Do I really need a Garmin?

MrSingh

I don't want to pay for a Garmin. I simply want to be able to create a route on a PC or iPhone etc. and then be able to use that route, turn by turn, on my iPhone. A bonus would be if the screen doesn't need to be on and if I can turn off my data connection (i.e. Downloadable route/map), to save battery.

You would think Google Maps would allow this but it doesn't. What's the simplest way (I'm UK-based)?

Calpol

MrSingh wrote:

I don't want to pay for a Garmin. I simply want to be able to create a route on a PC or iPhone etc. and then be able to use that route, turn by turn, on my iPhone. A bonus would be if the screen doesn't need to be on and if I can turn off my data connection (i.e. Downloadable route/map), to save battery.

You would think Google Maps would allow this but it doesn't. What's the simplest way (I'm UK-based)?

For me it doesn't make sense to strap a £500 phone to the bars of your bike. I have the edge 500 and I think it's a great accessory. Battery lasts for ages and it doesn't mind getting wet. It will do turn by turn but I'd not like Sat nav.you need to pay more for that. Someone is seeking an edge 500 on the forum for £120. I wouldn't be without mine.

CXrider

I can highly recommend the Edge 200 which you can get for around $85.
GPS, upload/download/create routes.

chopchopchop

I was very anti Garmin until recently. Then Strava accuracy went pants on my phone and I wanted new rides.

I bought an Edge 200 and it's the best purchase ever. I am now creating rides down obscure lanes and not seeing cars for miles. The route planner on Strava is great and the Edge breadcrumbs directions doesn't miss a beat.

mangetout_rodney

I used my phone for a while and recently bought a Garmin 810.
Really glad I did- great little device, auto logging of rides and loads of analysis options.
It uploads the calorie information to My Fitness Pal too.

I also didn't like the idea of keeping the phone on the bike but actually in some ways, if the mount is good, then it is probably safer than in the jersey pocket.
In an accident I wouldn't like the idea of landing/rolling on my back with a phone in it.
My phone goes in my saddle pack now.

StillGoing

Buy a Garmin; it makes far more sense than using a phone that you may need in an emergency only to find the battery has gone flat. Yes they have some firmware issues now and again, but they do sort them out. They recently had issues with LiveTrack, a function I and many others do use which was failing to connect to phones. This has now been fixed and may have had something to do with the tie in agreement that's just recently been announced which allows your rides to be automatically uploaded from Garmin Connect to Strava without going near your PC. Of the many reported issues with Garmins, a good sizeable portion of them are user error which owners are loathed to admit to. None the less, there are millions of satisfied customers out there.

Try Handtec for the cheapest deals.

jimmocrates

My Garmin 800 was one of the best bike related purchases I've ever made. It really has changed my riding experience and means I ride further and in new/unfamiliar areas.
Its incredibly robust and Garmin Connect is really easy to use.

Get OSM on a memory card and you won't regret it.

kajjal

I bought a 500 as it keeps my phone safe for making calls and works very well for my needs.

Anonymous

Nope, you do not need one and please do not ever buy one.
You must have seen the adverts. iPhones do everything :roll:

Thread titles like this really pi55 me off.
Not quite as bad as 'Convince me I need a Garmin' but its along those lines.

crescent

chopchopchop wrote:

I bought an Edge 200 and it's the best purchase ever. I am now creating rides down obscure lanes and not seeing cars for miles. The route planner on Strava is great and the Edge breadcrumbs directions doesn't miss a beat.

+1 for the Edge 200. Compact, accurate and the breadcrumb trails are very easy to follow. It's a piece of cake (see what I did there) to download a route as well and I, too, find I can plan a route over quiet and obscure roads in confidence knowing I won't get lost or go around in circles. Reasonably priced as well, I paid £95 for mine and that included a SRAM outfront mount.

Bar Shaker

You will be forever 'making do' until you buy a Garmin.

Save yourself the frustration and just buy one today.

Anonymous

Bar Shaker wrote:

You will be forever 'making do' until you buy a Garmin.

Save yourself the frustration and just buy one today.

OP should make do with what he has and put the cash towards his next iPhone ;-)

diamonddog

Another one for the Edge 200 £80 @ Wiggle.

smoggysteve

Buy a map. Make a route card. Tape it to your top tube. Worked for decades before we became over reliant on satnav.

MountainMonster

There is a programme my wife and I downloaded for our Android phones that saves the maps to the phone itself and does not require data to use. It fully integrates with GPS so it can located me and show me the area where I am so I can get to where I want to go. That, in combination with Strava is perfect for what I need. I turn cellular data off while riding, and everything works perfectly.

Save the money for the Garmin and put it towards new clothes or something, those will make a higher difference to your average time and speed than a device on your bars will. Plus you'll look great.

Anonymous

MountainMonster wrote:

Save the money for the Garmin and put it towards new clothes or something, those will make a higher difference to your average time and speed than a device on your bars will. Plus you'll look great.

Dura Ace clothing :P Do you have a link?

Hang on a minute. Did the OP even mention wanting to go faster?

terry2708

A phone is a phone, a Garmin is a Garmin designed for riding. Just get a 200 and see how you get on.............you wont go back!!! (stands back to wait for sensible comebacks!)

StorckSpeed

In answer to your question do you need a Garmin? No.
However as a previous poster mentioned why strap a £500 phone onto the front of your bike, where there's a possiblility it could get wet, chipped, cracked etc. is confusing.

http://www.MapmyRide.com amongst many, many other websites will allow you to create a route, export it to your PC as a GPX file and upload it to any device than can read GPX files, including your iPhone.

This guide may help. http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/guide-us ... id-iphone/

bernithebiker

yes.






A 500.

MountainMonster

Carbonator wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

Save the money for the Garmin and put it towards new clothes or something, those will make a higher difference to your average time and speed than a device on your bars will. Plus you'll look great.

Dura Ace clothing :P Do you have a link?

Hang on a minute. Did the OP even mention wanting to go faster?

The biggest 'Dura-Ace' moment is having a comfy bum that doesn't cause you problems

He didn't mention is specifically, but everyone knows that is the main cyclists goals

Anonymous

terry2708 wrote:

A phone is a phone, a Garmin is a Garmin designed for riding. Just get a 200 and see how you get on.............you wont go back!!! (stands back to wait for sensible comebacks!)

I am afraid your simple logic is just not going to wash with a lot of iPhone owners.
They really want their phone to do everything and will not accept that there is a better way of doing things.

Maybe they need to justify its huge cost by convincing themselves they do not need to buy other devices, or maybe they just love to tell others what things they have got it to do.

Mine is just an accessory for one of my Garmin's
Its a pretty good phone too, but its jersey pocket only on the bike and it never comes running

smoggysteve

Garmins or GPS phone apps are like Crack cocaine. You do not need it in your life and can happily get by without one blissfully unaware of what you are missing. Then you get one and the idea of going out on your bike with no way of recording it to show the world brings you out in cold sweats.

You do not NEED a Garmin. No one does. They are a massive help to those who want the information to upload onto Stava or Garmin etc but will it make you faster? Not really. Will it make your rides more enjoyable. Possibly but not guaranteed. As I mentioned before, if you want it for navigation you can always just copy a quick route card out from a map. I am sure you know the general layout of where you ride without having to be guided onto every single junction. If anything, I like to just take the odd detour and see where it takes me. Thats the beauty of riding a bike. The freedom to explore and find better routes. See different places you never knew where there. If you sit there following your GPS like a sheep the world will just fly by without you even noticing it.

Mikey23

Didnt know sheep had gps... Explains why they are always getting lost

smoggysteve

Mikey23 wrote:

Didnt know sheep had gps... Explains why they are always getting lost

Nah mate, they fit them with trackers now and sacked Bo Peep .

juanerasmoe

+1 for the 200. Using your phone for this is pointless; the risk of damaging the phone and the battery life makes it a bad idea. Buy a 200 (80 on http://goo.gl/xJO317) and be done with it.
However, keep in mind that this won't give you phone-like navigation. Take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9NQNcdtxZU to get a rough idea of what you'll get on the 200 or the 510.

terry2708

Carbonator wrote:

terry2708 wrote:

A phone is a phone, a Garmin is a Garmin designed for riding. Just get a 200 and see how you get on.............you wont go back!!! (stands back to wait for sensible comebacks!)

I am afraid your simple logic is just not going to wash with a lot of iPhone owners.
They really want their phone to do everything and will not accept that there is a better way of doing things.

Maybe they need to justify its huge cost by convincing themselves they do not need to buy other devices, or maybe they just love to tell others what things they have got it to do.

Mine is just an accessory for one of my Garmin's
Its a pretty good phone too, but its jersey pocket only on the bike and it never comes running

I actually have an i phone but wouldn't dream of sticking it on my bike while flying down Leith Hill!!! When people do then get a garmin, they say…….ahhhh now I know why!!

roux_guy

Another +1 for the Edge 200, great bit of kit.

Mikey23

And the thought is inside your head now and wont go away... Day and night the voice keeps saying must have garmin, over and over again until you give in and click on amazon. And then you will have to have a better garmin, then a top end garmin and finally you will cancel your contract on that stoopid iphone and become totally crazy like the rest of us...

monkimark

I used to use mapmyride to create routes on the PC and then an android app called cuesheet to give me directions through an earphone in one ear with my phone in the back pocket. I think I paid 2 or 3 quid for the app.

Worked OK but didn't have an off route warning (I think that's improved now) and occasionally just stopped working so you'd be riding along in silence wondering if it had crashed.

That said, I once spent a very frustrating ride trying to follow a route to Biggin Hill that a couple of mates had on their Garmin 800/810s (I forget which) and once we went off track it kept trying to shortcut the planned loop, resulting in a 40 minute ride around the less salubrious parts of SE London before I gave up and just headed out without directions using a bit of local knowledge and some guesswork.

I have a garmin 800 myself now and it does seem to be pretty good at navigating (nice to have the map in front of you and waterproof) but I haven't given it much of a test yet.

Anonymous

SmoggySteve wrote:

You do not NEED a Garmin. No one does. They are a massive help to those who want the information to upload onto Stava or Garmin etc but will it make you faster? Not really. Will it make your rides more enjoyable. Possibly but not guaranteed. As I mentioned before, if you want it for navigation you can always just copy a quick route card out from a map. I am sure you know the general layout of where you ride without having to be guided onto every single junction. If anything, I like to just take the odd detour and see where it takes me. Thats the beauty of riding a bike. The freedom to explore and find better routes. See different places you never knew where there. If you sit there following your GPS like a sheep the world will just fly by without you even noticing it.

That all seems an odd load of stuff to tell someone that went out and bought an iPhone lol
Once you have an iPhone you have kind of given up going down the writing things on pieces of card route.

Virtual partner makes you faster IMO

StillGoing

As Carbonator has said; you don't need one. Do you want one? As you've raised the question, then clearly yes. Will you get any benefit from one if you go for it? Yes you will. Does it help with training? Yes it does. Does it help with route planning and following courses? Yes it does. Do they go wrong? Yes they do, but in the majority of cases it's because of the numpty operating it. Will I want to keep upgrading it? Possibly. So buy the best you can afford/meets your needs for now and the future and shut temptation away when the 1050 gets released.