Best device for GPS navigation

lettingthedaysgoby
lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
edited February 2017 in Road buying advice
Another newbie buying question...

I'm starting to get to the point where my rides are becoming longer and I'm wanting to explore more, so I'd like to get a GPS.

I don't really have the need for one that has all the training/heart rate/power meter stuff, I'm purely interested in the navigation side of things. One where I can design a route in Strava/whatever, upload it to the device and then go ride, with it providing turn by turn directions.

So, what would people recommend? I know Garmin seem to be the default option but even within their range I'm a tad confused by all the options, and I assume there are plenty of others out there as well.

Oh, I'm not interested in using my phone. It's not waterproof and the battery won't last :D
«1

Comments

  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    The Garmin Edge 1000 is probably the best device right now for navigation. It does come with a lot of the other crap you don't want but it does have a nice big screen and mostly navigates well. There are plenty of other navigation options but I'd say the 1000 is the best currently available.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • Budget?

    Garmin 820 gets good reviews but has a lot of stuff you don't want, touring versions may be worth considering as they don't have ant+ etc. I had one and sent it back as the screen was smaller than the Edge 800 it was supposed to replace.

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-edge-tou ... -computer/
  • Do you need maps in the software or you are happy to follow a breadcrumb trail?

    There isa big difference in price between the two technologies. They will both upload GPX or TCX files that you can get from Strava, but the GPS with maps are a lot more expensive.

    I recently got a second hand Garmin 200 (breadcrumb, no maps) which works just fine for me... I spent 30 pounds on Ebay

    On the other side of the spectrum, you can spend 300 pounds or so for a Garmin 1000.

    Garmin Edge touring is someway in between and it has maps
    left the forum March 2023
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    edited January 2017
    I have a Garmin Touring Plus which does all that, but if you don't want heart rate and you can live without a barometric altimeter you could go for the non Plus version.

    Comes loaded with pretty detailed maps for the whole of Europe, based on Open Streetmap, and get free updates via Garmin Express.

    Mine's had a few good soakings and even been bounced down the road and it's still fine. Battery life is pretty good too.

    ETA: Don't trust it to plot a road route for you on the fly though, or at the very least check it's suggested route against a map; mine has a habit of sending me off down farm tracks and suchlike if I do that...
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    BTW - the DCRainmaker blog site reviews all of the Garmin (and other) GPS devices and has comparison tables. As a pretty objective site to help you choose, he's pretty hard to beat.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • Budget?
    Budget is... flexible I guess. I'd rather pay a bit more for something that does exactly what I want than save a few quid for a compromise.
  • Do you need maps in the software or you are happy to follow a breadcrumb trail?
    Forgive this newbie - what's a breadcrumb trail?

    In my head I guess I'm after something like the GPS in my car, just smaller and attached to my handlebars :D
  • LukeTC
    LukeTC Posts: 211
    edited January 2017
    If the edge 1000 peaks your interest but you don't want to pay the big price tag because you don't need all the data, the Edge 1000 Explore is more focused on...well exploring lol, it's made with touring in mind and because you sacrifice some features of the 1000 it usually comes up cheaper (although saying that, having just done some searching it seems they're actually getting priced higher than the 1000 on a lot of websites)

    I personally have the 1000 loaded up with OSMaps and they are really easy to follow, turn by turn with notification beeps if you so choose, and it takes a memory card so you can really pile the maps on, it's a bit of a cumbersome thing having come from my trusty 510 that sadly died but I wouldn't change it now.

    it also looks like the Wahoo Elemnt does turn by turn but I have no experience with it.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    Do you need maps in the software or you are happy to follow a breadcrumb trail?
    Forgive this newbie - what's a breadcrumb trail?

    In my head I guess I'm after something like the GPS in my car, just smaller and attached to my handlebars :D

    A breadcrumb trail is just a row that of dots (no map) that you try to stay with. Definitely doesn't meet your car GPS requirement
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • I don't think any of the devices on the market come close to a car GPS... but the closest things are probably the touring edge or the 1000.

    For me budget was paramount, as I don't want to spend more on a computer than on a bike, so I settled for breadcrumb line. If you upload a TCX file, it generally comes with arrows too
    left the forum March 2023
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    The 1000 is OTT for your needs as you state all the data is unneeded. You can still pick up a Garmin Edge 810 for £180. If has all the mapping you need and has plenty of other features in case you decide the data side is attractive.
  • rnath
    rnath Posts: 176
    I have a Garmin 800 which I use purely for navigation - I keep checking out the new ones but still don't see any need to upgrade at the moment. You can pick them up for £100 secondhand.
  • andcp
    andcp Posts: 644
    Second hand Garmin 800 then follow these instructions - https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/05/dow ... 00810.html
    "It must be true, it's on the internet" - Winston Churchill
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    You can certainly make an 800 work for you but it's certainly not the best for navigation - there are loads more navigation features on the 1000 and convenience features like wireless route uploads, route suggestions, location searches etc etc. Not to mention much faster satellite lock and other funky features like that. The 800 will do a job (I still have my old one) but if you want the best that there currently is, the 1000 (or similar) is the current state of the art.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • An alternative is the Wahoo Elemnt. I'm happy withmy mine. It syncs to your routes saved in Strava and Ride With GPS via wifi.
  • I've been using an edge touring which I picked up on eBay for £110 new. It seems pretty good, agreed that the on the fly navigation is a little bit imprecise but I'm very pleased with it.

    The Garmin connect software is great for creating courses and sharing activity between the Garmin and strava. Battery life is good too.
  • shmooster
    shmooster Posts: 335
    The Edge 1000 is getting a bit old now, replacement 1010 or 1020 likely to be announced at Sea Otter in April 2017. It's probably going to be quite expensive initially, but may reduce the price of the 820 which is currently about the same as the 1000.
    In terms of new features it's easy to guess it'll be faster than the 820 which is a bit slow on mapping, and will probably have some bluetooth sensor support and I'm guessing a smaller body compared to the screen size.
  • FishFish
    FishFish Posts: 2,152
    Have a look at the MemoryMap series which are a bit cheaper and have all the UK 2016 OS maps installed. I bike off road and so obviously this is a natural choice for me. You can plan routes and save them on .gpsx format.
    ...take your pickelf on your holibobs.... :D

    jeez :roll:
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    shmooster wrote:
    The Edge 1000 is getting a bit old now, replacement 1010 or 1020 likely to be announced at Sea Otter in April 2017. It's probably going to be quite expensive initially, but may reduce the price of the 820 which is currently about the same as the 1000.
    In terms of new features it's easy to guess it'll be faster than the 820 which is a bit slow on mapping, and will probably have some bluetooth sensor support and I'm guessing a smaller body compared to the screen size.

    Experience tells us that you'd be very "brave" to buy any new Garmin device unless you have a perverse sense of technological masochism. Most Garmin devices need at least a year from launch for Garmin to finish them.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • ben-----
    ben----- Posts: 573
    Forgive this newbie - what's a breadcrumb trail?

    In my head I guess I'm after something like the GPS in my car, just smaller and attached to my handlebars :D

    A visual demonstration of it:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9NQNcdtxZU

    I personally find them (breadcrumb routes) quite good. Their simplicity is a plus point IMO. Given the constraint they impose though: You have to pre plan your route before the ride. There's no way for it to generate any routes out and about. It can store a whole load of pre planned routes though.

    The necessity to pre plan restraint seems to be a restraint with the more expensive fully fledged mapping Garmins though, because, even though they have the ability to reroute while out and about, letting them do so seems to be a bad idea. You want to pre plan with/for the higher end Garmins as well. That seems to be the general advice.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    ben----- wrote:

    The necessity to pre plan restraint seems to be a restraint with the more expensive fully fledged mapping Garmins though, because, even though they have the ability to reroute while out and about, letting them do so seems to be a bad idea. You want to pre plan with/for the higher end Garmins as well. That seems to be the general advice.

    Yup - you don't really want to give any Garmin too much latitude to decide where you go. When I lived in NL I found myself doing things like riding along a cobblestone path in the middle of a field avoiding dog walkers whilst looking across the canal at the other cyclists riding along a perfect road.

    That said, the Dutch also seemed to just shut roads without needing to provide a detour route so having the ability to have the device reroute you was good. More often than not, though, just having the map to look at was the best thing and coming up with your own detour. That's where the larger screen on the 1000 comes into its own.

    No Edge device is anywhere near as sophisticated as a car Sat Nav though.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • shmooster
    shmooster Posts: 335
    Experience tells us that you'd be very "brave" to buy any new Garmin device unless you have a perverse sense of technological masochism. Most Garmin devices need at least a year from launch for Garmin to finish them.

    It's true Garmin don't have the best rep for early sw/hw versions but the Edge range is mature these days. I'd like to think they've improved and solved a lot of those issues by now. They have a bit more competition in the market so can't release unfinished hardware/software and expect to retain market share. They've also moved to longer (three year) predictable refresh cycles so should have plenty of time to improve quality.

    That said I'll still be monitoring the forums for early adopter feedback before I take the plunge.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    shmooster wrote:
    Experience tells us that you'd be very "brave" to buy any new Garmin device unless you have a perverse sense of technological masochism. Most Garmin devices need at least a year from launch for Garmin to finish them.

    It's true Garmin don't have the best rep for early sw/hw versions but the Edge range is mature these days. I'd like to think they've improved and solved a lot of those issues by now. They have a bit more competition in the market so can't release unfinished hardware/software and expect to retain market share. They've also moved to longer (three year) predictable refresh cycles so should have plenty of time to improve quality.

    That said I'll still be monitoring the forums for early adopter feedback before I take the plunge.

    I admire your optimism. I just think it's the culture at Garmin to release stuff before it's ready. I bought a car Sat Nat from them because I could attach their reversing camera (to help me hitch a car trailer from a tight barn) and, although the camera worked, the special charging lead couldn't receive traffic info properly (as I discovered in a 2-hour queue on the M6 that the Sat Nav had no clue about). 8 months later they've done a firmware update...
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Slightly off-topic, but I'm really pleased with my new TomTom. The live traffic is so accurate and recalculates so quickly I've learned to trust it implicitly, even if it suggests a route that at first looks a bit odd. Take Tuesday morning heading for work; It rerouted me after half a mile and I soon discovered why. Traffic chaos courtesy of the fatal BMW vs cyclist incident I knew nothing about. It got me to work 5 minutes early!
  • shmooster
    shmooster Posts: 335
    I admire your optimism. I just think it's the culture at Garmin to release stuff before it's ready. I bought a car Sat Nat from them because I could attach their reversing camera (to help me hitch a car trailer from a tight barn) and, although the camera worked, the special charging lead couldn't receive traffic info properly (as I discovered in a 2-hour queue on the M6 that the Sat Nav had no clue about). 8 months later they've done a firmware update...

    We'll see what happens in a few months. Like I said I'll be checking the forums first just in case. I'd like it to replace my 510 for a mountains trip in the summer, but it might be a bit soon after release to find out how stable it is.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    keef66 wrote:
    Slightly off-topic, but I'm really pleased with my new TomTom. The live traffic is so accurate and recalculates so quickly I've learned to trust it implicitly, even if it suggests a route that at first looks a bit odd. Take Tuesday morning heading for work; It rerouted me after half a mile and I soon discovered why. Traffic chaos courtesy of the fatal BMW vs cyclist incident I knew nothing about. It got me to work 5 minutes early!

    I was going to buy anything but Garmin but the reviews for TomTom on the Halfords site were a bit shaky so I ralented and went Garmin. I should have known better...
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • sopworth
    sopworth Posts: 191
    I've just switched from Garmin to a Wahoo Elemnt. Wonderful piece of kit and much better than my old Garmin 800. The screen isn't colour or touch screen but it's much easier to see the detail on the maps in any light, sunglasses, weather than the garmin screen. In lieu of touch screen there is a button on the side that you can easily zoom in or out and its much easier to control than the Garmin screen. The unit connects to you phone and links up when your phone and unit are on. Any changes to the unit, making or adding routes, adjusting screen windows and so on, is all done on your smartphone and just transfers when you power on the unit. You just need to press start when you pedal and you are golden - so, so much better than a Garmin.
    You even get 3 different mounts for the unit in the box - genius!
    Try one out and check out the reviews from DC rainmaker, you won't be disappointed.
  • sopworth wrote:
    I've just switched from Garmin to a Wahoo Elemnt. Wonderful piece of kit and much better than my old Garmin 800. The screen isn't colour or touch screen but it's much easier to see the detail on the maps in any light, sunglasses, weather than the garmin screen. In lieu of touch screen there is a button on the side that you can easily zoom in or out and its much easier to control than the Garmin screen. The unit connects to you phone and links up when your phone and unit are on. Any changes to the unit, making or adding routes, adjusting screen windows and so on, is all done on your smartphone and just transfers when you power on the unit. You just need to press start when you pedal and you are golden - so, so much better than a Garmin.
    You even get 3 different mounts for the unit in the box - genius!
    Try one out and check out the reviews from DC rainmaker, you won't be disappointed.
    So does it need the phone when you're out on the ride? Or do you just use the phone for setting it up?
  • StillGoing
    StillGoing Posts: 5,211
    shmooster wrote:
    The Edge 1000 is getting a bit old now, replacement 1010 or 1020 likely to be announced at Sea Otter in April 2017. It's probably going to be quite expensive initially, but may reduce the price of the 820 which is currently about the same as the 1000.
    In terms of new features it's easy to guess it'll be faster than the 820 which is a bit slow on mapping, and will probably have some bluetooth sensor support and I'm guessing a smaller body compared to the screen size.

    Experience tells us that you'd be very "brave" to buy any new Garmin device unless you have a perverse sense of technological masochism. Most Garmin devices need at least a year from launch for Garmin to finish them.

    This is very true, although my 820 bought on release, hasn't been plagued with the problems reported by others. Given the choice with hindsight though, I'd have stuck with my old 810 simply because of the screen size. The only firmware problem I've had with the 820 was with the screen freezing during a coffee stop and refusing to do anything. My inexperience with it at the time, failed to spot switching it off and on again would've restarted the route without break.
    I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.
  • hsiaolc
    hsiaolc Posts: 492
    Another newbie buying question...

    I'm starting to get to the point where my rides are becoming longer and I'm wanting to explore more, so I'd like to get a GPS.

    I don't really have the need for one that has all the training/heart rate/power meter stuff, I'm purely interested in the navigation side of things. One where I can design a route in Strava/whatever, upload it to the device and then go ride, with it providing turn by turn directions.

    So, what would people recommend? I know Garmin seem to be the default option but even within their range I'm a tad confused by all the options, and I assume there are plenty of others out there as well.

    Oh, I'm not interested in using my phone. It's not waterproof and the battery won't last :D

    Well then you are not going to get the best GPS navigation if you are not going to use a smart phone. BTW they've already done an article here that the best GPS accuracy belongs to a phone.