The smartphone is without doubt a technological masterpiece and often your best friend if you get lost. The main reason why I wanted to switch to a bicycle computer is that I want to be able to see the right information at a glance at all times. Don't be distracted by other apps or notifications and don't have to worry about battery life during a long ride. I was also looking for a compact computer that doesn't take up too much space on the beautifully finished handlebars of the Isaac Meson. The Bryton Rider 420 met these requirements and went with it into the mountains. Because I have no experience with other cycling computers I can't compare, but looking at the price and the specifications you get it is one of the best deals at the moment.

When you have always navigated with your phone it takes some getting used to. All functions can be operated by means of four buttons on the unit and the map is read by means of a simple line that tells you which way to go to the nearest meter. It is not visually comparable to Google Maps, but in my opinion this is precisely the power of this cycling computer. It shows you what you need, nothing more. 

I always plan my route before I start cycling and then the Bryton Active app comes in handy. This app works seamlessly with the cycling computer and other cycling apps such as Strava, Komoot and Ride with GPS. It is therefore possible to load routes from these cycling apps via bluetooth into the Rider 420 or compose your own route in the Bryton Active app on the basis of maps and waypoints. When you are ready you will see a graph with the number of kilometres and altimeters. Especially in the mountains you will know exactly where you stand. In the app you can also fully customise the layout and content of the data fields.

The screen is another important point. It must be clearly legible under all circumstances. I was able to test this extensively in Italy and even in full sunshine it is no problem at all. According to the website, the battery lasts 35 hours, but in my experience this is too positive. Usually I could use the computer for two full days, so then you are talking about about 25 hours.

In conclusion I can say that this is the perfect cycling computer for when you want to have a lot of data at your disposal in one simple and affordable package. The GPS hasn't let me down for a minute outside mountain tunnels and especially in combination with the user-friendly Bryton Active app this gives you a lot of possibilities. The simple navigation gives you peace of mind, so you can fully focus on the roads and your sports performance.