Best vs Most Cost-Effective Satnav/Strava Setup

garnett

I'm hoping people can tell me a bit about their Satnav and Strava set-ups. I'm about to try and get back on the bike a bit after a long layoff. We've moved and I don't know the area at all and so I want to get satnav. I'd also like to run Strava. Ideally I'd monitor my heart rate.

When I last used Strava, I ran it on my phone, which sat in back pocket - I knew my route, and I think back then it didn't feature satnav, like it appears to now.

I'm minded to get a waterproof case for it, and use something like a Quad Lock to attach it to my handlebars. I don't know if the satnav's any good, whether it allows me to see upcoming elevation, Heart rate - form a 3rd party HRM belt possibly, or whether Garmin is just an expensive but ultimately worthwhile purchase.

I don't know how often I'll be going out but realistically it's going to be once or twice a week.

Someone's already recommended a second hand Garmin 810 which they claimed could be got for £50 but which appear to cost over double that on eBay, with no guarantee about how the battery in them is performing and will last.

So there you go.

Tl;Dr - Must I spend £400 on a Garmin 1000?

shmooster

If you can wait 6 weeks, Garmin are likely to announce the 1000 replacement at Sea Otter (April 20-23)

jameses

If you are happy to plot out a route first and use a breadcrumb trail rather than a map, the basic Garmin 200 and 500 units work fine and can be picked up second hand for less than £50.

The 200 is actually better in some respects, because if you have to go off route for whatever reason (a lot of the mapping sites want to send you down bridlepaths) it will zoom out to show you roughly where you need to go to rejoin your route. The 500 doesn't do this, but does connect to ant+ HRM and cadence/speed sensors.

The newer edge 25 does all of the above (I think) and can be had for less than £100. Not convinced it's worth spending the extra for mapping, especially given the amount of problems the 810/820 units seem to have.

stueys

I got my eldest son an edge 25 and it's great for the money, the only thing I'm not 100% sure of is whether you can display heart rate zone whilst riding. Which you will want if you're planning on using heart rate as you say.

Other than that ebay for a second hand edge unit. 70-100 quid will give you lots of options. My old edge 800 had great battery life so even an old unit should be good for 8-9 hours I would have thought.

garnett

Thanks guys - that's very helpful. I notice nobody's recommending/endorsing the use of a phone! Which concurs with previous advice I have been given.

stueys

We had a debate on here a few months ago about using phone. For me my phone is a 700 quid item that I use for calling if I get in trouble and for my wife to track me so she can see if I get in trouble (I use live track). So personally I want the battery fully charged and the phone tucked safely away in my back pocket, not stuck onto the front of the bars where it's liable to be the first thing broken in a crash.

Plus I want a touchscreen I can use when it's wet or with gloves on, Ant connectivity, long battery life, lots of configurable displays/buttons, etc, etc. Basically a cycle computer....

chippyk

Garmin 810's were £89.99 in the Aldi near work the other week, good value.

onionmk

FWIW I use a Garmin 800 which I picked up for around 55 quid. Theres much better devices out there but if you're looking for a relatively cheap device which ticks the boxes ( turn by turn navigation, on screen data and strava connectivity for me) it does that just fine. Although I must say, using it as a satnav i.e where you type in an address and get it to take you there, is hopeless. It almost always sends you on the longest route home despite playing with the settings. You'll have to plan your route and upload them on to your device (which works great).

I came from using strava on my phone in my back pocket and I don't look back. Saves my battery for emergencies and the odd cafe stop scroll through social media.

shmooster

A lot of people start with using their phone to track and then move onto a dedicated device. I wish I'd bought a Garmin earlier instead of wasting money on handlebar mounts for my phone.

ugo.santalucia

People place a lot of faith in HR measurements, which ultimately are completely meaningless, unless they are placed within a context of pretty scientific non DIY coaching. In the absence of that, it's a number like another, you could monitor wind speed and direction, air temperature or relative humidity and get more meaningful information out of it, even more meaningful for your own training.

As a rule of thumb, if you need a good GPS to find your way, then you don't need a HR monitor... the latter is only for training (as above) and normally when you train you know your way round, most people use a familiar loop.

All GPS devices do Strava in a way or another, even my 30 quid Garmin 200 does that. In fairness a Garmin 1000 does very little more, considering it costs over 10 times as much

I suggest you prioritise what you really want and need, to avoid spending a fortune for fancy pants

rubertoe

I love my garmin edge touring, its a touring plus so has HR compatibility. I know my heart is beating as feel it in my chest. I dont need my garmin to tell me

garnett

Went out at the weekend and, without any other option, picked up an elastic spider-type arrangement form Halfords for £3 which held my phone to my handlebars.

Running Strava on my Samsung S6 seemed to be pretty much ideal - it's soon to be replaced as my main phone and so I'm minded to shove it in a waterproof case (ala Otterbox) and stick a bike mount on the back (ala Quadlock) and make it my bike computer.

The only deficiency I found I would have liked, was an indication of upcoming elevation (aka how long does this bloody hill go on for).

ugo.santalucia

Garnett wrote:

The only deficiency I found I would have liked, was an indication of upcoming elevation (aka how long does this bloody hill go on for).

For that you need to take your eyes off the phone and look up... you can generally tell how far up you still have to go...

Man Of Lard

ugo.santalucia wrote:

For that you need to take your eyes off the phone and look up... you can generally tell how far up you still have to go...

Unless it's one of those hills with a false summit & bend every few hundred yards - I hate those

fenix

Phones on the bars are an accident waiting to happen.

If you don't need to navigate then do strava from a phone in your pocket.

If you do need to navigate then you need a garmin or similar. Don't get distracted with displays on the bars. You're better off with your eyes on the road.

imafatman

I have a Tickr heartrate strap which pairs with Strava for heart rate. I only use it when I'm training - I have a fixed loop I do.

Never felt the need for GPS - I just cycle and if I get lost I pull out the phone and work it out.