Garmin Edge 200 vs Cateye Strada

[Dave Carey]

Have been thinking this over all evening reading reviews and forum posts but still cant make my mind up. With the £15 off orders over £100 at Evans I can pick up a Garmin Edge 200 for £86. At the moment I have a combination of a Cateye Strada wireless computer and the Strava app on my smartphone. Will a Garmin be an improvement to my current set up and if so what would make it better?

 

[ribbleboy]

Big improvement.

 

[Hacienda71]

Accuracy of track is a big plus with the Garmin. I used to use Strava on a smart phone and it got rather annoying to go out for 60 miles return home only to find the track had not registered accurately enough to go through any segments. On both my Garmin 200 and 705 this simply has not been an issue.

Also with your Garmin even on a 200 you can upload a route to follow as a bread crumb trail.

 

[Dave Carey]

Accuracy of track is a big plus with the Garmin. I used to use Strava on a smart phone and it got rather annoying to go out for 60 miles return home only to find the track had not registered accurately enough to go through any segments. On both my Garmin 200 and 705 this simply has not been an issue.

Also with your Garmin even on a 200 you can upload a route to follow as a bread crumb trail.

The breadcrumb trail was one thing I was interested in. Obviously with the 200 there is no turn by turn directions however at the moment I plan my new routes on Google maps and have to take a printout on the ride. Is the breadcrumb trail sufficent to tell me if I have to turn left or right at an upcoming junction? Can you load the route from Google maps to the device?

 

[Hacienda71]

Bike Route Toaster or Map my Ride allow you to plot a route and download a gpx file that the 200 will follow. Basically you have an arrow on the display showing you the way you are heading and it beeps to you when you need to turn if your plot is set up right. It isn't like a full on satnav but will tell you were to go if you stay on the route. I havent tried to create a GPX file using Google Maps but it may be possible. Someone on here will be able to tell you.

 

[Kies]

Create a gpx file of a route created with Garmin connect ( default site that comes with the Garmins), or Strava,or ridewithGPS etc etc .... Then upload it to the 200. Select courses from main menu and pick your course .... Follow breadcrumb.

I created a 100km ride into an unknown area a few weeks ago, and shared it with my riding buddy. We both followed the same breadcrumb trail on our respective 200's

Childs play

 

[Moss]

Garmin 200 is all you'll need for every day use. I love mine; and so simple to use.

 

[fossyant]

I moved from the Cateye Double wireless to the 200 for my commute. Ideal for every day use. I also have a 705.

 

[deanE]

I am very pleased with my Garmin 200. Garmin connect is adequate for creating courses, although it can send you the wrong way round a roundabout or down a one way street, can break your ride down into “laps” and also keeps tally of your mileage over the year. I have created courses for each day of my JOGLE, which starts on Saturday. Hopefully there will be enough capacity to record the 14 days rides without uploading to my laptop.

 

[evo456]

Accuracy of track is a big plus with the Garmin. I used to use Strava on a smart phone and it got rather annoying to go out for 60 miles return home only to find the track had not registered accurately enough to go through any segments. On both my Garmin 200 and 705 this simply has not been an issue.

^^ This is why I gave up using my smart phone with mapmyride/Orux etc, even though my phone had clear line of sight with the sky in the shoulder strap pocket of my ruck sack. Very frustrating to do a long ride and find out that the the tracking stopped or missing. Never looked booked after getting a Garmin, and knowing my phone will still last the whole day after my long ride.

 

[Col5632]

Recently bought myself the garmin 200 and it was the best thing ive done, not had any errors or problems uploading and maps the exact route, courses feature works great too

 

[coffeejo]

What's it like following the breadcrumb trail? I make audax-style route sheets for unfamiliar roads - would the breadcrumb act as the next step up from this, using the route sheet as a back up?

 

[Buzzinonbikes]

Sorry to hijack the thread! - but, does anyone know if you an create course points for the 200? So like you tell the route exactly what the directions are, and you get a bit of text like "third exit" to pop up?

 

[Rasmus]

I have both and still use the cateye to track my commute mileage, since it is too short (3 miles) to bother faffing about with turning the garmin on and off. Very much enjoying the added value of GPS tracking on longer rides, though.

 

[Tribanite]

What's it like following the breadcrumb trail? I make audax-style route sheets for unfamiliar roads - would the breadcrumb act as the next step up from this, using the route sheet as a back up?

It's pretty good,but gets confused by new 1way systems. Easy enough to start cycling in the general direction and eventually the 200 will say "course found"