Memory-Map Bike 270 Pro GPS Review

This Bike 270 Pro is a GPS designed specifically for cycling, but can be used for running, walking or just as a pedometer. Memory-Map are known for their digital mapping, and GPS devices which can show these maps either in their entirety, or broken down in routes, waypoints, co-ordinates and so on.

Out of the box, the package is extremely impressive - the build quality looks high, and it feels very robust.

One feature I instantly liked is how it connects to a PC, via a cable with universal USB and micro USB terminals, compatible with other devices. If you are travelling with phones, GPS, tablets, heart rate monitors and so on, you can end up taking a variety of plugs and cables. Or, of course, forgetting a vital cable. Hence having a standard cable simplifies things.

The package contains a basic manual, but this is supplemented by a comprehensive downloadable manual which you can save as a PDF. This is perfect for me - once I have set it up, I rarely refer to the manuals again, so don't want a hard copy, but like an electronic copy as back up.

Connecting the unit to a bicycle is very easy, and has been well designed.

The quick release fitting sits on a plastic mount which is indented underneath to fit around a tube, such as a handlebar. This arrangement scores in two areas - you can rotate the mount by 90°, which means that you can mount the GPS on a tube at right angles to the direction of the bike, such as the handlebars, or in alignment with the direction of the bike, such as the stem.

This might not seem much, but if you have lights, bells, top tube mounted brakes such as on a cyclo-cross bike and so on, then your handlebars may be full and you have to mount it on your stem. This is precisely the case with my Fixie bike which I use for work, with two lights and a bell on the handlebars, I have to mount the GPS on the stem. On my winter bike, I have room for handlebar fitting.

The other great aspect of the fitting is it is secured by QR zip-ties. Again, this may not sound hugely impressive, but it adds to the ubiquity of the GPS; if you have oversize bars you can easily fit it. Given the zip-ties, you could also mount it longitudinally on the top tube if you really wanted. I have several (admittedly cheap) lights which cannot fit onto a 31.6mm handlebar.

Setting it up is easy.

When I first receive a gadget like this, I prefer to discover it in stages and learn more with each successive ride. I also learn it on roads I know; I would not want to find I could not understand its directions in an unknown area.

However, I did come across some problems when trying to register the product online, and then in trying to use the recognised software (ezPlanner). I already have Memory Map products, so am registered. When going to the recommended website (mentioned in the brief catalogue with the Bike 270 Pro), I could not register the product, the error message being "Product Not Recognised". I contacted customer services via email on a Sunday, who responded very quickly by 9:39am on the following Monday with a link which worked. I could then register the product immediately.

More frustration followed as I wanted to use the ezPlanner software, but again the link contained in the otherwise excellent digital instruction manual proved incorrect again. This time, I Googled ezPlanner, and it gave me a website on which I could download the software.

The 270 Pro has the ability to show a host of data: altitude (in various formats, including both total ascent and total descent), distance, speed, time, compass direction, gradient, pace (as in km/min), best pace, total calories, calories burnt in this session, co-ordinates, etc.

It can also show heart rate and cadence if you have the separately purchased sensors (these came with mine). It can be toggled through various customisable screens, which is a feature I loved. For instance, I live in a fairly flat area, so altitude is normally of little relevance to me, but when I go mountain biking in the Yorkshire Dales, the gradient and the total ascent are of far more interest.

Another very impressive feature was that the GPS immediately picked up a signal even inside my house. I use a running GPS, which until you know it in detail appears that you can only set it up when you have a signal. So, on that occasion I had to spend time in my garden in winter trying to input my weight, age, the time and various other pieces of data.

After setting up the BikePro, I set off. I hadn't tightened up the zip ties that tight, as I intended to swap the bike mount between bikes, but the unit was stable on the handlebars. My first ride was in freezing conditions, with thick winter gloves on, and once I became used to the unit, toggling between screens became quite easy - it would be a doddle with summer or fingerless gloves. Again, a piece of well thought out design.

Chunky buttons are infinitely preferable to touch screen bezels or similar.

On the standard Sport Mode screen the front screen is slightly strange, with a speedo type dial. Nothing wrong with that, but the main readout on the same non-customisable screen is also speed, the duplication seeming a waste of space. Additionally, the speedo goes up to 80mph!

The amount of data coming back to you is great, it is really interesting switching between screens to check your altitude and compass bearing. Most screens are fairly legible, and you can customise the backlight or leave it on constantly. The plot screen is slightly odd, as it shows a graph of speed with time (as I set it up) but unfortunately doesn't scan with time, so you have to keep scanning to the right to see your current speed.

Overall though, on the road, the unit is really good, and on my first ride I compared it with my Garmin GPS running watch, and a Cat Eye bike computer. It was much more reactive to speed than the Garmin, only slightly lagging the bike computer, which works off a magnet on the wheel, so that can alter every wheel rotation. All three were pretty consistent for distance.

Connecting to the ezPlanner post-ride brought more issues. It uploaded very well, but some of the programme was in Chinese, even though clearly I had selected the English language as default.

I struggled to plot a route on the ezPlanner initially as there is no help facility. Once I had it sorted, saving it as a GPX file and downloading it to the unit was easy, but I am not impressed with the ezPlanner software as a whole.

Where it did score highly was that I already use Memory-Map, and have the OS digital map of all the National Parks in Great Britain. Digging out my previously input routes, I found them really easy to download to the unit. This is a major win for me - I like to find new mountain bike routes, and previously I have had to print them off as hard-copy and navigate this way. This can be extremely tedious, as you have to keep stopping to check your position against a paper map, but the Bike 270 Pro solves this straightaway.

When using the 'Follow Route' mode, the unit is generally very impressive. After some familiarisation, it becomes quite easy to set the screen up to how you want. However, my first ride in this mode was in cold, soaking conditions, and I found it quite a challenge trying to flick between screens in Track Mode, which shows the actual route.

I preferred to be in GPS mode, where the position of the bike is in the middle of the screen and the direction you are travelling comes in from the top of the screen - a bit like looking through a windscreen.

In Compass Mode, North is to the top of the screen, i.e. if you are heading East, it comes in from the right. Flicking from Compass to GPS mode can be done easily, but going the other way I seemed to exit the Track Mode. When you go back in, the unit seemed to default to a large scale map, and then you have to set it up again to get the Pan (where the cursor is positioned on the screen) and Zoom (right scale for the map) screens as you want them.

The main selection on the Bike Pro is carried out using a little joystick, which you move to select options, or press to confirm selections. When wearing thick winter gloves, it can be difficult to differentiate between toggling or pressing the joystick, especially when you are also concentrating on poor road surfaces, rain, avoiding puddles and potholes, let alone other traffic.

Hence I kept selecting the wrong option, and had to keep stopping to remove my gloves to correct this, which is not a good option on a cold, wet Yorkshire winter ride.

I totally accept that familiarity will eradicate this issue, but it is still a bit frustrating. Some of the unit's functions did not feel that intuitive, and an electronic manual on a computer is no use when you are out on the road - obviously you could photocopy relevant pages and take them with you, but these days I would expect good enough design to avoid having to do that.

On a more positive note, the BikePro is very accurate in a GPS sense, and when I had set it up to give me a screen to suit my speed, ride etc, it was very easy to follow the route (shown as a line diagram).

Even after just one ride, I would have total confidence in setting out on unknown roads and not getting lost, which is really the main point of a GPS. It also gives latitude/longitude position, so if you did need call for assistance, that may be of benefit.

I initially used the Bike Pro in poor light, and pouring rain, so I turned the backlight on permanently and found the screen easy to see, even through rain-soaked clear glasses. Even with the backlight on, the battery charge icon remain unmoved after an hour's riding, so I would suggest that battery life is very good, certainly enough for a normal days riding.

I am also very confident of the weatherproofing of the unit.

The HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) is also accurate, I put on my Polar as a comparison, and the readings were very similar. You cannot use other screens whilst in HRM Training Mode, but in reality when I am using a HRM in anger, I tend to be training on roads I know. You can get the HRM readout on Sport Mode screens in general riding, which is great for information on standard rides, or if you just want to stay in, say, Zone 2.

Summing up, once you get used to it, making, uploading and downloading Memory-Map routes is very easy, but the software is nowhere near as good as the hardware and I found it somewhat 'Nineties'. And for some of it to remain in Chinese even after selecting the English language option is definitely off-putting.

However, with practise it does the job.

I instantly liked the physical unit. It is robust, smart, light and it certainly received some appreciative glances from other cyclists. Additionally, things like battery life, GPS and HRM accuracy, and portability between different bikes are all big pluses.

When out on a ride, it does take some time to learn how to flick between screens, and the size and feel of the controls can be rendered difficult by wearing winter gloves, but in a Yorkshire winter that is a necessity.

My general impression is that it will be a fantastic buy for those who will use the GPS function more than the speed/distance functions. If you frequently ride different routes on unknown roads or tracks, you could do far worse than this - as a digital route indicator, it is very good, with highly accurate GPS mapping.

Buy it in the summer, become familiar with its functions and screens on known roads in good conditions, and you can have total confidence that you can then head off into the unknown once you have become accustomed to it.

At around £170, including a HRM and cadence sensor, this is good value for money, especially if it eliminates the need for separate maps.

It's also worth saying that we've spoken to Memory-Map and they've acknowledged the weaknesses in the ezPlanner software and are working on improving this.