Lezyne Super Navigate GPS Loaded Bundle

Lezyne's Super GPS is a likeable and good value unit with a good battery life and lots of connectivity. The app and web portal let it down a bit, but overall it's a very good package provided you don't want to plan long rides with turn-by-turn routing, or at least are prepared to jump through some hoops in order to do so.

• Pros: Lots of functionality, good value, good battery life
• Cons: Mount is a bit fiddly, route creation is poor

The GPS itself is a small unit (42.9mm x 67.8mm x 27.5mm), a bit smaller but a bit deeper than a Garmin Edge 520. There are four buttons, two on each side, which control all functions and menus, and an LCD screen in the middle. A covered micro USB port on the bottom takes care of charging and connecting to the PC, and there's Lezyne's own twist mount on the back. It's probably the most secure of any, requiring a firm push and twist to lock, but it's a bit fiddly to use and takes some getting used to.

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The buttons are fairly small and sometimes a bit hard to locate in gloves, but they're generally okay in use. It would be helpful to have up and down arrows printed by the buttons that do that in the menus; the buttons have arrows imprinted in the rubber but you don't look at the buttons when you're using them, so that isn't helpful.

What's in the box

The Loaded bundle includes both a stem mount and an out-front mount for the computer. Both work well, although the out-front one wasn't quite offset enough to get the computer central on my bike. If you're a bit OCD about these things that might get your eye twitching, but functionally it's fine.

The box also contains a heart rate strap and a speed/cadence sensor. They're both Bluetooth; the Super GPS can connect to both Bluetooth and ANT+ sensors. The HRM chest strap is a pretty standard bit of kit – save for the fact that the sensor pod is translucent red – and the speed/cadence sensor is the classic design with the chainstay-mounted cadence sensor and articulated arm for the wheel magnet. They were both pretty easy to set up and pair, and I didn't really have any issues with either.

Data displays

You can display lots of information on the Super GPS. There are five data screens available with up to eight data fields each, which means you can monitor up to 40 metrics of the 48 available, not that you ever would. Realistically, the size of the screen means four or five fields is the useful maximum, and I tended to spread the things I like to see between two screens of three or four fields, just so the numbers were a bit bigger on screen.

On top of that, if you're following a route you'll get a screen for turn-by-turn navigation (if you've got that) and a map screen with a line to follow. Turn-by-turn announcements also pop up over the other screens.

Realistically, you're going to want to pair your phone with the Super GPS, because that opens up a bunch of functionality that you otherwise won't get. The phone app is decent enough, although I'd like to see Lezyne work on the speed and stability of the uploads, which are much slower than Garmin, for example, for a similar amount of data.

Routing following & planning

Routing on the phone app is a bit basic: tell the app where you want to go and you'll get a couple of options for how to get there. If you're a bit stuck and lost it might come in handy, and I also used it for journeys to places nearby where I wasn't sure of exactly where my destination was, but realistically it's not how you'll be doing your route planning, most of which will involve circular routes from a base.

The routing on the GPS Root website is a bit better, but still pretty clunky. You have to set all your waypoints and then calculate the route; the system will give you a couple of options but you can't drag the route around like you can in Strava. Moving the waypoints around means editing and dragging, then recalculating. If you want to add a waypoint in, you need to add it at the end, then move it up by clicking arrows in the list. Overall I'd class the interface here as poor. It needs work, and although I've created some short routes it's an ordeal to do anything over about 50km.

You can do your route planning elsewhere and just upload a GPX or TCX file, but you don't always get the turn-by-turn instructions that way. Strava GPX and TCX files just give you the route, although there are other routing websites that will work: RideWithGPS TCX files import just fine with instructions, and the route planning on that site is very good. Anyway, the bottom line here is that if you want to create routes to follow then the Lezyne portal is quite a long way from being your best option.

The turn-by-turn instructions on the Super GPS are pretty good. You'll need your phone to be paired with your unit, and you elect to follow a route on your phone. Once you've done that the Leyzne will guide you to the start of the route, or navigate you round it if you're already on it. Turn instructions mostly come up in plenty of time and you get audible warnings of a turn too.

One thing that doesn't really work well is roundabouts: you get an 'enter roundabout' prompt, then an 'exit roundabout' one only when you're on it, which is too late. The routing doesn't tell you which exit to take either, only how far it is. Basically, have a good look at the route before you get to the roundabout. The same is true for staggered junctions: you don't get much warning of the second turn. Again, best to be on the route screen.

If you go off course you can ask the Lezyne to re-route you. Again, your phone does this, and it requires a data signal, so if you're lost in the hills above Llanwrtyd Wells it's not going to be a lot of help. Assuming you have a connection, though, it works pretty well. I spent a happy hour deliberately going wrong and seeing what the GPS came up with. In all instances it was a route that would get me to where I was going, and in most cases it was a sensible route too. There was the odd anomaly but it would get you home in a fix.

If you have a route in your Super GPS that you've imported from elsewhere then following the line is pretty simple and works as well as it does on a Garmin. There's no map, of course, and acute junctions can be a bit trial-and-error, but generally speaking it's easy enough. If you head off-route the Lezyne boots you back to the overview of the route, but you can click back to the follow page and see where you are in relation to where you should be.

Sync your rides

Lezyne's app and desktop portal play pretty nicely with Strava and TrainingPeaks; if you sync your Strava account then you can sync your rides on upload, so you don't need to go fiddling around in the portal every time. You can also sync your starred segments in Strava, and then you get some live information when you ride them: the GPS will tell you if one is coming up, and you'll get a distance to go and a timer on the segment. It's not as good as Strava's mobile app, which gives you a graphical representation of you versus your PR and the KOM, but it works pretty well.

Battery life & charging

Battery life on the Super GPS is really good. Lezyne claims up to 24 hours of run-time; that's presumably with the backlight off, but I've never got anywhere even close to running the Lezyne down in a day's riding. You can charge it on the go, and the USB port is sensibly positioned to make that simple if you're running the stem mount; less so if you have the out-front mount as the stem plate is in the way. The battery life makes it a good option for audax and touring, and it means you can have it on your bike for ages before you need to plug it into the wall.

The Lezyne Super GPS is good value for money. For the RRP of £200 you're getting good battery life, ANT+ and Bluetooth connectivity with sensors included, the ability to upload directly to Strava and to display Strava live segments, really good battery life... There's a lot to like about it, and you can pick it up for a good bit less than the retail price if you shop around.

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The Super GPS isn't quite as slick-looking as the cheaper Garmins but it's packing more in for the money, and functionally I didn't have any problems with it.

Verdict

Very good compact GPS that packs in a lot of functionality; the app and portal need work though