Bryton GARDIA R300L Rearview Radar and Tail light and Bryton Rider 750 SE bike computer SLSR Review

By Rick Schultz and Sue Rowland

https://www.brytonsport.com/#/R750SE

Price MSRP: US $249.99

Source: Bike shops, Amazon, websites

Features: 240x 400 pixels, 2.8” color TFT touchscreen LCD display, BLE (iOS & Android)

ANT+ Sensors: HR, Cadence, Speed, Power, Radar, Light

Compatibility: Di2, eTap, EPS

Battery Life: up to 40 hours

Satellites: GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou, QZS S

How obtained: manufacturer sample

Summary: Compared to Garmin Edge 840 ($499.99)

https://www.brytonsport.com/#/GardiaR300L

Price MSRP: US $129.99

Source: Bike shops, Amazon, websites

Features: Taillight and radar

How obtained: Manufacturers Sample

Summary: Compared to Gamin Varia RTL515 ($199.99)

Disclosure: I (Rick) have been working with Bryton in a coaching/consulting position for the past four years, recommending features that make sense for cycling computers.

My view is that cycling computer manufacturers need to add functionality to stay competitive in the market. But how much is too much? Most of the features that have been added to top tier cycling computers over the past 3-4 years can and would best be addressed in a dedicated training application or by the cyclist’s coach. Training Peaks and Golden Cheetah are two good examples of applications that are specifically designed to analyze a cyclist’s performance metrics and determine the best training approach to help them reach their peak performance goals.

In my opinion, there are already too many metrics – e.g. Garmin Edge 1040 has 176 different performance metrics that can be tracked including 17 heart functions and 32 power related functions, Bryton Rider 750SE has 103 different performance metrics that can be tracked including 12 heart functions and 21 power related functions. Providing cyclists with so many trackable metrics distracts them from focusing on actual training. That being said, Bryton has done a better job at keeping the number of metrics to a ‘minimum’ than Garmin.

For example, the table below shows the bare minimum fields I use when training

I think one very useful addition to the Bryson portfolio is a rear radar-cycling light that can alert cyclists when vehicles are approaching the rider from the rear. Over the past few years, cycling in Southern California has become very dangerous, with several cyclists posting their interactions with cars to their social media accounts often times from their hospital beds. What is even more sad is that about once-a-month, there is a news story about a juvenile being killed while riding their e-bike. So, in my opinion, anything that can help save a cyclist from injury or death is a very good thing. And I am happy to see that Bryton has developed a ‘safety’ product to help save cyclists’ lives.

Knowing that this is a brand-new product and Bryton is brand new to this technology, they have done a good job integrating it into their new GPS RIDER 750SE cycling computer.

In general, the unit was a little ‘clunky’ in getting setup and configured and I am sure that Bryton will make this more seamless in future versions. But kudos to Bryton for listening to the testers in building new products. This is one great thing about Bryton — they listen to their audience!

Missing – I would like to see a higher tier product (maybe a GARDIA R400L) that has an integrated rear camera that would take video of vehicles approaching from the rear. These videos would help to document vehicle/cycle accidents as well as vehicle license plates. I would also like to see the development of a radar device that would capture video from the side (ex. left side for USA, right side for UK) allowing documentation of vehicles cutting off cyclists, kids throwing items at cyclists, etc. Finally, I would like to see the development of an integrated forward-facing video device that could take video of the rear end of the cars that would capture cars cutting off cyclists, brake-checking cyclists, etc. Since all cars are required to have a rear license plate, but not necessarily a front license plate, a front mounted camera is very much needed.

I tested both the Bryton RIDER 750SE cycling computer and the Gardia R300Lfor several days, and the units performed well. It took a little while to get used to the new user interface, but once you get the hang of the colors, etc., it makes sense.

I then handed the units off to Sue, who continued with more detailed testing. Sue also uses a small mirror that attaches to her cycling sunglasses to monitor rear traffic, and her results were interesting.

Here is Sue’s report.

Online user manual – https://www.brytonsport.com/download/Manual/UM/Rider750/Rider750-UM_EN_woHF.pdf

While not directly tested, this computer has a wide range of uses not often included in a mid-level cycling computer.

The data collected by the Bryton computer are compared to those collected by a Wahoo Element Bolt computer.

In general, the ride statistics were very close.

I routinely use a small mirror attached to my riding sunglasses to monitor car traffic behind me when I ride. That said, I was unsure how a radar system would enhance my ability to detect rear vehicles.

I used the light paired with the Rider 750 SE and also ran the iPhone app Bryton Gardia. The app was set up to have the phone deliver audio signals that were synchronized to the visual auto detection display that appears on the far-right edge of the bike computer screen. I had my phone in my jersey pocket so at one point during the ride, I stopped and took screen shots of the app screen to determine how well the image displayed the vehicles approaching from the rear.

Audio signals are produced when the vehicle is up to 190 meters away which is about the distance that the vehicle can be detected using a rearview mirror. The duration of the tones produced and the sounds themselves indicate the relative speed of the approaching vehicle with higher numbers of and louder beep signals indicating a faster approaching vehicle. An all-clear sound is given when the car has left the radar field.

The audio signals in and of themselves are very useful and do improve safety by alerting the rider of a rear coming vehicle allowing time for the rider to make appropriate adjustments.

Visual auto detection display that appears on the far-right edge of the bike computer screen.

The screen display on the Rider 750 SE computer was very difficult to see. It is located on the far right of the screen and is a bit too small to be easily seen at a glance, which is about as much time as you have to look since when a vehicle is approaching (you should be watching the side of the road and not the computer screen).

If computers want to show the bar it should be about twice as wide, so it is easily visible while cars are approaching. Alternatively, a rider would mount their phone on their bike and run the Bryton Gardia app on the phone which is how I obtained the images shown below.

The audio signal does not accurately inform the rider about multiple vehicles. When more than one vehicle is approaching from the rear, the audio signal does not reliably indicate how many vehicles are present and may give an all-clear signal when in fact, there is a vehicle that is now next to the rider.

I found that the use of a mirror with audio tones to be very effective in these instances. Use of an iPhone to display the vehicle location bar would be another way to improve this problem or even having the screen another 50% wider.

The images below show the sequence of changes seen on the iPhone when normal speed, faster speed, or multiple vehicles approached from the rear.

The yellow sequence was associated with a 2-beep audio tone indicating normal car speed. Once in front of my bike, the screen and tone indicated all clear.

The red sequence – 4 beep warning signal of oncoming vehicle fast approaching. Turned out there a second vehicle was quite close to the first one that was detected. There were not two sets of warning signals indicating two vehicles. The first all clear signals came before the following car was clear.

All-in-all, for the price, it’s a great pair of products for giving the cyclist more information so they can stay safer on the road. Are these worth buying? I say YES.

Coach Rick Schultz is an avid cyclist who trains, races and coaches in Southern California. Rick is an engineer by trade, and in addition to being a coach, he’s a bike fitter and prolific product reviewer. He’s the author of Stretching & Core Strengthening for the Cyclist in the RBR eBookstore. Check his product reviews website, www.biketestreviews.com, and his coaching site, www.bikefitnesscoaching.com. Click to read Rick’s full bio.

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