Cycling UK Forum

Hi
I was hoping all you knowledgable folks out there could help keep me right....
I currently have a Garmin edge 200 and I've been very happy with this.
I'm now thinking off upgrading to the Garmin edge 810.

Can I seek clarification first tho.... Does it come without maps installed? And if that is the case can you download maps onto an SD memory or the like and install maps for free?

I think I read a post (which I can no longer find) that said this was possible.

I'm a wee bit of a techno phobe but I can work a computer and follow instructions!

Any help or advice regarding whether investing in the 810 would be gratefully received!

Ps I tend to do 40-60mile routes. And I am planning a 5 day tour mid May.
Thanks in advance!

You'd be better off with a smartphone such as the Sony Xperia Z3 compact.

I have an iPhone 5 and find any apps I use on it in terms of tracking my routes are a massive drain on my battery. Would rather keep my phone so that I can use it in an emergency.
I found changing to the edge 200 has helped with this. Just wondering about the 810.

freeflow wrote:You'd be better off with a smartphone such as the Sony Xperia Z3 compact.

Don't agree with you in the slightest.

The Garmin Edge devices are specifically designed for cycling use and any phone won't hold a candle to one.

I had a 305 and then later a 705, but now use a Montana. They all came with Garmin maps but you have to pay for them and they are locked to the media you've bought. SD cards is the best media IMHO, and the Garmin City Navigator is excellent. You can get free maps via OSM, but the ones I've downloaded and used aren't anywhere near as good as the City Navigator.

When you buy your Garmin, you can buy various packages:
The unit by itself with the basic simple base map
Same unit but with a City Navigator map on card
Upgrade the package to include a HR monitor and/or a speed cadence device

Each choice costs more and you can buy alternative mounting units as well.

This is the full package:
http://www.ctcshop.org.uk/garmin-edge-8 ... on-bundle/
No doubt if you search, you can find it cheaper. Also, you could buy the basic unit and buy the extras as and when you can afford them.

I find the accuracy and detail of the free OpenStreet maps excellent, I was riding on the coast yesterday and all the tracks and paths I used as detours off-road showed up.

I downloaded the Routable Bicycle (Openfietsmap Lite) UK map from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ as a single image 523MB file (gmapsupp.img), then copied it onto a 2GB microSD card. The 810 loads the maps automatically when switched on.

i put openstreetmaps for all UK (from talkytoaster) onto the sd card for my brother's 810. the internal memory is very small and could not take much extra mapping at all.

Basically it depends on the package you buy.

You can buy without maps, with OS maps, with City Navigator maps

You can buy with HRM and Cadence / speed or various combinations



Shop around, but unless you are going off road then as above the open street map, or more specifically open Cycle Map is more than adequate for touring and commuting

Many thanks for all the replies.
Think I'll opt for the basic model and use the OSM.
I assume this is a case of download onto a SD card and then use from there when inserted into the Garmin?
Is it that easy or am I too hopefully!?

you need to make sure you get the mapping area you want (wales, scotland, ireland, the other land), with the detail you want (contours or not), with routing enabled.

i use http://talkytoaster.co.uk/maps/ for garmin edge. this goes straight onto the sd card.

if you want to use garmin basecamp then you need to download the maps for that too.

BTW, the 810 is virtually identical to the 800 but the latter is about £50 cheaper....if you can still find one.

Also if you have the smaller unit and just want mapping there is the garmin touring and etrex ranges.

However, if you want everything in one unit, cadence, HR and mapping then you are right its the 800/810. Bundled versions usually have the mapping cheaper.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and guidance. I've now ordered the basic 810. Hopefully getting OSM on it will be ok. Happy with the price paid so fingers crossed!
Thanks again

I've been busy for a few days but I thought a couple of the comments above are worth a response.

I have an iPhone 5 and find any apps I use on it in terms of tracking my routes are a massive drain on my battery.

You can get a similar experience on Android phone. For example, if I use google maps for in car navigation I'm lucky to get 2 hours from the phone. If I use ipbike for cycling navigation I get 5 hours+. This is because google maps has an ongoing data connection which is what is using up the battery whereas ipbike is using off line maps.

For a point of clarification, after the 5 hours+ using ipbike, the battery usage stats on my phone (a Sony Xperia Z Ultra with a 6.4 inch screen) shows that 80% of the battery was used in driving the screen.

If you have a smaller phone with a bigger battery you will get better performance. Here is a recent quote from the Author of the ipbike application.

have a new Sony Z3 Compact and the performance of this as far as batter life is concerned is amazing. 4 hours 52 minutes with the gps on, screen at 50%, 3 ANT sensors, and I was only down to 74% at the end of the ride. It's probably good for 15+ hours. Let the screen go off and I am confident I could log a 24 hour race!!

I from here

http://www.iforpowell.com/cms/index.php?page=run-time

freeflow wrote:
You'd be better off with a smartphone such as the Sony Xperia Z3 compact.
Don't agree with you in the slightest.

I have used garmin 305 and 705 in the past and also a Bryton 50. I switched to an android smartphone about 18 months ago when I discovered the ipbike app which works with ANT+ enabled phones so that you can see sensor data and do route following in the same app. You can see examples of the type of display you get here

http://www.iforpowell.com/cms/index.php ... ng-display

ipbike is a very flexible app and its author is responsive to user requests regarding problems and good ideas. The full app costs £5 but a trial version, valid for 2,000,000 wheel revolutions is also available.

I chose a Sony Xperia Z Ultra so that I could replace three devices with one (phone, tablet and cycling computer). The Xperia Z Ultra has performed admirably over the past 18 months whether for local rides or 200k and 300k Audax.

For rides of more than 5 hours it is necessary to use an external battery pack. A 10,000 mah battery pack is reasonably light (compared to my excess baggage of beer belly (25+kg ) and means that at the end of a 200k ride I still have more than 50% charge left in the phone. My current battery pack uses 16850 cells and powers my light as well as the phone. For 300k Audax it is now a simple matter of carrying a spare set of 16850 batteries, mainly for the overnight sections of the 300k rides.

The Xperia range of sony phones are waterproof but not during charging. This far this hasn't been an issue as I've never ridden continuously in the rain for more than 5 hours (although a ride I did last october, a 200k Audax came pretty close). When using ipbike the screen can be locked so that raindrops are not mistaken for finger presses.

The Z ultra sits in a holder on my handlebars and has never become detached from the holder.

To load up routes its simply a case of saving the gpx from whatever route planning app you use and then transferring it to the appropriate directory on the phone.

I have on occasion run both ipbike and osmand simultaneously to get voice instructions, but the osmand voice instructions are a bit naggy so I tend not to use this very often.

On the basis of my experience I think the only the only reasons for choosing garmin et al is peer pressure, the utility of being able to run a AA cells is needed for long trips away from 'civilisation', or that people just don't know better.

For anyone else thinking of investing in a gps/navigation cycling computer then you need to be aware that you are investing in that companies cash cow compared to investing in a waterproof smartphone.

I bought one when they first came out, as updates have been implemented it has got better, although it will no doubt send you round the bend as much as it navigate you around one, all part and parcel of modern technology really . Creating a route with Garmin connect course planning can be a challenge mind you. Their course planning will often navigate you the wrong way down a one way street, sometimes impossible to spot when proof reading as you can't zoom in enough on the Google mapping, so the indications arrows referencing that a street is one way are not visible. This is not an issue with www.ridewithgps.com route planning as although they also use Google Maps you can zoom in enough to view one way streets clearly, plus if you optimize for 'driving mode' one way streets and roundabouts will be navigated correctly.This is something I hope Garmin will change, can't believe they allow Garmin Connect to share routing with runners, no wonder many plan courses in alternative sites.

My personal choice of creating and uploading a course:
If it's quiet country side course with few roundabouts then I will still use Garmin Connect to create a course then sync that to the 810 via my smartphone app. If it's a more complex urban or longer route I use www.ridewithgps.comto create the route and add to the 810 via 'F Drive New folders', as that software navigates roundabouts and one streets correctly.The reason I chose www.ridewithgps.com is that I've found it the most user friendly, the course is intuitive to plan, then edit if needed, both during composition and when recalled at a later date.

One handy feature I like is you can toggle between walking-cycling-driving when creating, so for you can switch to walking if you want to take the a shortcut over a footbridge for example. Note if you do wish to follow something other than the road you need to uncheck 'lock on road' as the 810 will try and reroute you, to do this select Activity-Your profile-Navigation-Routing-Lock on road-Select 'No'. You can also add your own navigation notes to the'Cue Sheet', useful for 'Points of Interest' or Audax-Sportive control points, or simply for notes notes like" last Cafe", when these points are reached the Garmin 810 display will wake up to full brightness as it does for the normal navigation cue points are approached. Note they also list a 'POI' feature, although this doesn't seem to work on my 810 so I use the 'Cue Sheet' feature to add any notes.Always make sure it has transferred to the unit as created, as there will be the odd occasion where it doesn't.

If I want a back up for a few days tour on my smartphone I will always try and first create the course in GC, hoping that it will allow me to plot the route of my choice, if it will not then again I'll use www.ridewithgps.com then add to GC via www.gpsies.com convert page as described above, taking care that the course has synced as created, be warned it often doesn't, especially if you've planned a course that GC wouldn't allow in the first place. All a bit long winded and often so problematic that I give up! All this is simply because GC course creation is in short, poor!

None of this would be an issue if creating a course in GC worked as well as it should.

Openstreetmap mapping is available for free - and I've linked to the easiest site to get them from before