What does a bike GPS actually do

marcusww

I am interested in buying a Garmin 810 or 510 and am unsure of the difference? Apart from speed / cadence mileages and timings etc (like a normal bike computer) what does it actually do? What is the difference between these 2 Garmins as there is such a price difference.

My purpose for having one is to download routes of the web and create my own using bikely etc.
thanks

smidsy

810 has actual maps to follow (like your car sat nav) which you can use to get you places.

510 just shows you bread crumbs of your pre-plotted route (so you need to decide and load the route before setting off).

They also give you lots of info like speed, temp, gradient, cadence, heart rate, average speed, max speed etc etc .

They also contain workouts so you can use them to structure your riding.

markhewitt1978

Of course one of the main purposes is to track your ride and then upload to the likes of Strava for later analysis / comparison. But you don't need a bike GPS to do that, most smart phones will suffice.

farrina

Full and comprehensive reviews of the lot here.http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews/garmin

Would suggest that you start with the 810 as it will probably have a comparision table with the others (including older 500/800)

Unless you want mapping (as in display on the unit itself as you ride) the 500 IMHO is particularly good value at circa £150

Regards

Alan

marcusww

Thanks for replies

hatch87

I agree, 500 is good enough. Getting lost is half the fun

rhext

I bought one on a whim several years ago. I now view it in the same way as I do the dashboard on my car. Speedo, clock, how long I've been out, what my maximum speed was, how far I've come (giving me a reasonable ETA at the finish for routes I do regularly). All of which you can get from a standard bike computer, of course, but there's no faffing about with entering wheel sizes etc - you just turn it on. It captures where you've been, so you can use it to send recommended routes to friends, or even just work out ride statistics (how much climbing/descent for example).

And then there's the route finding capability. I don't use this often, but it is extremely useful to be able to pre-programme a route in and then follow a breadcrumb trail. My model is very basic, but effective nonetheless. It practically eliminates maps for road-cycling as it's always obvious which way to turn at a junction. For offroad it doesn't eliminate maps completely, but it very quickly indicates if you're going off track!

Gizmodo

I bought the 800 18 months ago because I was fed up getting lost. I like having the maps to get me back to the start of the ride if the group splits up or I have a serious mechanical and the club I ride with has taken me to an area I don't know.

Don't bother buying Garmin's maps though, the Open Street Maps (OSM) on BikeRouteToaster are great and free.

Good article here http://frank.kinlan.co.uk/garmin-edge-8 ... -edge-800/

Anonymous

I love my 500. I could have got any (and normally want the top of range things :oops: ) but think the size and features of the 500 is the best combination.

I guess the bigger ones (510/800/810) are fun but unless you really need any of the features I would say the 500 would be perfect and is a good price.

rudivoller22

Anyone seen any good deals on the 510/500 or 800?

city_boy

rudivoller22 wrote:

Anyone seen any good deals on the 510/500 or 800?

This looks a cracking deal on the 500 with HRM and Cadence Sensor for £149.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Heart-Monitor-Cadence-Sensor/dp/B002O0QBN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368733063&sr=8-1&keywords=garmin+500+bundle

farrina

Or if you just want the Edge 500 on its own this might be worth a look at £128 http://www.handtec.co.uk/garmin-edge-500-neutral-black-silver-010-00829-06.html (have not checked delivery cost here) but Amazon were showing £139 with free delivery.

However £150 deal above looks superb value.

Regards

Alan

WindyG

I've just ordered the 500 + HRM and Cadence sensor from Amazon should be here tomorrow.

Wiggle also have refurb 500's for £118 but the delivery time was 2-4 weeks

rudivoller22

Refurb option looks good. I've got a PayPal gift card someone gave me as a gift I need to use and sadly amazon dont take paypal.

HeatherMillsLeg

rudivoller22 wrote:

Refurb option looks good. I've got a PayPal gift card someone gave me as a gift I need to use and sadly amazon dont take paypal.

I thought that until I saw the Amazon deal a few days back, new & with HRM & cadence. When you realise that you are only paying £15 each for these extras it is, quite frankly - pretty poor.

I say that cos even even you don't need them I'm sure you could flog them for around £50 on Ebay making the NEW GPS only £100.

Added & paid for the 500 the other day & then panicked & cancelled & thought I'd make do with Endomondo on my iPhone but after it being incredibly wrong I think I'm gonna go for it.

This has been £169.99 for a long time. It's either going back up to that soon or there is going to be a big price decrease which I don't see happening.

Bought a 160 Gb slim with a load of extras & games from Amazon for £150 & surprisingly has never come anywhere near that low.

Thanks for this thread - have just convinced myself that now is the time to BUY BUY BUY!!

Anyone asking about the higher models needs to get off their fingers and do a bit of research themselves if they can afford these more expensive units but don't have a clue about GPS comps..

Some people...Doh!

WindyG

My 500 came today, very nice bit of kit, pretty much all set up, HRM links easy enough, will put the cadence sensor on tomorrow to hopefully test if this rain ever stops. Nice that you can have 3 bikes stored with the option of sensors on or off, I'll only fit a cadence sensor on the road bike. Just need to get a 3rd mount so every bike has one.

rudivoller22

Do you still get the full 12 month uk warranty buying from amazon? I assumed so but a guy at LbS today claimed that as they aren't UK stock you don't get the same warranty. Sounded like bull to me (it was £50 more there) but made me think so worth asking.

WindyG

The warranty will be with Amazon not Garmin so yes a full 12month warranty.

englander

Just to clarify, does the 200 have the same breadcrumb navigation functionality as the 500?

farrina

Why not read the review here http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/08/garmin-edge-200-in-depth-review.html.

I bought the 500 over the 200 as I wanted heart rate measurement recording.http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/12/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

Comparison link here http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-calculator

FWIW I do not think the breadcrumb feature is up to much. If you want mapping bite the bullet and buy the 810 instead

Regards

Alan

rudivoller22

Anyone seen any deals on the 800?