Best Cycling Computers 2022
The bike computer space was a hotly contested cycling tech arena for a while, with a slew of innovative brands emerging and pushing the established market leaders to provide software and hardware that offered great features at increasingly attractive prices. This progress stalled in the disruption that began in 2020 and will continue through 2022, meaning there aren’t too many new head units shaking the industry up right now.
The only notable addition during this period was the revised Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, adding new features and a color screen. Spoiler warning: it’s pretty much the best out there.
With a many devices and brands vying for attention, we’ve taken our ten favorite GPS cycling computers at a host of different price ranges to cut through the noise and help you make an informed decision.
The Best: Garmin Edge 530
The Edge 530 represents a change of philosophy for Garmin, and a change of fortunes too. Losing market share to upstarts Wahoo led to Garmin, already feature-heavy, to strive for the best feature set at every price point. The result was an elevation of the mid-range 500 series that’s hard to ignore: it’s capable of everything Garmin’s flagship Edge 1030 could do, and more, at half the price.
It’s a device equipped for road, mountain bike, and gravel, and at this price any traditional concerns that you’re paying for a huge number of features you’ll never use. The button-only interface–a potential negative for some riders–is really the only thing that separates it from the Edge 830, which costs $100 more.
Price: $299
Website: Garmin Edge® 530
The Best: Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
Wahoo’s Elemnt Bolt was revised in 2021, bringing a color screen, new features, and a lot more. (And sorry, ignore the picture, we haven’t updated it.) We thought long and hard about whether it deserves to be our number one, and came to a split verdict. Either the Edge 530, Edge 830, or Elemnt Bolt are the absolute best purchases you can make right now, and the decision comes down to personal preference.
Price: $299
Website: ELEMNT BOLT Road Bike Computer
Under $150
Our Pick: Stages Dash L10
Stages didn’t launch one bike computer in 2019, but three. The Dash L10 was the big surprise of the three: they’d taken their new, top-of-the-line L50 and made an affordable alternative that retained as many of the more expensive device’s features as possible.
There are some compromises–it’s a grayscale screen for starters–but it’s a serious device for performance cyclists at a surprising price. It’s gone from $400 to $300 (as the Stages Dash), to $150 (as the Stages Dash L10), and now reduced to a pocket change friendly $75.
Price: $75
Website: Stages Dash L10
Lezyne Super Pro
Don’t sleep on Lezyne, because their bike computers always offer incredible value and a ton of features. The $149.99 Super Pro, for example, does full navigation, phone notifications, live tracking, Strava Live Segments, training integration, smartlight support, and full sensor support. That’s more than the features you’d expect from bike computers twice the price. Oh, and it has 28 hours of battery runtime – another big Lezyne USP. The other head units in their stable go as high as 48 hours.
Price: $149.99
Website: Lezyne Super Pro
Under $250
Our Pick: Garmin Edge 130 Plus
With its update from Edge 130 to Edge 130 Plus, Garmin’s diminutive bike computer saw a feature elevation similar to that of the Edge 530. While it still doesn’t boast the same feature set as its big brothers, awesome tools like ClimbPro brought it from a small, budget device to a real rival to the Elemnt Bolt.
Price: $199.99
Website: Garmin Edge® 130 Plus
Stages Dash M50
We shouldn’t overlook the bike computer that won the 2020 Tour de France. The Stages Dash M50 has a smaller form factor than the L50, and also comes in $50 cheaper – these are both facts we appreciate. It includes excellent training features, great compatibility, and pretty much everything else you could possibly want. It also boasts an incredibly bright screen, if that suits you. Stages has been doing fantastic work keeping the M50 updated with regular software releases since its launch. It’s easily one of the best bike computers on the market today, and it’s continuing to get better.
Price: $249.99
Website: Stages Dash M50
Under $400
Our Pick: Garmin Edge 530
We said at the start of the article that the Edge 530 is our choice for the best bike computer available right now, so we won’t belabor the point. Price, features, support, and hardware all converge on this one spot. It’s just the best head unit you can buy.
Price: $299
Website: Garmin Edge® 530
Our Pick: Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
The Elemnt Bolt has become the head unit of choice for many cyclists, and for good reason. With a new, full color screen that makes it more attractive than ever, it’s likely to be the non-Garmin device on handlebars for a long time.
Price: $299
Website: Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt
Garmin Edge 830
In truth, there’s not much between the Edge 830 and the Edge 530. The 830 is $100 more, and uses a touch screen instead of buttons. The touchscreen also brings tap-based map navigation, which is hugely useful. But that’s it. Both devices look almost identical and run almost the exact same software. If a touchscreen matters to you, buy this instead.
Price: $399
Website: Garmin Edge® 830
Sigma Rox 12
The Sigma Rox 12 shook up the head unit space a couple of years ago, despite a quiet launch and only modest sales. It brought a great touchscreen and navigation, and paired both with an easy-to-use operating system. With supreme compatibility and an excellent feature set, this is a complete bike computer that’s already gained a cult following. Now at about $350, down from a ridiculous price that explains the slow sales at launch, it offers great value.
Price: $355.99
Website: Sigma Rox 12 (BikeInn)
Under $600
Leomo Type-S
Garmin has long had the high-end market to itself, and… well, it still does, really. We lean toward the innovators in the space, however, and it’s hard to overstate how innovative LEOMO have been with the Type-S. They’ve taken the technology they created for pro coaches and have tweaked it for regular consumers, with great success.
The device itself is part of a growing category of Android-based devices that skirt the line between head unit and smartphone–so much so that it even has a camera on the back. As well as being a great cycling computer (and multisport activity tracker), you can easily install Android apps, including running Zwift on the bike computer itself.
But where LEOMO is truly innovating is in its sensors, which are included with the Type-S. These sensors are motion-based, and allow you to analyze everything from your pedal strokes to your cycling position. You can even do a remote bike fit with the LEOMO team.
Price: $449.99
Website: LEOMO TYPE-S
Garmin Edge 1030 Plus
The Edge 1030 has long had the high-end category, and price point, to itself. At $600, it was positioned as the ultimate head unit for serious cyclists, and it still kind of is. Garmin’s commitment to adding value across its entire range has diminished the appeal of the Edge 1030 Plus though, largely setting screen size, storage, and battery life as its key differentiators from the cheaper Edge 830.
It remains one of the best bike computers available on the market right now, however, and Garmin’s support for it through updates so far suggests we’ll see more features added in future.
Price: $599.99
Website: Garmin Edge® 1030 Plus