Distance Calculator?
 

I'd like to be able to calculate how far I've gone and how fast I'm going and other crap like that. My friend from Dallas, Texas (that's for you Mr. Waters) said he just bought a little $30 Cat Eye brand computer that has about 7 functions to it. Will something like that work for me? Will it break on my after a few rides or should I spend a little more money for a better quality one?

They all break, the cheap ones and the expensive ones. If they're too complex, they're a pain to manipulate unless you like gadgets. In most instances I'd say, the simpler the better. I have a nice Garmin and a Cateye. Both are okay.

What do you use the computer for? Mileage, MPH, Time of Day, Ride Time, what else do I want to know? I think that would be it or is there something cool I'm missing? I'm not a big tech guy so the easier the better for me.

If "the easier the better" is truly your cirteria, go to a perfromance bike store and get a 20 dollar bike computer. The only thing to look for, IMHO, is speed, trip distance, total distance, average speed and elapsed time along with (and this is VERY important) automatic on/off. This latter feature can usually be turned off, if you want, but I hate computers that makle me turn them on and off every time I start or stop. You can literally get a computer that does these things for 20-25 bucks or less during a sale. I am more of a gadget geek, myself, so I like some of the toys, but if you prefer simplicity, you can do it cheaply. BTW, I can't imagine riding a bike without a computer. Seriously, they are useful and fun.

Depending on make on model, you can have cadence, altimeter, distance climbed, incline of climbing, average incline, exact incline, odometer, power watage, downloadable course, heart rate, calories consumed, top speed, average speed, a complete wattage output, and many other fascinating data points. If it can be measured, a bike computer will calculate it.

Oh, year, Time, time elapsed, air temperature, wind velocity, total time, total miles on computer.

Awesome! Thanks! I'll go check them out today... My wife will be happy that this something for the bike that isn't too expensive!

Holy crap! that's a lot of stuff... I'm not sure if I need all that information, although that's really cool.

If you'd like, I'll follow you in my car to figure out how far you've ridden and then keep speeding up and figure out how fast you were going just before I run you over.

Now there's a feature a slow guy like me can really use. "Let's see, the computer says I set out in 2006 and I returned in..."

cadence is important. I like mine because it reads fromt the back tire, which is important if you use a trainer.