For those with the garmin 800/810 ? on map/navigation

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[AngryScientist]

my garmin 800 has changed the way i ride. no doubt about it. load in a gxp file and go. turn by turn nav, a track forward rotating map right on the handlebars takes a lot of the stress out of navigating unfamiliar territory. it's easily one of the best cycling purchases i have made. yes, i think its that good.

(full disclosure: i am terrible with directions, i get lost very easily)

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[AngryScientist]

what about when you dont have a route planned ahead and are just riding around and want to browse the map to see where roads go? this is mostly what I'll be using it for when riding around in Connecticut/NY/MA area on very rural, twisty roads. I got lost last week and it caused some grief with my partner when we climbed twice as much as I had said we would in LESS distance:cool:

it is OK for that, but less so than an iphone, etc. due to the smaller screen and lower resolution/touchscreen interface. the garmin really shines when you have a route plugged into it. if you only need occasional use to pull out and check where you are/are going - the phone is probably better.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[br995]

I love my 800 (in terms of what it allows me to do). I'm a big fan of long distance, and not a fan of cue-sheets, so having it beep at me to turn is awesome. Elevation profiles of my rides and all the data it provides is really helpful.

That said, I rarely if ever use it for on-the-fly navigation. I have done it, and it does it reasonably well, but if your main intention is to have something on hand to browse nearby roads or get a sense of a direction to head in, I'd echo that a smartphone is much better.

The Garmin is good for pre-loaded directions, or having it create directions to a certain spot, but it's not very useful for road investigation. or browsing an area.

[Mark McM]

it is OK for that, but less so than an iphone, etc. due to the smaller screen and lower resolution/touchscreen interface.

Ditto on that, but on the flip side, the Garmin has longer battery life than the iPhone, and the transflective LCD display has much better visibility in strong sunlight. And as mentioned, the Garmin still works when you are out of the range of cell towers.

[gone]

A few other benefits of the Garmin and navigation vs. a cell phone in addition to the ones mentioned:

The Garmin generally does "bike friendly" routing. I was doing RAGBRAI a few years ago with a couple of friends and the overnight was a big (by Iowa standards) city. A friend used her phone (Android) to route to our hotel and I used the Garmin. The droid would have taken us the way a car would go - fastest route with a lot of high speed traffic. The Garmin took us through subdivisions and quiet streets.
The Garmin will do a "return to start" so if you want to explore you can always use that to get back to where you started. It won't take you back the way you came necessarily (which might be a good thing) but will take you via the most direct route.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[shovelhd]

I have an 800 and use the maps often when group riding for all of the above mentioned reasons. I would say the most common use is for browsing roads when I have split off from the group, and using back to start or go home. The most fun use is for exploring new roads.

[teleguy57]

Slight hijack -- what tools/services do you use to create your routes and upload them to your 8xx? I have used both Mapmyride and ridewithGPS and prefer the latter....

[shovelhd]

Same here.

[kramnnim]

I'm very happy with my 800 for following predetermined routes, but for exploring new routes on the fly...it's no smartphone. Zooming/panning is much more awkward and slow, and the screen is too small.

[SpeedyChix]

Slight hijack -- what tools/services do you use to create your routes and upload them to your 8xx? I have used both Mapmyride and ridewithGPS and prefer the latter....

Really like to use ridewithgps for that.

[SpeedyChix]

I'm considering getting an 810 so I don't get lost on some upcoming adventures in unfamiliar territory, but am wondering if it's better to just bring a phone and stick with my current bike computer.

for those with this computer, is it fairly easy to navigate on the fly?

When traveling in unknown areas, I'll take a look at RideWithGPS or simply google to get an idea of the area before I take off. Once riding i'll just get into map mode and see where I'm at and what to head, making up the ride on the roll.

[deluxerider]

You can also use the garmin connect site to create/save/upload routes.


Slight hijack -- what tools/services do you use to create your routes and upload them to your 8xx? I have used both Mapmyride and ridewithGPS and prefer the latter....

[Gatorfreak]

Regarding phone navigation with spotty service...with the app Osmand, you can download the maps so all you need is a gps signal to see where you are. Osmand can also give you turn-by-turn navigation to follow a gpx file. I used it before I got a garmin 800.

Smartphone + Osmand = poor man's garmin 800.

[fkelly]

A high end smartphone screen is much better than a Garmin 800 screen. But that doesn't do you much good when you can't see it in the direct sunlight. Neither of them, in my opinion, are much use if you are out in the sun in unfamiliar territory and trying to navigate.

If you have all the setting right the Garmin will do a good job of giving turn by turn directions, beeping before the turn, etc. on a route that you have preloaded. You can download the route from rwgps for instance. But practice it on some know routes a few times before you go off into the unknown. There are a few settings that need to be right ... for instance if you go off course you need to keep it from recalculating everything.

If you are in a new place and exploring, you can't beat getting a paper county map and having it in your back pocket in case things go awry.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[buddybikes]

I have tried back to start a few times, but it didn't provide navigation or distance left. Wondering if i have a software bug..

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[rnhood]

You can also use the garmin connect site to create/save/upload routes.

I've used all the on-line route creating tools and none work as well as Garmin Connect. In fact its all but unflappable. I also like RidewithGPS but as mentioned in the previous post, it has its occasional quirks in routing.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[djg21]

I've had a 705, and then an 800. I recently broke my 800, and was able to upgrade to an 810 at a reasonable price. Since I was still under warranty and upgrading, Garmin allowed me to swap the maps from my 800 (City Nav) at no charge. I too use Topo maps for MTBing and hiking. The City Navigator mapset is downloading as I write this.

BTW, the topo maps aren't wed to a specific device. You may want to opt to purchase a download of City Navigator rather than the pre-loaded SD card. You then can buy a large SD card that will hold both City Nav and a large set of topo maps.

I really liked the the 800. I infrequently looked at the map unless I am lost. I like the user-defined pages for most of my riding, especially with a power meter.

One thing I miss from the 705 was the ability to transfer routes from GPS to GPS at the start of a ride. This was really handy at organized group rides where someone always had the route pre-loaded. unfortunately, you cannot do this with an 800. I'm hoping there is some way to transfer routes on the 810 using Bluetooth or BT and a smartphone. I have to think someone somewhere figured out how to hack the OS or use the iphone to do this.

BTW, I always carry my iPhone in a pocket while riding. I find the Garmin much easier to see in bright light.

I haven't used the 810 yet, but I don't see myself using Garmin Connect much (except perhaps to transfer routes if possible). My wife already can track me using the FindMyFriend app on her iPhone or iPad. Likewise, I am happy with the weather radar app I have on my iPhone.

I also wouldn't mind having my ride data automatically uploaded to Training Peaks. Hopefully there is a way.


In terms of navigation, it is useful to navigate back to a starting point, or to an address or landmark. It is also great for pre-loaded routes.

It is OK for seeing surrounding roads, but the lack of screen real estate makes it less optimal for that purpose. Then again, I don't want a tablet-sized device on my bars.