Garmin Edge 130 could save your life, and is the ultimate bike upgrade for under £200

published 19 April 2018

Cycling is great as a bike gives you the ability to get fit and explore further than your mere feet alone can carry you. A cycle computer is a perfect upgrade as they can act as both a satnav and an on-bike activity tracker. They can be expensive, but that's where the Garmin Edge 130 comes in, with the computer and a heart-rate monitor costing you less than £200.

Garmin is one of the leaders when it comes to cycle computers, so when it announced there was a super affordable but super smart GPS device incoming, it was always going to be met with excitement.

It’s like a personal guide which doesn’t distract from the ride ahead, with GPS for navigation and so you can track your speed and distance, and a barometer so you know how high you've climbed. Turn-by-turn navigation is via on-screen prompts and voice, and it's not just for roads: the best mountain and gravel routes have been crowd-sourced from cyclists worldwide.

Another key feature is Assistance, which will your location directly to the emergency services in cases of unpleasantness. Hopefully you won't ever have to use this, but it's reassuring to have it along for the ride.

The Garmin Edge 130 offers you features such as turn by turn navigation to allow you to explore safe in the knowledge you won’t get lost, all while keeping focused. This device is for any bike, not just road, so it can be set for mountain bike rides if you’re in the mood to off-road.

The battery life of a hefty 15 hours should be plenty to keep you going all day, no matter where you ride to. There’s also the option to connect a heart rate monitor and power meter for more personal metrics like HR, power and cadence.

The Edge 130 will Bluetooth connect to your phone so any calls or messages won’t be missed but will appear on screen so you can decide if you need to stop and respond. There are even weather alerts so you know if it’s time to turn tail and head home if rain is coming.

The Garmin Edge 130 is available now for £169.99 alone, or with a heart rate sensor for £200. You can also get it in an off-road bundle with a mountain bike mount, remote control and silicone case, again for £199.99.

Luke is a former freelance writer for T3 with over two decades of experience covering tech, science and health. Among many others Luke wrote about health tech, software and apps, VPNs, TV, audio, smart home, antivirus, broadband, smartphones, cars and plenty more. In his free time, Luke used to climb mountains, swim outside and contort his body into silly positions while breathing as calmly as possible.