Garmin decision

[Andy_G]

I have the Garmin 500 and im happy with it, but im now thinking of upgrading to the 800 because of the navigational side, ive seen the 800 with the performance bundle and city navigator street maps for europe for £329 and ive seen it for £30 less without the city map, so is it worth getting it with it.
I think i might be able to flog my 500 on ebay for maybe £140ish with HR & candence, so is it worth the extra £190 for the 800, or maybe just buy the head unit onlly for £255.

I know the 810 is out soon but im not interested in that for the moment.

 

[HLaB]

Its not worth it IMO for the full bundle with maps. I got the 800 for Christmas (the folks paid £240 for it), I bought the cadence sensor from Amazon for £26 (they had it on offer), use an old HRM (from my old 305) and downloaded legal and free maps from talkytoaster (and for free I'm very impressed).

 

[Andy_G]

I have the Premium heart rate strap and the candence thingy but i have a Trek and i use the Duotrap instead, and i thought atleast if i got the performance bundle i could put the new one in with 500 and sell it as a complete bundle.

 

[derrick]

Got an 800 for christmas am well pleased with it, did not get any maps with it but have downloaded the free maps from talky toaster, have not used the mapping yet, will hopefully use it the weekend weather permitting. bought the heart rate monitor seperatly.

 

[Rob3rt]

TBH, the only reason I have been tempted to "upgrade" to the 800 over the 500, is because it is a bit embarrassing to go the wrong way when leading a club run and then be like "erm........ this way, no that way" as can occasionally happen when you only have the context-less breadcrumb trail, other than that, the 500 is great.

It really depends on what your priorities are tbh.

 

[musa]

to be honest you may struggle to get £140+ on the 500 but will get near enough

so if your going to base getting the 800 on the sale of the 500 then maybe go for it - i have upgraded from 200 to 500 to 800

 

[Rob3rt]

The 800 isn't necessarily an upgrade over the 500. It serves a different purpose really.

 

[musa]

Yeah, suppose you have a point Rob3rt

If you (OP) want one get one. Simples!

If you flog your 500 keep the cadence and HRM if you need them, then sell the unit alone

 

[JoeyB]

Check out the new models! 510 and 810....

 

[musa]

Check out the new models! 510 and 810....

I know the 810 is out soon but im not interested in that for the moment.

 

[JoeyB]

Sorry, missed that last comment lol...I checked everyone else's reply before posting...just didn't read the OP properly, typical lol!

 

[musa]

(hope this is sympathetic for ya)

 

[Andy_G]

I've only been cycling for about 9 months and now I'm addicted to it, I go on garmin connect and make courses but when I'm out riding trying to do them I end up in random places lost, or I think sod it and stick to the main roads which is getting boring, plus I'm doing quite a few sportives this year and hopefully many years to follow so the 800 sounds like what I need, because the breadcrumb route is pants.

 

[musa]

there you go Andy you've answered your own query.

 

[Rob3rt]

I've only been cycling for about 9 months and now I'm addicted to it, I go on garmin connect and make courses but when I'm out riding trying to do them I end up in random places lost, or I think sod it and stick to the main roads which is getting boring, plus I'm doing quite a few sportives this year and hopefully many years to follow so the 800 sounds like what I need, because the breadcrumb route is pants.

I have no idea why people struggle with this! Yeah, occasionally a roundabout or junction can be a bit awkward without context or the prompt is occasionally incorrect from the mapping site (you know pretty quickly when it is and can right yourself), but on the whole, it works pretty well IMO. I have done thousands of miles following the breadcrumb trail (including 150 mile audaxes, 100 mile sportives, club runs and training rides, races such as TT's and Hill Climbs), I at least have it running in the background on pretty much every ride.