Has anyone bought an Edge 500 and then wished they’d stumped up the extra cash for the 800?

How easy is it to follow pre planned routes on a 500? Would I even be able to plan or download off road routes and load them onto the 500?

What are the benefits of the base maps on the 800? Are they really that useful if I’m going to be pre planning my routes before I set off?

Cheers,

Been having the same dilema myself, i think im going to buy garmins etrex 30, £200 looks like it should be brilliant for navigation but doesnt have all the heart rate and cadence stuff that im not interested in anyways.

500s outnumber 800s about 5 to 1 in my club, must be a reason behind it

Cost maybe?

I’ve used both, I think if you’re considering the 800 with just the base map you might as well get the 500 as the base map is pretty useless. But if you can afford it the 800 with the OS mapping is well worth it especially for exploring off road.

It may not be important to you but I’ve found the ability to put in a postcode or street name on the 800 and have it navigate you there is really handy.

Hi Mauja,

I’ve been eyeing up the Edge 800 Trail Bundle on CRC which comes with the GB Discoverer 1:50,000 scale OS map. If I’m going to buy an 800, I’ll make sure it has the OS map with it as like you say, it seems a pointless purchase without.

So with the Postcode finder on the 800, could I be out in the woods somewhere, type in a postcode and let the edge guide me along bridleways to that postcode, or will it direct me to the nearest road and guide me that way?

I’m not sure I’ll plan routes while I’m out and about. I’ve got a young family so and don’t have the spare time to go out and get lost for hours on end. My plan is to pinch other people’s routes from garmin connect on my local xc trails, load it onto my garmin and then go riding. That way I can give the wife a basic idea as to how long I’m going to be out for.

I started a thread about this a month ago. Basically decided that I dont ride in enough new places to warrant the navigation (maybe twice a year) so plumped for the 500 a month ago.

In comnparison to the brick that is the 800 I am glad I went for the 500 with HR / cadence. has a lot of features anyway and I just dont go exploring.

Settled on the 500, navigation would have been nice but not really sure how often I’d use it.

Will be fine with a paper map on the odd occasion that I’d actually need it, can use the breadcrumb trail as back up.

Use my 800 to take me to loads new places. Use it log commute, training and works here and abroad. Done loads new routes I wouldn’t have found without it.

Contemplating a gps myself.

Anyone used the bryton 50e, how do they compare to the garmin 500/800?

cheers

Worth googling 510 / 810 if you are about to take the plunge. Limited information leaked at present.

Been having the same dilema myself, i think im going to buy garmins etrex 30, £200 looks like it should be brilliant for navigation but doesnt have all the heart rate and cadence stuff that im not interested in anyways.

The Etrex 30 will work with a HRM strap and a cadence sensor – you just need to buy them separately.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=87774