00:00 The cycling computer market can often be seen as a two-horse race, however there's a whole bunch of
00:05 other options out there which pack quite a punch. Now top-end cycling computers can cost as much as
00:11 £500, however I've got a range here which are all sub £200 which offer a lot of the same
00:17 capabilities, so we're going to get into them and take a little look.
00:20 One of the newer companies on the market is Brighton and while they may not be one of the
00:29 most popular, they do pack a lot of bang for your buck with their products. The Rider 420 is a
00:34 fantastic example of this because this little computer here costs little more than £100 once
00:40 you've had a little shop around. Unfortunately Brighton computers aren't the easiest of things
00:44 to figure out, their user interface can be a little bit tricky to get to grips with but once
00:48 you're in they do start to then make a whole lot more sense and you can unlock all of that
00:52 functionality. Now within the 420 you've got 77 different functions and they can all be accessed
00:59 through the app as well as the computer itself. Now the computer has Bluetooth and ANT+ so you
01:05 can connect to power meters, set speed sensors, cadence sensors, anything you can think of. You
01:10 can also loop in Strava live segments and also import TrainingPeaks workouts on here to execute
01:17 out on the road. It can also use any one of five GPS networks which means you can use this throughout
01:23 the world and you're always going to have a strong connection. And I know the guy who tested this
01:26 unit, he never had any dropout of signal across the five months that he was using it for. This
01:32 little unit is packing as much capability as a Wahoo Element Bolt just without the full mapping
01:38 and when you consider this is just over £100 that is really pretty good going. One downside of this
01:42 unit is the placement of the buttons. Now they are in a little bit of a strange place and an
01:47 out front mount does help alleviate the problem. Trying to get hold of one of those out front
01:51 mounts has proved to be a little bit tricky and actually it's just a bit annoying that they don't
01:55 include one in the box. That said though if you want the features that you'd see on models that
01:59 are nearly twice the price then I think the Rider 420 is going to be the one for you.
02:09 I'm going to give you the entire list of the CatEye Quick's wireless functionalities.
02:14 Speed, distance, time and a clock and that's it. It's beautifully simple. Now it's not going to be
02:21 for everyone however I think that it does have its place in the market with this very sleek
02:26 looking design. This little sleek computer gets rid of all the jargon of heart rate monitors,
02:32 power data and other nonsense like that and just tells you how far you've been and how long it took
02:37 you to get there. So it's just incredibly simple and it's incredibly refreshing to be honest.
02:42 The unit comes with this out front handlebar mount which means it has this very sleek clean look.
02:47 I'm not too sure why CatEye have described the battery life in years but I'm not complaining
02:52 at all. I think it's absolutely brilliant. To serious riders or anyone needing any sort of
02:56 navigational functionality obviously this won't be for them. However I think for beginners and
03:01 commuters this is all you actually need. It's just a nice affordable cycling computer that's
03:07 really made for anyone. While it isn't one of the best looking computers out there on the market it
03:17 is probably one of the most valuable. The Lezyne SuperPro GPS incorporates navigational functionality,
03:23 has its own smartphone app as well as power, cadence and all the other things you'd expect to
03:29 see. Strava live segments and live tracking are also built into this thing. The unit's small
03:35 screen might be hard to read however you can only ever see a few metrics at a time and again
03:40 that is controlled via the app. For serious or performance-based cyclists that are on a budget
03:45 I think this makes for a really good option as it comes in at around £135 but once you've
03:51 shopped around you can normally find it for a little bit cheaper. The Polar M460 has some really
04:02 advanced features and Polar also make Polar Flow which is the companion app which allows you to set
04:08 up the unit. You can also track your personal diary and all the rides you've been doing through Polar
04:13 Flow. One other thing that I really like about this unit is that it's got really good Strava integration
04:18 and that does mean that you've got Strava live segments. To go along those smart features you
04:23 can also get your smartphone notifications through to it so you'll never be without a text message or
04:28 an email. So this unit has a 16-hour battery life which basically puts it on par with its competitors
04:34 however one thing that it has that they don't is a front light. Now this is something I think is
04:39 pretty cool and is totally unique to this unit. It's not going to allow you to see anywhere but
04:44 it will just make you a little bit more visible and it is something that I do just quite like.
04:47 However that front light doesn't come at a small cost and it is rather pricey when you compare it
04:52 to its competitors which can offer cheaper units with mapping and navigational functionalities.
04:58 However there are a few downsides one of them being the very small screen which is 35 millimeters by
05:03 35 millimeters meaning you can only have four data metrics on the screen at any one time which
05:09 would be okay if you could cycle through the screens more easily but due to button placement
05:14 you can't and it makes it really tricky. They're not really that intuitive. Also there's no amp plus
05:21 so you are limited to sensors which also offer bluetooth capabilities which is slightly annoying
05:26 when in this day and age everything is pretty much amp plus. In summary the M460 does pretty
05:31 much everything you want it to but for me it doesn't do it in the way that I want it to do it
05:37 so I think what it really needs is some more intuitive buttons with better placement
05:41 and it desperately needs a larger screen.
05:44 The headline feature of the Mio Cyclo 210 is its excellent touchscreen and graphics.
05:55 Now this is bringing that functionality to a whole new price point however it does have a
06:00 decidedly average battery life at 10 hours but I think it's fair to assume that that is going to
06:04 be down to the fairly power hungry touchscreen. It's also a bit bulkier than other units but again
06:10 I think we can put that down to the screen. Mio also offers its own mapping software so you can
06:15 plan routes out on your computer and then sync it to your head unit. Now within the computer itself
06:21 busy roads will come up as brown and quieter ones will come out as purple so it allows you to see
06:26 when you're out there where's going to be a good place to head. You can also type an address into
06:31 the head unit itself and it will plot a route out for you so should your plans change mid-ride then
06:36 you can update your destination and it will get you there safely. The downsides are pretty major
06:41 though as you cannot connect any external sensors so for most that is going to be a bit of a deal
06:47 breaker as it means you won't be able to perform specific training sessions out on the road.
06:52 I think it's fair to say that this head unit is geared more towards gravel riders and long
06:55 distance riders where those metrics aren't as important but having a really clear navigational
07:02 screen is. Overall I think it offers a lot of value for money especially when you do get that
07:07 color touchscreen however if you take your riding any more seriously and you need those performance
07:12 based metrics this one might not be the one for you. The Garmin Edge 130 plus is about as simple
07:23 as they come with only a couple of buttons to navigate around the screens and bluetooth and
07:28 amp plus capabilities. You can load Strava live segments onto the 130. Now this does not have a
07:34 touchscreen and you are forced to use buttons to navigate around it but once it's paired with your
07:39 smartphone you can then receive calls and text notifications to the head unit itself. Now when
07:45 it's also paired you can then use live tracking and get incident detection. Experienced riders who
07:51 value performance will really like the 130 because you can pair all of your normal sensors to it but
07:57 for that lower cost. However one of the downsides is that the battery life is only claimed to last
08:02 12 hours which in actuality and compared to the other units we've got here isn't actually that
08:08 long. To be honest there's not really too much more to the 130 than that and I think that's the
08:12 beauty of it is that it's so simple it gives you what you need it's a no-frills unit and that is
08:18 why it's coming in at Garmin's kind of bottom end of the range of their cycling computer offerings.
08:23 But it's no bad thing I think for most people that do just want to go out and ride and obviously have
08:29 all the metrics that they usually want to see it's going to be ideal. I think the only thing
08:34 it's really lacking on though is mapping and especially when you consider that this doesn't
08:38 have mapping compared to the other units that we've got here today that's where you can really
08:42 see where this one's falling behind. But like I said if you know your routes and you know where
08:47 you're going and you're just going to be doing kind of similar things all the time then get the
08:52 numbers from this will work absolutely perfectly. Once again we've got a model here which is
09:02 punching well above its way especially when you can compare this to a Garmin Edge 530. In addition
09:08 to power meter connectivity, phone notifications, offline maps, rerouting and GPS navigation,
09:14 the Mega XL GPS really is in a league of its own. The Mega XL GPS even incorporates the ability to
09:22 take on structured workouts which is something you would only tend to see from high-end Garmin
09:26 or Wahoos. The Lezyne Mega XL GPS isn't the most beautiful of computers and its screen doesn't
09:32 have color but that only adds value because this is where they've saved some money. The display is
09:37 functional and the design allows it to incorporate a larger battery which for this means it will last
09:43 for up to 48 hours which actually is quite remarkable. The Mega XL GPS can even connect
09:49 to Lezyne's Ally smartphone app which means that you can control the navigation through the app
09:54 and then beam it across to the head unit. It certainly feels like this computer is a bit of
09:58 a steal so if you're not bothered about a color touchscreen then I think this is probably the
10:03 one for you. Hopefully I've been able to shine a light on some units you might not have otherwise
10:08 considered. I think my personal choice I'd probably go for the Bryton Rider 420. I think it packs in
10:14 all the punch that you'd want and with a really nice long battery life. However if you think
10:19 there's a head unit out there which is slightly underrated and people don't know about, drop it
10:23 down in the comments because I think we'd all love to hear about it. If you enjoyed the video
10:26 drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll see you again very soon.
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