New Garmin 810 on the way, what do I need to know?

[JMacII]

18 months ago moved to a new area. Between new job, new house, two kids under three and everything else, I just wrote last year off. I wasn't getting out, and it was stressing me out so I just wrote the year off rather than be frustrated. Now things are settled down, and I want to get out and explore these new areas. So since I don't really know the area, I thought a mapping GPS would help. Of course my fitness is abysmal right now.

So what I want to be able to do is look on google maps or whatever the best system is, mark out a course, then transfer that over to the 810 and go ride it with turn by turn directions. Do I need to pay for ridewithgps to make that work? What other systems do people use? Is the garmin software suite okay for this? Any tips I should know?

[ceolwulf]

Pretty sure MapMyRide will let you do that without paying.

[djg21]

I pay for RideWithGPS. It is inexpensive, works pretty seamlessly with the Edge 810, and has a good library of rides so I almost never have had to create a ride from scratch.

[buckfifty]

I use a combination of strava heatmaps and google maps to check out what streets people are riding the most (heatmaps) and what they look like (google maps). I wouldn't use strava to save navigatable routes, it's pretty bad. Ridewithgps and bike route toaster are great to make navigated routes on the 810. Save as gpx and you're good to go

If there's a cycling club in your area, you can ride with them or check out what routes they take

[rnhood]

RidewithGPS works well (better than mapmyride) and provides a downloadable TCX file for your 810. You will need to double check the cue sheet against the route, as sometimes the cue sheet doesn't properly indicate a turn. In order to edit the cue sheet to correct this, I believe you will need to upgrade to the "pay" version. Its not much money as mentioned above and if you routinely draw routes and download them to your Garmin then I would suggest to pay for the upgrade.

Mapmyride is ····ty. Look elsewhere.

Bike route toaster was a decent tool but I'm not sure its still being maintained, or even available anymore. Seems to me its going by the wayside.

Garmin Connect provides the routing feature and downloadable TCX file much the same as RidewithGPS, so this is a good option. And the Garmin Express app immediately uploads any journeys/performance data to the cloud when you plug your 810 into your computer for recharging or whatever. Nice feature. I also believe you can configure RidewithGPS to do the same.

Strava is more of a social tool. I'm not even sure you can chart a route in it. Since Garmin Connect and RidewithGPS are so good, why bother.

[buckfifty]

RidewithGPS works well (better than mapmyride) and provides a downloadable TCX file for your 810. You will need to double check the cue sheet against the route, as sometimes the cue sheet doesn't properly indicate a turn. In order to edit the cue sheet to correct this, I believe you will need to upgrade to the "for pay" version. Its not much money as mentioned above and if you routinely draw routes and download them to your Garmin then I would suggest to pay for the upgrade.

Mapmyride is ····ty. Don't bother.

Bike route toaster was a decent tool but I'm not sure its still being maintained, or even available anymore. Seems to me its going by the wayside.

Garmin Connect provides the routing feature and downloadable TCX file much the same as RidewithGPS, so this is a good option. And the Garmin Express app immediately uploads any journeys to the cloud when you plug your 810 into your computer for recharging or whatever. Nice feature. I also believe you can configure RidewithGPS to do the same.

Strava is more of a social tool. I'm not even sure you can chart a route in it. Since Garmin Connect and RidewithGPS are so good, why bother.

BRT was down a bit, but I checked before I posted and it seems to be up and running. It has cue sheet print outs and options to save as tcx and gpx.

I find with garmin connect, it doesn't zoom in close enough to pick the correct street I want and I end up picking the street going in the opposite direction. And garmin correct doesn't compile a cue sheet to double check your route. Good thing I made a known test route to check before using garmin connect on roads I don't know.

Strava's routing options are under Dashboard -> My Route -> Create New route. But yeah, don't use it. It's not as good as Bike Route Toaster or Ridewithgps

[JMacII]

Thanks for the tips all. I think I'll check out the garmin connect software when I get the device. I had a strava account, used it mostly just to track miles. But good idea to look for routes and heat maps. Haven't done that before, but could be perfect here as I try to find new routes.

[rnhood]

Buckfifty, that's good news about Bike route toaster. Our club moved to RwGPS as we thought it was history. BRT is not without its idiosyncrasies but its always been an accurate and sound routing tool.

JMacII, Garmin Connect will do the heat maps too. No big deal.

[Steve530]

RidewithGPS lets you export a TCX file without a premium membership. The website has detailed instructions.

[JMacII]

So I got the 810....and twice it has locked up where it won't turn on. The first time I was able to hard reboot it. Now that doesn't work. Garmin says I may need to send it back ($99 exchange since I am not first owner). Anyone had this problem? Anyone gotten a refurbed unit from them? Thoughts? Help?

[rnhood]

So I got the 810....and twice it has locked up where it won't turn on. The first time I was able to hard reboot it. Now that doesn't work. Garmin says I may need to send it back ($99 exchange since I am not first owner). Anyone had this problem? Anyone gotten a refurbed unit from them? Thoughts? Help?

Its very doubtful this issue just started to happen after you bought it. Send it back to the seller and get your money back. Shouldn't be a problem if they have any credibility. As far as a Garmin refurb, they are fine and come with a warranty.

[djg21]

So I got the 810....and twice it has locked up where it won't turn on. The first time I was able to hard reboot it. Now that doesn't work. Garmin says I may need to send it back ($99 exchange since I am not first owner). Anyone had this problem? Anyone gotten a refurbed unit from them? Thoughts? Help?

If you can get the GPS turned on while plugged into your PC, I'd suggest that you try to update or reinstall the firmware before determining whether you need to return it of send it in for repair. Download Webupdater from Garmin's support page and run it while the GPS is attached to the PC via USB cable.

http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp

[bcgav]

Get a good class 10 32GB MicroSD card and use http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ to download free maps. You don't have to pay Garmin $$$$$ for maps.

Create a startup screen on your Garmin in case it is lost http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/08/display-number-garmin.html

Mine displays the following format:

If found, please contact
email@email.com
555-555-5555

Strava's course creation/editing tool is pretty good IMHO, coming from a ridewithgps.com and bikeroutetoaster.com user. Strava's courses have detailed turn-by-turn cues generated automatically and will prompt you on your 810 when a turn is coming while displaying the intersection, arrow for direction of travel, street names.

[JMacII]

If you can get the GPS turned on while plugged into your PC, I'd suggest that you try to update or reinstall the firmware before determining whether you need to return it of send it in for repair. Download Webupdater from Garmin's support page and run it while the GPS is attached to the PC via USB cable.

http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp


I can't get it to turn on or connect through the computer. It's a total paperweight. What's so frustrating is that two days ago it was all fine. I did update to latest firmware. But now the thing is just completely dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

And, wouldn't you know it, my eBay seller is not responding.

[JMacII]

Get a good class 10 32GB MicroSD card and use http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ to download free maps. You don't have to pay Garmin $$$$$ for maps.


Thanks. I followed dc rainmakers instructions to get the open source maps. Worked fine. Then the device died on me.

[djg21]

I can't get it to turn on or connect through the computer. It's a total paperweight. What's so frustrating is that two days ago it was all fine. I did update to latest firmware. But now the thing is just completely dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

And, wouldn't you know it, my eBay seller is not responding.

Hopefully you paid using PayPal.

[shovelhd]

Pull the SD card and do a hard reset on a full charge.

[bcgav]

How to perform a Master Reset (Garmin Support) (http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B85293e20-4b35-11e4-ef05-000000000000%7D)

[JMacII]

How to perform a Master Reset (Garmin Support) (http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B85293e20-4b35-11e4-ef05-000000000000%7D)


Tried that a dozen times. No response from the unit.

[bcgav]

Tried that a dozen times. No response from the unit.

Does it do anything when you plug it into a computer?

Have you tried holding the power button for > 10-20 seconds?

[shovelhd]

Tried that a dozen times. No response from the unit.

Is it charged 100%?
Did you pull the SD card?

[JMacII]

Card pulled. 100% charged. No response when plugged in to computer. Tried 10-20 seconds. Still dead.

[JMacII]

Hopefully you paid using PayPal.


Seller has agreed to take item back. Buying a new one. Should have known better than to buy used/gray mkt on this. Thanks to all for your helpful suggestions.

[ajhapps]

Sweet, awesome info, thanks!

Get a good class 10 32GB MicroSD card and use http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ to download free maps. You don't have to pay Garmin $$$$$ for maps.

Create a startup screen on your Garmin in case it is lost http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/08/display-number-garmin.html

Mine displays the following format:

If found, please contact
email@email.com
555-555-5555

Strava's course creation/editing tool is pretty good IMHO, coming from a ridewithgps.com and bikeroutetoaster.com user. Strava's courses have detailed turn-by-turn cues generated automatically and will prompt you on your 810 when a turn is coming while displaying the intersection, arrow for direction of travel, street names.

[Mr. Pink]

Ok, I have a question. I just got a refurbished 801, and, since I pay for Mapmyride, I'm trying to figure out how to transfer a ride from that site to my device.
I'll probably pony up for a Ride with GPS membership, but, for now, there's some rides over at MMR I want to load.

[BobbyJones]

This should help: http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/foolproof-course-navigation-on-the-garmin-edge-800/


Ok, I have a question. I just got a refurbished 801, and, since I pay for Mapmyride, I'm trying to figure out how to transfer a ride from that site to my device.
I'll probably pony up for a Ride with GPS membership, but, for now, there's some rides over at MMR I want to load.