What Garmin?

[Newman8]

All pretty informative - thanks.
I've just spent an hour with the OS maps planning a route for a day ride in Forest-of-Dean/Monmouth/Wye-Valley next week. Up to now the only things I carry on a ride are some hand scrawled directions, a spare tube & a bite to eat!
Can anyone tell me - does the Garmin 200 allow you to follow a route you've pre-set or is that only on 500 up? (I'm aware you can analyse route afterwards, but what about 'during')?

 

[ianrauk]

All pretty informative - thanks.
I've just spent an hour with the OS maps planning a route for a day ride in Forest-of-Dean/Monmouth/Wye-Valley next week. Up to now the only things I carry on a ride are some hand scrawled directions, a spare tube & a bite to eat!
Can anyone tell me - does the Garmin 200 allow you to follow a route you've pre-set or is that only on 500 up? (I'm aware you can analyse route afterwards, but what about 'during')?

Yes the 200 does allow you to follow a pre planned route.
The 200 & 500 are near enough the same machine except the 500 has temperature, cadence and HRM.

 

[mangid]

Garmin have outstanding customer service; what did they say/do when you reported the faults?

I purchased via Wiggle, so most contact was with them, and their response was great.

I've met a couple of other riders out and about who have reported that they've had issues with the 810 and water ingress, and replaced units, some have even taken to wrapping it in cling film ...

As for the software faults, I reported them online, and email responses from Garmin were simply of the nature of do a full reset upgrade to the latest software, and hope it fixed things, it didn't ...

As ever one sample means not a lot, but documenting them helps in establishing trends ....

 

[fossyant]

I use a 200 day in, day out for commuting. Nice little unit that starts up fast and you are off.

I use a 705 (the predesessor to the 800/810) for weekend stuff. These take longer to boot as they have a stack of software to load. The advantage with these is navigation/route following. Maps can be expensive, but there are open source maps which, whilst not perfect, are getting better.

 

[Roadrider48]

I use a 200 day in, day out for commuting. Nice little unit that starts up fast and you are off.

I use a 705 (the predesessor to the 800/810) for weekend stuff. These take longer to boot as they have a stack of software to load. The advantage with these is navigation/route following. Maps can be expensive, but there are open source maps which, whilst not perfect, are getting better.

I got an open source(free) map of the British isles. Used it quite a bit so far and it has been faultless.
I can't obviously compare it to a shop bought map, but what more they can do, I don't know.
Mine lets you do turn by turn navigation, plot a particular route and recommends places to eat or of interest.
So open source has a big thumbs up from me.

 

[fossyant]

The open source has some roads missing near me, although it improves with time. I have the opensource MTB maps as well, and this gives you all the local trails and paths !!

 

[Roadrider48]

The open source has some roads missing near me, although it improves with time. I have the opensource MTB maps as well, and this gives you all the local trails and paths !!

That's good to know mate. I'll keep an eye out for anything missing. Thanks

 

[LimeBurn]

I bought a 510 last year when they were first released - love it. Love it so much infact, that when I lost it (through stupidity I might add) I went out and bought another within a couple of days. That says a lot for me.

 

[Roadrider48]

I bought a 510 last year when they were first released - love it. Love it so much infact, that when I lost it (through stupidity I might add) I went out and bought another within a couple of days. That says a lot for me.

Only had my 800 a wee while, but already it's strangely addictive.
I'm gonna buy an HR band and a cadence sensor over the weekend.
Absolutely love it!

 

[Basil.B]

I have never had a cycle computer before, but am tempted to treat myself to a Garmin Edge 200.
Or a 500 or 510, I can't decide!

 

[Roadrider48]

I have never had a cycle computer before, but am tempted to treat myself to a Garmin Edge 200.
Or a 500 or 510, I can't decide!

Depends what you're looking for, but the edge 200 seems quite popular on here for a reasonable price.
There are plenty on here who know more about these things than me. So I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice.

 

[LimeBurn]

Only had my 800 a wee while, but already it's strangely addictive.
I'm gonna buy an HR band and a cadence sensor over the weekend.
Absolutely love it!

The cadence and hrm makes a big difference to how addictive it is

 

[Roscoe]

I've had a 200 for 2 years, love it. Loads of useful data for a sad statto like me.

Once finances allow (next year??) I'm looking to upgrade to the 510 for the HRM, cadence and bluetooth uploads.

 

[Kies]

Had the 200 for a couple of years now, and love it to bits. Recently I have started looking at the 500 and 800 units, even though i swore blind, that i didn't need hrm and/or cadence sensors.
My ride buddy says i should buy the 510 as he has one, but my thinking is if i upgrade, then i might as well jump to the top of the tech ladder

 

[Basil.B]

The 200 would suit my needs, but I prefer the look of the 500.
Has the 510 replaced the 500, even though you can still buy the 500?
Not interested in HRM or cadence, well not at the moment!