GPS Navigation - What are people using?

[Alex321]

I'm in the process of replacing my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt and some on here seem to like the Garmin Explore 2. I sthat still relevant or oustripped by now?
It's reasonably priced at around £200 too.

IMO, I would stick with the manufacturer you know unless there is something you really don't like about it, or some specific feature you want that is only available elsewhere.

It is hard to argue that either Wahoo or Garmin are inherently "better" than the other, so being familiar with the system is probably the most important factor for most general usage.

 

[rich p]

Awright ol' geezer.
Its still very relevant and well worth the money. It probably has everything you need in a computer and the battery life lasts for bloody ages.
And it just works. None of the buggy problems that seem to infest various other Garmins.

Cheers, young'un😂

 

[chriswoody]

2 and a bit years on from purchasing my Edge Explore 2, I'm still very happy with it. It is a pure navigation device and doesn't have any training metrics on it that the 800 or 500 series does, but that suits me just fine. On the positives are the seamless way I can dump routes on it from RWGPS, even updating on the fly in the middle of a ride is an absolute doddle. The battery life is amazing, I can spend three days on tour before needing to charge it up. Generally about 16 hours from full to flat I think. Route following and map detail are great and the map regions are huge so I can travel all over Europe and not need to download different maps.

On the down sides, it only has two different bike profiles, road and off-road. I have a mountain bike and a Gravel bike, so all my gravel rides are recorded as road rides when quite plainly their not! Not a major issue, just quirky. The touchscreen is generally great, but in torrential rain after a while it can get quite buggy and difficult to operate. The same with gloves, despite having touchscreen gloves it never really works so I need to remove my gloves to operate it in Winter.

Overall though I wouldn't hesitate to purchase on again, it has been a great little unit and hopefully I'll get a good many more years out of it.

 

[Dadam]

2 and a bit years on from purchasing my Edge Explore 2, I'm still very happy with it. It is a pure navigation device and doesn't have any training metrics on it that the 800 or 500 series does, but that suits me just fine.

It's true it's not training focused like the 800 etc, but it's much more than pure navigation. It captures plenty if you have the sensors to hook up...

Distance Calories Time Avg HR Max HR Aerobic TE Avg Speed Max Speed Total Ascent Total Descent Avg Bike Cadence Max Bike Cadence Normalized Power® (NP®) Training Stress Score® Max Avg Power (20 min) Avg Power Max Power Total Strokes Steps Min Temp Decompression Best Lap Time Number of Laps Max Temp Avg Resp Min Resp Max Resp Moving Time Elapsed Time Min Elevation Max Elevation

It might not have the data fields to display every one of those during a ride though and it only has 3 ride profiles (road, off road and indoor) but you can customise those.

 

[chriswoody]

It captures plenty if you have the sensors to hook up...

True enough, I should have been a little clearer. I have actually hooked up a heart rate monitor to it which it does easily.

it only has 3 ride profiles (road, off road and indoor) but you can customise those.

You can and I have, so my road profile has been changed to Gravel, however, this only shows on the head unit itself. As soon as that ride gets uploaded to the Garmin servers, it reverts back. Below is a screen grab from yesterday's ride home from work, about 70% gravel. On the explore, this profile is shown as gravel, however, the ride has been recorded as a road ride.

It's one of those irksome traits that Garmin has and yes I can easily edit out, but I mostly just leave it.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

2 and a bit years on from purchasing my Edge Explore 2, I'm still very happy with it. It is a pure navigation device and doesn't have any training metrics on it that the 800 or 500 series does, but that suits me just fine.

Feature sets used can be weird. My 10xx Edges I don't use any of the training features, just cycle computer and navigation mostly on tour.

But I find the "Climb Pro" feature very helpful on tour. Load today's route and it automatically scans for significant ascents and then a screen shows you where the big climbs are into ride (eg after 23 miles and after 27 miles) so you can pace yourself to ensure you have "something left" for the ascent, and also after last one can relax as easy from now to destination.

 

[chriswoody]

But I find the "Climb Pro" feature very helpful on tour

The Explore 2 has climb pro as well, but where I live is so flat that I keep forgetting I have it. When I do go on tour though it is useful, except for in the Alps. When your spending over 2 hours in the morning on one climb it just gets to the point where I don't want to know any more!