Enlighten me about GPS units

[steveoz]

SO I have no idea how far/fast/or where I'm going- sooooo thinking about some fancy newfangled GPS thingy... but I'm about as tech savy as an earthworm - suggestions?

[FlashUNC]

Wahoo Bolt.

[dbnm]

Wahoo Roam

[kppolich]

Garmin for battery life and various mode/price point options. Wahoo for something not Garmin.

DC Rainmaker for reviews:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/

[gibbo]

If you want easy setup and easy customisation of screens then Wahoo, either bolt or roam.

Garmin sucks, ya, I said it......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[marciero]

If you search you will find a number of threads on this.

I think the "Garmin sucks" mantra is mostly from the pre-Wahoo days. The current server outage notwithstanding, Garmin 520 plus and the Edge Explore have both been excellent for me, albeit with a few quirks that were minor. I think the 520 plus has been supplanted by 530 which has a little more functionality but significantly longer battery life. If you want real navigation you want at least the 520 plus (and not just 520) or higher in the garmin line. I use Ride with Gps for mapping, and RouteCourse, a third party app, along with the Garmin Connect app for routing. Once the apps are on the phone its all behind the scenes-click a button in RWGPS on the computer and the route shows up on the head unit for downloading. DC Rainmaker has the most comprehensive reviews and compares all these units. If you look at the more recent reviews he runs down how they differ from earlier units. Here are a few points from my experience, which is limited to Garmin.

520/530 : non touch screen, turn-by-turn navigation and maps but no point-to-point on-the-fly routing (but you can use your phone for that). Multiple customizable data screens and multiple "profiles", which each give a different set of data screens that are customizable. Can connect with power, heart rate, cadence, etc. sensors for performance data.

830. A bigger (almost cartoonish) 520+/530. Touch screen. Point-to-point navigation.

Edge Explore: Like a navigation-centered (vs performance-centered), pared down 830-big touch screen, but more of a touring unit. Very easy to use. Can connect a few sensors, including heart rate and cadence, but, significantly, not power. Only two customizable data screens (in addition to the map and elevation screens, and one or two other pre-configured) and a single profile. (I thought who cares but I like having different sets of screens for riding without navigation vs riding a route. I also like having more than two customizable data screens.

[rnhood]

If you want simple data, any unit is fine, including watches like the numerous Garmin units. Easy to wear and works well as your daily watch, including when you go swimming.

If you need mapping, Garmin.

The Rainmaker link given above is a good place to start.

[KonaSS]

I will go a different direction. If you are just using it for the basic features, and don't plan much more than that, get a Lezyne.

Good battery life and price points. Doesn't have every bell and whistle, but in this case, those may not be needed.

[Onno]

I went from various wireless bike computers (no GPS) to a Garmin 520 to a Wahoo Elemnt Roam, and each has been a major step up. I'm a Wahoo fan because it is just easier to use and more capable. I found uploading and managing maps in the 520 a major PIA, basically because it came with a stupidly tiny memory. Perhaps that's been improved in the 530? With the Wahoo, you can set it all up with a phone app, and its map page is much easier to zoom in and out on, so much more useful. It also has a much longer battery life than the 520 (though that's probably been improved on Garmin as well).

DC Rainmaker is pretty definitive in finding ALL the information, but it's a lot to wade through. I'm pretty sure that GCN has done a head to head comparison of Garmin vs Wahoo on one of their (great) tech videos (on Youtube). That's probably easier to digest.

[MaraudingWalrus]

I'll echo KonaSS's suggestion. For what many users actually need, Lezyne computers are phenomenal.

Battery life is killer. Physical buttons instead of touchsreens. Connects to all your devices if you need/want it to.


That said, I do still want an Omata One...

[unterhausen]

Buy a wahoo, keep garmin working harder.

I really like my 830, but that's for navigation. I wanted to buy a Roam. The 830 is faster.

If you just want a good computer that saves data, something like the garmin 130 might do.

[Alan]

See link for his last summary of units.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/sports-technology-buyers.html

Note that some may have been updated since then as there is always progress. My personal opinion is that these days most all are decent and it comes down to what you prefer. I really like my Wahoo Bolt due to ease of use and integration with Ridewithgps.com . I have hundreds of routes on my Bolt and the Wahoo app.

Read DC's reviews and think about how you want to use it. Do you want maps? Do you want it to be routable if you get off course? Do you want a major brand? What other sites do you want to integrate with such as Strava and Ridewithgps.

I think once you get away from Garmin or Wahoo you are going to be sacrificing some support potentially etc.

Talk to some friends who can help you get started as even the simple units can stump you some.

I can answer Wahoo questions if you have them by pm.

Alan

[nortx-Dave]

Heck - if you just need speed and distance and don't really need GPS just get a Cateye Velo 7 for <$30.00

[benb]

Having done it I'd not recommend a watch unless you literally just want to record data and barely even look at it.

The screen is just too small.. it borders on unsafe, and then when you're putting it on your wrist it's a huge watch.

They are less accurate too, although I struggle to think that's really an issue. (No room for a bigger antenna)

Hopefully they've fixed it.. I had a Fenix 3, it was much more likely to have sensor dropouts as well. (No room for a bigger antenna)

[kppolich]

920xt user here and I use the quick release kit to mount it to my garmin out front mounts.
Awesome multi use watch for running, notifications during the day, and cycling. Swimming too if thats your thing. Easy on the wrist, and spin off to put on your bike.

4 fields on a screen is the max, but you can have a bunch of different screens.
Would recommend.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4611/39994278091_7e32d75532_c.jpg

[dbnm]

Trimm?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BQovOJpav4

[reuben]

Heck - if you just need speed and distance and don't really need GPS just get a Cateye Velo 7 for <$30.00

Yeah, I got a Strada Slim, non-cadence version. I couldn't tell you now why I picked that one, but it's about twice the price of the Velo yet half or less of anything with GPS. I don't want or need the type of accuracy and records that a GPS unit will produce. For me, that's just more crap to stare at on a computer, and I know when I'm going farther/faster/shorter/slower without a computer anyway.

I think it was Sean Yates who never used one. It was part of the team kit, so it was on his bike, but never wired (we're talking pre-wireless days). It was obvious in pics of him riding in races.

RYOB (Ride Your Own Bike), but simplicity works for me.

[Plum Hill]

Regarding the Garmin Edge Explore mentioned in post #6: I have the previous version, the Edge Touring. Gives me all I need since I’m into navigation rather than training. The only downside to both units is GPS altimeter. I want accurate information when on a ride, not having to run home, download the ride, then let the website do an autocorrect.

[benb]

For me I'd not go without the navigation/mapping, but I don't actually use the navigation all that often. (As opposed to checking the map, which I do use quite a bit.)

The Units I have had since way back when:

- Garmin ETrex Vista
- Garmin eTrex Vista HCx (current but not used for biking anymore)
- Garmin Fenix 3
- Garmin Edge 1000 (current)

When I had the eTrex units they basically only went on the bike on days I knew I wanted navigation. My preferred computer back then was a Shimano Flight Deck. I loved how the Flight Deck could be programmed with your gear ratios and it could calculate your cadence from a ceiling function based on speed and avoided an extra sensor.

I used to go really far with just a laminated paper map FWIW, and on a lot of my day rides before there was a family I wouldn't be super concerned about getting lost and/or adding extra miles as long as I had plenty of daylight. My time is more restricted now.

No matter what the majority of rides have always been situations where I knew my way around and didn't need to navigate. So at this point I would never give up having PM connectivity and such.. I benefit from that every ride. That's me.. You can drop me almost any direction within 50-75 miles of my house on a given cycling route and I pretty much know how to get home fine or get to a destination, just maybe can't remember an exact route if there's some very specific group ride route or something I want to follow.

eTrex is still a decent option if it's cheaper or more convenient than the Edge Touring and such.. the eTrex mounts were just always a little clunky. But they're really nice for hiking and other uses too.

[steveoz]

See link for his last summary of units.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/sports-technology-buyers.html

Note that some may have been updated since then as there is always progress. My personal opinion is that these days most all are decent and it comes down to what you prefer. I really like my Wahoo Bolt due to ease of use and integration with Ridewithgps.com . I have hundreds of routes on my Bolt and the Wahoo app.

Read DC's reviews and think about how you want to use it. Do you want maps? Do you want it to be routable if you get off course? Do you want a major brand? What other sites do you want to integrate with such as Strava and Ridewithgps.

I think once you get away from Garmin or Wahoo you are going to be sacrificing some support potentially etc.

Talk to some friends who can help you get started as even the simple units can stump you some.

I can answer Wahoo questions if you have them by pm.

Alan
Thanks for the link!

[fkelly]

Use a recent smartphone and get an app that goes with it. I use rwgps app.

[Onno]

A feature I've really enjoyed having in my Roam is "route to start". This lets me explore all kinds of new roads in new or old places, and then I just go to the map page, click on routes and "route to start", and it plots a fairly direct route back. Even if I don't use that route, it tells me exactly how far I am from home, so I know about how far out I can go before having to head for home.