GPS Device for cycling

FrankGrimes

Thanks Raam, I reckon that might swing me towards the Edge 305 so - I don't do a whole lot of climbing but I'm defo planning on doing more and I'm pretty competitive with myself so knowing how much I've climbed overall in each ride, along with the time taken to do it, will help me push myself.

Even in my days of cycling from Firhouse into town for college, I'd set a few split points along my route and use those to gauge how I was doing with my Cateye and push on from there - reckon that was key in me getting the time down to 18 mins 21 seconds from Firhouse to Trinity front-gate....my next target will be Woodstown roundabout to the viewpoint beyond the Hell Fire club in 14 minutes and I'll take it from there I guess.

Raam

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Thanks Raam, I reckon that might swing me towards the Edge 305 so - I don't do a whole lot of climbing but I'm defo planning on doing more and I'm pretty competitive with myself so knowing how much I've climbed overall in each ride, along with the time taken to do it, will help me push myself.

It's only a small feature I think, but if it leads you to the Edge, then go for it. You won't be sorry no matter which one you buy. I know that the Forerunner is a great piece of kit, and reports are that the Edge is super too.

blorg

Just to throw a spanner in the works there- there are online services that will correct the elevation data based on the GPS tracks (e.g. they have a map with elevation.) So you can get good data _after_ even without a barometric altimeter.

Having said that, I wouldn't be without it, the barometric altimeter on the Edge is very useful indeed as an on-the-bike tool- I often program in routes with tags for the peaks, so I know even with unfamiliar routes how much climbing I have left. And on routes done before I know how much to the top.

Diarmuid

blorg wrote: »

Just to throw a spanner in the works there- there are online services that will correct the elevation data based on the GPS tracks (e.g. they have a map with elevation.) So you can get good data _after_ even without a barometric altimeter.

The Forerunner 305 estimates the elevation based on the gps location. As a result of this each successive point can vary quite a lot (for accurate elevation data). The result of this is that the absolute values are accurate enough (ie bottom of hill is shown as 350m but it might be 360m etc) but the cummulative data is useless. After climbing from 300 to 900m it might tell you that you have climbed 1100. The software correction on Motionbased is pretty poor.Here is a cycle I did yesterday. The elevation data should be about 2630m but is maked as 5487m! Way off!

Get the Forerunner if you plan on using it for running as well as cycling, if not definately get the Edge.

I wouldn't use any phone as a gps device. It wouldn't stand up to the elements (ie rain)

I would really miss my HRM if I didn't have it. The gps is more for analysing rides after the fact.

FrankGrimes

I'm going to go with the Edge 305 and have found it in a couple of places on ebay.com that will ship to Ireland.

I'm going to go for a refurbished one cos the price is so good and the feedback from other purchasers of the refurbs is very good.

It will work out at €168 delivered including insurance and that includes the cadence/speed sensor and the heart-rate monitor, so it's a very good price.

Gavin

Wow, that's a great price. Where is it from ?

FrankGrimes

Here is the link

blorg

That is an exceedingly good price. Worth bearing in mind that it will NOT have a warranty despite what the seller claims (Garmin refuse to warranty any product from eBay, even if it was new- discovered this when my own one had to go back to them) but at that price I don't think I'd be complaining.

blorg

Bear in mind also that you may get caught for VAT and duty which would add €50/60 depending on carrier clearance charges. You are least likely to get caught if it is sent by normal post.

TinyExplosions

Also bear in mind that it's listed as a refurb, not as a new one

cyclopath2001

Diarmuid wrote: »

I wouldn't use any phone as a gps device. It wouldn't stand up to the elements (ie rain)

The GPS will chew the battery and you might need some juice in the phone if you need to call for air support.

FrankGrimes

Yeh, I always reckon with these kind of things it needs to be a very good price to justify the hassle involved in returning it or not being able to return it at all and possible customs charges, but in this case the price does justify it so I'm giving it a go. Hopefully with it being a refurb, an early issues had occurred before it was refurbed, that can be a hidden benefit of refurbs but we'll wait and see.

blorg

I got a refurb back from Garmin after I sent my faulty one back and it looked pretty new, I think they actually slap a brand new casing on the refurbs. As to reliability, it had the latest firmware on and has been generally better than the last one but have had the battery charging/not wanting to turn on/garmin three finger salute thing. Also it has started up in diagnostic mode a few times saying that some internal test had failed; also had a problem a few days back where it would not find any satellites at all, and sometimes it doesn't like to recognise the cadence sensor. But this is all part of the fun of owning a Garmin, they are great when they work!

Caroline_ie

I was thinking of getting ethe Nokia 6110 with my upgrade ... is it good enough not to get lost on the WW when I train on my own ...?

FrankGrimes

Alrighty then, I'm back on my feet after a long lay off and ready to start easing back into some cycling. I have my Garmin Edge 305 installed and I think it's setup correctly (my tires say 700 x 25C on the side so judging by the tyre size table in the manual I set it up as 2105mm circumference).

Thanks to this thread, I've figured out how to plot a course and have done a dummy one just around my neighbourhood and will download to the 305 when I get home this evening.

I've a couple load of question on how to use it that I'm not clear on though despite reading the manual a few times.

When using a normal bike computer, no matter what I do, the odometer is always capturing my total distance - as long as I press Start and have the timer running will the 305 do this?

If I do just a basic cycle by clicking Start and getting it to start showing whatever data fields I have selected, will I be able to track this data and elevation profile when I download to my laptop?

I'll download my commuting route to work on it from mapmyride.com but let's say I decide to cycle home a different route - as long as the timer is running will I then be able to select that route afterwards and save it as an alternative Course?

On my commute to work, I'd like to set some interval points to track interim performance against - do I just press Lap at these points?

I set my route to work as an Out&Back course, when I get to work do I stop the timer and then just start it again when I'm heading home or do I need to create separate one way courses?

Am I right in thinking the basic functionality or Courses are what I'll mainly need and Workouts and Routes will be only every now and then?

Does the battery drain when turned off (i.e. if I charge tonight and leave it in my bag overnight, will it be much drained by the time I use tomorrow)?

blorg

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Alrighty then, I'm back on my feet after a long lay off and ready to start easing back into some cycling. I have my Garmin Edge 305 installed and I think it's setup correctly (my tires say 700 x 25C on the side so judging by the tyre size table in the manual I set it up as 2105mm circumference).

You don't need to worry about setting the tyre size, it works off the satellites and figures this out for itself.

When using a normal bike computer, no matter what I do, the odometer is always capturing my total distance - as long as I press Start and have the timer running will the 305 do this?

As long as you press start (and it has a GPS lock.) If you forget to, it will not record.

If I do just a basic cycle by clicking Start and getting it to start showing whatever data fields I have selected, will I be able to track this data and elevation profile when I download to my laptop?

Yes. Note what it records is not connected to what data fields you are displaying, you can not display a field and it will still record it.

I'll download my commuting route to work on it from mapmyride.com but let's say I decide to cycle home a different route - as long as the timer is running will I then be able to select that route afterwards and save it as an alternative Course?

Yes, it always records where you actually go even if you are following a course and go off it.

On my commute to work, I'd like to set some interval points to track interim performance against - do I just press Lap at these points?

That will work, although you can select any part of your route in the Garmin software (or SportTracks, which is better) to see time/distance/averages.

I set my route to work as an Out&Back course, when I get to work do I stop the timer and then just start it again when I'm heading home or do I need to create separate one way courses?

I wouldn't bother, I'd just cycle it and save that as two courses. You will get better accuracy that way and less "off course" messages.

Am I right in thinking the basic functionality or Courses are what I'll mainly need and Workouts and Routes will be only every now and then?

Depends how you use the thing. I mainly use it to record where I have gone, elevation profiles, etc. Occasionally plot a course I haven't done before (like the W200, Mick Byrne 200, etc.) and put in the stops, towns, controls, summits etc. so I know how far I have to the top. Sometimes use the virtual partner- that is a good one for gauging improvements.

Does the battery drain when turned off (i.e. if I charge tonight and leave it in my bag overnight, will it be much drained by the time I use tomorrow)?

If it if off, no, the battery does not drain much (no more than any lithium ion battery.) If you have it on but not recording the battery will be draining at the normal rate however. I get about 10 hours out of mine. you get into the habit of charging frequently. It is handy that it works of USB power.

FrankGrimes

Hey Blorg - I've mostly been away with work since this post - many thanks for the great info, much appreciated it.

Think I have it figured out now, though there's a few things niggling.

I thought that when I wanted to do a course I could just hit 'Do Course' and then the timer would start when I get to the start of the course, but it seems the timer starts running before I get to the course - is that right?

I've figured out how to plot a course on mapmyrides.com and import, but how do you save a course by selecting a route you've just cycled?

What advantages do you see in SportsTrack over Garmin software? I can't figure out how to upload routes to the device from SportsTrack so wouldn't like to have to use 2 apps unless there was a big difference.

Mapping the top of a climb as an interval sounds like a great idea and would really help the struggle up the last bits, but how do you do it?

No worries if this game of 20 questions has worn you down, but thanks for any pointers....we could maybe add this thread to the wiki as it's fairly comprehensive at this stage.

FrankGrimes

So after re-reading the manual a couple of times (it could be more straightforward), it seems that when you select Do Course you should start the timer and it will only start tracking your performance (for the virtual partner) on the course when you actually get there. Makes sense in one way but not in another - I'd prefer to see my actual time on the course so far instead of having to gauge how I'm doing against the virtual partner (i.e. my previous best time). Maybe I'm missing something, but I think I'll only start the timer when I get to the course.

Other than that it seems Routes aren't very useful as they just map a straight line between 2 points, and I'll probably use Courses for planned workouts as I'm more likely to have a particular journey I want to do instead of simple time and distance targets which is more suited to the gym.

So, I won't be using much of the functions, but it's still a very useful tool as I do like seeing the cadence and altitude info - if I could figure out how to include hilltops on my course and have it show me how far I have left on the climb, that's when it would really come into its own.

blorg

SportTracks shows good maps, etc and is just a bit more polished all round, but you can't use it to edit courses, etc.

If you have a course in the Garmin Training Center software you can select points on it and add a marker. I generally do this with the course open with the elevation profile- I'll click on the top of the hill on the profile, that will then highlight the section on the map and you can click to add an information point ("summit") - when doing the course one of the fields is "distance to next" point. You need to add the points on the map view rather than the profile.

FrankGrimes

Cheers Blorg, I'll give that a shot for sure.

Yeh, I could see SportsTrack has a nicer UI straightaway (the Garmin one is pretty poor tbh) but was wondering if there was major functionality differences, doesn't seem to be.

I have it setup to use my speed sensor instead of the GPS as I reckoned that would be more accurate - the GPS has a large margin of error at times - am I missing something?

I had to a bit of a hack job when installing the cadence sensor - there's a lot of space between the inside of my pedal crank and the sensor sitting on the frame. I had to cut a little piece of timber and put the magnet on that and then cable tie it secure. Am sure it'll come off sooner or later but it's doing the job for the minute and I'm sure I can afford the milliseconds the extra drag is losing me

blorg

FrankGrimes wrote: »

I have it setup to use my speed sensor instead of the GPS as I reckoned that would be more accurate - the GPS has a large margin of error at times - am I missing something?

I had to a bit of a hack job when installing the cadence sensor - there's a lot of space between the inside of my pedal crank and the sensor sitting on the frame. I had to cut a little piece of timber and put the magnet on that and then cable tie it secure. Am sure it'll come off sooner or later but it's doing the job for the minute and I'm sure I can afford the milliseconds the extra drag is losing me

The GPS is pretty accurate although it may cut some corners, etc. Doesn't make a big difference in the scheme of things. AFAIK you can't _make_ it use the speed sensor- it will use the GPS if it has signal and only falls back on the speed sensor if it loses GPS (unless you select "Use with GPS off" in which case it won't record elevation or where you are etc. and be pretty pointless all round.)

To be honest I only use the cadence sensor for cadence, I gave up bothering using it for speed and only have the rear wheel magnet on one of my bikes. It is mainly for turbo trainer purposes that they include it at all.

Regarding the cadence- you may be able to get a more powerful magnet that will work without that hack, although you should also be able to angle the sensor towards the crank.

EDIT: do you already have the cadence sensor and magnet at the closest point your crank comes to the frame (I presume you do?)

Argo foc yourself

Looking into a GPS device for cycling.I currently use phone and stick it under saddle but never know how far i have travelled etc
Would like something to mount on the bars. Navigation maps etc

Any advice - don't want to fork out a fortune on Garmin edge