Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be reviewing the CYCPLUS M2 GPS cycling computer.
While GPS computer features can vary a lot between brands visually they tend to all
look the same. That isn't the case with the CYCPLUS M2 which has a distinct round profile
that's something we've only seen with a few brands or the very expensive Omata computer.
Now packaging-wise CYCPLUS has gone with a simple design. You have the graphic on the
front GPS computer on there and basic labeling. You also have an app and our friend steven at
CYCPLUS which is your warranty person. So we'll go ahead and take out the box and go over the specs.
Retail price on this is actually $99 but it is on sale and like a lot of things on websites they're
usually always on sale for about $70 so definitely an affordable option. It has a 2.5 inch round
display which is something that's very unique you don't see that with cycling computers.
It has a 30 hour run time with 1100 milliamp battery integrated battery with USB Type-C
charging as well and you can even run this while you're charging it so that's a nice feature of USB
Type-C. You have Ant+ and Bluetooth technology so you can connect this to an app to your power
meter to a hardware monitor or cadence sensor. Finally you have a Garmin style mount so you can
use this with any variety of existing mounts on the market. In terms of what comes with the device
you can see we get a charging cable so USB Type-C which again really nice to see with newer
computers. You have o-rings and a standard little handlebar mount I would highly recommend just
using the out front mount but this has a rubber mount and then these little tabs you just route
the little o-rings up and around and you seem to get it looks like you have one extra one as well
if you were to lose one. You have the instruction manual which is written in this nice blue
pretty thick and actually more of a booklet here but that's just because it has multiple languages.
Now let's take a look at the weight of the computer so just the computer by itself
that comes in at 70 grams so quite light and then the handlebar mount with the two
o-rings and a little rubber backing that's all plastic so 10 grams again quite light.
So now let's go over the fit and finish of the CYCPLUS M2. What's so cool about this computer
is that it is round you don't typically see round computers and it is pretty large at two and a half
inches so nice large display. Now there's a reason you don't see round displays it doesn't really
make that much sense you can see it's harder to display the actual field versus a rectangle grid
but it's definitely cool to have and this will stand out on your handlebar.
This is a just a big puck so you can see fairly thick because of the battery. Garmin mount on
the back which is really nice to see you don't have to use proprietary mounts you can use any
mount you already have. USB type-c charging port on the back which again really nice modern feature
a lot of devices still use micro usb but with USB Type-C you can simply use your existing cable.
There's actually no branding on the sides either you have four buttons two on the sides
on each side just rubber they don't appear to be labeled with decent tactile feel. CYCPLUS on the
top and this orange ring on the rear and on the front with little indicators of what the buttons do.
They're pretty simple to use and as far as setting it up we'll show that on the bike but you can see
the display is a standard lcd display so everything's pre-assigned a position which is
one big limiting factor for these more affordable computers. The hardware is just simply a lower end
but with this one you can connect sensors as well as power meters which is nice to see
and you do have an app to do some basic configuration.
Now let's go over the setup of the cyclus computer you can see a very unique profile we
haven't mounted on our Topeak UTF out front mount. You can see it's dual sided so i have my light
and then I simply put the computer on top. Thanks to the Garmin mounts you don't
need any adapters or anything special so let's go ahead and set up the computer.
It's pretty simple you don't really have to do much you can just turn it on and ride
but there are some configuration options. Hold the top right button now
your enter the configuration menu because of the screen design you don't have logos displayed
so you have to kind of guess where you're doing. It says C2 so configuration page two there's no c1
that indicates the sensor connectivity so if you want to connect them you want to confirm
with the top left. Now it's going to connect to anything it can so it'll connect to power meters,
heart rate monitor or cadence sensor. So you see i found my cadence monitor already
so now i have cadence displayed. Anything you don't have will actually just be blank here which is one side
effect of this design it is pretty rigid so if you don't have it you don't have it. Let's go back
to the configuration option so that's C2 so we're done with the sensor configuration press it again.
C3 here you kind of have to guess it's flashing which indicates we haven't confirmed we want to
change it yet this is the diameter of the wheel and millimeters you don't need to modify this if
you don't have a speed sensor. This is only needed if you have a speed sensor to properly compute
speed and distance so we'll just leave it as is and go to c4 again. You have to guess what this is
this is the time zone if you want to change it top left and now you can see the number here so
here is the bottom left button we'll cycle through the options so i'll go
through hours and minutes and then to change the value you can press the top right button
and you can only press the top right button to cycle up so you have to go all the way through
to the value you want. It
is a little bit cumbersome so find the value you want you just have to look this up
once you're happy with it you want to confirm that you're done so top left button. Now
it's flashing so i'm ready to go next page c5 here shows miles per hour so this is your clue
this is the unit display so if i do want to change it i'll press the top left button
to say yes i want to change it and then to change it. I'm going to now press the
top right button so miles per hour kilometers an hour once you're happy with it pick miles
per hour select it with the top left and now it's flashing again so i can go to the next page.
So here again c6 what is that it is the temperature so you'll see it up
in the corner so it's fahrenheit i'll click the button to change it
and you can see i can pick between celsius or fahrenheit we'll leave it on fahrenheit
go to the next page. This is the factory reset so this one i'm not going to do but you hold the
bottom left button and that would do a full factory reset and that's it so
you press it again it'll cycle through. So hold it so now we're essentially ready to ride so pretty
simple. As far as the buttons when you're riding this is the light on and off it is a manual backlight
not automatic. You can cycle through the options with that top right button hold it to the enter
configuration menu press it to cycle through. You have a set number of pages so no real
configuration here you can only show these in pairs. So it'll cycle through altitude / gradient,
distance / odometer and then max average or real time value. You can iterate your laps
and then you can start and stop a recording so press the top left once that play button there.
I'm recording and that's about it now in terms of riding with the CYCPLUS it's pretty easy
to use. You just press play to start recording and reception comes quickly if you turn it on outside.
There's not much real configuration and all these sensors seem to respond very quickly. The round
profile also looks really cool as you can see here it'll really stand out on the bike as it's
not something you typically see and it's quite large as well. The only really negatives with the
computer is the fact that it is a little bit dim so especially when you're wearing sunglasses you
can't really see the screen as well as some other computers on the market and then the button sequence
for saving activities that's also a little bit strange. So you press play with the top left button
press pause again with the top left and then you have to hold the bottom left button
so it's a little bit unusual. Normally you just hold the play or pause button
to save a ride so with this one it's easy to forget and unlike other computers it won't
remind you to start doing the recording so you do have to remember to press the play button.
Now let's take a look at the CYCPLUS app, so with this one you don't actually use the CYCPLUS app
but the XOSS app and you can see here the M2 is listed on the main page. You can also use the Coospo
as well as XOSS computers with the same app. So click on the M2 now you can connect it
so bluetooth is on so i'll find it and then quickly connect. You'll see the indicator on
the computer as well. Now here's where you'll see all the workouts so it takes a little bit of time
to sync up any rides you may have so you have to wait for that. So click settings to
view any available settings and you can see there's actually only two options here which
is a little bit disappointing. You can't actually do much with the app you can't do any of the normal
configuration available on the computer instead you can just check the version make sure that's
up to date as they do fix bugs or do a reset. So the main reason to actually use this app and
sign up is to use Strava or TrainingPeak syncing. That'll allow you to automatically upload rides
from the computer to the app and right through to Strava or TrainingPeak so a great way to
quickly do that upload instead of manually doing it. You can also use the app
to record your rides but as with a lot of these kind of apps they're a little bit clunky.
You might get stuck on loading screens and i've even seen some pages where the languages is not
really set properly but otherwise really simple to use and again mainly use it for the syncing.
Now let's compare the CYCPLUS M2 and other computers. We reviewed quite a few more budget
oriented computers so you can actually compare them directly we even have another CYCPLUS this
is the G1 which is the most affordable variation. About $30 very similar design and they simply took
the higher end configuration and the interface and just reduce it to a more basic design.
So it's very similar in terms of functionality but you can see with the
M2 it's more similar to the M1 and the fact that you can connect sensors with this one you cannot
but you have the same kind of display with the round design it does look a lot cooler though.
You can see thickness and everything looks the same but it just simply looks cool on your bike.
There's other affordable options like the Coospo BC26 that we recently reviewed.
Very similar again it's more like the G1 we have here you cannot connect sensors more limited
display, very limited configuration options and no adjustability as far as where everything is shown.
So with the M2 you're paying a little bit more but you get the nice features and you can connect your
sensors so you can actually look at your rpm, heart rate and other things. At this price point you can
also see Sharen has their Miles GPS computer. This will connect power meter has a simple three-page
design nice loud beep and you can actually do some minor configuration with their app and even
connect their taillight which is really cool and then you can turn the tail light on and off. That's
something that CYCPLUS doesn't have again you're paying for the round kind of cool form
factor on this. At the higher end we have the Bryton Rider 750. This is a little bit over 200
a touch screen color monitor that's a big difference between the more affordable
computers like these CYCPLUS and higher end ones you simply just don't get the features
and with the higher resolution display you can do cool things like a round display for speed
bar graphs and other more flexible options. The other big difference is if you show like a menu
they can actually do overlays which is something you just can't do
on the site plus because everything's pre-assigned a position.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for the CYCPLUS M2 cycling computer. What we like about
it is it has a unique design, the round profile something you really don't see on the market
and really stands out on the bike. It also has a USB Type-C interface
and even supports on-the-go charging so if you have a power bank you could plug it in
and keep charging the computer as you ride. Finally it has a Garmin style quarter turn mount
which means you can use a computer with a variety of third-party mounts right out of the box.
Some of the negatives to the computer is the fact there's no real customization
especially at this higher price point usually you can at least rearrange some of the fields.
You also the saving recording interface is not that intuitive. As I mentioned you have to press
play hold a different button to save it so you can easily just power it off and forget to save.
Finally you're not really able to set the odometer or any bike profiles which again are pretty
common features at this higher price point. Taking everything into account would give the
CYCPLUS an 8.6 out of 10. It is a unique looking cycling computer that's still quite affordable.
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