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BUYER'S GUIDE

Get to know the Garmin Edge GPS bike computer range

Which of the wide range of Garmin Edge GPS cycling computers should you buy? Check this in-depth guide

If you’re thinking about buying a GPS bike computer, chances are that at least one Garmin Edge has made it on to your shortlist. How do you choose between them? That’s where we can help.

  • Garmin pioneered the cycling GPS unit back in the mid-2000s with the first Edge 205; that first-mover advantage has kept them at the forefront of the category despite strong competition

  • Like other cycling GPS units, Garmin's fall broadly into two categories: with and without maps. Non-mapping Edge models are good for ride-recording and fitness tracking, mapping units add detailed navigation capabilities

  • Garmin Edge GPS units capable of ANT+ and Bluetooth communication are available with and without sets of sensors; unless you really need a speed and cadence sensor, the premium is usually silly and you're better buying a third-party heart rate sensor

  • Nominally discontinued Garmin Edge devices often persist in the retail channel at discounted prices

The Garmin Edge GPS bike computer range

We’ve reviewed most of the Garmin Edges here on road.cc, so whether you want something simple to show your speed and track your ride, or you want advanced navigation and/or high-tech training features, we can talk you through what’s on offer.

As ever, we've cited the best on-line prices we can find at the time, but they do vary. If you really want to save money you can also consider older Garmin Edge computers. These have been superseded in the range but can still be found second hand.

Read more: The stuff they don't tell you about GPS bike computers

The current Garmin Edge cycling GPS computer range

Edge 1030 Plus — £420.47 | £499.99 (bundle with sensors)

RRP: £599.99 (Performance bundle)
Size: 58mm x 114mm x 19 mm
Display size: 88.9 mm diagonal, 282 x 470 pixels
Weight: 124g

Garmin Edge 1030 Plus

The Edge 1030 Plus is Garmin's flagship on-bike GPS, but it's an incremental improvement over the Edge 1030, below, rather than a great leap forward.

In addition to the Edge 1030's features and 282 x 470 pixel screen, the Edge 1030 Plus gets Garmin's Climb Pro app which gives you a load of data about the climb you're toiling up to a) distract you from the pain and b) help you pace yourself so you don't blow it all on the first steep bit. Climb Pro was first launched on the Edge 530 and has been added via a software update to the Edge 1030.

For off-road riding, the Edge 1030 Plus has the Trailforks app, preloaded with trail details from “more than 80 countries.” Its Forksight mode lets you know about upcoming forks in the trail and shows you where you are in a trail network.

The Edge 1030 Plus also lets you pause turn guidance on a route you're following and pick it up later. That means you can go explore a newly-discovered byway, or divert into a town for cake without the unit trying to recalculate your route or tell you you're off course.

Last but not least, Garmin has beefed up the battery compared to the Edge 1030, and now claims it'll go up to 24 hours even with multiple paired sensors and connected features, including LiveTrack running.

Buy if: You want the latest features, largest screen and longest battery life

Edge 830 — £299.99 (£359.99 with sensor bundle)

RRP: £349.99 - with sensor bundle: £429.99
Size: 49mm x 73mm x 21mm
Display size: 66mm diagonal, 246 x 322 pixels
Weight: 79.1g

Garmin Edge 830

The Edge 830 is the Edge 530's big brother, with a touchscreen and fewer buttons but otherwise almost identical set of features.

The significant differences between the 830 and 530 relate to navigation. The 830 can find and navigate you to a specific address or point of interest, which the 530 can't, and you can use the 830 to create a course linking a series of points, or create a roundtrip course. In combination with popularity routing, which uses Garmin's vast database of rides to point you down the rods other riders use, it should substantially improve navigation compared to previous Edge units.

Edge 530 — £219.00 (£295 with sensor bundle)

RRP: £259.99 - with sensor bundle: £349.99
Size: 50mm x 82mm x 20 mm
Display size: 66mm diagonal, 246 x 322 pixels
Weight: 76g

Garmin Edg 530

The cheaper of the pair of new GPS units that Garmin launched in April 2019 is physically the larger of the two because its case has room for buttons, while the Edge 830 is mostly touch-screen operated.

The Edge 530 is a mapping GPS with a colour screen and a claimed battery run-time of 20 hours. Plus, it can be used with Garmin's Charge power pack which was introduced with the Edge 1030.

In fact, what Garmin has done with the Edge 530 is bring the Edge 1030's feature set to a cheaper unit by trimming the screen size and dropping the touch screen. You therefore get a plethora of training and fitness features such as VO2 max, Recovery Adviser, FTP/Watts/kg tracking, and performance condition/lactate threshold/stress score, among others.

Most importantly, the 530 and 830 boast new processors which substantially improve the speed with which they perform tasks like loading and planning routes.

One major new feature is the ClimbPro app which shows you the remaining ascent and grade when you’re climbing, while following a route or course. The idea is to help you gauge your effort over the remainder of your ride, so burning out on your first climb of the day when there are plenty more to come should become a thing of the past.

Edge 130 Plus — £169.99 | £219.99 with heart rate

RRP: £169.99 - Performance Bundle £219.99
Size: 41mm x 63mm x 16 mm
Display size: 45 mm diagonal, 303 x 230 pixels
Weight: 33g

Edge130Plus_HR_1001.4-2

The latest version of Garmin's smallest GPS unit gets the Climb Pro app from the Edge 830 and 1030 Plus, and mountain bike metrics, that'll tell you jump count, jump distance and hang time after you've been out shredding the gnar. It's very much an incremental change over the Edge 130, below.

Edge Explore — £169.99

Garmin Edge Explore

RRP: £219.99
Size: 105mm x 55mm x 22mm
Display size: 39mm x 65mm, 240 x 400 pixels
Weight: 116g

Not to be confused with the Explore 1000 or Explore 820, the Edge Explore is a mapping GPS unit for riders who don't need all the training and fitness orientated features of the more expensive Edge units, but who do want a decent-sized screen and map, and the ability to connect to heart rate monitors for basic fitness measurement.

You don't get the level of customisation of the 1030, 830 or 530; the unit assumes you have just one bike, for example, and there are just two customisable screens. But you still get features such as LiveTrack and GroupTrack for keeping in touch with home base and other riders, support for Connect IQ apps, incident detection to send an alert if you crash, Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity for everything but power meters and loads more.

And unlike previous Edge Explore and Touring models, the price is sensible.

Buy if: You want a general cycling and navigation GPS without the power measurement and training bells and whistles of the more expensive Edge units.

Discontinued Garmin Edge cycling GPS computers

Edge 1030 — eBay search

RRP: £549.99 (Performance bundle)
Size: 58mm x 114mm x 19 mm
Display size: 88.9 mm diagonal, 282 x 470 pixels
Weight: 123g

garmin-edge-1030-7.jpg

The Edge 1030 boasts the largest screen of any Garmin cycling GPS, aside from the recently-launched Plus version and Garmin says the touch-screen function works in the wet or with gloves. It also has ambient light sensors to automatically adjust the screen brightness to suit the riding conditions. Battery life has been extended to a claimed 20 hours and there’s a new Garmin Charge battery pack accessory to double the run time to 40 hours for longer rides.

Garmin has beefed up the navigation and course planning features. Trendline utilises the many activities uploaded to Garmin Connect to provide routes using the most popular roads and off-road trails, backed up by preloaded Cycle Maps for turn-by-turn directions on all terrain with alerts for sharp corners and elevation information. You’ll also be able to choose from three round-trip suggestions by choosing a distance and starting direction if you want the Edge 1030 to recommended new routes.

Strava fans will be able to make use of the latest version of Strava Live Segments, while Strava Premium users will get further access to real-time races against personal best times. There’s also a new Segment Explore feature that lets you view popular nearby segments. If you want to use the Edge 1030 for serious training, Garmin has developed the new TrainingPeaks Connect IQ app to let you put your daily workouts on the Edge 1030, and it’ll also guide you through the workout in real-time with intensity targets and intervals.

The new Garmin Edge 1030 will cost £499.95 while a bundle option, which includes a premium heart rate monitor as well as cadence and speed sensors, has a suggested retail price of £549.99. There’s a new flush mount that puts the Edge 1030 in line with the handlebars — not above them — for a sleek appearance.

Buy if: You want a big screen and long battery life, but can live without the extra features of the Edge 1030 Plus

Read our review of the Garmin Edge 1030

Edge 520 Plus — eBay search

RRP: £200 - With sensor bundle £290
Size: 49mm x 73mm x 21mm
Display size: 23 mm diagonal, 200 x 265 pixels
Weight: 60g

garmin_edge_520_plus.jpg

The Edge 520 Plus was launched in 2018. It packs many of the features from the more expensive 820 and 1030 units into a unit that is the same size as the regular Edge 520.

The big new feature is the integration of Garmin Cycle Maps as opposed to the more basic mapping and navigation on the first 520. The turn-by-turn navigation works for on and off-road courses, and also has alerts that notify you of upcoming turns. It comes with the rider-to-rider messaging service first seen on the Edge 1030, although your ride buddies will need a Garmin computer with this feature too in order for it to work.

Other highlights of the Edge 520 Plus include preloaded Strava Live Segments and advanced performance feedback when used with Garmin Connect and accessories such as power meters and/or a heart-rate device.

Read our review of the Garmin Edge 520 Plus

Edge 130 — eBay search

RRP: £169.90 - Heart rate bundle £219.99
Size: 41mm x 63mm x 16 mm
Display size: 45 mm diagonal, 303 x 230 pixels
Weight: 33g

edge_130_main_2.jpg

The Edge 130 offers a lot of performance in a small package, with ANT+ and Bluetooth sensor and smartphone connectivity, decent battery life, an easy-to-use button-controlled layout and, perhaps best of all, an absolutely pin-sharp display. You don't get fully fledged navigation like the pricier Garmin models but the basic setup is usable if that's not your top priority.

Packed inside the small unit are sensors that use GPS, GLONASS and Galileo satellites for positioning, with a barometric altimeter. We found it picks up the satellites very quickly so there's no delay to starting a ride, and it hasn't shown any sign of dropping signal during any rides so far. That's using just the GPS mode, which the Edge 130 is set to by default. It worked fine. For more challenging areas you could try either the GPS + GLONASS or GPS + Galileo but they come with a battery penalty. Unless you're having issues in the stock mode you shouldn't have to worry about changing anything.

The 130 packs a lot more data screens in than Garmin's previous entry-level GPS devices, with up to 8 viewable at once. There's no fancy touchscreen, just simple buttons on the side of the unit, and there's no colour in that screen either, but clarity is excellent in all conditions.

Read our review of the Garmin Edge 130

Edge 520 — eBay search

RRP: From £279.99
Size: 49mm x 73mm x 21mm
Display size: 35mm x 47mm, 200 x 265 pixels
Weight: 60g

Strava Edge 520

The Edge 520 is one impressive piece of kit. It works smoothly with a good interface and clear display, and is bang up to date with all the features (barring full mapping) you could want from a cutting edge performance monitoring tool.

Headlining with the built-in ability to support Strava Live Segments (also available on the 820 and 1000, below), Garmin takes live monitoring of your performance out on the road to new levels here. It's a development that will delight segment hunters out there, and it works very well, although you need to pay for Strava Premium membership to enjoy this feature.

Your Strava starred segments are used to populate the 520's database of live segments, along with a selection of popular segments from your local area. You just ride up to the segment and the device cuts in with warnings of its approach and live comparisons against the KOM, the fastest person you follow, or your own PR.

The Edge 520 has a button interface rather than being touchscreen, and we find that that makes for faster response to commands. Course uploads from Strava and Garmin, and syncing with Garmin Connect, are much quicker than with previous units too.

Garmin Edge 520 GPS Bike Computer

The 520 is packed with features. It includes GPS and GLONASS satellite chips, a barometric altimeter, phone message compatibility, all the usual sensors including left and right pedal power recording from Vector pedals and compatibility with other power meters, Shimano Di2 integration, LiveTrack, Varia bike radar and light compatibility, training zone measuring, Functional Threshold Power monitoring, VO2 recording, and recovery time predictions.

It even boasts a basemap although this can't be used to plot a route home. Still, it gives a general idea of where you are.

With all the features stashed inside, as well as that improved display and smaller, lighter design, you might expect battery life to take a hit. It has, compared with the previous 510, but the 520 still offers up to 15 hours of life – long enough for a full day's ride and then some, even with the backlight working and scrolling through multiple pages.

Garmin offers the 520 as a single unit (£279.99) and as a bundle with a heart rate monitor, cadence sensor and speed sensor (£349.99), all of them communicating via ANT+.

There are still a handful of Edge 520 units in retailers, but unless you can find one at a significant discount, you're better gettking the Edge 520 Plus.

Read our review of the Garmin Edge 520

Buy if: You’re after lots of data in a customisable format and don’t need high-tech navigational features

Edge 20 — eBay search

RRP: £109.99
Size: 40mm x 42mm x 17mm
Display size: 23mm x 23mm, 128 x 160 pixels
Weight: 25g

Garmin Edge 20 GPS Bike Computer.jpg

If you want a simple GPS cycling computer for tracking your speed and distance and sharing rides through popular social training websites like Strava, the Garmin Edge 20 is easy to use, compact and provides a decent battery life.

It's discontinued, but there are still a few around. However, it's now as expensive as the more capable Edge 130, so it's hard to see why you wouldn't buy that instead.

The Edge 20 isn’t Bluetooth or ANT+ compatible so you can't use it with a heart rate or cadence sensor. For some, that might be a deal breaker.

The Edge 20 is tiny, barely any bigger than the mount, and looks great on the stem. Garmin's own quarter-turn mount is a doddle to use and the computer will work with a vast number of aftermarket mounts.

The battery is charged via a special cradle that clips to the back of the computer, and the USB lead also uploads your activities to the web. Battery life is a claimed eight hours and we got pretty close to that in testing.

The display is sharp and shows all the data you really need when you’re riding. You get two different screens and it’s easy to switch between them.

It's very intuitive to use, and after a couple of minutes you have the measure of the device. The buttons are easy to operate when wearing gloves as well.

While there's no extensive navigational capability, you can download a route from Garmin’s Connect website and follow a breadcrumb (non-detailed) trail. It's not as easy as following a map, but does keep you on the right track.

If you're sure you're never going to want to keep an eye on your heart rate the Edge 20 will be just fine, but if you might want to add a heart rate monitor in future the Edge 130 is a better buy.

Check out our review of the Garmin Edge 20

Buy if: You want a simple GPS bike computer without Bluetooth or ANT+ compatibility.

Read our guide to 9 of the best cheap GPS cycling computers here.

Edge 25 — eBay search

RRP: From £139.99
Size: 40mm x 42mm x 17mm
Display size: 23mm x 23mm, 128 x 160 pixels
Weight: 25g

Garmin Edge 25 ANT.jpg

The Edge 25 is very similar to the Edge 20 (above) but with the addition of Bluetooth and ANT+ wireless connectivity. The former allows you to sync the device with a smartphone and Garmin's Connect app so you can easily upload completed rides.

ANT+ allows you to pair heart rate, cadence, speed sensors, although the Edge 25 isn’t compatible with power meters.

While the Edge 25 isn't designed for navigation (the bigger Edges are far better at route mapping), you can download courses from Garmin Connect to the Edge 25 and follow a breadcrumb trail which works reasonably well. It even does turn-by-turn navigation, but there's no base map so you can't make up a route on the fly.

The Edge 25 will also provide Live Tracking so friends and family can go online and see where you are.

You get three screens during a ride, and you can configure two of them to display metrics from a whole range on offer: ride time, distance, current speed, ascent, calories and so on. You can't add any extra screens. If you're a data hungry cyclist that might be an issue.

Still, the Edge 25 is an excellent option if you’re after something small with a good set of features.

Check out our review of the Garmin Edge 25

Buy if: You want a compact GPS computer that’s offers compatibility with a heart rate monitor

Edge 820 — eBay search

RRP: From £299.99
Size: 73mm x 49mm x 21mm
Display size: 35mm x 47mm, 200 x 265 pixels
Weight: 67.7g

garmin edge 820.jpg

The Garmin Edge 820 is a feature-packed, compact and neat computer – an impressive piece of kit.

It’s aimed at the performance cyclist who wants to be able to navigate, so isn't as bulky as the 1000 (below), but packs in more features than the 520 (above). The size of the screen means it's not at the same level as the 1000 in terms of navigation, but it might be enough for your needs.

You get some excellent navigational features such as Round Trip Routing which allows the computer to create a route for you, giving options based on distance, climbing and intensity. Maps have a clear layout making it easy to see exactly where you are going, and turn-by-turn prompts are simple to follow. After adding in a postcode, town or specific site, the 820 will get you to the correct place without fuss.

garmin edge 820 24.jpg

As with other Garmin units, you can customise the data you see on each page and set activity profiles, which means you can have different setups for different uses.

Garmin has also added GroupTrack, which allows you to track up to 50 riders (they must have compatible Garmin computers and follow you on Garmin Connect) within 10 miles of you. If you get dropped or lost, you can easily see where others are.

The unit is operated predominantly through touchscreen, but with two buttons at the bottom and the on/off button on the top left. The touchscreen works okay, but compared with button-controlled computers and the 1000 it seems a little sluggish, sometimes taking a second to react. However, it worked just as well with touchscreen-enabled gloves and was still usable in the wet.

The unit is ANT+ and Bluetooth compatible and is simple to pair with sensors on the bike. It also shows notifications and information from your smartphone.

Garmin is catching up with other bike computers in delivering 'incident detection', which means that a text message and location can be sent to a pre-determined contact number in the event of a crash.

Recording is as good as anything we have seen from other GPS computers. There can be a little loss when riding under cover (trees and tunnels, for instance), and occasionally you can see an erratic twitch in your recorded route when riding between tall buildings.

Uploading from the 820 is done through Bluetooth to your smartphone, which is quick and easy through the Garmin Connect app. From there you can either download the file to your desktop or share it with other sites like Strava.

Battery life is around 15 hours, and there are also battery saver modes that can help to extend this, essentially turning off the display while still recording.

If you want heart rate and speed and cadence sensors as well, it's currently cheaper to buy them separately than to buy a bundle that includes them.

Check out our review of the Garmin Edge 820.

Buy if: You’re a performance-focused rider who wants navigational capability

Edge 1000 — eBay search

RRP: From £499.99
Size: 58mm x 112mm x 20mm
Display size: 39mm x 65mm, 240 x 400 pixels
Weight: 114.5g

Garmin Edge 1000 - map

The Edge 1000 is larger than any of the cheaper models in the range, with a screen that’s bigger and easier to read. It's been superseded by the Edge 1030 and Edge 1030 Plus, and has just about vanished from retailers, but there are plenty around second hand.

Unless you're planning to go somewhere incredibly remote, you'll probably find the OpenStreetMap-based mapping to be complete and accurate. The maps are good enough that you can plot yourself a route around an area you don't know just by using the screen. The maps lose a lot of detail as you zoom out because the screen resolution can't show you all the little roads on a wide view of an area, so a certain amount of zooming in and out is required if you're in unfamiliar territory.

The Edge 1000 is capable of turn-by-turn navigation over a prescribed route, or of routing you to a location (or a series of locations) by itself. There are myriad ways of making a GPX file containing a ride you want to do; Garmin's own Connect portal will do it, as will any number of third-party websites. Once you have your file, you can connect your Garmin to your computer and download it.

Rather than the resistive screen of the 820 (the touchscreen works by sensing the pressure of your finger, not its electric signature), the 1000 uses capacitive technology, like a smartphone (the screen carries a charge and the natural conductive properties of your finger affect the screen's charge when you touch it). We’ve not had any false input from rain and it has worked fine with gloves on.

The Edge 1000 will pair with ANT+ devices including various power meters and Shimano's Di2 widget. Displaying the data is simple enough: within each profile (you can set up as many as you need) you can configure five data screens with up to 10 metrics on each. Essentially, if it can be measured and you have an ANT+ sensor capable of measuring it, it can probably be displayed!

The Edge 1000 also has a low-power Bluetooth 4.0 chipset, predominantly so that it can pair with a smartphone. This makes uploading rides simple via the Garmin Connect app. As soon as you save a ride it's automatically uploaded to Garmin Connect, and because Connect now plays nicely with Strava, from there it's automatically synced to Strava.

The Bluetooth tether to your phone also allows you to use Garmin's Live Tracking to broadcast your position to whoever you choose using the phone's data connection. It relies on a data signal being available, so if you're riding through somewhere with limited coverage, updates will be patchy.

The Edge 1000 is also WiFi enabled. That means you can set it up on your home or work network, and as soon as you get back it can auto-sync your ride data that way instead.

The Edge 1000’s stated run time is up to 15 hours, but we’ve found that in real world conditions it's more like 10-12 hours. The screen backlight has the most obvious effect on battery life; if you have it always on at maximum brightness you'll not get anything like 10 hours out of it.

Garmin Edge 1000 - ride summary

Check out our review of the Garmin Edge 1000.

Buy if: You’re after a dedicated GPS unit with good connectivity to other devices and a large, easy-to-read screen (and you find a great deal on a second-hand unit)

For more info go to www.garmin.com

Explore the complete archive of reviews of cycling GPS units on road.cc

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road.cc buyer's guides are maintained by the road.cc tech team. Email us with comments, corrections or queries.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

Add new comment

73 comments

Avatar
TimC340 | 6 years ago
1 like

Just to balance out the negative comments, I've had mostly very good experiences of Garmin's fitness products.  I've owned the Forerunner 201, Edge 200, 305, 705, 800 and 1000, and Vivoactive and Vivoactive HR. The 305 died after the second battery melted down. All the others are still working - the 705 has now done something over 20,000 miles on my ex-wife's bike and, after 3 batteries and a couple of replaced micro switches, its shortly going to be retired. I'm not sure what she'll replace it with, but I'd happily recommend the 1000.

Avatar
davel replied to TimC340 | 6 years ago
2 likes
TimC340 wrote:

Just to balance out the negative comments, I've had mostly very good experiences of Garmin's fitness products.  I've owned the Forerunner 201, Edge 200, 305, 705, 800 and 1000, and Vivoactive and Vivoactive HR. The 305 died after the second battery melted down. All the others are still working - the 705 has now done something over 20,000 miles on my ex-wife's bike and, after 3 batteries and a couple of replaced micro switches, its shortly going to be retired. I'm not sure what she'll replace it with, but I'd happily recommend the 1000.

You're recommending Garmin to your ex-wife?

Bit harsh.

Avatar
davel | 6 years ago
2 likes

I've mentioned the awesomeness of my fenix 5X on here more than once (on this thread even). Seemingly unable to fuck that up, Garmin have done the next best thing...

The latest update to the Garmin Connect app (at least on Android) seemed to nobble bluetooth communication between the app and various devices: loads of complaints from owners of different types of devices who use the app for settings and to extend their devices' functionality. After a few days of pissing about, I reverted to an old version from some shared site.

The 5X remains awesome, but Garmin really are hopeless. They deserve to spiral out of existence.

Avatar
penfoldisking | 6 years ago
1 like

Ditch Garmin until they sort them out... Wahoo Elemnt is a great piece of kit and cheaper.

Avatar
timb27 | 6 years ago
0 likes

I bought a Lezyne thinking it was a steal. It wasnt. It was the original Y9 not the newer models, but so flaky that I woudn't risk it again. Their support consisted entirely of the Factory reset variety.

I now have an ELEMNT Bolt and its RLLY RLLY GD. Hasn't let me down once.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 6 years ago
0 likes

I've an 810 which had to have a hard reset perfomed a while back.  Before this, the maps worked quite well and gave me a good display, showed the route I needed to take when following a set ride etc.

However, since the hard rest, the maps aren't really displayed.  There's just a screen with a line showing where I've been but not where I should be going.  There's no background, nothing. I've got Euro maps downloaded onto the SD card (re downloaded them after the re-set just to be sure).

Can somebody please point me in the right direction (arf, arf) so that I can get the full maps back?

Thanks in advance.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 6 years ago
2 likes

I've just spent half an hour on my phone researching the Wahoo Elemnt and it sounds brilliant. I'd never even consider buying a higher end Garmin again!

Avatar
Podc | 6 years ago
2 likes

Just checked the reviews on Wiggle for the Wahoo and thought that there were plenty of negative comments. Then I looked at the reviews for the Garmin 820  

I've been using an 810 with very few issues.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 6 years ago
0 likes

I'd be very wary about selling a duff Garmin on ebay. Chances are the seller will just ask for a refund or lodge a complaint.

Avatar
MODonnell | 6 years ago
0 likes

The touchscreen, on my 510 has just died (well most of the time), so deciding whether to spend the £96 for garmin to replace it, or change to a different model.  Don't really want to change brands as have the speed / cadence sensors on all the bikes.

Avatar
Johnnystorm replied to MODonnell | 6 years ago
1 like
MODonnell wrote:

The touchscreen, on my 510 has just died (well most of the time), so deciding whether to spend the £96 for garmin to replace it, or change to a different model.  Don't really want to change brands as have the speed / cadence sensors on all the bikes.

ANT+ isn't unique to Garmin. Should work with any other computer using it. It's Garmin that are compatible with fewer peripherals as they don't support BT LE iirc.

Avatar
kevvjj replied to MODonnell | 6 years ago
1 like
MODonnell wrote:

The touchscreen, on my 510 has just died (well most of the time), so deciding whether to spend the £96 for garmin to replace it, or change to a different model.  Don't really want to change brands as have the speed / cadence sensors on all the bikes.

Spend the £96 on a new one. Sell it on eBay. Get a Wahoo. Your sensors will still work.

Avatar
kamoshika | 6 years ago
2 likes

I'm using an Edge 500 that is a few years old now. While it still works fine and I've been really happy with it, I'm thinking of getting something new, mainly for the convenience of uploading rides via my phone instead of having to plug into a PC (it should be possible via a USB OTG adaptor, but I've tried getting that to work and it's been a big faff with no success yet). I was looking at the Edge 520 but have been put off by all the neagtive comments I've seen about it, so I'm now thinking about the Elemnt BOLT. The question I have with that, which I haven't yet found an answer to, is can it be charged while in use from a dynamo or battery pack? I'm hoping to start doing some longer / multiday bikepacking type riding so I'd like something I can charge on the go.

Avatar
bigblue | 6 years ago
0 likes

I also have an Edge 25, first cycle computer I've had with built-in GPS (note though, does not really do good map-based navigation), and it syncs to Garmin, and then to Strava. Works fine.

Couple of nit-picks. No built-in odometer - worked around that in my account in the Garmin Connect website by adding a fictitious piece of gear (equipment) when the bike was on a round number of miles, for example at xx miles create gear called "Odo + xx miles". Don't think you can pause mid-ride and power down the unit, you have to leave it on but paused. However, neither is a big problem to me.

Avatar
reliablemeatloaf | 6 years ago
0 likes

I have an Edge 25 that works fine. Simple, gives me what I want to know, and is easy to operate.

 

Avatar
srchar | 6 years ago
3 likes

Quite amusing that this piece of advertorial is accompanied by a comment thread panning pretty much every current Garmin product.

Like others, I think Garmin will be the next Kodak or Nokia - and they'll deserve it.

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Jackson | 6 years ago
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Another member of the no Garmin ever again club here. Don't do it people.

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Carton | 6 years ago
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Just for some balance I have a 520, reluctant upgrade for a Cateye Stealth 50 (which is pretty solid unit in its own right) after reading all the horror stories. 

It's been spotless so far. It will ocasionally lose my phone, but usually it's back within a minute. Outside of that, no issues. Battery will last me through the week after charing it Thursday or Friday night. 

Yes, the setup is clunky, but it's a one-and-done sort of thing. And still much easier than my Cateye (but again, that was a one timer). To be fair, though, I rarely use the navigation, and the things I've most enjoyed about the upgrade have been the faster signal adquisition, the pretty and customizable screen and the wireless connectivity. But those three things have made a huge difference in convinience. And it's nice to know all the other features are there if I need them / get around to using them.

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sneakerfrfeak | 6 years ago
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Had the Wahoo Elemnt for around three weeks now and cant fault it.  I know it's quite a step up from my Garmin 500 in terms of features and nav, but i'm just blown away by it.  I did a ton of research on forums and reviews etc. before pulling the trigger and read sooo many Garmin users complaining about issues, I really think Garmin are on borrowed time in the bike computer/gps market.

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schlepcycling | 6 years ago
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Sounds like I have a standard 820 i.e a pile of sh*t, like others have said it frequently just decides to stop giving me turn by turn directions or weirdly has added turns that aren't on the route usually down a dead end street.  I can't have a route that starts and ends at the same place i.e. my house, as this confuses the Garmin into thinking I've finished a route before I've even started.  Like r.glancy mine's getting boxed up and probably sold while I'll be getting myself a Wahoo Elemnt.

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r.glancy replied to schlepcycling | 6 years ago
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schlepcycling wrote:

Sounds like I have a standard 820 i.e a pile of sh*t, like others have said it frequently just decides to stop giving me turn by turn directions or weirdly has added turns that aren't on the route usually down a dead end street.  I can't have a route that starts and ends at the same place i.e. my house, as this confuses the Garmin into thinking I've finished a route before I've even started.  Like r.glancy mine's getting boxed up and probably sold while I'll be getting myself a Wahoo Elemnt.

stick it on the bay, it will sell quickly..then get an elemnt bolt. now back in stock at Wiggle. love it already, less guff and actually useable in daylight..oh, and you wont be left screaming at the useless touchscreen.

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schlepcycling replied to r.glancy | 6 years ago
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r.glancy wrote:
schlepcycling wrote:

Sounds like I have a standard 820 i.e a pile of sh*t, like others have said it frequently just decides to stop giving me turn by turn directions or weirdly has added turns that aren't on the route usually down a dead end street.  I can't have a route that starts and ends at the same place i.e. my house, as this confuses the Garmin into thinking I've finished a route before I've even started.  Like r.glancy mine's getting boxed up and probably sold while I'll be getting myself a Wahoo Elemnt.

stick it on the bay, it will sell quickly..then get an elemnt bolt. now back in stock at Wiggle. love it already, less guff and actually useable in daylight..oh, and you wont be left screaming at the useless touchscreen.

Very true, but I can't decide if I should hold out for one of these coming around August https://www.hammerhead.io/

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ricardito replied to schlepcycling | 6 years ago
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schlepcycling wrote:

Very true, but I can't decide if I should hold out for one of these coming around August https://www.hammerhead.io/

I kind of hope you didn't, because I'm not sure August has arrived yet...

I was on the introductory offer list earlier in the year, but decided against, partly because I had the feeling even then that they weren't likely to deliver on time, and partly because it was going to ship from the States and not a UK or even EU distributor (meaning extra faff with import duties and any necessary returns).

I went for a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt instead, which existed, had UK distribution in place, and as a bonus, is smaller. It has worked flawlessly and I haven't regretted it for a moment.

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davel | 6 years ago
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^ I'd never seen the Tahuna stuff, but that answers my "£150 for touchscreen, proper maps and turn-by-turn. Who else does that?" question!

Looks a decent alternative - very good shout.

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Canyon48 replied to davel | 6 years ago
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davel wrote:

^ I'd never seen the Tahuna stuff, but that answers my "£150 for touchscreen, proper maps and turn-by-turn. Who else does that?" question!

Looks a decent alternative - very good shout.

There's a second answer to that question too.... I use a Garmin Edge 25 most the time, has all the functionality I need and nothing more.

But when I need mapping etc I do have an alternative.

My alternative cost me £100, it has bluetooth, wifi and GPS, has open source maps as well as google maps. It also has a built-in camera and enough storage to save several HD movies to it (if I want), it's waterproof AND it's able to call and text people.

Pretty good for an old phone!

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to Canyon48 | 6 years ago
1 like
wellsprop wrote:
davel wrote:

^ I'd never seen the Tahuna stuff, but that answers my "£150 for touchscreen, proper maps and turn-by-turn. Who else does that?" question!

Looks a decent alternative - very good shout.

There's a second answer to that question too.... I use a Garmin Edge 25 most the time, has all the functionality I need and nothing more.

But when I need mapping etc I do have an alternative.

My alternative cost me £100, it has bluetooth, wifi and GPS, has open source maps as well as google maps. It also has a built-in camera and enough storage to save several HD movies to it (if I want), it's waterproof AND it's able to call and text people.

Pretty good for an old phone!

Whilst i've kept my samsung S2 for similar reasons you're stating, how many phones even when stripped of the bloatware can get anywhere near the run times of a standalone GPS unit?

I had being using my phone but honestly unless I'm really going somewhere that is unfamiliar and I need to make lots of turns/multiple destinations I'll just use a map/directions I've drawn onto a bit of paper and use the Magellen switch for data after the fact. The Teasi I got for £75 in April and it's a nice toy but it doesn't come out on every ride, probably not even 10% as I simply don't need it but for more serious riders and those that feel the need for a turn by turn/data recording for everything then a standalone GPS unit has distinct advantages over a phone which in turn does have advantages over a GPS.

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davel replied to Canyon48 | 6 years ago
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wellsprop wrote:
davel wrote:

^ I'd never seen the Tahuna stuff, but that answers my "£150 for touchscreen, proper maps and turn-by-turn. Who else does that?" question!

Looks a decent alternative - very good shout.

There's a second answer to that question too.... I use a Garmin Edge 25 most the time, has all the functionality I need and nothing more.

But when I need mapping etc I do have an alternative.

My alternative cost me £100, it has bluetooth, wifi and GPS, has open source maps as well as google maps. It also has a built-in camera and enough storage to save several HD movies to it (if I want), it's waterproof AND it's able to call and text people.

Pretty good for an old phone!

Yeah, that's the obvious choice, but I don't think I've ever had a phone that is properly (torrential rain) waterproof and useable with gloves, which has a battery that'll last for 8 hours with screen/navigation on. As such, it's a separate satnav gizmo for me.

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
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I use a Magellan Switch Up which is a GPS tracker (though has a breadcrumb trail feature) similar to the Garmin 20/25. it's ANT+ and can do HR/cadence and power meters, the screens are extemely interchangeable data wise and you can add screens if you so wish but the ones already there show you 99.9% of what most will use.

The other advantage is that you can just clip the Switch UP onto the provided watch strap which it comes with and use it for swimming and running/walking.

for Nav i use a Teasi One which replaced my venerable Magellan meridian (which is still working fine) it's a great little Nav, wouldn't touch overpriced Garmin's with a bargepole!

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TheScotsman | 6 years ago
3 likes

Bought an Edge 1000 two years ago and it really is utterly hopeless and unreliable as a satnav.

In addition, at times it fails to record rides or segments.

It used to just stop following a pre-planned route. You'd be miles further along and your marker would be stuck miles back. The only way to force it to get back on track was to turn it off and on again, then wait until it figured out where you were along the route.  It seems a little better in that respect now - it's just developed new routing 'foibles' as the software updates have been applied over 2 years.

It regularly decides - out of the blue - to tell you to do a u-turn a certain distance ahead, whilst still telling you you're on-course. Then when you pass the point of the u-turn it complains you're off course for about 30 seconds before deciding you're actually back on the correct course you'd been on all along.

I have to deliberately avoid route loops that may cross over, as this fools it entirely. I have to create a separate course that stops just before the route crosses itself and another course that starts just after that point.

It sometimes decides it won't bother giving turn-by-turn guidance. It'll show you the route and where you are on it, but no advance warning of upcoming turns, so you need to keep looking down at the map to check you're still going the right way. Stopping the course and starting it again a couple of times usually gets turn-by-turn to start working again.

 

Basically its only consistently reliable use is as a glorified bike speedo / mileometer and temperature guage. I'd never by Garmin again based on my experience of the Edge 1000, that's for sure.

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sooper6 replied to TheScotsman | 6 years ago
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TheScotsman wrote:

Bought an Edge 1000 two years ago and it really is utterly hopeless and unreliable as a satnav.

It used to just stop following a pre-planned route. You'd be miles further along and your marker would be stuck miles back. The only way to force it to get back on track was to turn it off and on again, then wait until it figured out where you were along the route.  It seems a little better in that respect now - it's just developed new routing 'foibles' as the software updates have been applied over 2 years.

It regularly decides - out of the blue - to tell you to do a u-turn a certain distance ahead, whilst still telling you you're on-course. Then when you pass the point of the u-turn it complains you're off course for about 30 seconds before deciding you're actually back on the correct course you'd been on all along.

I have to deliberately avoid route loops that may cross over, as this fools it entirely. I have to create a separate course that stops just before the route crosses itself and another course that starts just after that point.

It sometimes decides it won't bother giving turn-by-turn guidance. It'll show you the route and where you are on it, but no advance warning of upcoming turns, so you need to keep looking down at the map to check you're still going the right way. Stopping the course and starting it again a couple of times usually gets turn-by-turn to start working again.

Garmins take a route based on a map used by the route planning software and then interprets that route against the loaded maps on the satnav. The symptoms you describe are generally caused by differences in maps which in some areas can be significant enough to stop turn by turn instructions working. Check you have turn by turn enabled and try some different route planning software. I have used ridewithgps and strava without too many issues. Although some routes given to me failed in the way you describe. I now import all routes into a trusted routing platform and then export from there. Also some auto routing between points can go wrong on planning software if you are not very careful, resulting in odd U turns and getting confused instructions at junctions. I think many people are dissatisfied as they expect it to be as easy to use as a satnav, but it’s not just a simple satnav function but a route following function, which has added complexity.

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