So it has what I need for a unit other than my phone, to save the phone battery on longer outings. That is basic line based navigation for following predrawn gpx files, I have os maps in my head and on my phone for back up. And the livetracking, which I assume will use the phone data connection via bluetooth, and will only use occasionally.

I’ve searched for alternatives from other makers but cannot find any. Are there any I’m missing?

P.s. I am a penny pincher and was hoping I would find something without the big name and less cost…

Lezyne ?

I have a Garmin edge 25 for sale if you are interested.

I’ve used Garmin devices for years (probably about 10 since I bought a forerunner 305) and now have a fair collection. Others seem to moan about issues but my experience has been positive. I find Garmin devices work well and link seamlessly with other services like strava.

I would recommend the edge 25 if it has the features you need. I personally use an edge 810  and edge 520 along with a Fenix 3.

wahoo devices seem to be gaining popularity but probably not in the same price range.

Having borrowed a Lezyne GPS to try off road, I would never buy one as it was no where near accurate. It plotted the correct shape of travel but when you looked on satellite view it had recorded me beside the fireroads / trails rather than on them.

As this was the case Strava never picked up the segments as they were more than X% inaccurate.

It was fine on road tho – It must have struggled with tree cover. My iPhone worked out way more accurate and thats what I still use. If I was getting a dedicated GPS it would be a Garmin 25, 520 or Vivoactive 3.

I think the 25 is a cracking little unit. I got one from Aldi when hey were knocking them off cheap and used it for a year or so. Then Aldi were knocking of 520’s cheap so I got one of those thinking I was getting an upgrade….no, the 25 works better, the 520 is sluggish, locks up, seems to loose the sensor connections at the drop of a hat and its difficult to re-connect. It’s a bag of crap. I’ve gone back to my 25 for now until I can pull the readies together for something else and this time I’m steering clear of Garmin. I think they’ve got a bit too big for their boots, other brands have now caught up with them so there are genuine options and alternatives worthy of consideration out there.

So Edge 25 is good. Edge 520 is not so good.

I have had an Edge 25 for sometime now and overall it’s good.

It seems more accurate than my IPhone and does take the load off my phone. However, it is one more thing with a proprietary lead to lose.

Often it refuses point blank to talk to my IPhone. Turning the phone off and on solves it  for syncing but texts very rarely show on the Edge if that bothers you. I’m not sure if it’s Apple or Garmin not playing ball but resetting the Edge has no effect so I’m leaning towards it being the phone (IPhone SE)/Garmin phone App.

While basic line navigation does work I found I was always overshooting and needing to get back on the line. Anything other than a hard left or right was too difficult to see where you should be going then 100m later beep beep beep, have to turn around and try the other way. Gets even worse on road when the speeds are higher. Much more useful to have some sort of map, even the OSM ones.

I know it’s an extra £70 to get the 520 but I’d gladly pay it if I was replacing my Garmin. Or as a cheaper option look for a secondhand Edge Touring which will do the navigation but not the live tracking (I find a separate phone app better anyway).

I really like my edge 25 as a basic GPS logging and data display device

It is definitely a <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>basic</span> unit, I’ve never even attempted to use it for navigation, it’s a function it “technically” has,  but the screen is dinky and monochrome, it would be pretty crap as a navigation tool IMO.

In it’s favour it’s small, unobtrusive and lightweight, easy to switch between bikes, easy to read, easy to operate, pairs up nicely with HRM/cadence/speed sensors, charges pretty quickly, syncs fine via the connect phone app and cost relatively little (compared with other garmin products).

Going against it, battery life is limited, it will do a solid 8hrs with Glonas turned off but that’s pretty much the limit, and unlike the bigger garmin units you can’t simply plug a power bank into it while out and about to extend run-time/recharge (I’ve tried). Its a little limited in terms of display options, you get two data field screens (with three fields on each) plus an extra HRM screen (if one is connected) and a time display screen, so the information you can see at a glance is limited…

Of course the other major issue is Garmin and the roulette you play as a customer with their software/firmware updates, it might be adequate it could be a nightmare…

Bang for buck the 25 is good but if I was spending a bit more, and wanting better navigation and/or battery life I’d be going over DC Rainmaker looking at other brands…

Must admit I’ve never used mine to navigate with, it didn’t look like a great idea.

Thanks for the comments, generally I know where I am going and plan pretty well, so the navigation thing is more for reassurance. I often end up stopping, checking my phone map to find I’m exactly where I thought I was, I just needed reassuring… So the direction pointer and off course beep thing would be handy to save a few stops and if I accidentally pick the wrong track or path somewhere. If I was genuinely lost I would revert to my phone, not rely on the unit.

I appreciate the issues with the battery charging thing, it would annoy me.  Plus the recent reviews on google play for the garmin connect app are pretty negative.

But essentialy there are no other brands with an equivalent? Should I hold on to my pennies until something else comes along?

if its any use i have an edge 500 up for sale with out front mount,bar mount and data/charging cable £60

I went for a second hand edge 500 from eBay.

I think it’s great and does everything I need.  So I think I would choose one over the edge 25

The edge 25 doesn’t have 1 second recording, only the smart recording. Not so much of an issue on a road bike, but I found the twisty stuff on the trees doesn’t record very well (you get a straight line as the unit doesn’t think your going fast enough to record frequently)

The lezyne has had a firmware upgrade I believe that adds 1 second recording, so that would tick all the boxes for me. I have an edge 25 but would buy a lezyne as a replacement if my it broke

the edge is quite good but lacks battery life.  I’ve just bought a lezyne micro C watch from crc for £99

The edge 25 is compatible with a wheel speed sensor. When I first got the edge 25 I noticed at low speed and when stopped the gps trace was jumping around loads.  This is the same problem I had using my phone. The speed sensor cleans it up as it uses this in preference to GPS calculated speed.

I have never had any trouble with the Garmin app and have been using for years. The only annoying thing is that if I don’t have mobile data/WiFi it does not transfer from the device to my phone.

As the others above said, avoid Lezyne. I thought I was being smart and getting a good deal… First unit wouldn’t even turn on, second one wouldn’t keep connected to sensors during a ride. Both went back under warranty, bought an Edge 520 instead which has been 99% problem free.