Might upgrade to one of these, has anyone seen any good deals for a bundle to include speed sensor and maps?

The best deals I could find before Xmas were from handtec and wiggle. I opted against the garmin maps as the free ones available from Talky Toaster are just as good (in some ways even better)

Can’t help you with the bargains bit, but I followed the DC Rainmaker guide to installing OSM on my 810 & they’re plenty good enough for on & off-road navigating IME. Not worth paying for garmin’s version IMO.

handtec were best I found last year (I didn’t go for the bundle because I wanted the special Trek sensor that fits into the chainstay). I use an out-in-front bracket for avoiding that “Chris Froome looking at stems” position.

Best deal is to probably go with an 800. About the same price as the 510 but includes mapping and probably more mature (read: reliable) firmware 😉 (going by my experience of flaky 510 firmware). Lacks the fancy new stuff of the 810 of course though.

I want the smartphone connection of the 810

Got an 810 from wiggle for the wife at Xmas with an osm map card of eBay Seemed a good deal. I’ve got a 510 as well, no problems with any firmware issues on either. Both work really well,uploads to smartphone via bluetooth is worth the upgrade over the older 500 and 800.

peteimpreza – Member
I want the smartphone connection of the 810

If you’re lucky and it works.

Got bluetooth on the 510 and it’s near impossible to get it to pair with my phone. Way too frustrating so I give up. Loads of other people with the same problem and is a known issue. Though it may depend on your phone and just plain luck.

Some things on the 510 are nice, but I mostly regret not buying the 800 instead for the same price (or even less) given the problems I’ve had with it.

That said the 810 might not have these problems. 510, 810 and 1000 are all of the same line though.

Best deal is to probably go with an 800.

I’m on my 3rd 800 after 2 failures, won’t be getting one next time even with a Garmin deal.

If you know someone who has pruhealth or vitality private healthcare they are offering members up to 50% garmin stuff from the end of January. The person is supposed to buy it only for themselves but there’s nothing to say that they couldn’t lend it to you.

Maybe deadkenny is just unlucky. As I say our 510 and 810 both upload to garmin connect and strava straight away via bluetooth. Just click save when I’ve finished my ride and it’s uploaded immediately.

It’s worked about twice, and tried dozens or more times. I’m not alone looking at their forums, and similar issues on the 810 and 1000. As said, it also seems to depend on the phone. I have no issues pairing with any other device though, only the 510.

Also had loads of hassle initially with lost ride data, and again looking on their forums this was a known issue too. They did seem to fix it in later firmware though. The very latest firmware (3.40) for the 510 has mention of fixing issues with the mobile app but not sure that’s the pairing issues, but the reports of major issues with the latest firmware put me off trying it.

I gave up on pairing my phone and Garmin – it would pair up at the start of the ride but drop out at some random point during the ride, possibly when the phone lost signal. Now who ever heard of a modern phone losing signal 😐

If the garmin models are shall we say flaky, what is the best alternative? Looking at having a demo 510 for a sportive but might not bother.

The Bluetooth connectivity can be a bit patchy (so it depends how important that is to you), but they’re excellent units. Yet to see anything better myself.

I’ve got a 1000, had to reset it a couple of times to get it to pair with my phone, sometimes it’ll retain the connection for days, other times it’ll drop out halfway through a ride. Less important on the 1000 anyway, as it’s got wifi for uploading, so I don’t always notice. Don’t always get the call/text notifications either, even if it is connected.

I’ve come to like my 510 now it’s not losing rides and accepting that bluetooth doesn’t work, and ignoring the temperature data which is utterly wrong (and to be fair of no actual use anyway). It’s generally reliable with 3.20 firmware, long battery life which is the key reason I went for a dedicated device, and it gets a quick fix.

The issues I had though makes me think I just should have got the 800 for the same price. Which is what friends were telling me to do anyway and said theirs is very reliable. It would have had maps then too. Though I didn’t think I’d want them. Normally now I use the thing to just chuck in the bag to track MTB rides, though occasionally I do some exploring and end up using ViewRanger on my phone. Thinking now it would be handy to occasionally stick the Garmin on the bars to have a map. That said, ViewRanger maps are better (phone battery life sucks though).

Agree with njee re the 1000. Excellent bit of kit. The phone connection seems pretty good on mine, but it’s not really a big priority for me. I’m out riding, not on the phone!

“If you know someone who has pruhealth or vitality private healthcare they are offering members up to 50% garmin stuff from the end of January”

Anyone on here able to help with this?

Just checked mine and it’s not available yet. Says “From late January 2015”. Unfortunately, I’m leaving this workplace next week so I guess my Pruhealth will be cancelled.

ignoring the temperature data which is utterly wrong

Do you not think that it could be because you:

use the thing to just chuck in the bag to track MTB rides

I suspect outside air temperature and the temperature in your Camelbak under the spare seatpost, tyre, 3 mech hangers and 14 sets of brake pads for a bike you don’t own could be different.

Maybe 😀

A few times recently, literally freezing outside, ice on the ground, mud frozen to the bike, but the Garmin says +10C but yeah I guess the bag is insulated.

To be fair I don’t carry the spare seatpost with me (though is in the car) 😀

I have occasionally run it on the bars if I’m out myself on a longer ride just for interest, though without maps I don’t really pay any attention to the data while riding. I haven’t tried using it to follow a route yet. I know it would be breadcrumb trails rather than a map on the 510. Been reluctant due to reports of people losing rides when they’ve followed routes.

Might give it a go tonight on the bars and see what the temperature says.