Garmin Edge 500

Garmin's lightest satnav yet is a cyclist's dream

Product

Garmin Edge 500

Promise

Garmin’s lightest bike nav unit ever – but has it lost any of the punch of its predecessors?

Performance

Working closely with Team Garmin, the sponsored cycling group, Garmin have come up with an on-bike computer that is precisely what athletes want. Only 60g, with an extra-large screen and easy to locate buttons, the GPS-enabled computer charts your speed, distance, time, GPS position, elevation, calories burned, altitude, climb and descent. It connects with Garmin Connect, a programme that gives you loads of different ways to read your data through charts, maps and more. It’s got an 18-hour battery life, too: long enough for anyone with a serious route to take on. The Edge 500 mounts to the  stem or handlebars of your bike, and even alerts you if you start moving and forget to switch the timer on. That’s smart.

Verdict

A very clever device that offers everything you could want – there’s even the option of plugging in a heart rate monitor and speed/cadence sensor too.