To Garmin or not to Garmin
I am sitting on the edge of temptation at the moment as to whether or not to blow $308 on an Edge 500 pack (with HR & cadence) from Wiggle. It seems like a really good offer (love the 800, but sadly can't justify stretching to $553). Now before you all dive in and say "do it", lets see why I need one... or do I?
I have a computer that does most bikey things, including temp
but, it freaks out from time to time with my light, & the mount is a bit dodgy..
I have a polar HR watch
but, that's 10 yrs old now and the straps about to break...
I have an altitude watch
but, it doesn't show gradient...
So I'll gain by having these all in one device, plus a few xtra features like cadence, which I've never had... all good I hear you say! BUT it's still 308 bucks which is a fair hit in these cash challenged times... so what I want to hear is any personal experiences that might sway me one way or another....
Now I've read the reviews so know about broken mounts, battery life, good but not great software.... and the HR & cadence graphs I've seen posted look as useful as tits on a bull.
I'm going to pull off the manual tonight and have a scour thru it and see if I 'really' need one.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rob W on -
After reading posts on another forum, I would feel uneasy spending this sort of money OS when it comes to warranty issues. But you only have to see one person's uploads to see how good they are.
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Permalink Reply by MARK FERGUSON (SPARTACUS) on -
Must admit I bought mine at Bicycle Express for warranty reasons and they have been great when I've brought back with my dumb questions.
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Permalink Reply by Baron Zuraw on -
Garmin offer international warranty so it's not a problem. Likewise a lot of online shops like Wiggle will replace the unit it there is an issue - all you need to do is send it back to them! Wiggle will often pay the postage cost as well
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Permalink Reply by Baron Zuraw on
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I know two people with one of these - both hate them with a passion. Awkward navigation, unit not particularly responsive to button pressing and buggy software
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Permalink Reply by Andrew M on -
I was initially unimpressed with the rider 30, fiddly to learn and connect to the computer/website, but fully sussed now and impressed. would recommend for the price.
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Permalink Reply by Baron Von Thierry on -
You may well ask Angus,, never heard of them. The 30T looks interesting for the same price range
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Permalink Reply by CLP on -
I recently upgraded from the 705 to the 800 for the sum of $400 from handtec in the UK. Admitedly, this is a head unit only upgrade, so i didn't have to buy all the sensors and HR strap again. Both the 705 and the 800 are awesome bits of kit.
My partner has a garmin 500, which, by all accounts, she loves to bits.. I don't think she misses having the mapping functions on there at all (and to be perfectly honest, i rarely use them myself!).
I probably wouldn't hesitate too much in recommending the garmin 500 to anyone.. and at $308 it's a pretty good bargain :) I mean, what else are you going to do with that money? buy food or something crazy like that? :P
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Permalink Reply by Bec on -
I have the garmin 500 couldn't justify having the 800 as I have gps and mapping on my phone. But I couldn't imagine going for a ride without it. Great to measure your training and ride results against previous rides. Fantastic training tool
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Permalink Reply by MARK FERGUSON (SPARTACUS) on
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Also with the 800 you have to buy the map software for about $200 to $300.
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Permalink Reply by CLP on
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you can download openstreetmap (OSM), and freeware elevation contours, or there's another project call shonky maps which you can install.
On the PC side, You can download the upgrade version of Garmin Mapsource. This will happily install if it finds a copy of the freely available Garmin training centre :)
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