My very first Garmin

[Pale Rider]

I am leading a long group ride shortly so have bitten the technophobe bullet and bought my first Garmin to assist with navigation.

Route failure on my own is no problem, but one feels a heavy responsibility when it comes to the possibility of leading others astray.

I had a root around for advice on here and before I lost the will to live, I read the Edge Touring is recommended by a few of the regulars whose opinion on such matters I respect.

A special offer pack is on offer from Halfords for £140, so that's what I have.

Set up proceeded relatively smoothly, although I had to upgrade the ancient operating system on my MacBook.

My main requirement was to pinpoint me and my direction on a map, and the Touring does that.

It's unlikely I will bother plotting my own routes, but a gpx file for the long ride has been emailed to me and appears to have loaded correctly.

The Halfords pack came with two handlebar O-ring mounts and an outfront, handy as I can mount the gadget on my three bikes.

The pack also comes with a silicone cover, not sure of the point of that.

I've used the Garmin on three rides and it performs nicely, although I did lose the maps in the Lake District, possibly due to forest cover in Grizedale.

Battery life was a concern, having read stories of short life.

Garmin quote 14 hours, which might be a touch ambitious, but I've had it on for six hours or so and only used half capacity, so it should last for a long day in the saddle.

The supplied maps are basic, but seem accurate - I was impressed when it told me I was 'On Windermere ferry' when I was.

Much as I like OS Landranger, it's hard to justify another £200 to get them.

My new Garmin even made me smile when it moved into auto pause during a stiff climb.

I was still moving - clearly not as fast as Mr Garmin thinks I should.

Perhaps my expectations from a Garmin were not very high, but I would recommend an Edge Touring to anyone thinking of dipping their toe into the world of gpx devices.

http://www.halfords.com/technology/...al-edition-gps-cycle-computer-with-mount-case

 

[grellboy]

Bought myself the other week. Absolutely love it. Some say it's no good for "training" purposes and whilst it may not have all the sensors and virtual partner aspects of 810/1000 etc, the way I use it it has definitely helped to improve my performance.

 

[ianrauk]

I have a Touring. Learning to use the damn thing is a pretty steep learning curve. They are not machines you can put on your bike and just go. To get the best out of them you do need to do some research, on here and the Garmin forums. it takes a while to learn how to get the best out of them. But once you do, they are great machines.

 

[Tiny01]

Not sure if the settings are the same as on my Edge 1000 but the auto pause feature is user adjustable , mines set to 3mph

 

[Diggs]

I've had an Edge Touring for some time and I'm really pleased with it. As you say the map is basic but more than adequate in most situations.
I do chuckle when it auto pauses, it's like a little nag that I'm not trying hard enough

 

[Shut Up Legs]

There's a hill near where I live on which my Garmin stubbornly refuses to show the grade value in the data pages. I think perhaps it's trying to tell me something?

 

[Diggs]

Oh and the silicone covers are obviously so you can match it to your bike

 

[smutchin]

Not sure if the settings are the same as on my Edge 1000 but the auto pause feature is user adjustable , mines set to 3mph

Having had similar problems to the OP on Very Steep Climbs, I've turned the autopause feature off on my Edge 510.

When I upload my rides to Strava, the average speed shown is based on moving time rather than elapsed time, so it makes no difference to me whether I use autopause or not.

 

[ColinJ]

Having had similar problems to the OP on Very Steep Climbs, I've turned the autopause feature off on my Edge 510.

I got caught in slow-moving traffic and my Edge 500 was doing my head in with its pausing and restarting every couple of seconds so I turned autopause off. Anyway, I like to see a genuine average speed, not an 'average speed while moving'.

 

[Sea of vapours]

...I like to see a genuine average speed, not an 'average speed while moving'.

The [first world] problem with that is that you've lost data if you don't have autopause active. If it's active, you have your moving average speed and can trivially derive your overall average from the time taken for the ride and distance covered. If you switch it off then you have lost the moving average. I agree that the overall average is the more informative of the two, but having both is 'better' methinks.

 

[smutchin]

The [first world] problem with that is that you've lost data if you don't have autopause active.

As mentioned earlier, when you upload the ride later, it will give you your moving average speed. You've only 'lost' that data while you are riding.

Even with autopause on, your displayed average speed won't be all that accurate because of the lag. Back when I used to use autopause, I would often find significant discrepancies between what I thought was my average moving speed during the ride and what the log showed later - especially on my commute, with lots of stopping and starting at junctions and traffic lights.

 

[Sea of vapours]

That may be device specific. I don't use a Garmin, but I do use Strava. The average speed I see on Strava is that which I see on my device (with autopause active). I'd assumed that Strava was taking that datum from the device, but if it's deriving it itself from the raw data then it's using a near-identical method to that which the device is. I tend to look at moving average fairly often and I've not seen discrepancies between what I anticipated and the data post-ride in Movescount (the Suunto site) or Strava. Not that it really matters all that much, and I just favour seeing moving average during the ride, though autopause is set to 2kph, which is really very slow indeed.

 

[I like Skol]

Just got the Edge touring set from Halfords as well. Not had a chance to play with it yet but one thing that shocks me is that there is no eye to allow a tether to be attached. I don't know if these things ever come undone during a ride but I would prefer to have a securty string looped around the bars rather than risk the thing bouncing along the tarmac and being run over by a car!

 

[smutchin]

The average speed I see on Strava is that which I see on my device (with autopause active). I'd assumed that Strava was taking that datum from the device, but if it's deriving it itself from the raw data then it's using a near-identical method to that which the device is.

On reflection, I'm a bit confused by the discrepancy because as you say, it should all be coming from the same data anyway. Wonder if it's something to do with using a wheel sensor instead of just relying on the GPS signal.

Hmmm!

 

[Markymark]

My edge is in the cupboard waiting to be ebayed. Crappy map, crashing, awful rerouting even though turned off, horrible little screen.

Replaced by iPhone and extra charger. Soooo much better.