Garmin advice

[VeganWheels]

Which one ,pro's & cons etc are they worth the investment?
I only cycle within my locality,so in the main,largely familiar with the where are am going 75% of the time,I do suffer with a lack of confidence & tend to stick to routes that I know,fear of being to far from home & finding a ride beyond my current capabilities.
Currently use Strava through my iphone to track my rides,mileage,times,averages etc.
What are the pro's & cons over a bike mounted unit & a watch?
Seems to generally be a given that you need one,I am currently a bit undecided if I really need to invest or not.
Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated & as ever thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time to respond.

 

[vickster]

Which one are you considering? Budget?

ive just replaced a Wahoo Elemnt with an 830. I never loved the Wahoo and it had been extremely temperamental uploading to Strava. No such issues with the 830. I record all my rides on phone too just in case
Phone stays in bag tho, not on handlebars

no one really needs a Garmin if they have a smart phone, it’s just another extravagant toy ultimately. If you get lost Google maps is as good as anything.
You can plan rides and upload to Garmin as you can with phone if you do want to go out into the unknown

 

[numbnuts]

I was in the same boat a few years back, as I only cycled on roads I knew well, getting a GPS opened up the whole country side for me as I have the New Forest on my door step, but would only use the main roads, but now with a GPS I can venture down the very small lanes and of course off road as well with out getting lost.
I have a Garmin vivoactive 3 to record rides and Garmin Tour GPS

 

[VeganWheels]

Which one are you considering? Budget?

ive just replaced a Wahoo Elemnt with an 830. I never loved the Wahoo and it had been extremely temperamental uploading to Strava. No such issues with the 830. I record all my rides on phone too just in case
Phone stays in bag tho, not on handlebars

no one really needs a Garmin if they have a smart phone, it’s just another extravagant toy ultimately. If you get lost Google maps is as good as anything.
You can plan rides and upload to Garmin as you can with phone if you do want to go out into the unknown

Budget is not some much a real issue to be honest,been looking at the Garmin 830 & 1030 ,also be looking at the Fenix 5 & 6 watches.

 

[cyberknight]

Which one are you considering? Budget?

ive just replaced a Wahoo Elemnt with an 830. I never loved the Wahoo and it had been extremely temperamental uploading to Strava. No such issues with the 830. I record all my rides on phone too just in case
Phone stays in bag tho, not on handlebars

no one really needs a Garmin if they have a smart phone, it’s just another extravagant toy ultimately. If you get lost Google maps is as good as anything.
You can plan rides and upload to Garmin as you can with phone if you do want to go out into the unknown

Trouble with using phone if your planning big rides is battery life would a phone manage 100 miles of navigation and recording ?

 

[Stephenite]

If budget isn't a factor then get the most expensive bike computer for bike rides and the best variant of the Fenix 6 for everything else. You'll have fun playing with them if nothing else.

I have a Fenix 5 plus which is great but, I'd like a bigger screen for on the bike.

 

[vickster]

Trouble with using phone if your planning big rides is battery life would a phone manage 100 miles of navigation and recording ?

With a back up battery yep

 

[Mark pallister]

Watches are fine in the summer months once you put a long sleeved jersey on you can’t see them
also hard the see whilst moving
im not a big garmin fan even though I have two of there watches and a edge 130
prefer wahoo but have read some good reviews on the 830
I had a 1000 when they first came out and my pal is still using it but was too big for my likings

 

[Stephenite]

I'd also add that while budget isn't a factor you can get great value for money secondhand.

 

[Joffey]

Budget is not some much a real issue to be honest,been looking at the Garmin 830 & 1030 ,also be looking at the Fenix 5 & 6 watches.

The 830 is a good size, the 1030 is MASSIVE, like phone sized. They both do similar stuff.

 

[VeganWheels]

If budget isn't a factor then get the most expensive bike computer for bike rides and the best variant of the Fenix 6 for everything else. You'll have fun playing with them if nothing else.

I have a Fenix 5 plus which is great but, I'd like a bigger screen for on the bike.

Would you use the watch on the Bike?

 

[Mo1959]

I love my gadgets. Have the Edge 830 for the bike and have just splashed out on the Fenix 6 pro for wearing. Absolutely no reason why the Fenix wouldn’t be perfectly fine for cycling but I prefer a bigger screen and having it in front of me. I believe you can ask the 830 to make up a route for you but haven’t tried it yet. Must give it a go.

 

[vickster]

Would you use the watch on the Bike?

Watches aren’t great on bike if you want to manage HR

 

[13 rider]

I have a Wahoo elment bolt and love it and so simple to use and have no issues uploading rides . I like you know my local area really well and rode for over a year without any GPS . But since getting one I discover so many more local lanes I previously would not have riden and found GPS invaluable when on holiday in Cornwall . The new Wahoo roam is probably direct competition for a Garmin 830 and worth looking into . I personally would not want my smart phone on any mount on my handlebars

 

[jay clock]

i have a 1030 and it has transformed my navigation. Particularly away from home. I have finally worked out how to transfer plotted gpx routes from the phone or pc to the device wirelessly. seems to involve garmin connect on the phone plus RWGPS IQ app on the garmin. but the RWGPS app now allows you to plot a route on the phone rather than have to use a pc. excellent if touring.

agreed the settings are fiddly!