[Birru]

@Sunyata 172590 wrote:

I am curious to know why you say that. I am contemplating getting an 820 to replace my 520 since it has much better storage capacity for maps.

Sorry to derail a bit hozn, but I have a feeling you appreciate all this gear talk.

Here are the sources of my Edge 820 F-bombs:

• 820 has completely soft-locked when following courses, sometimes multiple times during the same ride requiring soft resets each time (might finally be fixed with latest FW???)
• Navigating while in power-save mode freezes the screen, rendering it useless until rebooted (unit still beeps and responds to inputs)
• Touch screen is fairly lousy and inaccurate, very unreliable even with various capacitive gloves.
• Even after firmware updates, rain still sometimes affects the touchscreen. Almost caused a ride to get deleted!
• Address/POI routing on the device takes literal minutes. Like automotive devices from 15 years ago.
• POI lookups take so long I give up and just find the street addresses on my iPhone.
• Routing functionality loves to send you on the busiest roads.

If you’re looking for and plan to use the 820 like a 520 with more storage and don’t plan to use onboard routing you may be OK. That’s a pretty specific use case, and also the use case I’ve sort of been forced into since I don’t bother with the features that cost me an extra $150 any more. I personally think touch screens (especially one this bad on a screen this small) are a design mistake for cycling computers. Give me reliable buttons that I can use with gloves. There have been several firmware updates to improve the 820 since it was released so undercooked (as is The Garmin Way™) so if you buy one now you won’t have to go through some of the relationship pain I’ve experienced. A discounted 1000 and the 1030 for six-hundred-damn-dollars might be better choices. Then again the 1030 is pretty new and is probably undercooked. So get one in 2019.

[Birru]

It’s clear you like to name bikes after legendary duos. You had Pinky. Now you have the Brain.

[Birru]

This is America and we will not use the superior metric system. Plus if I stick to feet per mile the numbers look bigger.

[Birru]

@AlanA 172570 wrote:

Ugh! Bob C (who I think happens to be one of those randonuttes) looks like a formidable opponent. If I had my old Garmin, I’d have a much better chance at beating him. But my stupid new Garmin cheats me out of about 10% per ride according to Ride with GPS. However, I will give it my best shot.

musclys has the ELEMNT and he routinely has more elevation than I do when we ride together. So when it’s time for a new computer Wahoo gets my money. :p

Any chance of getting a few bonus points for finishing in the top 3 of miles while doing this? It’s one thing to do a lot of climbing per mile, but it’s another to do it all the time. Haha, I figure it can’t hurt asking. Either way, I’m up to the challenge.

Yeah you have a pretty serious combo of miles+elevation+avg speed.

[Birru]

Agreed on keeping it fun!

[Birru]

Your pointless prize is turning my friends into sociopaths.

[Birru]

So the question becomes: Stop my hill sleaze at elevation for the best ratio, or stop it back at home for the extra micro mileage?

[Birru]

My sleaze rides are gonna hurt a tiny bit more from now.

[Birru]

@Subby 172447 wrote:

Been a while since I have felt this level of regret…

Just ride you ****ing bike and swallow your feelings.

[Birru]

@Raymo853 172436 wrote:

When my Oregon dies, no way will I buy a bike specific GPS ever again. It makes no sense. Much better is to buy an older smart phone, ruggedized or not, and use it as a dedicated bike GPS without ever getting it a SIM card. Or even better, pull that older Galaxy S5, iPhone 5, etc… out of a desk drawer and use it.

That is my plan. Will primarily use Ride with GPS as I love the various base maps you can choose and cache on your phone while at home or in a coffee shop on wireless. I will use something like JB Weld to improve the mount because I will not care if the phone ends up looking a little ugly.

Modern smart phones are fully ANT and can connect to just about any sensor via ANT or Bluetooth without all the restrictions Garmin, Magellan and others love to engineer in to drive up the prices. Plus when you stop for coffee, you can connect to their wireless and upload your ride, and download stuff, Skype someone, use a data based text app, modify your Tinder profile …..

And then you can buy the external battery packs for $ 15 to keep your phone running effectively for ever. Unlike Garmins that like to switch off if you try that.

I tried using my smartphone for a while and generally it was fine for commuting, but for longer rides, especially at either end of the temperature spectrum, it sucked. The screen was hard to see in sunlight unless at max brightness, and that kills battery life and generates lots of heat. On hot days in bright sunlight it would overheat. On the coldest days the battery would effectively freeze, resulting in shutdowns, something that my Garmin Edge seems to handle a lot better.

Look, I have a lot of beef with Garmin (and other cycling companies) regarding their insane pricing and tech that often feels insultingly ancient and undercooked. But the reflective displays, sensor connectivity, extreme weather tolerance, comprehensive training features, battery life (especially with a USB pack) do make dedicated cycling computers the best available choices for a lot of us.

Just don’t get a Garmin Edge 820. That thing is for chumps.

[Birru]

@QuikAF77 172435 wrote:

Self report on this thread if you think you have a shot. Pretty simple math, divide your total elevation by total miles.

Winner gets a curated 6-pack from breweries located in mountainous regions of the country. (Probably a decorated paper plate as well).

Bonus: If a team manages to average over 50ft/mile for the whole competition I will buy members of that team a beer at the closing Happy Hour.

After you win, Matt, please remember to share some of the beer.

[Birru]

@chuxtr 172343 wrote:

Says someone not on Team 20.

Ssshhh!

Welcome, Josh!

[Birru]

Wow, it feels like there are more posts here from people who aren’t on Team 20 than the actual members.

How rude.

[Birru]

@Emm 172317 wrote:

Team 11 is #11! Thought I’d capture this while it was true [emoji4] Everyone should try to ride just a tiny bit more tonight. We’re only 1 points down from team 4.

12th actually. I had to re-authorize with Strava for some reason.

Edit: Corrected image uploaded showing us in 3rd, not 10th… in all seriousness the points separation is tight! Sleaze rides matter!

[Birru]

So… Saturday is Penguin Awareness Day according to the calendar. Is this code for something? What are you up to??

[Author]

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