LEZYNE MEGA C
£180
WEIGHT 76g SIZE 78mmx50mmx25mm SCREEN SIZE 34mmx45mm SCREEN TYPE 320 x 240 colour IN THE BOX Out-front mount, bar mount, micro USB cable WATERPROOF IPX7 MEMORY 800 hours BATTERY LIFE (CLAIMED) 32 hours
The setup of the Mega C is a little convoluted as you have to launch the desktop website, plug in the unit, download firmware updates then pair to the Lezyne Ally app. After that things get easier. The Ally app is slick and using your phone to plot routes is pleasing, it will offer numerous options for your route and the comprehensive search is welcome. Simply upload the route for turn-byturn navigation. Mapping requires you to download tiles for your area but make sure you download enough as on a couple of rides we extended beyond the boundaries, which meant the screen showed a breadcrumb trail while still informing you where to turn without any map. Downloading tiles also takes time: three minutes for a single tile so if you need multiple, you’ll need a Wi-Fi connection. You can use the breadcrumb trail routing only, but we’d rather have mapping.
It auto-orientates the map to your direction of travel and it reroutes well should you go off course. You can zoom in and out, but you can’t scroll maps. Alongside navigation it can track your progress (sending live updates via email).
The screen is decent but a little dim (even on 100 per cent backlight), which in grim weather was not as visible as we like.
If you leave the Ally app running on your phone then the head unit will show communications coming through your phone – calls, emails and text messages.
GPS pick up takes between 50 seconds and one minute and 13 seconds; sensor pick up is quick and stable too with no dropouts. Controls are four flankmounted buttons: on/off/return, enter, menu (switches pages) and lap (doubles as stop/start for recording). Operation is simple, but the small buttons aren’t great with gloves, so we found ourselves leaving it on one screen, rather than flipping pages. The mount is a sprung-fitment – push and twist to affix (like opening a pill bottle) and it’s very stable with no shakes even over the roughest road.
The unit is fully compatible with TrainingPeaks, Today’s Plan and Strava and the minimal size and price will appeal to riders looking for a small, unobtrusive, cost-effective GPS.
The Mega C claims a 32-hour battery life, with our testing using navigation and being fully connected to sensors and phone it wasn’t quite that long, but still in excess of 20 hours. Impressive stuff.
Overall, this is a smart little unit that, once set-up, does a decent job.