Garmin Edge Touring - Worth It?

[GravityFighter]

Specifically, worth it for a beginner?

I've started getting into cycling with my fiancee over the last couple of months.

Although I fitted a basic Cateye computer to my new bike a couple of weeks ago, we're going on holiday to Wales in two weeks' time and I'm thinking a computer with navigation might be invaluable.

I should state I'm not too fussed about cadence, HRM etc - we're regular gym goers for fitness stuff and being out on the bike is more about getting into the fresh air and enjoying the ride.

The Garmin Touring is on offer at halfords for £190 including case and mount.

Any specific experiences and does anyone agree it's worth just taking the plunge now?

 

[wintergreen]

I bought a Garmin touring earlier in the year and have found it is ideal for what I use it for but absolutely useless at other things.
I plan all my routes online using http://cycle.travel/ then download the .gpx file onto the Garmin and it does a fantastic job of directing me along the pre-set route. It gives a beep as you approach a turn and the map zooms in so you get a better view of the junction that's coming next. Its all I wanted/needed form the Garmin.
I have however, tried using Garmins own routing features and have found them to be a massive let down. It will add miles onto simple A to B routes for no reason. It will have you cycling 5 miles when you are only 2 miles from where you want to be.
If you are expecting it to work like a satnav in a car you will probably be very disappointed. There doesn't seem to be any sense or logic to the routes it throws up.
So if like me you want to use it to direct you along pre-planned routes then yes its a great bit of kit but for anything else its very hit and miss.
I am sure you will get other opinions too and you should read as many as you can before making your choice because its not a cheap bit of kit and if it doesn't do exactly what you want it could turn out to be a very expensive paperweight.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Etrex 20 using opencyclemaps gets my vote.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I bought a Garmin touring earlier in the year and have found it is ideal for what I use it for but absolutely useless at other things.

This pretty much mirrors my findings with a Touring + . I'm very happy with using it when I've prepped it at home on the PC, and the basic logging it gives is handy for keeping track of commutes and things on MapMyRide/Strava. But if I've been out and about and wanted to use it to actually do something adhoc it's proved less than useless. Fiddly and difficult to program and then hit and miss about whether it will actually use what you've spent ages putting in to it. I don't bother with that side of things any more. But prep a ride, load it in and follow it, fantastic.

I'm not sure how it would cope with constant touring, depends how much tech you tour with. At a minimum you'd want a way to charge it if you were doing multiple days, and to have the days already loaded in.

As with any SatNav, use it over roads you know to start off with to see how it does what it does. Once you've learnt its foibles (how much warning for corners, any odd rerouting tendencies, that sort of thing) it's a pretty handy tool.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Dc Rainmaker; something of a guru on these things suggests here that the Edge 800 is a better bet.

 

[StuAff]

As much as I agree with DC on many things, I would say it depends on what you want out of the unit. If you think you might ever want any of the extra features an 800/810/1000 have, then go for one of those. If not, a Touring might well fit the bill.
As an Edge 705 owner, I would add (and these points apply to all Edges):
1. Never, if you can possibly avoid it, use the onboard routing. As @w00hoo_kent says, it's a mess. Plot your routes on a website of your choice, check out it's not sending you down an unsuitable road or seven, and you'll be fine.
2. If you're not following a route but you want to see where you are, the Edges can either be very helpful or bleedin' useless. 705s have lower resolution screens with fewer colours than 800/810/Touring, let alone the 1000, so they're clearly a better option than I have, but a smartphone will usually give you a quicker location fix with a better map. That said, if the mapping where you are is good enough, then an Edge works just fine.
3. On battery life, a USB battery pack is your friend. For long runs, I use one that takes three regular AAs- rechargeables, naturally- enough output to not only keep the 705 running but recharge the internal battery. Backlight/mapping/screen switching all take their toll, as does cold. Etrex USB ports can be used to power the machine but can't recharge their AAs. The Edge batteries aren't easily removable like AAs would be, but they can be swapped out when they're end-of-life. Replacements are fairly cheap too.

 

[G3CWI]

I bought a Garmin touring earlier in the year and have found it is ideal for what I use it for but absolutely useless at other things.
.

+1 for that. Mostly it is fine but sometimes it is incredibly annoying. When it's working well it really does a great job.

 

[RedRider]

I also own a Touring, my first satnav of any description and it's helped broaden my cycling horizons.
I've only ever bothered following routes mapped then downloaded from websites (ridewithgps mainly) and it's been faultless taking me from London to North Yorks (amongst other things) without a false turn.
The in-built battery has lasted throughout an 11 hour ride using the 3D (most battery-sapping) map setting but I seem to remember it was getting fairly low at that point.
I can't compare it to other devices but can say it's been worth the money for me and the way I use it. Brilliant.

 

[PK99]

1. Never, if you can possibly avoid it, use the onboard routing. As @w00hoo_kent says, it's a mess. Plot your routes on a website of your choice, check out it's not sending you down an unsuitable road or seven, and you'll be fine.
.

Agree that on board routing is a mess, it can sometimes be useful >> I know X is around here somewhere, but where? The suggested route, can then be accepted or alternatives spotted on the screen

 

[dr snuggles]

Bought one earlier this year before I did a solo ride and took a bit of getting used to at first but as long as you follow the route you've planned then it is spot on. I would definitely recommend turning off the re-routing option as it is awful. If you leave it on and deviate from the plotted route it's just ridiculous.
I did use it in Mallorca last week and it got lost! lucky I had a map.
I use it on a weekend to record my rides as well.
In a nutshell. plot your route on one of the many great sites and upload to your garmin then stick to the route you have plotted and it'll be great (most of the time).
I will admit that probably any issues I've ever had are down to lack of knowledge on my behalf.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Great tip for route plotting if it's using Google maps (MapMyRide does I know for sure) hover the Streetview guy over it and check all of your route is covered by him. Look real close at places that aren't unless you want to ride on mud/gravel. Learnt that from here's and it's saved me some detours.

 

[Peteaud]

You can plot a route with a TCX course on any of the Garmins. The 200 & 300 (and the old 300_ use a breadcrumb trail, whilst the Touring, 800, 810, 1000 and the old 605 & 705 use mapping.

Plan you route on RWGPS (or other) save as a TCX and with the correct settings, i.e auto reroute turned off, its a fantastic bit of kit. Enable auto zoom and run it at 80m view, and it will auto zoom in when you need to make a turn, and, if you want, beep at you as well. If you edit the route you can even get advance warnings.

Really like mine and can't see why some have so much issue? The Touring is a stripped out 800/810 so you dont get HRM, cadence etc.

If you want to just press a few button and it plot a course for you, don,t bother and save you money. If you are prepared to spend a few mins plotting a route then its a great bit of kit imho.

 

[Peteaud]

Great tip for route plotting if it's using Google maps (MapMyRide does I know for sure) hover the Streetview guy over it and check all of your route is covered by him. Look real close at places that aren't unless you want to ride on mud/gravel. Learnt that from here's and it's saved me some detours.

Good tip, i do this this as well as useing street view to check stuff out. RWGPS has all the options.

 

[steveindenmark]

I have just received my touring so cannot really comment yet.

What I did find on my other Garmins is that if you are riding to a point 20 miles away. You are better entering points every 5 miles, rather than a single point at 20 miles. The routing seems to behave better.

 

[young Ed]

i have had the standard touring model since january the 6th this year and love it
i often download a GPX route from the strava route planner and can follow this fine
i have at times asked the garmin to take me from current location to a certain village/town or to a favourite that i have set at home and find it works fine

i also often just slap it on the handle bars to record my ride if i know where i am going or someone i am riding with knows
Cheers Ed