Garmin confusion

[Black can man]

I have a garmin edge 200 but would dearly love one with uk maps built in , I find the models & price differences really confusing, I'm not interested in heart beat stuff & cadence , I just want one that tells me where I am when I'm out on my travels. Am I right in jus thinking that a basic Edge 800 or 810 will do what I want ?

[okgo]

You are right.

[richardxjr]

Yes but you could save some cash and do what I did and avoid the bike specific models.

Garmin Dakota 20, takes (rechargeable) AA batteries - much better for long trips etc. And takes SD card. Ebay stem/bar mounts for about £2 work great. It's a bit more rugged looking for off road use too.

About £120 - then download the free UK maps with contours from talkytoaster - similar to OS but actually clearer on the screen.

All the data is the same as any other Garmin. HRM & Cadence are options on the 20 for future if you wish. I use for nav and uploading the tracks to Strava.

I found a Dakota 10 for £75 new, no SD card though, can fit whole above UK maps in but it's not so futureproof.

[CoolC]

The Touring will do what you want too.

Don't dismiss the Bryton devices, better vfm than Garmin.

[daddy cool]

Yep, the "basic" edge 800 is great (its what i have, after upgrading from a 200).
The road maps bundle is good for road cycling, but even the trail bundle (with the 1:50 ordinance survey map) is perfectly capable of turn-by-turn road navigation AS WELL as the full maps when you are out on a mountain bike.
If you buy without either - dont worry. An SD card is just a few quid and the maps are available on the interweb (just hit me up if you need help with that)

[Black can man]

daddy cool said:

Yep, the "basic" edge 800 is great (its what i have, after upgrading from a 200).
The road maps bundle is good for road cycling, but even the trail bundle (with the 1:50 ordinance survey map) is perfectly capable of turn-by-turn road navigation AS WELL as the full maps when you are out on a mountain bike.
If you buy without either - dont worry. An SD card is just a few quid and the maps are available on the interweb (just hit me up if you need help with that)

Cheers fella

[ecsrobin]

If your using them for off-road I was out riding with someone in sherwood pines and the GPS accuracy was quite bad apparently the lower Garmin's suffer with this due to the density of the woodland.

[daddy cool]

ecsrobin said:

If your using them for off-road I was out riding with someone in sherwood pines and the GPS accuracy was quite bad apparently the lower Garmin's suffer with this due to the density of the woodland.

What aspect of the GPS accuracy do you mean? If you mean the trace downloaded later and/or the mileage recorded being less than expected, then thats usually down to the recording frequency - its 5 secs interval for the Edge 200, meaning that it fails to "see" that you just shot round a 180 degree berm and assumes you havent moved location. Edge 500/800 improved this with 1 sec recording frequency, so gives a more detailed route trace and displays a higher/truer mileage. (Makes little/no difference on road because you rarely do such narrow turns)

I do find that on very cloudy days my 800 can take up to a minute - sometimes more - to pick up a signal. After that it doesnt lose it until im inside. On a clear day it picks up a satellite within a few seconds.

[Black can man]

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/edge-810-gps-cycle-comp...


Seems about the best price i can find one for without going down the Ebay route which i'd rather not ,


i don't do any off road riding so i'm assuming i get the City navigator uk card & off i go.

[sjg]

Edge Touring is fine for this too. Comes with mapping based on OpenStreetMap which works fine - if you're following a GPX it correctly warns you of upcoming turns.

[yellowjack]

ecsrobin said:

If your using them for off-road I was out riding with someone in sherwood pines and the GPS accuracy was quite bad apparently the lower Garmin's suffer with this due to the density of the woodland.

Edge200 samples GPS position data every 5 seconds, the Edge500/510 and Edge800/810 sample once every second. This is the source of the comparative inaccuracy of the lower spec Garmins. I'm not sure outside of those units/models. In practical terms, if you are riding a snaking single track route with tree cover, the GPS trace produced by the unit can miss out a lot of the 'loops' and therefore ends up straightening your route, because it has fewer 'dots' to join.


edit to add: I see that daddy cool already explained that

Edited by yellowjack on Monday 5th January 11:36

[daddy cool]

Black can man said:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/edge-810-gps-cycle-comp...
Seems about the best price i can find one for without going down the Ebay route which i'd rather not ,
i don't do any off road riding so i'm assuming i get the City navigator uk card & off i go.

Well, yeah that does look like a reasonable price! Get it ordered.
Not sure on the maps (looks like french maps?) but as i said, you can get UK maps for just the price of an SDmicro card.

[richardxjr]

Dakota is also 1 per sec fwiw.

Free routable maps http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm

[Stiggolas]

Interested in the Dakota but it doesnt appear to be bluetooth, in which case how can it do HRM / cadence etc?

[SixPotBelly]

daddy cool said:

Well, yeah that does look like a reasonable price! Get it ordered.
Not sure on the maps (looks like french maps?) but as i said, you can get UK maps for just the price of an SDmicro card.

Don't know if it helps anyone, but it's cheaper yet (£216) at Handtec: Handtec Edge 810

[richardxjr]

Stiggolas said:

Interested in the Dakota but it doesnt appear to be bluetooth, in which case how can it do HRM / cadence etc?

Page 29 of the users manual here http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/Dakota_OM_EN.pdf

[ecsrobin]

yellowjack said:

ecsrobin said:

If your using them for off-road I was out riding with someone in sherwood pines and the GPS accuracy was quite bad apparently the lower Garmin's suffer with this due to the density of the woodland.

Edge200 samples GPS position data every 5 seconds, the Edge500/510 and Edge800/810 sample once every second. This is the source of the comparative inaccuracy of the lower spec Garmins. I'm not sure outside of those units/models. In practical terms, if you are riding a snaking single track route with tree cover, the GPS trace produced by the unit can miss out a lot of the 'loops' and therefore ends up straightening your route, because it has fewer 'dots' to join.


edit to add: I see that daddy cool already explained that

Edited by yellowjack on Monday 5th January 11:36

That's it and as Yellowjack has also mentioned. I was just quoting what someone I was riding with advised me as there was quite a difference between what distance I recorded and what his Garmin recorded.

[Stiggolas]

Good spot on the hrm /cadence thing. Looks like a good deal then. Was looking at the touring plus, but I think this will fit the bill nicely, ta.

[j00pY]

Make sure that you get the HRM + cadence bundle. Its not much more money but can give you a lot more data.

I personally wouldn't recommend paying extra for the garmin maps. The talky toaster maps are great and have got me around all over London and Surrey with no issues at all. I think my 810 has been the best bit of kit I have bought apart from the bike.

[Black can man]

Op here, i've found an Edge 800 base unit only for £225.00 the shop is showing just 1 in stock , Am i right in thinking this will come with maps to get me going built in.

I think i'll ring them before i go just to make sure it's not the display model.