Garmin v Mobile Phone v usefulness

deadhead1971

As someone who used a number of phone apps for months, and then moved on to use a Garmin, I've compiled a list of 10 reasons to ditch phone apps and get a proper bike GPS!

http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2012/02/10-reasons-to-ditch-phone-apps-and-get-a-proper-gps-for-your-bike/

Phone apps are a very convenient way to get into the idea of recording aspects of your rides, and for shorter rides, they may be sufficient for some people. I do think there's a threshold though, above which the apps approach falls down, not necessarily because of the apps per se, but because of the limitations of the hardware they run on.

Trickyh

deadhead1971 wrote:

As someone who used a number of phone apps for months, and then moved on to use a Garmin, I've compiled a list of 10 reasons to ditch phone apps and get a proper bike GPS!

http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2012/02/10-reasons-to-ditch-phone-apps-and-get-a-proper-gps-for-your-bike/

Phone apps are a very convenient way to get into the idea of recording aspects of your rides, and for shorter rides, they may be sufficient for some people. I do think there's a threshold though, above which the apps approach falls down, not necessarily because of the apps per se, but because of the limitations of the hardware they run on.

Again you are perpetuating some myths there m8... but then if i'd just spent £449 (see your own link,,) on a new toy (sorry, essential training aid), i'd need some excuses to give to the missus as well!

deadhead1971

Trickyh wrote:

perpetuating some myths there m8...

can you be a bit more specific?

Trickyh

deadhead1971 wrote:

Trickyh wrote:

perpetuating some myths there m8...

can you be a bit more specific?

Points 2,7 and 10 (see earlier post) 8)

deadhead1971

Trickyh wrote:

Points 2,7 and 10 (see earlier post) 8)

Point 2 needed amending, to be fair. Thanks.
I see points 7 (the navigation issue) and 10 (gloves) as being really subjective. Some would agree with the points made, some wouldn't, or would argue it's not even an issue. It doesn't mean either opinion is right, wrong, or a "myth".

Trickyh

deadhead1971 wrote:

Trickyh wrote:

Points 2,7 and 10 (see earlier post) 8)

Point 2 needed amending, to be fair. Thanks.
I see points 7 (the navigation issue) and 10 (gloves) as being really subjective. Some would agree with the points made, some wouldn't, or would argue it's not even an issue. It doesn't mean either opinion is right, wrong, or a "myth".

Definitely, and sorry if i'm coming across as trolling you... My main beef with Garmin et al, is the cost.. If an Edge 800 was £100-125 quid (same price as a TomTom) then i'd buy one as soon as my LBS opened tommorrow morning. Obviously cycling is a niche market to the major GPS manufacturers, and the price of these devices remains high because of it..

But at £450 a pop for a fully tricked Edge 800 (without silicon case), i'm quite happy with my £59 Huwaei Blaze and shonky bracket I made for it

Rich

Chippy_Minton

There is a third way - a proper iPhone case with integrated ant+ dongle from Wahoo. For around £100 you get the case with dongle, bar mount and a wireless ant+ speed / cadence sensor. I used this set up with the Wahoo app and fired the data into Runkeeper and Strava.. This worked well for me but once again battery life was issue so I have sold it and bought a Garmin.

On the downside the bar mount was good but a bit 'rattly' and needed some fettling, and the look of the case when it was on the bars was a bit of a matter of taste, it looks BIG fixed on there....

For the money a Garmin 200 or 500 is probably the better bet IMHO. I'll have a better idea when I properly get to grips with mine.

jamienorton

Just been looking for phone mounts, and came across Ram Mounts, http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045072079076045085078052085/Default.aspx look like the biz. Dont know if they ship to the uk or not though. But if there was a uk supplier id deffo give one of them a go.

apreading

Trickyh wrote:

Definitely, and sorry if i'm coming across as trolling you... My main beef with Garmin et al, is the cost.. If an Edge 800 was £100-125 quid (same price as a TomTom) then i'd buy one as soon as my LBS opened tommorrow morning. Obviously cycling is a niche market to the major GPS manufacturers, and the price of these devices remains high because of it..

But at £450 a pop for a fully tricked Edge 800 (without silicon case), i'm quite happy with my £59 Huwaei Blaze and shonky bracket I made for it

Rich

My 800 with OS mapping cost me £250 from Halfrauds before Christmas. at the same time the performance package with HR. Cadence and Road Maps was £300. Put it in the right ballpark for me and I bit their hand off, but to be honest now that I have I would gladly pay the full price if I had to - it IS worth it.

I loved my Smartphone with Viewranger, and still do - but this is Soooo much better on the bike.

deadhead1971

Trickyh wrote:

deadhead1971 wrote:

Definitely, and sorry if i'm coming across as trolling you... My main beef with Garmin et al, is the cost.. If an Edge 800 was £100-125 quid (same price as a TomTom) then i'd buy one as soon as my LBS opened tommorrow morning. Obviously cycling is a niche market to the major GPS manufacturers, and the price of these devices remains high because of it..

But at £450 a pop for a fully tricked Edge 800 (without silicon case), i'm quite happy with my £59 Huwaei Blaze and shonky bracket I made for it

Rich

Thanks Rich. I agree with you - these things are over priced. The profit margins must be huge, and they're blatantly tapping a market of affluent punters, keen to have the latest toys.
£450 is at the extreme end though - wiggle did a promo last December which (if you're a platinum customer and get 12% discount already) brought the performance bundle down to £300 and at that point, I went for it.

Mr Dog

Had the same problem a month back. Got a Galaxy II and run Strava.. love it. In addition to being a Sat Nav its a phone, plays music, takes photos and video.

ricey155

Garmin for HR and cadence and endomondo for tracking works for me

i like the option to share info with endo, Garmins website is limited for me don't like it but the HRM strap is the best ive ever used and works really nicely

FR70 best kit ive bought along with samsung ace with Jusada's rom to make it work fast gps status and tweaks no gps loss ever and fast android is the best

CRAIGO5000

You simply can't use a smart phone as a Garmin if you're serious about cycling. I fell lucky and picked up a 4 month old Garmin Edge 800 with un-used HRM for £200. I put free OSM road maps on it and it's brill.

It's also worth noting that these cycle specific GPS units offer much more than car GPS units and hence that is why they are more expensive. Features such as internal barometers, temp probes and feature rich software allowing courses to be made, navigation to course start points, VP's info to be stored, amendable and raced against, real-time elevation/grade data, course 'knock' from unit to unit allowing the leader of a team to send their course to the rest of the team etc. The list really is superior for the serious cyclist.

I also don't believe a phone could run for 16 hours like my 800 does and if it does, it won't be alive for long with all the rattling and shock that occurs during a ride, not to mention if it got a little wet! I certainly wouldn't want to do this with my HTC Desire... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iS7TtUmJmY

For me it was a little hairy when first riding with my Garmin in full on rain. You get used to it though once you see it just glowing in front of you full of water 8)