UKC

Struggling to decide which Garmin computer I want for use on both my road and mountain bikes.
I'd like it to be compatible with cadence sensor and heart rate monitor for road bike use, and also have to ability of holding 1:25000 maps for mountain biking in remote areas. So gps receiver needs to be good.

I'm guessing that it would probably be the 800 or 1000 series'?

Does need to be Garmin as I can get them through my work.
What do people use?

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

Edge 500, small simple and logs everything you need

Loads of people having grief with the 510s lugs breaking off underneath. I think the new 800s are affected too

In reply to woolsack:

I didn't think the 500 had a map function?

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:
Amazon had the 800 at stupidly cheap prices the other day - well under £200. I've a feeling the 800 would be better as I think the 1000's maps are built in, whereas the 800's are on a card so easy to put OS maps in. You can get free street mapping online and DC Rainmaker tells you how to upload it to card.

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

Having lost my 800 I've just upgraded to the 810. The fact that you can pair it to your phone (and upload your ride wirelessly) was a selling point. I also decided that OS Maps were well worth having. Couldn't see how the 1000 was worth the extra.

They are very customisable but that does take some working out - you don't get much in the way of a manual, but DC Rainmaker is an excellent place to find advice http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/garmin-edge-810-in-depth-review.html

I've got mine set up with different profiles for MTB and Road, although to be honest they are virtually identical.

In reply to woolsack:

That might be with the K-edge mounts - they are metal and wear the plastic tabs/lugs on the units.

The 510 doesn't do maps, for that you'll need the 800 or 1000 series. Actually the 510 does do maps in a way, you can upload a course and it appears in outline and you can follow it but it doesn't show any road/track other than those on your course so if you come to a crossroads then it shows your entry and exit roads but not the other two.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Hi Chris,
Was the pairing option the only major benefit?

I'm thinking the 800 with the GB trail bundle so at least I will have 1:50000 maps.

How did you find 'on-the-move' functionality?

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

Slight hijack - does anyone with an 810 (or 510 or 1000) use the live track function ? Seems a bit pointless to me, and liable to drain the phone battery. I already use an iphone app - Find My Friends - so that my wife can track me when I'm out riding on my own. What would be more useful (given my recent experience) would be if the phone could help you find a lost Garmin

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Don't remember if it was on here (in which case apologies) but I saw something about putting a file in your 500 or having a startup message with your details on so anyone finding your garmin would (if honest) get it back to you.

Cheers

Toby

In reply to Chris the Tall:
I've the 510. I did try pairing the unit with my phone but they kept losing connection, however this was with the original firmware. I updated to the latest version last week but haven't tried it since.

Another OT hijack: what bar mount do you(anyone else) use? I've a short stem on my hardtail and can't fit the standard mount with the rubber bands, I'm not too keen on having the unit "out front" either.

Toby_W: I think it was myself who posted that. It's a simple text file that you edit. Connect the unit to your PC/Mac and it appears as a drive. It's the only .txt file there, open it up and the file contains instructions on what to change, save and remove the unit and reboot it. More comprehensive instructions on the DCRainmaker site.

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

The only major benefit - maybe. Several minor improvements, couple of things I'm not so sure about, but only had it a week so just getting used to it.

But the wireless upload is important to me and was bugging me about the 800 - usually go on holiday with just an ipad and it means I can check strava as soon as I'm done ! Not sure whether I can send routes to the Garmin though - that would be very useful.

In reply to Toby_W:

Can you guess what the first thing I did when I got my 810 was ?

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/08/display-number-garmin.html

Still need to train myself to check it's still there every time I go through a gate - I need to ride like Chris Froome !

In reply to Bob:

I've got a raceware garmin mount that fits to the steerer in place of a 10mm spacer only had it a couple weeks but it seems to work well so far. http://www.racewaredirect.co.uk/#/shop/4559567829/garmin-edge-stem-mount/64...

In reply to Chris the Tall:

I believe they will pair and display the info from any Froommeter. I'm still toying with the idea of getting a 500 but, I'm worried it would bring out the obsessive competitive streak in me and I would not be able to resist those strava KOMS. The thought of all that hurt scares me.

Cheers

Toby

In reply to Chris the Tall:


Not sure how much time you've been able to spend with the 810 but I've had one since day 1 and in my opinion it's a heap of crap.

Right, where to start...
OS maps have way too much detail for such a small screen and pixilate to unusable after 1 or 2 zooms. Put a goto destination into the 810 for a route and it'll take you on a circulus route adding loads of unnecessary miles. It loves taking carbon frames and wheels down farm tracks and gravel trails. Input your route into Garmin connect and the 810 can't follow it taking you on the route IT wants. You regularly get stuck in loops ie 200 meters up the road get told off route do a u turn cycle back the get the same message.
Cadence sensor spikes all over the place. Battery life is crap if you use any backlight. It will only store 1 BT connection device at a time so lots of re-pairing.

Yes the basics are o.k and having access to your phone is nice it doesn't make up for a crap buggy device though.

In reply to Andrew W:

Ooh That looks neat. Will have to check what spacers (if any) I have on the HT.

In reply to Indy:

Have to admit I never use the navigation function - I don't trust Sat Navs generally, so usually I've either planned a route or just want to know where I am. But I agree, trying to browse the map was a pain on the 800 and doesn't look to have improved on the 810, but there have been occasions when I have found it very useful.

One thing I have noticed about the 810 is that it has a much better battery life indicator than 800 - sudden power off of that earlier in the year caused me problems in Ireland

Only being able to pair to one device is disappointing

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

sorry, I somehow missed that!

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:
Forget the bike specific Garmins.

I use an etrex30.
It supports heart rate and cadence sensors.
Takes AA batteries (25 hours using rechargeable enloops)
You can put OS maps on if you're rich or open maps for free (worked so far for me)
Cheaper and more robust

Downsides are that it's slightly larger than some of the newer models and the screen is slightly smaller than the Edge 800

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:





This is what I have, and I find the maps good enough for mtbing and they zoom out nicely for road riding. Battery life is about 14 hours if you turn the screen backlight down, very good once youve set it up to your liking. Loads of customizable options, I have 5different setuos for bikes with and with out wheel and cadence sensors. Only problem is when i forget to change bike on the device.

In reply to Indy:

Thanks for that information. I have been wondering if I should get a 510 or 810. I was thinking that the screen was too small to be useful for navigation. The fact that the built in nav. software is crap has convinced me not to get an 810.

I do have an eTrex 20, which I use for walking. Also use it on the bike to record my tracks. However, unlike the eTrex 30 you can't connect an HRM and it doesn't display much bike related data.

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

I went for the Garmin Edge 810 in the end.
Very simple to use when you understand the thinking behind the setup. Mapping is pretty accurate too so can't really fault it.

In reply to airbournegrapefruit:

Do you find the screen too small for reading maps? I recently bought a 510 after reading various reviews of the 810. I only use my 510 for road biking. I have found that the screen on my Nexus 5 (5") is the smallest that is of any use for maps. I live in an area where there are literally hundreds of interconnected windy country lanes. I need to be able to see a larger view of exactly where I am, so I can work out which of the twisty lanes I need to turn into.

I also have an eTrex 20 which I think has a similar size screen to the 810. It's almost completely useless for map navigation, as I can't see enough of the map. If I zoom out everything rapidly becomes far too small to be able to see any useful information.