Which bike GPS – the I’m getting old and grumpy edition

I upgraded my bike computer to a Garmin Explore 2 recently, which I’m sure is a great device but was just too faffy for me – first signs that I’m getting on a bit, right?  Too many features, too many screens, too much information and too big.

ive gone back to my old Edge 800 which largely does what I want – tell me where to go and tell me all of the ride info when I’ve finished.  If only the maps were a bit better and the battery lasted a bit longer – both fixable but it is getting on now and is not exactly ‘sleek’.

So Singletrackworld Collective, tell me which of the current range of devices I need.  I’m used to using Garmin so would lean that way but not wedded to them.

Must Have Features

• Decent readable maps that are easy on my old eyes
• Sensible and reasonably simple route guidance
• Connectivity to Komoot, Strava, etc for route uploads/downloads
• Touch screen
• Connectivity to a wheel sensor for speed on turbo
• Mobile phone connectivity
• Having the basic info of speed, time, distance ridden on one screen but not lots more (data or screens)
• Battery life of 10 hours on a bright screen (for my eyes)

Nice To Have But Not Essential

• Colour screen
• Connectivity to crank speed sensor and HRM for winter turbo action
• Wifi connectivity
• Garmin mount compatibility (so I don’t have to replace mounts)
• The single info screen also showing average speed

What I Don’t Want / Need

• Being told that my virtual partner is faster and fitter than me on every ride
• Endless customisable screens to get lost in mid ride
• Screens that pop up and depressingly tell me how long/steep the hill is
• Connectivity to endless other external devices that I don’t have
• Screens of meaningless (to me) training data
• Continuous offers to reroute my ride because my starting point is 20cm east of what the map says
• Not be so big that it looks like I’ve a 1980s PC strapped to my bars
• Anything else that is likely to piss me off because it’s just pointless for a route navigation and data device
• To spend stupid amounts of money

So tell me … what should I be buying to finally put my old Edge into permanent retirement.

A newer Edge. 840 if you think the maps are big enough for you, otherwise 1040.

Then just go through a few Settings to switch off the stuff you don’t want (like ClimbPro).

I’ve always wondered if there’s an iPhone app which would be suitable for navigation im for road cycling? Sorry to steal the thread

What you want sounds like my Edge Explore but you’ve got one of those.

I just have map with avg speed and distance to destination showing. A screen with speed/avg/distance heart rate, one for when I use my ebike and then the hill profile. It stays on whichever screen I want until I swipe to another.

A newer Edge. 840 if you think the maps are big enough for you, otherwise 1040.

That’ll just be a variation on the same UI as the Explore 2. But also…

Then just go through a few Settings to switch off the stuff you don’t want (like ClimbPro).

Very much ^^this^^. It’s worth spending some time going through turning off widgets and features you don’t want and customising your data screens, the whole point is you can choose what you do and don’t want to see, but you do have to pay some attention and set it up.

Failing that why not try Wahoo, Hammerhead, Bryton, Coospo, IGPSport or any of the many, many alternatives available.

If you’ve already got the Edge Explore 2 then it can be made to do exactly what it sounds like you want.

You might need to spend an hour or so playing about in the settings but you can thin down all the screens, turn off virtual partner & turn off the climb pro setting so it doesn’t pop up – you can either hide it completely or leave it there but swipe to it.

Do you have a tech savvy younger and less grumpy person that could help you set it up?

I upgraded my bike computer to a Garmin Explore 2 recently, which I’m sure is a great device but was just too faffy for me – first signs that I’m getting on a bit, right?

A sign that Garmin’s user interface is still a bit rubbish. Every Garmin I’ve ever used has been an exercise in frustration. Anything you have to relearn every time you use it is a UI fail in my book. Of course humans are adaptable and will get used to it then tell you how wonderful it all is and simply to buy another, more complicated, more expensive Garmin, but I’m unconvinced. Stuff should be easy and intuitive to use. If you need to use a manual more than once you’ve failed imo.

I like the Wahoo Elemnt Roam, for me it mostly just works, but I don’t know about the indoor stuff as I use a Kickr, which does all the speed, power graft for you.

Beyond that the mounts are maybe an issue for you, basically very similar to Garmin but rotated 90˚, with some mounts you can swap the inserts. It seems a little sad to be locked into the Garmin gobbledygook ecosystem by your mounts, but there you go.  I’m sure there are plenty of other non-Garmins that would do the job, but your requirement list seems exhaustive, so it’s hard to be sure.

I think my hammerhead karoo would do most of that. It comes with. Garmin mount adapter

But you’d need to sit and turn off loads of stuff

But you can probably do that with your current unit

tech savvy, younger and less grumpy person

this feels like one of those cases where you can only pick 2 of the 3 options.

The Edge Explore models have fewer features than the full blown ones. I’ve got the older explore and it’s great other than battery life which is fixed by a small powerbank, especially when on the bike for 9 hours and needing the navigation. Just tweak the screens.

@badlywireddog

If you need to use a manual more than once you’ve failed imo.

With all due respect to the OP I’m not sure the manual has been consulted in the first instance. 😉

(I see the forum has stopped parsing emojis…)

A Garmin Edge Explore 2 fits your requirements perfectly, you just need to turn things off and set the screens you do use to how you like them.

A sign that Garmin’s user interface is still a bit rubbish. Every Garmin I’ve ever used has been an exercise in frustration.

Yeah it could be a lot better, but it’s not too bad once it’s all set up.

As Gribs says above the Edge Explore 2 was designed for those who wanted a good screen for navigation and limited metrics.

I have an Explore2 myself and I really don’t recognise the problems you are having.

As others have said, the edge explore 2 can do everything you want. Just search up YouTube for a video demonstration if you don’t want to read the instructions.

I think with the explore 2, you can fully configure the device, data screens etc from the garmin connect phone app so should be less faffy than doing it directly on the device.

With all due respect to the OP I’m not sure the manual has been consulted in the first instance.

…and do you know what, that’s really the point.  I just want a device to work and not have to faff around with it.  My job is about making technology fit requirements and I really have no passion doing that in my own time.  I just want tech that meets my need straight off.

I got the Explore 2 because I figured ‘bigger was better’ technology speaking but got bored fiddling with it when I could be doing other things more interesting.  I sold it because ‘bigger wasn’t better’ in physical size and preferred the way my earlier Edge does most of what I want with minimal fuss.

So whilst it’s great being told the top end devices can do what I want by turning functionality off, it makes no sense paying for tech I don’t want or need (presumption of my lack of ability over absorbing my requirements).  What my question was asking was what devices in the Garmin range as well as the competition will just work to my fairly slim needs.  Simples really.

Failing that why not try Wahoo, Hammerhead, Bryton, Coospo, IGPSport or any of the many, many alternatives available.

Sounds an expensive answer unless there was some way I could tap in to knowledge and experience.  See what I’m getting at?

It might be try looking at some ones karoo as they are set up quite differently to Garmin and the screens good. But they aren’t tiny. A simple set up is achievable and fairly quickly

The problem you face is that the market is biased towards complexity. Features are added as each one some where appeals to some one. The cost is complexity

To be fair the people who made these things how they would know that i do want climb details and don’t need a speed sensor but that you do want a speed sensor but don’t want want climb details. Surely the only answer is user customisation

You are trying to say that Garmin  should produce a model that just provides you with your specific requirements, which aren’t necessarily what other people wanting a ‘simple’ device might want. I think you are being unrealistic. As above:  The only way they can do this is by customisation.

You are trying to say that Garmin  should produce a model that just provides you with your specific requirements,

Not so.  For the sake of repeating myself, what I asked was

ive gone back to my old Edge 800 which largely does what I want – tell me where to go and tell me all of the ride info when I’ve finished.

So tell me … what should I be buying to finally put my old Edge into permanent retirement.

I then explained why I didn’t like/want a device that needed levels of ‘deconfiguration’ to fit my requirements.  Maybe the perfect devices for me doesn’t exist… but maybe it does, hence the question.

Any specific recommendations to Garmin was merely in your chosen interpretation of my questions.

I don’t understand what the big deal is with setting a device up so it just shows you the information you are interested in?

I think the likelihood of a manufacturer producing a device that only has the narrow set of features you are interested in and is configured exactly how you want is pretty unrealistic.

ive gone back to my old Edge 800 which largely does what I want – tell me where to go and tell me all of the ride info when I’ve finished.

So tell me … what should I be buying to finally put my old Edge into permanent retirement

As others have said Edge Explore 2. I have one it does exactly this. You have one, it does exactly this.

So tell me … what should I be buying to finally put my old Edge into permanent retirement.

Alternative option, Don’t retire the 800? Get the battery replaced and crack on, it seems Garmin made the perfect device for you, 15 years ago. 

If you’re adamant you don’t want to expend any effort on setup of the Explore (and I can understand, if perhaps not sympathise) then basically you’re snookered (at least with Garmin). For the most part of it includes the things you want, it’s going to include some stuff you don’t and will have to turn off.

Having said all that the UI on the V1 explorer was more basic, with no climb pro, the trouble was the charge socket was micro USB, it was still on the big side and the battery was dog shit… In which case, why not just get the 800’s battery replaced?

Almost all of the settings remember the users choice so you’ll only have to set up most of what you want to achieve once then be done with the faffy part. There are some really good YouTube videos out there on this, spend some time on a Sunday evening following along with a few until you get it looking how you want then you’ll probably find after that you’re actually pretty comfortable with user interface as a bonus.

I’d go with what others have said and suggest that the Edge Explore 2 is pretty much perfect for your list of requirements; it’s a shame you sold it really.

Too many screens? Just delete them, it’s perfectly possible just to have a single data display & nothing else, or that & a map screen. Pretty much everything else is configurable in a few minutes.

By default my Explore 2 gives a summary of ride data when I save the ride & my last ride is displayed prominently at the top of the homepage; touch it for a summary of the ride data.

I know that you don’t want to spend time configuring a new device, but it takes minutes & is permanent bar reconfiguring it or a factory reset. I suspect that your Edge 800 does pretty much what you want because, in the dim and distant past just after you bought it, you configured it that way

A true expression of getting old & grumpy, which I absolutely recognise in myself, is when you don’t actually have anything to grumble about but do so anyway 😉

But all the things that you don’t want are all options from the menu. 1/2 hour on YouTube or the Garmin site will sort all of them out. Plus while you’re there. you can set it up to do exactly More or less what you want. You only have to do it once, and it seems a shame to invest all that cash into a device and then not specify it how you want to becasue: Techno Refusenik

While I agree that most cycle GPS seem needlessly menu heavy with options, some-one somewhere has a laundry list of options like your ‘don’t wants’ as ‘must haves’ and they’re catering for all things.

I recently got an 850 and honestly even after 6 months or so, I’m still turning things on and off.

Maybe the perfect devices for me doesn’t exist… but maybe it does, hence the question.

No, it doesn’t. Sorry.

My job is about making technology fit requirements and I really have no passion doing that in my own time. I just want tech that meets my need straight off.

If that’s really your job you should know that almost no modern tech meets everyone’s needs straight off. If it did, the manufacturer would go bankrupt in days, pre-configuring hundreds of versions of essentially the same software is not a good way to do business. It’s part of my job too.

FWIW my Garmin has 3 screens with all the data fields i need. Mapping Data, Useful Data and Interesting Data, one i could get rid of tomorrow and it wouldn’t bother me. Also got rid of all the alerts and alarms, so it’s completely silent.

I’ve done lots of other tweaks and changes, but once you’ve got a stable baseline, it’s quick and easy to make changes.
(Profiles for different types of riding, different bikes etc)

FWIW, you probably had to deconfigure your 800 when you bought it, you’ve just forgotten all about it (i had to do that as long ago as my 605 and the 810 i use now).

I think you’re all missing the elephant in the room here – the Explore 2 only come in white. Doesn’t match my bike. Outrageous.

Pretty coloured cases are available.

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/871001

From the Garmin website:

Edge 800 tracks a variety of data from your ride and lets you customise up to five training pages so you can see as much or as little ride information as you want. The barometric altimeter provides extra-precise climb and descent data and records temperature changes.

and for example, here are some of the things the Edge800 can display:

HR – %HRR
**
Percentage of heart rate
reserve (maximum heart
rate minus resting heart
rate).
HR – %Max.

**
Percentage of maximum
heart rate.
HR – Avg. ** Average heart rate for
the ride.
HR – Avg.
%HRR **
Average percentage
of heart rate reserve
(maximum heart rate
minus resting heart rate)
for the run.
HR – Avg.
%Max. **
Average percentage of
maximum heart rate for
the run.
HR – Lap ** Average heart rate in the
current lap.
HR – Lap
%HRR **
Average percentage
of heart rate reserve
(maximum heart rate
minus resting heart rate)
for the lap

As someone has said above. You have already customised your 800 & forgotten that you’ve done it.

PJayFree Member
Pretty coloured cases are available.

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/871001
Posted 1 hour ago

Oooh. Hmmm. But I don’t need one, dug out my ancient but little used 810 the other week and by the looks of it it will sync with my 105 di2, so with mapping and that it’ll do me I think

I “upgraded” from an 810 to a 520 and finally a 130 Plus. I don’t need mapping, but I like a breadcrumb trail. I use power, HR and cadence. I really like the small size, and it was simple to add a couple of screens. It’s imperial as I use it for TTs, and only laps on every five miles so no use for indoor track (520 laps on 250m). Love it. And the largest font is bigger than the 820 and 520, and the batter is phenomenal

I did RTFM.