Garmin query

Seaswimmer

Hi folks.

I am not that familiar with Garmin for bikes as I have always used a standard computer.

I am interested in buying a Garmin or similar device for navigation to save me bringing maps when touring. Not really interested in any of the performance features. So I have a few queries.

1. What is the best one to get.
2. What maps are included and how much does it cost for extra maps (USA/Canada for example)
3. I assume that it would also do the basic computer functions. trip time, speed, distance, elapsed time ect.

I did have a trawl through the Garmin site and looked at various models on wiggle but wanted some real life experience.

Takca

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Hi folks.

I am not that familiar with Garmin for bikes as I have always used a standard computer.

I am interested in buying a Garmin or similar device for navigation to save me bringing maps when touring. Not really interested in any of the performance features. So I have a few queries.

1. What is the best one to get.

If you're looking for a garmin specifically for navigation I suspect one with a larger screen size is what you want. I havn't used it but I think this is where the Garmin Edge 1000 comes in.

2. What maps are included and how much does it cost for extra maps (USA/Canada for example)

The maps that came on my 520 are pretty basic (useless), but I updated with free maps from here http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ which are pretty good.

3. I assume that it would also do the basic computer functions. trip time, speed, distance, elapsed time ect.

Yup

Marvinthefish

Maybe look at the Garmin Edge Touring or Touring Plus which have fewer of the performance features, and more of the mapping features:
Review on this page: http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/product-news/garmin-edge-complete-buyers-guide-183499
Garmin website: https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/143677

AmboMan

I've a Garmin Edge Touring for sale on the site here. Has European maps & I think USA can be downloaded free:

https://www.cyclingabout.com/free-maps-on-your-garmin-gps/

I'm flexible on price as I was thinking of a Yahoo bolt.

crosstownk

I've the 520 and I also use the maps that Takca linked to. You have to be careful loading these maps to ensure that you don't exceed the memory space on the 520 (about 100MB, I think) so only load for the area relevant to where you are. The whole of Leinster only takes up around 35MB so space isn't really an issue. The 520 isn't a true navigational device. It will navigate any course that you create on Garmin Connect and upload to it but it is not like a regular Sat Nav. I use it in that way but if you go off course it's of little use and you'll have to use the map to navigate yourself back on course. That said it will navigate you back to your starting point. For me, I find the 520 adequate as most of the time I'm on familiar roads.

For proper navigation the 820 or 1000 are probably worth looking at. I've never used either so I don't know what the differences are between the two of them but the links below may help.

820 Review and 1000 Review. 520 Review in case you want to check it out.

Here's the process for downloading the maps linked in Takca's post. It's quite simple.

Chumpski

I recently bought a Garmin 820 with a heart, cadence and speed sensor. Cost about 450 euro (i think).

I am real happy with it. It has navigation and maps. The unit is smaller than the 1000 which is why i went for it, i thought the 1000 unit was quite large.

I took it on holiday, added a few routes to it and it worked great navigating me to the route and keeping me on it, while also showing speed, time, etc in a non intrusive way.

The 820 might be the one to go for if you want all the data collecting the 520 does plus the navigation.

PS Get on strava too if not already, its so cool.

Sinbad_NI

DCRainmaker is the best website for reviews of all the units. Take a read there.

I'd also look at the Wahoo computer range like the Bolt, the function to send navigation from Google maps on your phone to Bolt might be interesting.

CantGetNoSleep

Chumpski wrote: »

I recently bought a Garmin 820 with a heart, cadence and speed sensor. Cost about 450 euro (i think).

I am real happy with it. It has navigation and maps. The unit is smaller than the 1000 which is why i went for it, i thought the 1000 unit was quite large.

I took it on holiday, added a few routes to it and it worked great navigating me to the route and keeping me on it, while also showing speed, time, etc in a non intrusive way.

The 820 might be the one to go for if you want all the data collecting the 520 does plus the navigation.

PS Get on strava too if not already, its so cool.

Second this - recently got one and very happy with it, although it has features I may never need (I tend to do a couple of long spins a week with a few friends or small group and that is all).

I would have also went for the Wahoo Element Bolt if I didn't get this

serendip

OK, so I disagree with the other posters.

Get a Garmin eTrex 30x for touring. There are several reasons but the main two are...

- It uses AA batteries, so there is no need to find somewhere to charge it every night. The batteries last about three days, for me, and you can get replacements pretty much anywhere.

- It is *not* a touch screen device, so it's easy to change the settings (e.g. zoom) without actually looking at the device.

For maps, my choice would be openfietsmap.

ford2600

serendip wrote: »

OK, so I disagree with the other posters.

Get a Garmin eTrex 30x for touring. There are several reasons but the main two are...

- It uses AA batteries, so there is no need to find somewhere to charge it every night. The batteries last about three days, for me, and you can get replacements pretty much anywhere.

- It is *not* a touch screen device, so it's easy to change the settings (e.g. zoom) without actually looking at the device.

For maps, my choice would be openfietsmap.

For simplicity and reliability etrex 10/20/30 is the business. Batteries last 24hrs ish of constant use.

I just load a track and use it as a guide. Ideal for audax/touring.

You can load a track and route at the one time, although I never bothered. These geeks have a description here.

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=88087.0

The other option is to use a cycling Garmin and power of your dynamo. Few options out there for that; B&M have one and this crew
https://www.igaro.com/d1

Seaswimmer

ford2600 wrote: »

For simplicity and reliability etrex 10/20/30 is the business. Batteries last 24hrs ish of constant use.

I just load a track and use it as a guide. Ideal for audax/touring.

You can load a track and route at the one time, although I never bothered. These geeks have a description here.

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=88087.0

The other option is to use a cycling Garmin and power of your dynamo. Few options out there for that; B&M have one and this crew
https://www.igaro.com/d1

Strangely enough I am looking at this wheel

https://www.bike24.de/1.php?content=8;product=164343;menu=1000,2,140,209;page=1

and this light
https://www.bike24.de/1.php?content=8;product=38271;menu=1400,1410,1411

for an extended tour next year or 2019. The light provides usb charging.

Just thinking in advance of the navigation options hence the Garmin query

ford2600

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Strangely enough I am looking at this wheel

https://www.bike24.de/1.php?content=8;product=164343;menu=1000,2,140,209;page=1

and this light
https://www.bike24.de/1.php?content=8;product=38271;menu=1400,1410,1411

for an extended tour next year or 2019. The light provides usb charging.

Just thinking in advance of the navigation options hence the Garmin query

The charging option on that light has had a lot of faults; do a search on yacf.co.uk.

Brilliant light though.

I have the 100 lux IXQ which is brilliant also.

If it was me and I needed charging I'd go with a dedicated charger independent of light.

Seaswimmer

ford2600 wrote: »

The charging option on that light has had a lot of faults; do a search on yacf.co.uk.

Brilliant light though.

I have the 100 lux IXQ which is brilliant also.

If it was me and I needed charging I'd go with a dedicated charger independent of light.

thanks for that. Yes never thought of an independent charging option. I will have a look at https://www.igaro.com/d1 as you suggested. Still a few months away from wheel/light ordering.

ford2600

Seaswimmer wrote: »

thanks for that. Yes never thought of an independent charging option. I will have a look at https://www.igaro.com/d1 as you suggested. Still a few months away from wheel/light ordering.

Not sure an open pro would be the best choice for touring?

Mavic 719, dt Swiss tk 540 would be stronger and wider. Check/email rose also

A lot to be said for shimano dynamo and buy new internals (€35 or so)ever 15-20k km or so when greasing the bearings

Seaswimmer

ford2600 wrote: »

Not sure an open pro would be the best choice for touring?

Mavic 719, dt Swiss tk 540 would be stronger and wider. Check/email rose also

A lot to be said for shimano dynamo and buy new internals (€35 or so)ever 15-20k km or so when greasing the bearings

Well when I say touring I mean light touring with saddlebag/bar bag but I will certainly have a look at your suggestion.

What does new internals involve??

ford2600

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Well when I say touring I mean light touring with saddlebag/bar bag but I will certainly have a look at your suggestion.

What does new internals involve??

Son, SP & Shimano eventually need to be serviced.

The servicing of SP or SON isn't cheap but given how infrequent not a huge problem.

The Shimano ones aren't supposed to be serviced as you risk severing cable when undoing locknut; if you do just fit a new internal assembly and you are as good as new.

Your rim looks like old open pro not the new wider model.

If you don't want a full on touring rim I'd also look at archetype/Kinlin maybe; they are not as shallow as open pro (so stronger) but much wider which to my mind is a must.

You should also buy a disk compatible hub so that you are future proofed if you ever go disk/wish to sell on. Can't see a downside other than needing to dish wheel

benneca1

Currently using an SP dynamo igaro d1 and supernova e 3 front light and e 3 tail light also. System has 1000s of KM up and no issues. Light is always on as thats the way it comes and what i wanted. I keep garmin plugged in also. I taped up the cable entry point with waterproof tape and the usb plug is inside a cut piece of innner tube to keep it dry. I have used it for full days in lashing rain no issues. My garmin is an 800 and the only issue I have is that for navigation if you have a route of more than 300KM it tends to crash. So if touring break it up by days or segemnts. All in all happy out. No issues with charging Garmin when running lights doesnt seem to dim. The i phone seems to take a bit more so better not to do that at night.

devonp

Hi


i have an old 810, still working just about..!


for some courses/routes i import it brings up a page with list of points ie 3Km turn right , 6 km turn left etc in a spreadsheet type list



is this page available with all courses/routes ? or is it file type specific ie GPX or TCX ?


or do i have to enable certain pages , generally I only have about 4 pgs active..



cheers

devonp

think i've found the prob


i use ridewithgps for route making and the turn by turn indicators from the cue sheet are no longer imported into Garmin using the free user version of rwgps


all my old route have this cue sheet page whereas anything from the last 2 yrs or so are missing them


but the old 810 still gives me good turn guidance , white arrow and countdowns etc just not a seperate page with all waypoints/course points listed where i could scroll through...


does strava or mapmyride generated routes give turn by turn ??

juicer

I use strava to make my routes that I then sync to my 1030.

When looking at the map view it'll tell me what the next turn coming up is. Right turn in 4km etc.

Is that what you mean?

devonp

yes i still get that with map view from RWGPS made routes...so its fine

but it used to generate a separate page(essentially the cue sheet page) on the garmin with a complete list of all turns, a symbol , (left arrow etc) distance to and these would change, (countdown).....this functionality is no longer free but the routes are fine....

smacl

Garmin servers seem to be down for me today, no link to connect or Strava even when using USB to desktop. Anyone else having issues?

devonp

yes garmin connect out for now....

DeepBlue

smacl wrote: »

Garmin servers seem to be down for me today, no link to connect or Strava even when using USB to desktop. Anyone else having issues?

Yes, Garmin Connect app says they are down for maintenance.

Alun

DeepBlue wrote: »

Yes, Garmin Connect app says they are down for maintenance.

Word on the street is that they've been hit with a ransomware attack. Could be down for days.

Seth Brundle

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/amp33402834/garmin-connect-is-down/

Effects

After having the app still have issues connecting to the server this morning, I connected my Garmin via usb. It seemed to upload that way as I got Strava notifications from the app with the previously non uploaded routes.

crosstownk

Effects wrote: »

After having the app still have issues connecting to the server this morning, I connected my Garmin via usb. It seemed to upload that way as I got Strava notifications from the app with the previously non uploaded routes.

It appears things are slowly coming back. My 520 synced with the app this morning which in turn synced with Map My Ride (I had manually uploaded to Strava). The activities didn’t appear on Garmin Connect for another hour or so and the app is still showing the maintenance message.

Hopefully it’ll continue to approach normal service but progress has been made.

RunDMC

Here's a link to the Garmin Connect Status page

http://connect.garmin.com/status

R

onlineweb

Alun wrote: »

Word on the street is that they've been hit with a ransomware attack. Could be down for days.

Yeah, they where hacked.

Personal details may have been taken.

Be careful.

Seth Brundle

onlineweb wrote: »

Yeah, they where hacked.

Personal details may have been taken.

Be careful.

Regardless, I'm surprised that they aren't forcing users to change their passwords.

Chips Lovell

They have "obtained" a decryption key.