Been considering one of these, but they’re costly for what they are – c.f. smartphone, for e.g. – and the mapping is expensive esp if you look at the 1:25k detail. I like the look of them and the weatherproofing and battery seems worthwhile (esp c.f. smartphone!). But the screen is very small for looking at the map.

So interested in people’s experiences. Not really in recording the route (smartphone can do that without running out of charge) – but in actual nav and mapping and allowing you to explore more.

Always used to ride routes picked from the paper maps, stopping when necessary to work out where to go – and could do that again, but if it’s easy to use the tech, then am very tempted.

tend to ride natural trails either lifted from guidebooks, the web or just off an OS map. plot the routes using the garmin sw and print a small map for my pocket as a backup if needed. drive to near somewhere on route intrested in, select route, navigate to it and follow route. great. screen just big enough to navigate off landmarks whilst biking or with brief stop, screen protecteor vituki off ebay svaes sratches and cuts down glare in sun. silicone cover protects against damage if dropped. battery only half used on a normal 4-5hr ride with the unit on and navigating all the time. the only bad thing is u cant print an os map overview from the garmin sw so i need to do this from an old copy of satmap. great bit of kit, makes the ride flow with less checking map and guidebook in new areas. audio warning of direction changes useless i never notice them anyway, just keep glancing down and your sorted. only thing i would recommend is to get the trail package with the OS mapping and also a 12v cig lighter charger to charge in the car if camping.. unless your training the cadence and speed sensor stuff is a waste of cash. glad i bought mine, tons easier to use and the hw and sw is more robust than the rubbish satmap adv3500 i had prior to this which went back after 11 painfull months of being let down.. in summary Garmin 800 great bit of kit..

I’ve had mine a week now,done two decent rides with it.

Awesome bit of kit!

I love mine, but it depends what your going to use it for.

I have a friend that uses it to log speed, distance and route only, and there are alternatives to do this for much cheaper.

I use mine to keep track of my HR, riding aimlessly straight off the map and playing with the training pages.

First ride I with it I went over the bars coming down ‘the beast’ in the peaks and cracked the carbon surround. Lots of grit has got under the buttons but they still work fine and definitely put a screen protector on if you ride sandy places.

@nwilko – best places on web to get routes from? the few sites I’ve found have been hard to navigate around (s’cuse the pun)

Or something like a Garmin eTrex 20 is a fair bit cheaper. It would be just as good for navigation/mapping, plus as a trip computer and logging where you’ve been. Though it doesn’t do HR/cadence, and doesn’t have the training features.

Worth getting one just so you can use Strava

http://www.strava.com

I have one & it is great. But… I wouldn’t use it like a normal map. It is definitely better to follow a pre-planned route than it is to try & work out where you are going from looking at the screen. I think the screen is just too small to do this. You just can’t look far enough ahead. Despite that I think it is a fantastic piece of kit.

I agree with nwilko in that good for plotting routes and then riding around with less interuptions for map reading and that I like. Mine is currently back with Garmin being fixed as some Welsh drizzle caused it to pack up in November. Customer service is far from ideal. Grudging would be the most polite word I would use.

The hrm is also totally useless on 9 rides out of 10 and accuracy of altimeter is also questionable.

Overall 6/10 and hard to justify the £450 rrp although I got it discounted in LBS.

^ never had a problem with the hrm.. Altimeter ain’t great I agree

Saved me when I got dropped and lost in a maze of lanes 40miles from home in an area new to me .. it was worth every penny in just that one instance.

Great bit of kit, had mine since spring time,

Got me round 100+ miles on road…40+ miles off road wth the OS map

I also use the OS maps for walking in the peak distict

Plot your own routes or just grab them from the garmin connect site and go explore !

makes the few times a year i use the turbo trainer a bit less boring when used with the HR monitor and the cadence sensor

if mine broke on my next ride out i would buy another the very next day

if your not into going new places i guess its a waste of a lot of money

Just chucked a route on mine for its first ride of the new year

Andy

I’ve been pondering one too… the conclusions I’ve come to are;

Certainly doesn’t replace the map – as you say, so small a screen that it makes that hard.

But work out an intended route beforehand and load in, then just use the unit to make sure you stay on course – excellent.

Being able to download someone elses route and follow it – excellent.

taking down as much data as you want to (cad, hrm, etc) if you are interested – excellent.

as a ride log (which you may/may not find motivating/useful) – excellent.

Having said that, 500 is cheaper and you can do these same things, bar an actual map. Bryton units are cheaper again. Really depends on how much you think you’d be using it as a map. personally, I’d not; just take a paper one (and compass!) in the bag with you if somewhere you don’t know etc

Rapid satellite acquisition. Longer battery life. On board route calculation.