Last month Lezyne rolled out a new integration with Komoot and Relive, as part of what they see as their primary substantial firmware update for the 2020 season. It applies to a slate of GPS units (including the higher end Mega C and Mega XL, but also the various derivatives and lesser priced versions). Now my initial intent wasn’t actually to necessarily focus on the Relive/Komoot piece specifically, but I got distracted while toying with their connected lights. These lights are controllable from their bike computers, though, they don’t follow the ANT+ lighting spec (so they won’t work with others).
I’ve been riding with them as daylight lights a bit here and there, but given it’s summer in Europe (and the Northern Hemisphere), it doesn’t actually get legit dark out in Amsterdam till around 10:45-11PM. Maybe later tonight I’ll finally take some night-photos out on the streets. So, hang tight on the lights!
Till then, let’s talk about the Komoot & Relive integration. Of course, Lezyne isn’t Komoot’s only recent win. We saw their integration with the Garmin Course API back in early May too. And ultimately, this is pretty darn similar from an end-user perspective. Which is also pretty similar to what Komoot and Wahoo have. The long and the short of it is that you can now sync your Komoot routes directly to your Lezyne unit.
Oh, and with the new addition of Relive, you can now sync there too – ideal if you lost your Strava to Relive footpath last summer.
Komoot Integration:
The first order of business, if you haven’t yet done so, is to upgrade your firmware. In the case of Lezyne units this must be done via USB to your computer. Unfortunately no over the air (WiFi or Bluetooth) upgrades here. But the process is pretty simple with their updater app, which you can download here for Mac or PC.
Now, once that’s done, ensure your iOS or Android app is all updated. It’s likely by now that’s already happened. But if you haven’t done so…umm…do so.
Next, within that app, you’ll choose the ‘More’, then select ‘Komoot’. It’ll do a few step Komoot/Lezyne authentication request/confirm/re-confirm tango with you, and in a few seconds you’ll be ready.
Now’s a good time to remember to download the offline map for your area if you haven’t already. This allows you to navigate when you don’t have phone connectivity. The way Lezyne units work is that they can either leverage phone connectivity for turn by turn navigation, or, you can use the offline maps for your region. The map downloads are via Bluetooth (which is handy), but, it’s also a wee bit slow (because….Bluetooth). So my 82MB map of the rough Amsterdam metro area took about 8 mins to download to the unit. No biggie, I just got coffee while it did that.
Next, go into the ‘Navigation’ tab on the Lezyne smartphone app, and then choose the menu at the top right and select ‘Komoot Tours’. From there, you’ll get a list of Komoot tours directly from Komoot live.
You’ll go ahead and tap on one, which will show the map, and elevation profile (as well as distance). Once ready, hit the ‘Go’ button, which will transfer it to your Lezyne unit, and off you go.
Once out and about, you’ll get turn by turn instructions on the Lezyne GPS, along with a black and white map that’s similar to what you’d find on a Wahoo BOLT or ELEMNT unit (but not as detailed as you’d find on higher-end units). Still, that’s not bad given that the Mega C and Mega XL float around in the $199 price ballpark.
I was battling with the sun glare/reflections to get these shots with my phone, so it was easier to take the unit off the handlebars.
You can also zoom out to see where you’ve been and where you’re going:
I had no issues on my ride using the route from Komoot or the turn by turn navigation. It just worked as expected. Also worth noting, you can tweak the navigation data fields and layouts pretty easily using the phone app:
Ok, with that route done, it has automatically uploaded back to Komoot…but also over to Relive (and of course in my case, also TrainingPeaks and Strava). Which, is a handy time to talk about that Relive connection.
Relive:
Next, there’s the Relive integration. This means you can connect up your Lezyne account to Relive, and have your rides automatically upload there. The process is essentially the same as setting up the Komoot account. In the Lezyne app you’ll choose the ‘More’, then select ‘Relive’. It’ll do a few step Relive/Lezyne authentication request/confirm/re-confirm tango with you, and in a few seconds you’ll be ready.
Next, go out and ride.
Ok, ride done.
Now, the ride will automatically show up within Relive as soon as it’s ended and synced from the Lezyne GPS up to Relive. Just the same as syncing to Strava or anything else. You can maintain multiple sync connections too, so no issues there still syncing wherever you want it.
Now, crack open the Relive app. It’s here you’ll find your ride waiting for you, along with the ability to add photos as usual. Anything taken on the ride will automatically show up here (photos or videos), and even iOS Live photos will show up and be usable as mini 3-second movies.
Pick the photos you want (also, as usual). In my case I don’t pay for the premium Relive variant, so I just get the max three photos. No biggie, I frankly didn’t take too many non-product shot photos on this ride. Totally forgot.
Once that’s done, it’ll generate up the standard Relive movie with music and your route (along with photos interspersed) and you can export it out to your social media platform of choice (or, just your phone).
Again, nothing here is really unique/specific to Lezyne in terms of how Relive works. The fact is, it just works. Which, when it comes to partnerships is how you honestly want things to be.
Wrap-Up:
For Lezyne users of either Komoot or Relive, these will be big wins for you – probably the Komoot one a bit more so than the Relive one, given how substantial it is to have seamless routing partners for GPS devices. I think in some ways what we’ve seen over the last year is a bigger focus by all the major cycling units on trying to smooth out the bump in the road between a manufacturer’s device and a partner’s platform capabilities. Making it more and more seamless, and with less and less hurdles.
In the case of Lezyne it’s pretty easy. And Lezyne has historically focused more on the budget end of the GPS spectrum than the higher end one. Still, at $199 the Mega C and Mega XL float closer to that mid-range realm these days. Wahoo has their BOLT oft priced at $199, and occasionally we see Garmin’s Edge 520 Plus down there too – which capability-wise are more advanced units. For Lezyne, that’s somewhat of a danger zone pricing-wise to avoid. It’s a much easier nod when they’re priced in the $150ish range to say “Look, this unit might not be as overall polished as the Wahoo experience, but it’s got the bulk of the same core features, and it costs $50+ less”. And, of course, Lezyne’s lower-priced offerings fill that gap super well with strong connectivity on ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors and more.
What’s probably underrated though is the underlying platform Lezyne has built – which is pretty advanced. Everything from the online web training log and routing platform (which Wahoo lacks) to the expanding partnerships and even the turn by turn navigation aspects. Those aren’t easy to build-out, nor are they easy to get right. A lot of companies have tried and failed, and Lezyne clearly isn’t one of them.
In any case – thanks for reading, and more soon on the lights. Once the…umm…lights go out.
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Oops — Last month [Lezyne] rolled out… :)
As always, teaches me to re-word my intro…made a last second change to tweak things and it all went to crap. Thanks!
Can’t believe it’s already been a month! Thanks, Ray, for getting a post up about our latest release. We are all stoked on the new Komoot and Relive integration. One thing to note on pricing: Retail for the Bolt is $229.99, and the Edge 520 Plus is $279.99 (as listed on their websites). So the Mega XL does come in at a better price point—and it features significantly more batter runtime (48hrs!) in addition to a larger screen (2.7” vs. 2.2”). And we also offer our Super Pro GPS, which retails for $150 and does everything the Mega XL does but in a smaller unit. Additionally, our users have been very happy with the updated UX across our platform. And we will be adding plenty more new features and integrations down the road. Cheers!
I was travelling several days last year and found cycle.travel on the iPhone, exporting gpx routes to the phone memory and importing those files to the Lezyne app the perfect on-the-go solution.
I’ll try Komoot this year, which will save the gpx transfer step.
Cycle.travel has really really good routes without tweaking though!
48 hours? it never happened to me.
The best result was 34 in the summer (med 15C) with only one combo speed/cadence sensor and with phone connection switched off.
Is Garmin Varia connectivity coming soon?
Many people these days are pc/macless so not having ota updates is a big thing that would steer me away from these devices.
Yeah, I think it’s a pretty challenging point these days. Maybe not so much in that people might not have a PC/Mac, but might simply not want to deal with a legacy updater system. Versus other units that more or less offer updates automatically just via wireless when they come in.
I’m all in for automatic OTA during the time I don’t use a unit, but it would be nice to at least have a popup or an app notification stating “At this time (or at night or whatever) your unit will be updated, these are the most important new / fixed things you will get”. It’s annoying to fire a bike computer / a watch and suddenly see “It was updated to this version” or “New version available. Updating.” Especially when you introduce UI changes.
Yeah, it’s tough. I think for the most part the balance Garmin has found works fairly well. For Edge units it won’t force an update, it merely downloads it in background as able (using WiFi is super quick), and then offers it each time you start up unit.
On the watches now, it’ll update in the background at 2AM or so I think. I actually kinda like that, though I can see both sides of the story. I don’t remember if major changes prompt or not to accept. You can turn it off though.
Komoot gets more and more important. Today I tried the new Strava route planner. Komoot is much better.
I kinda see it both ways.
I don’t actually prefer the native Komoot route builder. I find it mostly clunky, super-slow, and not terribly good at using ‘heat’ to route properly (compared to Strava’s route builder – new or old). Maybe it’s just me.
That said, where Komoot blows Strava out of the water is finding ‘known good’ routes. Meaning, I’ve been using Komoot to find specific people in the community that lead rides, and then stalk their routes (which usually have photos/commentary/etc). From a route curation standpoint, Strava has nothing like that – and to me that’s the main power there.
I liked the way Relive used to work on Polar Flow. Started with a satelite view, zoomed in to the point where your run or ride started, followed your ride on a map with speed, highest speed etc and, best of all, some streetview photo’s for added atmosphere. I am now back on the Polar platform after being away some time and it seems they took that away. Don’t know why but it is a pity, it was nice to look back to where you ran on your holiday island.
They still have that. Only thing missing is streetview, cause they changed map provider from google to open street maps.
@Oskar: Yes, the streetview bit is what I mean what’s missing now.
I wish Lezyne had invested just a little developer time in some of the core functionality issues. Things like the Di2 sprocket is reversed, phone connectivity is still hit and miss, you can’t view a route until its completely created, and it just refuses to route on some popular roads.
The Mega XL is a pretty good device with incredible battery life, but I can’t trust it to be s stand alone Nav.
Hi Bob,
Sorry to hear about your experience. On newer firmware, the Di2 graphic has been updated and we’ve seen stable phone connectivity for quite some time now. If able, can you please submit a ticket to Support.Lezyne.com? Our customer service team would be happy to work with you one-on-one to make sure everything is up to date and working properly.
Cheers!
I’m with Bob here. My experience with my Super GPS and the packaged speed cadence and HRM has been underwhelming. Things have gotten slightly better since I gave up on the speed cadence sensor and got a new phone. But it still regularly drops rides which is super infuriating. Which is really disappointing because as DCR says there is a lot to like in the package they produce. But hey, at least my wife doesn’t think I’ve died because the live tracking craps out 15 km into my ride. :)
My Wahoo bolt is excellent,just updates when needed.i used to have a lezyne GPS unit having to plug into a pc/mac was very frustrating which was a pity as they are good devices for the money.
This ist what i hoped for when Polar Komoot integration was announced.
Is it possible to create a route on Komoot automatically as in Strava or Garmin? For example, choose a distance and it automatically creates route based on heatmap and the distance?
I second the phone connectivity is hit and miss. Also transferring a route has been so unreliable. I have had enough of seeing…’Something went wrong’ when preparing to ride and have given up trying. Noted in the play store app reviews a very high number of users have the same issue. I’ve been through resetting the the phone the GPS multiple times which sometimes gets things working for a ride or part of a ride! I suspect this is an Android issue ultimately so an honest and open publication from Lezyne on what versions of android have been tested would be useful. Great battery life though which is why a selected the mega XL shame about the nav which would have been nice to use.
I had a support ticket on this with Lezyne last year (I found an older firmware version more reliable).
The solution is simple to make sure to pair ONLY through the Lezyne app. If you pair outside the app it won’t be stable. No idea why.
I’ve tested with an android 9 mobile and it worked perfectly. Factory reset my android 7 device and still no go with the navigation….’something went wrong..’
Moto e6 with android 9 – works.
Moto e4 with android 7 – nav function is worse than useless.
Hi James,
We test for app/device compatibility with multiple versions of Android on devices from MANY different manufacturers (Samsung, Google, Motorola Huawei, etc.), but have not been able to test Android 7 as it has not been supported by Google for some time now.
If you’re able to, please submit a request to Support.Lezyne.com – Our team can work with you one on one to see if there’s a solution for your Android 7 phone.
Cheers!
Looking forward to the light review. Any chance Lezyne decides to integrate Varia radar at any point?
I walked away from Garmin for a number of reasons. My 510 bricking, my 820 repeatedly losing my power meter after hybernating at a stop and not finding it again until rebooting, Garmin’s support culture which is “blame the user, ignore documented problems, then silently fix them 2 years later”, crappy real world battery life.
Lezyne Mega devices have everything I need. When I’ve had issues Lezyne technical support has been stellar. The battery life is superb.
Hi My super GPS was working fine June 16, 2020, today for some unknown reason I can’t upload to the cloud the APP keeps telling me to check my internet connection. I removed the app and reinstalled it. Rebooted the phone and still the APP says to check my internet connection. All my other apps work fine and the internet works for all of them. Not GPS Ally. I can’t even access my account or reset a password.
Same. I contacted Lezyne on facebook and it was an error caused by their website being updated. Wouldn’t upload for two days from the GPSally app, but is working again now (as of 24th June).
I was surprised to hear some of the issues mentioned Super Pro. I switched to it as Garmin no longer offers anything at my price point. Even the Super Pro was a slight stretch of my original intent. It’s been everything my Edge 200 was and more including reliability. Love the customizable screens. Currently using it with a cadence sensor, and my wife likes that see can follow my rides in progress through the app updates. With the addition of Komoot it just keeps getting better.
Is it possible to copy/paste or import a few rides to the Lezyne GPS’s and start them at a later date from the device, without using a phone? I can’t seem to find if that’s possible anywhere and this is a deal-breaker for me for long bikepacking trips..
No. You can load just one to internal memory.
But its ok. I load a long one (eg 1300km) and activate navigation every morning from lezyne computer menu.
For local deviations (shops, hotels) I do navigate using offline komoot from the phone.
The issue that makes me sick is small memory for maps in Mega XL (only 100M) computer ..A newer and cheaper model Super Pro has 32Giga.
Interesting.. thank you for the response. I wish I could put 4-5 route and just enable them when I need them. I understand rerouting requires the phone, but having to rely on the phone every time is a hassle. If I understand correctly, there’s already a menu to activate the last route without the phone, having the option to pick from a list woul be great..
Yes. Menu -> Navigation -> (at the bottom) Start Route.
You can load from phone a route to lezyne computer (eg. in the evening), switch it off and (in the morning) switch on and start navigation without a phone.
I don’t use rerouting at all. Routes planned in Komoot works quite well (95-99%) and for the rest I have with me phone with navigation in komoot and a paper version of the map .
I love the Komoot integration on my Mega XL, i hope Garmin Varia connectivity is coming soon as one of the new improvements Lezyne mentioned…