Tempted to shell out on the new Garmin Edge 820 but wondered what the included maps were like. More specifically following turn-by-turn routes off-road.

I currently own an Edge 500 and to be honest it’s been more for just recording distance, time, climbed, descended, etc, etc. Although I intend to use the HR belt and associated features more.

On the occasions I want to follow a route I find the Edge 500 lacking. It’s mainly there as a backup. Hence the interest in the Edge 820.

Although will the Edge 520 be sufficient? Would I be able to update the maps on a 520 via DC Rainmakers instructions and add a TCX route and be able to get turn by turn directions and a trail to follow on a map?

Just wonder whether the handful of additional features and 16Gb capacity (over <100Mb) is worth the extra £140.

Ditto – and what geographic area do they cover? I’ve got full European street level maps on my 800.

I found the 520 with Openstreetmap maps to be fairly good for following off road trails, it was however a pain having such a limited amount of mapping on the unit.

I’ve had the 820 for about a week so far and I’ve been pretty impressed with it. I’ve only tried using the mapping on road so far and it was fine. The 820 does seem to be pretty heavy on the battery I have to say, not sure if it’s just the settings I’m using though.

Are the maps on the 820 as good as the OSM maps?

The lack of space is one of the factors putting me off going for the E520. Although I only need to follow routes, at most, once a month. So presumably would need to go through the map area uploading process each and every time.

Bumped for the morning crowd..

Are the maps on the 820 as good as the OSM maps

I think they are based on the OSM maps, they look very similar. I haven’t given them a proper test (as in guide me around a route) yet but I am liking the way they are routable unlike the OS maps on my 800.

I think you’d be able to load OSM maps to the internal memory if you wanted

Edit: note that all of my comments about maps and creating routes are with an off road bias. Reviews never really cover pre planning off road routes and how much more these devices can offer than a line on a tiny map

Thanks RB. Good to know. So with the pre-loaded maps would it provide turn-by-turn navigation for an uploaded gpx/tcx route?

That is what I haven’t fully investigated yet. For sure I can get my turn warnings from bikeroutetoaster and others just like I have for the 800 in the past. With the 820 plugged into my PC Garmin Basecamp is now looking like a viable alternative for pre planning routes and I’m optimistic that the device will give me all the turn instructions, something that has been a very laborious task for me in the past as I have manually added turn instructions to routes as I plan them on the PC. I even think it may be of some use to set a destination and let it find a route to get there but that is almost never what I want

I have to play with it more rather than just going for a ride

Although will the Edge 520 be sufficient? Would I be able to update the maps on a 520 via DC Rainmakers instructions and add a TCX route and be able to get turn by turn directions and a trail to follow on a map?

Ive had mixed success with the 520 for turn-by-turn navigation, mine seems to fall ‘off-course’ very easily and struggles to get back on it even if you are cycling on a narrow road which is the route. That’s with courses built in garmin connect, not used anything else yet.

And to give an opinion on your original question, the maps and ease of following routes especially off road is THE reason to go for an 820 over a 520. Anyone who just wants stats and to track their ride for upload to Strava should save a chunk of money

I just put maps on my 520 (at least some maps, certainly more than id ever be able to ride from my door, and that’s most of my riding) using the DC rainmaker instructions. Pretty straightforward.

I dont really see lack of maps being an issue for me. If im going somewhere ive not been before and need mapping its pretty easy to make a new map, as id be researching and plotting routes anyway.

The routing issue I mention previous post is following the garmin course, not map related. Ive done the ‘routing’ thing using basemaps before on my Garmin 705, not something im in a rush to buy again (unless its much much better on the 820??)

Rubber_Buccaneer, how have you found going from the 800 to the 820 screen size wise, this is about the only thing putting me off!

Sorry for the hijack!

The screen is shorter but about as wide as on the 800. I haven’t found the smaller screen to be a problem, I can still see the map at my location to decide which track I should be following at junctions etc and I can still scroll around and zoom in or out to check what is around or where I am going.

I always found the 800 screen awkwardly small for looking at the map and deciding where to go and although the 820 screen is smaller I don’t find it any worse in any practical way. What I do appreciate is the smaller overall size of the unit. If you want more screen the 1000 is there for you

Thanks RB, that’s what I was hoping you’d say. I don’t find the 800 an issue so sounds good. The 1000 is huge so have ruled it out!

KingofBiscuits, (surely the fig roll 🙂 ) I have a day off tomorrow and will be going for a ride. I can stick a gpx on the 820 and see what it does to give you some feedback if you like. How would you usually put a route on the unit, copy and paste into the ‘New’ folder on the unit or via Connect or something else?

Dark Choc Digestives (McVities of course) 🙂

Thanks RB. Appreciated. Yes, I’d usually connect the E500 and c and p it into the new folder and go from there.

Do GPX files give you the necessary turn-by-turn elements though? I thought they were TCX files that had waypoints/markers in them? Although I could be wrong.

Will look forward to hearing the outcome.

No, GPX files do not contain the turn instructions. You are 100% correct. In the past I have created TCX files containing the turn instructions at set points. I have found it can be quite time consuming to get the TCX exactly as I want

What I hope is that the 820 will be able to generate it’s own turn instructions with only the GPX file and the routable map on the unit.

Chocolate Hob Nobs FTW, though I am partial to a fig roll 😀

Top man RB, interested in what you find as well. I’ve always just added tcx files via C&P to my 800, occasionally adding way points if I felt required. It’d be great if the unit gives turn by turn off road using a gpx.

What I hope is that the 820 will be able to generate it’s own turn instructions with only the GPX file and the routable map on the unit.

This is exactly what it does (tested on my ride this morning!) So it will say “Turn left onto xxx road”, etc in contrast to something like my old 200 (and presumably the 520 as well as it doesn’t have routing) which only gives you a left/right/straight on prompt IF you’ve got them in the TCX file.

TBH now the 820 (got mine a couple of weeks ago for £275 thanks to a PSA on here 8) ) is out I think you’d be mad to get the 520.

Argh must resist. Already have an 810 but the 820 is very tempting.

£275 for the Edge 820? Where? 🙂

wiggle and hargroves have them at £279

The Explore is £280, not the full fat version.

Wiggle did have them for 280 when they were out of stock. Up to 290 now they are back in stock (with platinum discount.)

£275 for the Edge 820? Where?

Slane Cycles had them at 12.5% off IIRC. You’ve missed the boat now, although you can still get £5 off with their newsletter then 3% cashback via Quidco.

i’m waiting for a Halfords ‘one off’ (aka every few weeks) wide 10% sale, then adding BC 10% too, should get 19% off.

What was the outcome RB?

i’m waiting for a Halfords ‘one off’ (aka every few weeks) wide 10% sale, then adding BC 10% too, should get 19% off.

I thought the Halfords 10% off days excluded Garmins?

What was the outcome RB?

I used the maps with a GPX for the first time today on my 820 and I’ve got to say, I was pretty impressed.
It was only a road ride but the maps were easy to follow, probably better than the OS maps on my old 800.
One feature it has which I’ve never noticed on either the 520 or 800 is that if you’re not on the map screen but on the data screen, it still comes up with text details at the bottom of the screen when you’re approaching a turn that you need to take.

Right, not as spectacular as I was hoping in my wildest dreams but pretty good none the less

Test 1 – I copied and pasted a very rough .gpx to the 820 ‘New’ Files’ folder via a USB cable. This .gpx only held enough track points to give the right direction not points at every junction. I was hoping the 820 would see these points and link them up using the bridleways and other paths on the built in map then give me all the ‘left’ and ‘right’ type instructions. This did not happen. The .gpx appeared on the 820 in the list of courses but was just straight lines between the points on the map, no attempt to guide me around the trails, just the same ‘off course’ warnings I get on the 800. Maybe I am missing some step I should have taken?

Test 2 – I cancelled the course and instead created a new one on the 820 to hopefully take me around my route. I selected a few points on the map, enough that the route should go where I wanted but still leaving loads of junctions to navigate between points. This worked a treat. The unit behaved just like a car satnav in creating a route following the bridleways and other paths. All the turn instructions appeared on screen with a distance to the next turn. When I decided to take a different route the 820 updated it’s route to get me back on course. On top of this, if I had Garmin Connect running on my phone I got voice instructions too.

Looks like I need to do some more investigation. I know I can create routes in Garmin Basecamp (either from scratch or from a .gpx) that will work like 2 above and I am only mildly disappointed that 1 was a fail and possibly me not understanding how to get what I wanted. Creating a course on the 820 is surprisingly doable though I find I can’t see enough map for it to be anything but a last resort.

As an aside, the crash detection worked better than I was expecting. I have always turned it off because I’d heard it was too sensitive but left it on yesterday. It went off twice, first time was a genuine crash and I wasn’t able to disentangle myself from bike and fence before texts and emails had been sent. The second time all I’d done was stop abruptly and I cancelled the alert before anything was sent.

Thanks RB, appreciate the feedback. I’m just waiting for my Wiggle newsletter £10 voucher before pressing the ‘Buy Now’.

I’m a little concerned about the crash detection myself. So pleased it can be turned off. I don’t want to worry the wife. Plus I thought I’d read that live tracking is available? Might have to go back and read the reviews again.

Navigational features sound great. I’m off down to Exeter over the bank holiday weekend visiting friends so I’ve got rides planned in both Exmoor and the Quantocks. So it should come in very handy. Although I believe both routes are TCX files so routing should be less hassle.

Live tracking works but just like the crash detection it relies on a mobile signal. When I had my genuine crash alert the text I received from my other half was ‘well I can see you are moving again so you must be OK?’

Ha! Brill. Purchased for £303 @ Wiggle. Looking forward to being equally amazed and baffled by the functionality.

This worked a treat.

Quite impressive that.

It is impressive 🙂 This kind of turn by turn guidance off road is what I have been hoping for for some time. In the past I have created routes with the turn flags built in at specific points but it took time and wasn’t of any use if I decided to stray from the pre-planned route. Not a cheap upgrade but I’m happy that it is a worthwhile upgrade over the 800 for me.

I’m also liking the wireless upload of activities via my phone and will be using connect to get routes on the 820 wirelessly too. I may never have to plug the thing into a computer again 🙂

Is the Garmin 820 still the one to have for turn by turn off-road navigation?
I’m not interested in heart rate, cadence and all that, just want a decent map similar in detail to an os map (which I also carry) that allows me to load up gpx routes to follow.

820 the one to get?

820 worth the extra over the 820 explorer?, considering I’m not interested in the fitness tracking, but would kinda like the Wi-Fi I think…