Need a new Garmin

[andrew_s]

Though the reported gradient figures had seemed reasonable so far, I was brought to doubt them last Thursday when it said that Haywood Pitch (Gorsley) was 1 in 2.9 (35%). I'd have guessed half that.

[Nigel]

Though the reported gradient figures had seemed reasonable so far, I was brought to doubt them last Thursday when it said that Haywood Pitch (Gorsley) was 1 in 2.9 (35%). I'd have guessed half that.

As a user of an older Etrex Vista, with the barometric sensor, then its probably the sensor. I find it's height readings and climb rates can be very wrong when its windy, particularly wind whistling over the sensor hole. That's likely to be worse on a bike than hiking.

My old Etrex works reasonably well as a bike navigation tool, except that I'm now finding the screen is hard to read (close vision eyesight deteriorates with age). The device itself is no longer waterproof: water got in around the clicker-knob and filled the screen the last time it was out in a downpoor, but it dried out OK. Consequently, I'm now shopping for a replacement for use in winter mountain trips when a failure could be serious rather than just a bit annoying.


- Nigel

[andrew_s]

I tried it again tonight. 1 in 3.4 (29%) this time.
No wind today, and it's a pretty sheltered location so I doubt there was any significant wind last week either.
I'll have to see if I can look up spot heights and measure distances on a properly detailed map

My Vista (now dead) could change by up to 12m or so in a headwind. You could put your hand in front to shelter it, and watch the height change, and back again when you removed your hand.

[andrew_s]

It actually gets up to a smidgen over 20% for about 45 metres.
I put a point on the map every 10-12 metres up the road, got the point heights from a 2m LIDAR data set, and did the arithmetic.

I'll believe that.
30% didn't seem reasonable, given that I was on the middle chainring (36 x 32).

[Samuel D]

Andrew_s: was your speed in the run-up to the climb and up it constant? If not, the varying speed may throw off the barometer in the same way that blocking the wind with your hand does.

Also, if the view of the sky is partially blocked, the horizontal GPS position may be a bit dodgy, thus compromising the gradient that way.

I’ve used the gradient measurement on an eTrex 20 (no barometer) and various Edge devices and found it to be too noisy to be much use. Besides, what use is knowing this? On the other hand, the Edge devices report a 30-second average for vertical climbing rate, and that can be useful for judging effort or performance. (They can also report instantaneous climbing rate but again that is too noisy to be useful.)

[Sweep]

To be honest unless I was an athlete rider in training I can see no great need for this gradient info. My etrex 20 will give me a passable idea of my altitude from the maps it is reading, I can generally see how much further I have to climb, and I can tell from leg and gear feedback how I am doing. There comes a point where more and more data just leads to, for me at least, more stress.

[robing]

In the end I went for the Garmin Edge 820 Explore. As a Garmin user I already have Garmin Connect and have got Garmin mounts on all my bikes.

Be interested on how you get on longer term please.

My Garmin 500 has generally been good, but been a Garmin, will throw the odd wobble. Like just stuck on the "working...." screen for a whole day at a time, routes not picked up and now not been recognised by the computer or charging intermittently.
Of course issues like this can be a big pain when away and relying on the route following. Like you, having Garmin mounts all over different bikes and other family members bikes is a big incentive to keep to the same make.

I returned it today! Just within the 28 days! The things I couldn't live with were - Very clunky and slow to try and enter and navigate a route on the fly. Very difficult to zoom in and out. Shame as could have been a great unit
. The map quality is good, battery life reasonable.

Now, I've ordered a Bolt! I suspect the map quality won't be as detailed, but being able to do everything from the smartphone app including navigation is a big plus for me. Plus the increased battery life and ability to zoom in and out of maps and data fields.
I got £40 off at sigma sports!

[Des49]

Shame you had those issues, Garmin promise so much but the day to day experience can be so frustrating.

I am still looking, my Garmin 500 is working ok ish at the moment, seems very sensitive to the cable I use to connect it to the computer, only seems to work with very short cables. Will be interested in seeing the new Garmin 520 Plus when it becomes available.

Hope you get on better with the Bolt. Look forward to a positive review in due course.

[robing]

The older Garmins were great, but there are major flaws with some of the newer ones. I've had my edge 500 for 8 years and it's been faultless. I will miss Garmin connect as I've got 8 years worth of rides on it. There doesn't seem to be any easy way of importing rides to it from a non Garmin device.

[ratherbeintobago]

I’ve just ordered an Edge 130 to replace a 9yo 500.

Wish me luck...

[robing]

I’ve just ordered an Edge 130 to replace a 9yo 500.

Wish me luck...

What made you go for that one? It doesn't have maps does it, so not much of an upgrade from a 500?

[ratherbeintobago]

The mount broke on the 500.

Not that bothered about maps; compatibility with the radar light is something I’m looking forward to tryingnin due course.

[Cunobelin]

The new Forterex has ballistics built in

Foretrex 701 with AB Elite software is an excellent aid for hunters and target shooters. It comes equipped with Applied Ballistics Elite software to calculate aiming solutions for long-range shooting.

At last a GPS that has everything a cyclist needs

[robing]

Shame you had those issues, Garmin promise so much but the day to day experience can be so frustrating.

I am still looking, my Garmin 500 is working ok ish at the moment, seems very sensitive to the cable I use to connect it to the computer, only seems to work with very short cables. Will be interested in seeing the new Garmin 520 Plus when it becomes available.

Hope you get on better with the Bolt. Look forward to a positive review in due course.

The Bolt is fantastic and absolutely wipes the floor with the Garmin. I'm using it to navigate Lon Las Cymru and it's been faultless. I'll write a fuller review when I get back .