I require a GPS – what should I get?

[kwarkentien]

I’d say one of the Garmins probably would be the most useful as they integrate well with Strava and other social ride stat sites. If you set up a Garmin Connect account and upload with Garmin Express, it will automatically send your ride to Strava (and MapMyRide, Endomondo, Sportstracks, and Training Peaks) once you’ve given those apps permission to access your rides. I’ve been using Garmins (705/810/1000) for a bunch of years now and have had pretty good luck with them. And so long as you have a model other than the 200 series, you can pair the unit with a HR monitor, cadence and speed sensors, and a power meter if you choose to use any or all of those.

[Vicegrip]

I would get the 800 or better. The 800, if you can still get it, is a solid debugged dependable performer.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I guess it depends on what you need it for…The mapping functions of the Touring are nice, but at that price point I’d rather have the sensor capabilities (cadence, speed, power, HR) of the 500/510. If the mapping is more important to you, then the Touring could be a good solution, but I’d be interested to see how well it does with destination inputs. IME with the 800, inputing a destination directly into the device and getting directions just doesn’t work well enough for me to ever use it…so for turn-by-turn/maps, it’s really only useful for importing pre-made routes (from sites like RidewithGPS or Strava). But the Touring version may be better. You can also get maps for free, so the pre-loaded maps aren’t necessarily a selling point. Getting an Edge 800/810 used is an option if you want the mapping/turn-by-turn along with sensor capabilities, without having to pay the premium for a new one.

The 200 is also a perfectly fine device that will do very basic directions…it just doesn’t have any sensor capabilities.

[Rod Smith]

The Edge 200 doesn’t do navigation, no mapping, nor does the Edge 500. I have one of each. I use handwritten cue sheets on the back of used envelopes, Google Maps on my phone if I get lost. REI has the 500 (discontinued) for $150, just $20 more than the 200, making the 500 a much better deal. The 200 seems to record fairly accurate elevation but for some reason Strava will show a significantly lower number. Strava plays nicer with the 500.

But you’re not asking about these models. I’m not familiar with the Edge Touring Plus…

[jrenaut]

I can’t imagine ever hooking up cadence, power, hr, etc.

My priorities for this device are:
1) Recording for Strava
2) Not wasting phone battery on a long ride when I might need the phone for emergencies
3) Directions, though I’m fine with downloading a route from somewhere, if I’m actually lost I can use my phone

My worry with used is that the battery life won’t be great. Can you replace the batteries?

[Tania]

@jrenaut 108791 wrote:

I can’t imagine ever hooking up cadence, power, hr, etc.

My priorities for this device are:
1) Recording for Strava
2) Not wasting phone battery on a long ride when I might need the phone for emergencies
3) Directions, though I’m fine with downloading a route from somewhere, if I’m actually lost I can use my phone

My worry with used is that the battery life won’t be great. Can you replace the batteries?

I was about to ask if I could hijack your thread but turns out your priorities above are exactly mine (although I wouldn’t mind a HR monitor too but I have a watch so not required). I’d love to be able to download a pre-existing Route By Dirt.

[jabberwocky]

I’d say one of the 500 series if you just want recording (cheaper and smaller), or an 800 series if you want real time navigation. I’ve had an Edge 800 for several years now and have been very happy with it.

@jrenaut 108791 wrote:

My worry with used is that the battery life won’t be great. Can you replace the batteries?

The batteries are built in, but the battery life on the Garmins is generally pretty excellent. My edge 800 easily lasted for 10+ hour rides when new. You can also hook up external power if you’re doing uber endurance stuff (its just a mini-usb charger, so any phone/usb external battery works fine to charge it, or you can ape Dirt and run a generator hub with a USB hookup and ride forever and ever).

[jabberwocky]

@Tania 108793 wrote:

I’d love to be able to download a pre-existing Route By Dirt.

I download Dirts (and other) road routes often to follow on solo rides. I actually upgraded from my old Edge 305 to the 800 solely for that reason. Note that while Garmin wants to sell you their maps, the openstreetmap database is superior and available for free online.

[consularrider]

@Rod Smith 108789 wrote:

The Edge 200 doesn’t do navigation, no mapping, nor does the Edge 500. I have one of each. I use handwritten cue sheets on the back of used envelopes, Google Maps on my phone if I get lost. REI has the 500 (discontinued) for $150, just $20 more than the 200, making the 500 a much better deal. The 200 seems to record fairly accurate elevation but for some reason Strava will show a significantly lower number. Strava plays nicer with the 500.

But you’re not asking about these models. I’m not familiar with the Edge Touring Plus…

You can do navigation with the 500 if you have preloaded a route, it gives you a line to follow which has been fine by me.

[Subby]

I have the latest one (Edge 1000 – got if for xmas) and after a few software updates it is pretty amazing. Love being able to grab maps from Ridewithgps.com. I use Tapiriik to sync everything, so once I save my ride and hit my home or work wi-fi, my ride gets synched to like 10 different sites. Best part is the big touch screen and being able to put up to ten different datasets on one screen – although with my old-ass eyes, I am leaning toward 5 per screen since it is so easy to swipe (with gloves on) from screen to screen.

[consularrider]

@jabberwocky 108797 wrote:

I’d say one of the 500 series if you just want recording (cheaper and smaller), or an 800 series if you want real time navigation. I’ve had an Edge 800 for several years now and have been very happy with it.

The batteries are built in, but the battery life on the Garmins is generally pretty excellent. My edge 800 easily lasted for 10+ hour rides when new. You can also hook up external power if you’re doing uber endurance stuff (its just a mini-usb charger, so any phone/usb external battery works fine to charge it, or you can ape Dirt and run a generator hub with a USB hookup and ride forever and ever).

I bought my first 500 in August 2010. The battery life was good enough for every ride I did up until this past June. That included the 2012 Total 200 where I didn’t get a low battery indicator until I was on the way home, about 14 hours (but I was not following a course route in the unit). In June, the battery died at about the nine hour mark of the Tour de Cure (I was running slow as the sweeper marshal on the 100 mile route). While I could get a new battery, it’s not an easy replacement and the start/stop button was starting to act up so I just bought a new 500. So far the longest ride recorded was the 2014 Total 200, again 14 hours run time without the course route line activated.

[Rod Smith]

@consularrider 108799 wrote:

You can do navigation with the 500 if you have preloaded a route, it gives you a line to follow which has been fine by me.

Awesome! I need to figure out how to do that!

Concerning battery life. I understand the 500 series will run longer than the 800/1000. That’s why Eric Williams decided on the Edge 510. Although he now has a hub generator with a USB port on his handlebar for charging stuff. I carry an external power source on long rides.

Carol Calhoun has replaced the battery in her Garmin but I think it’s not a simple task and requires some soldering if you want to reconnect the speaker.

[TwoWheelsDC]

My 800 is about 3 years old and gets me through a 6-7 hour century with more than 50%-60% battery remaining. Only time it ever ran low on juice was after 9 solid hours of turn-by-turn map use during 50 States (running the map eats more battery than the data pages).

[jrenaut]

I knew I could count on you all to push me towards a more expensive model than I had been looking at.

[jrenaut]

My battery concerns are mostly because the old GPS hozn so nicely loaned me for my century last year (a Garmin 200, maybe? I can’t remember) had maybe 5 minutes of battery juice left after I finished a slow-ish 106 miles (broken pedals, I had four flats and ended up having to replace a tire).

[Author]

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