Thanks to another thread on here, I've had my eye caught by a Garmin Edge Explore 2 for a great price with the STW member discount.
It would be replacing my aging Edge 510 that I regularly use to download and follow Strava routes around the country, which generally works well but the monochrome screen is getting harder to see (especially with my aging eyes) Has anyone got one? Would it be a suitable upgrade?
Edit - It will only be used to follow Strava routes. Not interested in Training modes, Heart Rates etc. and I have a Instinct 2 Watch to actually record the ride.
I like my original Edge Explore, other than the battery life. The Explore 2 has fixed that.
Have an edge explore 2 and it's been MOSTLY great for what I want to do - loading routes is easy via the bluetooth phone connection, it's tells mw ehere I need to go it records the ride then when it's finished it automatically uploads to the interweb.
The major gripe I have is that it has 3 preset profiles that you cannot change - Road, MTB, and Indoor.
I will NEVER use a GPS recording device indoor, and will rarely use it for MTB these days. I'd prefer it if I could change the types so I could link them properly on Strava with default bikes so I could set one for solo rides on my CX, one for tandem rides and one for e-Tandem rides. NO way to do that though as far as I'm aware, you have to change the ride type once the data gets to Strava
I like mine, if I had a gripe its that the start/ride/stop commands aren't very obvious. I rode for 20miles last weekend thinking it was recording and it wasn't. I don't care for simple ride recording, but this was a tour that I wanted to record the route of.
I don't use it very often though, so more likely user error.
Where's the deal? A friend might be interested in one.
I love mine and if you don't need to training functions it's ideal.
It might be worth mentioning that the rumour mongers have been suggesting that, if Garmin follows its usual product cycle, a new Explore (the 3) should be due next month (it is just rumour though),
Mine always default to Gravel Ride in Strava after uploading my ride. This is irritating as my rides are always glorious MTB rides. Other than that, that garmin unit is perfect for just riding or following routes of others thanks to its big screen. I do use the Back to start option very often to take me back to my car. Sometime i consider my GPS unit almost like a little friend who will take me to beautiful places. I'm not sad.
Some good info there, thanks all.
if I had a gripe its that the start/ride/stop commands aren't very obvious
Yep, agree. I only just got mine (had a voucher, so limited choice of retailers, got it from Decathlon). So just tried it a couple of times. Uses Profiles that the last one didn't. Whole different menu structure to the 1, so hopefully I'll get used to it quicker than I did the 1. Told me I had KOMs whatever from my first 2 rides. Wish I knew how to turn that nonsense off, I just want to follow maps! Screen is identical size to the previous model, but yeah, battery life is the thing.
