Looking at Garmin, Bryton, Polar . . .

what a maze 🙁

Garmin Edgebare nice, but a lot of money.

I rather fancy the idea of a waterproof shockproof bar mount for an iPhone and with a build in additional battery. I wonder if such a gadget actually exists yet.

If it’s just a a computer you want then EDGE 200 is cheapish and does the job very well. Otherewise, if you have a smartphone use Strava or any other number of free apps.

If you want to go the whole hog and have mapping, then something like an Etrex 20/30 looks good. Unless you are into HRMs and power measurements then the higher model EDGEs are a waste of money IMO.

I got an edge 200 last year, thinking i would never use the cadence/HR stuff. regret it now 🙁 those are exactly the things i want now!

Garmin Edge 500 here and love it. Does HR, cadence and power (with my powertap). Like the way you can have several views and customise them. The route following thing is actually quite usable too on the small screen.

I’d get a garmin again just for the ant+ compatability with other devices. I also use the ant+ stuff with trainerroad on the turbo to do power based intervals. Also upload to garmin connect, strava etc is pretty simple.

If I didn’t have a 500 I’d be very tempted by the 510 with the nicer screen and all the smartphone integration too.

Hi,

Had been using smart phones as my bike computers for years until last week when I finally but the bullet and got and edge 800.

Brilliant bit of kit and worth the money for me as I like time have heart rate and cadence and all the training stuff on it. Got the OS maps which are great for road and off road use. I use the zoom to road atlas (you get both road atlas scales in the maps) for road exploring and 1:50000 for anything off road.

The road navigation is very good, just like a Google Maps type thing.

The computer function is very good with up to 10 data field available on the screen.

They are not cheap but are the do it all device.

Using your smart phone is always a bit of a compromise. The last one I had was a Motorola defy which was water proof so could be mounted on the bars easily. Lots of great apps which will do everything the Garmin will do (others than cadence) but with a much better screen. Battery life was okay, about 5 to 6 hours if you use back light settings. Great for Strava too.

Of course you can just get a basic cheap computer for a few quid and but more beer!

Regards

We went for the 500 bundle. HR & Cadence/indoor speed sensor included. Bought 2 so got some discount 🙂

The 800 looks very nice and a touch screen would have been cool – but just too much cash because we needed 2.

Garmin 200 is an excellent device and is so easy to take from bike to bike. I am now upgrading to a 500 as I fancy the HR and power features of ANT+. But for just riding around, the 200 adds to the enjoyment of cycling. The only fault is absence of a clock. Both have the breadcrumb trail feature and it is surprisingly usable. The 500 will also show route elevation during the ride.

I’d avoid the 510 and 800 as I don’t get on with touchscreens. Unnecessary on a bike computer IMHO