widely available.
  • Well priced (£45 at present at PBK).

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