I'm a 12000+km p.a. commuter about 90% of the time and recreational the other 10%. Round trip is 50km if I don't throw in extras so I fall into the roadie/lycra-wearing category as well as transportation cyclist. Plain clothes for me are just not feasible (I'm a heavy perspirer). I ride in all conditions, but unfortunately for the 2 month Bryton test (and fortunately for me
) I didn't encounter torrential rain. Only light showers a few times.Caveat
I've been using Garmin GPS computers since 2008. I've had the Edge 305, Edge 705, Forerunner 910XT (with mount conversion kit to use the twist mount system on my bikes) and finally and currently the Edge 1000.
I am firmly entrenched in the Garmin ecosystem so this review will contain comparisons/differences comparing Bryton and Garmin devices and interfaces.
If you want to see the images closer up, just click on them below. A full res. version will load.
How tiny is it! a.k.a the unboxing
Pen for size comparison.
In the box - (clockwise from left) startup guide, the computer, micro-USB cable, HRM, cadence sensor, mount.
Setup screen 1 - pick your language.
Setup screen 2 - pick your units of measurement.
Splash screen - job done in two simple steps.
On the bike - a busy dashboard
Initial impressions and mounting.
As you can see I mounted the Bryton on the stem, there wasn't really much more space for it. The mount while similar to Garmin's twist mount system is not compatible. I tried the Bryton on the K-Edge out front mount and it was too loose to securely mount it.
From the receipt of the unit in it's tiny box, to the unit itself I was impressed with how small it is. The Garmin Forerunner 910XT (my previous daily computer) itself is smaller as it's primarily a wrist-watch format device but having spent the past 15 months looking down at the smart-phone sized Edge 1000 has altered my perception a little.
After initial setup, the GPS lock took about 5 mins and has been sub-30 seconds every time since.
HRM and cadence sensors connected fine straight away and didn't miss a beat. I did a short test (couple of days' commuting) with them in conjunction with my usual Garmin sensors (HRM, separate speed, separate cadence). Most of the time I didn't use them since two HRMs was at the same time was a bit much. The speed/cadence sensors didn't conflict as the Garmin speed sensor is wrapped onto the front hub. The Garmin cadence module sat next to the Bryton magnet without any problems and the Bryton cadence sensor was cabled tied to the chainstay like the Garmin GSC10 sensor without the arm part (Bryton have an optional "ANT+ Speed and Cadence Dual sensor" available if you want to capture speed without relying on the GPS signal).
On the road.
The Rider 310 has 2 bike profiles. For this review I only used two bikes so it was easy to capture separate distance data, but if this were my daily computer as I have 5 bikes this is limiting for me at least. I'd probably just stick with a single bike profile and use Strava/BikeJournal.com to log different rides to different bikes.
It's very much a device that just works once your get out for a ride. Hit start and away you go.
At the cafe - different angle
Uploading rides.
The Bryton Sport website is simple and easy to navigate. After you create your user account with your email address, or use Facebook to login you're presented with a simple interface.
The upload process is manual but easy on a computer (* - next paragraph). You connect the Bryton to your computer via USB and browse to it, manually select the .FIT file/s and upload. Simple, but you can upload the same rides if you're not careful. There's no duplicate checking.
* - I did attempt to connect the Bryton to my iPhone 6 (iOS 9.3.1) via Bluetooth initially, but for me it wouldn't connect at all. I gave up and went with the USB option which for me where a bike computer is concerned is not an issue. The unit needs to be charged anyway. Battery life is very good, I only charged once a week after 10-13hrs riding and it still had about 50% charge left according to the 4-step battery charge meter.
Uploading to Strava was also very easy and the data looks the same as Garmin GPS data. I setup a new Strava account for these rides since they would affect my KM count on my main account. That's why it looks like I rode with myself in the example ride
. If it's not on Strava, the ride didn't happen. This ride REALLY happened.
Conclusion.
For the money it's a great piece of kit (AU$269 RRP for the 310T). The Garmin equivalent would probably be the Edge 25 which for $269 includes a cadence sensor but not HRM. HRM is another $89 option (for the soft-strap model) so to match spec you're up for $358 for the Garmin.
If you're already invested in the Garmin ecosystem (Garmin Connect) then this may be a consideration if you don't want to jump ship.
If you don't need maps or navigation and want a simple computer to track your rides and also upload to Strava to brag among your friends I recommend it.
It's a great first bike computer in my opinion.
Disclosure: The Bryton Rider 310T was provided by Bryton as free to keep through Bicycles Network Australia in return for writing a review.
