Garmin Edge 200

If you're the kind of person that likes to log your miles, but you're not the kind of person that analyses their heart rate zones after every ride, then the Garmin Edge 200 is for you. It's a super-simple GPS unit that has a fairly basic data set but makes keeping track of your mileage totals a piece of cake. It's not perfect - the limited display options will put some people off - but the simplicity and swappability between bikes will ensure its popularity.

Open the box and what falls out is the unit itself, a mount and USB cable. There's no software CD because it's not necessary (more on that later), and no magnet or sensor because you don't need one of them either; the Edge 200 uses GPS satellites to track your progress, recording your rides for uploading later, should you so wish, on the Garmin Connect website.

The Edge 200 shares the same casing as its costlier, ANT+ enabled sibling, the Edge 500. It's a bit bigger than a standard bike computer but pretty compact at 48 x 69 x 22mm. It attaches to your bars via a quarter-turn locking mount that's held in place by two O-rings. You can mount it either on the stem or bars, and on tri-bars too, and there's different sized O-rings for different mounting points. The locking mount means there's no way the Edge can fall off, although one thing that habitually does fall out is the rubber mat on the rear of the mount; I glued it on in the end. If even swapping the mount between your bikes is too much of a chore, spare mounts are available for not much.

GPS has various advantages over a standard computer. For a start it records where you've been, not just how far. It also makes for super-quick swapping between bikes: there's no need for a second sensor kit and you don't have to recalibrate for wheel size. If you have a stable of machines that get pulled out of the shed on the merits of any given Sunday, GPS computers make it a lot easier to log all your rides in one place.

Turn the Edge 200 on and it goes through a basic setup procedure, asking you to select a language and a unit format, along with some basic personal data that allows the computer to give you an estimate for calories burned on rides. Once you've clicked through those screens (there's no touch screen on the Edge 200) you're ready to go, and you'll be taken to the main menu with its four options: Ride, Courses, History and Settings.

Most of the time you'll be doing the following: hit 'Ride', wait for a GPS fix (normally takes about 10 seconds, and never more than 30; stay still for a quicker fix), hit 'Start' and head off on your ride. The Edge 200 will log your progress and give you speed, distance travelled and elapsed time in big, easy-to-read numbers across the majority of the 128 x 160 pixels screen. At the bottom there's a fourth data field will show average speed, calories burnt or total ascent (the Edge 200 uses GPS altitude data rather than a barometric sensor); you can also set it to scroll between the three.

There's none of the user-configurable data screens that you get with the pricier Edge 500 and Edge 800 units. This is partly understandable because without the ability to pair up an ANT+ heart rate strap, cadence sensor or power-measuring device, there's not so much data anyway. It does, however, mean that certain metrics can't be shown - gradient, for example, and maximum speed. This is a bit of a disappointment, as displaying your favourite data is one of the things that's so good about the Edge 200's bigger brothers.

The Edge 200 can be made to display lap data. It'll record a new lap every time you press the 'lap' button (natch), or you can set an automatic lap based on distance or time elapsed. On top of that, you can trigger a new lap based on position, which is handy if you're doing multiple circuits.

You get basic route functionality on the 200 in the Courses menu, similar to that which is available on Edge 500. Basically, it allows you to create a route on Garmin Connect (alternatively you can save one of the tracks from your history as a route) and follow it on the unit. There's no mapping, so all you get is a breadcrumb trail of dots, an arrow to show you which way you're going and an indication of how much of the route you've completed. You wouldn't want to rely on it if you were out on a big ride somewhere you didn't know, but it does at least show you which way it is back to the route, and it'll warn you if you stray. You can use Courses to load a training ride and then race against yourself using the virtual partner feature.

Weatherproofing is impressive. Although the USB port looks like it might be a weak point, it's not; there's internal waterproofing of the port and the whole unit is rated IPX7, meaning you can happily chuck it in the bath. Battery life is a claimed 14 hours; our test unit averaged a bit more than that on longer rides and a bit less on the daily commute, where all the powering up and satellite searching presumably uses up a bit more juice.

Uploading your rides to Garmin Connect is easy peasy - just plug the computer into a USB cable and head to the Connect website. You can download the Communicator Plugin and upload your logged rides seamlessly via the web browser of your choice. Once they're in there you can view them, rename them, make them public, compare them with other rides, make them into courses... lots of stuff.

On top of that you can set yourself goals - I've completed 12% of my 5,000km cycling goal for 2012 - and keep track of health metrics, should you so choose. As online activity tracking portals go, it's one of the best, and certainly a reason to look at Garmin units over those from other manufacturers. If you have a preferred non-manufacturer-specific portal then you'll be able to upload your activities so long as the portal will accept and parse Garmin .fit files, which many (including the popular TrainingPeaks) do.

All in all it's an impressive computer. Should you buy one? If you like having a computer on your bars and you want to log your miles - and nothing else - it's pretty hard to beat right now. Assuming you won't miss the ANT+ capability of more expensive GPS units, you can happily use it for all your tracking. You can even lob it in your pocket when you're running, if running's your bag.

The fact that it's simplicity itself to set up and move from one bike to another is the biggest draw. The biggest disappointment is the lack of customisation on the data screen, along with the fact that you can't add another screen.

The Bryton Rider 20 will make things interesting when it lands, offering ANT+ capability for less than £100 in a similar sized package to the Edge 200. There's plenty of people who won't be that interested in ANT+ though, and if you're one of them the Edge 200 is well worth investigating.

Verdict

Excellent, simple-to-use GPS computer for everyday mile logging backed up by powerful activity portal.