Have Evans Dropped Garmin?

[Psamathe]

I've been narrowing down to Wahoo Elemnt but thought I'd check if my local Evans have any Garmin in stock and have a look so went on their web site and the only Garmin GPSs are a couple of Forerunner watches and an Edge 25. None of the other units. Checked again today and still none.

I've read around the internet and they do seem to have a poor reputation (also as reported by many here) and jumping to conclusions wondering if this might have contributed to Evans not having them on their web site any more?

Ian

[Flinders]

A lot of people swear by Garmin. But we had one a long time ago, and when it failed, it was impossible to get in touch with Garmin for help. We tried every possible way we could think of, we struggled to find any contact details, and got no reply from any of them. We decided that we'd never buy anything from them again. OTOH when I've said this before, other people since have said they had no problems with contacting them and I supposed they had pulled their socks up.
I still wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, as we've had first class product support from SatMap, any queries answered quickly and helpfully, and when our now very old unit started to wear, they refurbed it for far less than the cost of a new one and it's back like new.

[paul434]

I ended up swearing at them Not by them.
Been using a Lezyne now for a month and not a single hitch.

[Mick F]

I love my Garmin, and I'm on my 4th.
Edge 305, Edge 705.
Now a Montana 600 and an Edge 20.
Never a problem and they worked and these still work faultlessly.

No problems at all getting in touch with Garmin.

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/
Click on Support/Support Center
Enter your product name or serial number.
Click on "Other".
Drop-down menu and scroll down.
Select Chat or Email or Call.

I've emailed them a number of times. Great info and worthwhile if you have an issue or question.

[softlips]

Really like my 520. But know people moan about Garmin. That said I was at a Sportive recently and two guys were both complaining about their Elemnt units at the end. Both theirs had not recorded the whole ride for some reason.

People tend to go online to moan rather than praise.

[Mick F]

People tend to go online to moan rather than praise.

+1

Except me.
I love my Garmin Montana. Foolproof, rugged and always works. If I lost it or it broke, I'd buy another. I can't imagine a better GPS device.

[philvantwo]

Have you been on your pub crawl yet Mick F?

[Mick F]

No, not yet.

It's on the cards for "soon" but it's been a bit hectic here at home with stuff going on. It's a matter of getting all interested parties together at the same time. Saturday is the best day, but things happen on Saturdays in the summer as there's only so many Saturdays available for them. Local fetes, Royal Cornwall Show, etc etc, then the weather may not be suitable. Too hot yesterday!
It'll happen, but I'm not sure when.

[Psamathe]

Sort of review that prompted me to stop looking at Garmin

Garmin Edge 820 review: the cycling aid you'll want to hurl off a mountain
Good battery life and fancy group-tracking features can’t save the Garmin Edge 820 from its irritating touchscreen and terrible navigation
...
I quickly discovered I wasn’t alone in having issues with the 820. A colleague who’d bought one described himself as wanting to throw it from the side of a mountain on more than one occasion.

Is e.g. the 820 Explore really that bad (I'm still undecided).

Ian

[Bsteel]

It appears that Sigma now have a new product to compete with the likes of the 820.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/06/sig ... eview.html

[philvantwo]

My edge 800 is still working fine. My edge 25 never displayed text messages until yesterday!! The Fenix 5s I got is hit and miss connecting to my phone and for the money it cost is absolutely dreadful. I wonder if any of mick F's devices had Bluetooth would he still be happy? I use strava on every ride but sometimes even that stops recording mid ride.

[Mick F]

My Montana has some sort of bluetooth that it can "talk" to other units to swap tracks and waypoints etc. It won't talk to my computers as it requires a USB cable.

This is my wonderful Montana.
(plus what's left of a pint of Dartmoor Jail Ale and the remnants of a packet of salted peanuts!)

[Mick F]

PS
This is a screenshot of the map being shown on the above photograph. The phone didn't capture the screen image properly, so I did a screenshot of it. By using settings, you can program the Montana to capture its screen by tapping the power button.

Pink line is my route of course. I'd come in bottom right, and was off south as soon as I'd finished my "lunch".

[Audax67]

Dunno about Evans, but I dropped my eTrex 20 a couple of years back - well, it quit the bars at 40 kph and ruined a nice downhill sweep. It whacked off the road and into long grass, where I found it half an hour later just as I was hoping not to find it, so that I would have an excuse to buy an eTrex 30.

Like Donald Campbell's Timex it was still going, with just one small mark on it. Solid stuff.

I got the eTrex 30 anyway.

[Mick F]

My Edge 705 flew off in Bideford a few years back.
I was doing a good lick and it shot off across the road and only just missed going under a bus. It was fine except for a dent in the casing, still running, and was no worse for wear.

It was my fault because I hadn't fitted it properly into its clip.