Which Cycling GPS? - Help!

[em1jones685]

Hi,

I am new to these forums and fairly new to cycling, so wanted to get some information from a more professional audience.

I want to buy a new GPS computer for my bike, and have been recommended a new Garmin - Edge 510. I just wonderered whether anyone has used them personally, what you have used them for and what you think?

I've seen that Garmin provide an online site and you can connect with other users and use live tracking for the new Edges (I have done my research ), but a personal opinion would mean much more. Has anyone used these features at all? Is the live tracking any good because a few of my cycling buddies are contemplating a nice new shiny piece of kit also!

Thanks!

 

[Rob3rt]

It is a brand new product, not many users and many bugs, you would have to wait until the bugs get worked out and more people adopt the device to get a true concensus and balanced opinion. My experience of the 810 is very negative.

 

[em1jones685]

Oh right okay, I guess waiting a while wouldn't hurt.

Why is your opinion of the 810 negative?

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

You could always look at an 500/800 both of which are still stop units. (Unless you want the 510 for a feature unique to it.)

 

[yello]

It is a brand new product, not many users and many bugs, you would have to wait until the bugs get worked out and more people adopt the device to get a true concensus and balanced opinion.

Fair comment. Imo, Garmin have a track record of releasing buggy equipment and letting the punters conduct the final phase of testing! Maybe that's to be expected though.

em1, have you read this review of the 510 - http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/garmin-edge-510-in-depth-review.html You'll see the reviewer prefers the 500.

If the live tracking option is something you really like (must admit, I do too!) then I think the 510 is the only full-on GPS to do it BUT it can be done via smartphone app too (Glympse is one such app).

What other functions interest you in a GPS? Do you want something that works like your standard car sat-nav for instance? Do you want to log performance data (speed, heart rate, cadence, etc)?

 

[Rob3rt]

Oh right okay, I guess waiting a while wouldn't hurt.

Why is your opinion of the 810 negative?

They failed to implement power measurement data logging successfully, i.e. all power data collected is compromised due to random half values recorded, thus lowering average power, normalised power, intensity factor, training stress scores etc and making it difficult to use data in real time for dosing effort, this only effects people with a power meter, but those of us who have invested £1.5k+ in a power meter are very annoyed. This is a basic data logging failure and something that just shouldn't happen, it is absolutely appalling that this got through even the initial testing phase.

They also messed up several averaging schemes big time meaning you can not rely on the on screen data.

The device is prone to freezing and also producing corrupt data files meaning your data can not be read into any software or websites for evaluation without being passed through a FIT file repair application which ultimately results in data loss of several metrics.

Many other small bugs.

Oh, this is my second unit too, the 1st one had dead pixels on the screen and was promptly returned for an exchange at my local retailer.

Just go read the Garmin support forums for all of the bug complaints.

 

[em1jones685]

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good...
I am interested in logging performance data mainly, as I am fairly new to all of this, but I must admit the live tracking with the new Edges sounds like fun, also being able to connect with other users I thought could be good.

Rob3rt, have you used this feature with the 810 as yet?

 

[Rob3rt]

I have not used the live tracking feature no, I don't really plan on using it either, so, much like many users are ignorant to the power meter issues, I am ignorant to the live tracking issues, of which there are a few I believe, having seen a thread or 2 in passing on the Garmin support forum.

I mainly bought the 810 because the UI is much more intuitive than previous Garmin devices, at least for the way I use it and the bundle came with an out front mount which saved me buying one seperatelly, thus the price differential between the 800 and 810 was minimised (especially so, once I had sold my old 500).

Basically the unit is fine, as long as you don't want to use a feature that has a bug or 10 in it. It just needs time for the firmware to be sorted, it is very frustrating for this to be the case so close to the race season, but Garmin have a track record for this and I should have known better.

Many people will be very happy with their unit and won't say much, but people like me, who have a bad experience are pretty vocal, which can skew the impression of the device. Which is why I should be very clear, it is the power meter issues and corrupt data that REALLY annoys me, the other stuff is minor, to me.

 

[em1jones685]

Thanks for your review, it's always good to get people's opinions who are currently using the device!

Although I am really interested in the Live Tracking and whether anyone finds it useful? Also for the social side of things... like joining groups etc online? What's that experience like?

 

[Rob3rt]

IMO the social side of Garmin Connect is as good as none existant. Sites like Strava are much better for this side of things.

Then again whilst I use both, I don't care much for either as far as my serious side goes and prefer to use desktop software such as WKO+ and Golden Cheetah.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

RE:Garmin Connect

Good for planning/uploading rides to but other sites show the information in a better way. If analyzing every heartbeat or pedal revolution on a climb is your thing, ridewithgps.com does a good job of that and imports directly from the unit.

The social side of connect as Rob3rt says is non-existant, you will find more of a social side as a regular user of strava or perhaps the CycleChat group there.

 

[chqshaitan]

Hi,

As yello mentioned you can get a raft of different applications for a smart phone that can provide a load of stats. I have just started to commute and use a zephyr heart rate monitor in conjuction with sportstracklive to record my rides.

have a look here for an example.

 

[Manguish]

As a beginner the Strava app on either iphone or android suffices.

Great GPS signal (on android anyway), never missed a beat. Great support from devs, and allround great user website for dissassembling stats once home.

Misses cadence, but not too worried about that at the moment.

 

[SquareDaff]

I've you're going to use a phone as your "bike computer" it's probably best to invest in some form of power pack. Using GPS on a phone kills the battery!

 

[chqshaitan]

yea, battery gets owned if you have the screen on, along with a mapping app using gps. I also use a bluetooth headset that sits in one ear, which I use to get 5 minute updates on my progress, works well.