Need advice buying my first cycling gps

Avo

Hello. I am looking to buy my first cycling gps within the next month. I am currently torn between two options. Firstly the Mio/Magellan cycle 505 HC ( $360 ), secondly the Garmin Edge 520 bundle ( $340 ). My budget is $400. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

pblakeney

520.
End of discussion.

Avo

Any reasons? Thanks for the quick response btw

alex222

Check out the DC Rainmaker blog and all will be revealed.

pblakeney

Avo wrote:

Any reasons? Thanks for the quick response btw

Does everything you need in a small package.
It is the most popular for a reason.

markhewitt1978

Look at the Wahoo ELEMNT way better than the 520 it's $320.

super_davo

What do you want from it?
If you want to follow routes a lot and have all bells and whistles then an Edge 820 would probably be the best choice.
If you want a small package that can integrate with power meters, HRMs, decent sized screen, and have mapping for occasional use then get the 520 (slightly cheaper)
If you never want the mapping, and just want a teeny little device for Strava uploads and general analysis the Edge 25 is a fine choice.
Edge 520 is recommended by lots of people because it fits most people's use profile and you won't be disappointed.

StillGoing

If you don't want mapping then you're looking at the Wahoo Elemnt, Garmin 520 and 510. If you want mapping, the Garmin 810, 1000 and 820. Next, do you want a touch screen or have to fiddle about with buttons. If you want touch screen and the ease of moving between screens on the go, forget the 520 and the Elemnt.

Of the non-mapping devices, I'd get a 510 while you still can. Cheaper than the 520 and has touch screen. Similar size and other than a colour screen background for breadcrumb trails, the ability to show Strava segments and have some Connect IQ add ons on the 520, there's little difference,

Of the mapping devices, I have the 820 having upgraded from the 810. I prefer the screen size of the 810 and the option to show a screen graph for time in zones, and other than the firmware issues with Livetrack, mine never gave me any problems. The 810 is still available in stores and on line. The 820 has some added features and time will tell whether it is any better than the 810 once I've had plenty of use out of it. If you want the huge screen, look at the 1000.

Mio, Bryton and Polar have similar devices, but the front runner has always been Garmin.

pblakeney

philthy3 wrote:

..Of the non-mapping devices, I'd get a 510 while you still can. Cheaper than the 520 and has touch screen...

Strangely, I found the 520 to be cheaper than the 510. That may have changed.
Surely the 520 is supposed to be an improved 510? Touch screen was never a consideration, for me.

StillGoing

PBlakeney wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

..Of the non-mapping devices, I'd get a 510 while you still can. Cheaper than the 520 and has touch screen...

Strangely, I found the 520 to be cheaper than the 510. That may have changed.
Surely the 520 is supposed to be an improved 510? Touch screen was never a consideration, for me.

For many it was a consideration.

https://youtu.be/nppVE3YeEdM

markhewitt1978

philthy3 wrote:

If you don't want mapping then you're looking at the Wahoo Elemnt, Garmin 520 and 510. If you want mapping, the Garmin 810, 1000 and 820.

Not that simple of course. Garmin 520 can have maps loaded onto it and the Wahoo ELEMNT already has maps of most of the world loaded on it. Both can do turn by turn routing when a route is planned using RideWithGPS, although neither can do routing on the unit itself.

morstar

I got an absolute steal on a Bryson rider 60. Does everything I need it to with maps included for the more make it up as you go along rides.
I shan't argue it's either better or worse than Garmin but if you want a reliable unit that records and displays ride metrics at potentially a far keener price, it is definitely worth looking at.
There are no firmware updates for the unit but they always seem to be the cause of most frustration whenever I read about Garmin woes, so no bad thing when the unit already works.

StillGoing

morstar wrote:

I got an absolute steal on a Bryson rider 60. Does everything I need it to with maps included for the more make it up as you go along rides.
I shan't argue it's either better or worse than Garmin but if you want a reliable unit that records and displays ride metrics at potentially a far keener price, it is definitely worth looking at.
There are no firmware updates for the unit but they always seem to be the cause of most frustration whenever I read about Garmin woes, so no bad thing when the unit already works.

In which case and as you have already pointed out, it cannot be updated with new firmware to move with the times. Once it's outdated, it has to be replaced. Garmin do have firmware issues mainly due to the fact they release models as Beta development and fail to thoroughly test firmware updates before release. They rely on the customer to report any faults without considering the embuggerance for the user. The 810 and 1000 worked perfectly well until they added the 520 and the bloody live Strava segments which messed things up mainly if you had Bluetooth activated while riding a course in my experience. You cannot though, fault what the devices can do when operating properly. For some that seems to be never, but of the millions of units they sell, the vast majority clearly work fine or they would be out of business by now.

StillGoing

markhewitt1978 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

If you don't want mapping then you're looking at the Wahoo Elemnt, Garmin 520 and 510. If you want mapping, the Garmin 810, 1000 and 820.

Not that simple of course. Garmin 520 can have maps loaded onto it and the Wahoo ELEMNT already has maps of most of the world loaded on it. Both can do turn by turn routing when a route is planned using RideWithGPS, although neither can do routing on the unit itself.

They are only background maps and not true mapping. The 520 in particular has a woefully small memory to be able to load background maps necessitating in loading and removal of different regions if you don't ride in one county.

myideal

I have to say I've found my Bryton 50 really good value and can't complain. I have a Garmin (high end watch) and the data is near enough exactly the same between the two, so clearly both work as well as each other.

The Bryton range seems to be getting cheaper and cheaper , yet quite advanced for what you get. I suspect for the average rider a Bryton or similar device is probably more reasonable than some expensive Garmin. The updates are a pain as you end up with a device that used to work, however no longer does. The number of updates my watch has had already is quite a farce and it's now more battery intensive than it ever has been.

morstar

philthy3 wrote:

morstar wrote:

I got an absolute steal on a Bryson rider 60. Does everything I need it to with maps included for the more make it up as you go along rides.
I shan't argue it's either better or worse than Garmin but if you want a reliable unit that records and displays ride metrics at potentially a far keener price, it is definitely worth looking at.
There are no firmware updates for the unit but they always seem to be the cause of most frustration whenever I read about Garmin woes, so no bad thing when the unit already works.

In which case and as you have already pointed out, it cannot be updated with new firmware to move with the times. Once it's outdated, it has to be replaced. Garmin do have firmware issues mainly due to the fact they release models as Beta development and fail to thoroughly test firmware updates before release. They rely on the customer to report any faults without considering the embuggerance for the user. The 810 and 1000 worked perfectly well until they added the 520 and the bloody live Strava segments which messed things up mainly if you had Bluetooth activated while riding a course in my experience. You cannot though, fault what the devices can do when operating properly. For some that seems to be never, but of the millions of units they sell, the vast majority clearly work fine or they would be out of business by now.

I wasn't having a dig at Garmin but what is actually going to get outdated?

I happily own / have owned a number of Garmin products. My point is simply that for £160 I got a good Bryton unit with OS mapping (typically £150 for OS maps on their own). The one limitation is that the unit will never be updated. As it does everything I need it to, that is not an issue for me. Conversely, updating of Garmins has been problematic for some people and does seem to be the most consistent negative against the brand. Therefore a potential weakness of the Bryton could be viewed as a positive.

I actually looked all the way up to the Garmin 1000 but realised all the whistles and bells were not worth the premium to me despite being tempted.