Best Garmin?

[Slick]

I know this will bore some to tears, especially as there is a few similar threads to be found using the search button. Nothing I could find was absolute, and I'm really needing an answer as SWMBO is looking to buy me a Christmas present and it's the only thing I can really think of. Actual need is fairly low, although I have just moved to a new area and I have yet to work out how to even get to work on my bike. I think a navigation function might be the thing to get me back out exploring, do they recognise different grade roads and cycle tracks? Do you update them in the same way you would a car nav? I'm also quite keen on anything as a training aid, not concerned by cadence meters, but would like to see my times live on strava. (maybe they all do that). Have a little patience, I have no knowledge of such things and would appreciate any advice given.

Many Thanks.

 

[dim]

I opted for a Garmin Edge 1000 performance bundle (came with the heartstrap, cadence and speed sensors, and last week I bought the Garmin Varia Radar and the remote button

nice big screen (it's as big as an Iphone 4), colour maps, turn by turn directions etc etc .... Loads of really good features such as suggested routes based on distance (enter a distance, and it will calculate 3 different cycle friendly routes), live strava segments, etc etc

You set it up to avoid highways etc and you can type in an address and it will take you there turn by turn (like a car satnav) .... if you take a wrong turn, it recalculates and re-directs you

If you sign up to RideWithGps, you can create routes and then load them directly onto your Garmin .... a brilliant program as you can drag the little man icon onto a road and see the streetview ... you can also search for routes near your home that others have/are using . I use Strava Heatmaps and design my routes

I bought mine from a guy on this forum for £280

Wiggle are selling the Edge 1000 performance bundle for £347 at the moment, and here's one on ebay for £275 Buy It Now:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Garmin-Ed...184447?hash=item2a7649f3bf:g:tgQAAOSw2xRYQDUM

there are cheaper Garmins such as the Edge 500 (I also have one of these, but the mapping is crap)

Wahoo ELEMNT gets good reviews, but I've never seen one in person yet

 

[Spiderweb]

I bought the Edge 1000 bundle too. Excellent piece of kit, I especially like 'round trip routing' which is great for when you are riding in unfamiliar areas.

 

[Slick]

Nearly 350 in Halfords.

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/cyc...dge-1000-gps-bike-computer-performance-bundle

 

[dim]

I bought the Edge 1000 bundle too. Excellent piece of kit, I especially like 'round trip routing' which is great for when you are riding in unfamiliar areas.

I've only had mine for a few weeks now, but am really enjoying it (I have been exploring areas South of Cambridge and there are some really good hills not far away

I've also bought the Garmin Varia Radar unit which connects directly to the Edge 1000 .... absolutely brilliant and definately worth the money (I paid £100 off Amazon Prime for the radar unit)

 

[JtB]

Another recommendation here for the Garmin Edge 1000 bundle. Not only a great SatNav but a great cycling computer too which I also use on the turbo trainer. The only downside is that the audio is so quiet I can't hear it so I turn it off to save on battery.

 

[Slick]

Looks like we could have a winner.

 

[User33236]

......Wahoo ELEMNT gets good reviews, but I've never seen one in person yet

I have a Wahoo ELEMNT and it has some nice features that are missing from any Garmin unit but I still prefer my Garmin Edge 1000. So much so that the Wahoo sits mostly on my commuter bike and the Garmin used for everything else.

The Wahoo has a lot of potential and is being more actively developed than Garmin devices but it's still not reached the point where I'd use it all the time.

 

[Slick]

I have a Wahoo ELEMNT and it has some nice features that are missing from any Garmin unit but I still prefer my Garmin Edge 1000. So much so that the Wahoo sits mostly on my commuter bike and the Garmin used for everything else.

The Wahoo has a lot of potential and is being more actively developed than Garmin devices but it's still not reached the point where I'd use it all the time.

I think I seen you post on another thread about this. I've never even heard of it before. What features does it have the Garmin doesn't?

 

[dim]

Another recommendation here for the Garmin Edge 1000 bundle. Not only a great SatNav but a great cycling computer too which I also use on the turbo trainer. The only downside is that the audio is so quiet I can't hear it so I turn it off to save on battery.

the audio beeps on mine is loud ... check your settings ... select system>tones ... it's also mentioned on page 17 of this PDF:
http://static.garmin.com/pumac/Edge_1000_OM_EN.pdf

also check what version of software you have loaded .... The latest version is v11.10

 

[HarryTheDog]

I have both a 800 and a 1000, I have found the the 800 is far more reliable and has only been sent away for repair once in 5 years ( charging port). I have had to fix another problem, water ingress myself. The 1000 has locked up and gone crazy quite a few times in 2 years. Has been repaired ( completely dead) and now is actaually in the hands of garmin again awaiting replacement, having finally succumbed to water ingress and completely blown up. I am disapointed with the 1000 in terms of reliability and the speed of Garmin support. ( been waiting for over 2 weeks now for the replacement)

 

[User33236]

I think I seen you post on another thread about this. I've never even heard of it before. What features does it have the Garmin doesn't?

It has a number of LEDs down the side that can be selected to indicate if your a lower, higher or at you set level for various parameters like heart rate, power etc. It can also use these LEDs to show where you are compared to tour previous best when riding a Strava segment. You can also adjust the number of fields displayed on any view at the touch of a button whilst you ride.

There are a couple of others but they dont spring to mind at the moment.

 

[dim]

I have both a 800 and a 1000, I have found the the 800 is far more reliable and has only been sent away for repair once in 5 years ( charging port). I have had to fix another problem, water ingress myself. The 1000 has locked up and gone crazy quite a few times in 2 years. Has been repaired ( completely dead) and now is actaually in the hands of garmin again awaiting replacement, having finally succumbed to water ingress and completely blown up. I am disapointed with the 1000 in terms of reliability and the speed of Garmin support. ( been waiting for over 2 weeks now for the replacement)

there have been lots of software bugs with the 1000 ..(I frequent the Garmin Forums).... and it seems that there are lots of bugs on many of the Garmin products

seems that Garmin fixes one problem, then the new software has other bugs .... when I upgraded my software to v10, I had the problem where the mapping direction arrow showing the turn was off screen .... luckily, a few days later v11.10 was released and I upgraded to that version .... I've been on a few rides and so far it has worked flawlessly. Some guys are still using v8 software as apparantly that worked very well

When another version of software is released, I will not immediately download it and will wait to see if anyone on the Garmin forum encounters any problems. There are a lot of tricks and settings and these must be set correctly (the manual does not go into great detail, and you have to search the internet for the best combinations from people who own/use the Edge 1000)

I found this site to be helpful:
http://www.forgot.co.uk/garmin-edge-navigation/garmin-edge-1000/

I also read the garmin Edge 1000 forum:
https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?464-Edge-1000

as far as waterproof issues, your post is the 1st that I have read where there are problems, and some guys have reported that they use theirs in pouring rain. I have read a few posts where guys say that when the screen is wet, they have problems swiping the screen to view the other screens .... I have the remote control button thingy, so that will not be a problem (it should have been included with the Garmin .... it's dangerous cycling at 20mph and trying to swipe the screen with your finger to see other screens)

 

[HarryTheDog]

Yes I have impimented a few fixes off help forums. It really annoys me that I have a Garmin Nuvi in the car and it has never had a hiccup, but then again it has only been connected to a computer once. The 1000 seems very "buggy". when I was a Strava chaser it was a invaluable tool with live segments etc , some nice features when it worked!. Pity Tom Tom dont do cycling computers, maybe they would be more reliable.

 

[Joffey]

I prefer to plan my route at home then upload and ride so my Garmin 520 is fine for me. I have open maps on it and route following is a doddle. Maybe an option if you don't want to fork out for a 1000.