Garmin Edge 800

yost72

I have a Garmin Edge 200, which to be honest I get on with fine. I like to plan routes on Bike Hike (used to use Bike Route Toaster, but they no longer have the option to add Coursepoint warnings), then put them onto the Garmin. Although it is only 'breadcrumb' trails, I have still managed to follow routes ok.
My question is whether it is worth upgrading to something like the 800, which I believe has a sort of car sat nav set up, with proper street names etc. Are there other benefits which would justify forking out £200+? I am not particularly bothered about things like heart rate monitoring.

meanredspider

TBH probably not. You'd be better using your 200 with a smart phone as back up. It really depends how often you think you really need the navigation capabilities which are pretty basic and a bit shaky in my experience.

andyeb

I've recently bought an 800, as I like planning my own routes and following them. It takes a fairly determined effort to get the turn-by-turn navigations working properly and many people from the club have simply given up trying.

It's possible to save a bit of money on an 800 by buying a refurb (termed NOH - new and overhauled) from Wiggle.

On balance, I think it was a worthwhile purchase, given how it has enhanced my enjoyment of cycling, discovering new lanes and corners of Surrey which I didn't previously know had existed. But the product itself is a bit rough around the edges and questionable value for money. I also find the training features quite useful and the Ant+ heart rate and speed/cadence sensors are *much* more reliable and hassle-free than the Bluetooth 4 sensors I used to use with my iPhone.

bernithebiker

You can still navigate fine with a 500.

And it's cheaper, smaller and lighter than an 800.

Plot a route on the net, then export it to the 500, and follow the trail.

To be honest, I tend to get by just with the compass feature anyway, if I'm lost.