Hi,

I’ve got a Garmin 500 – great piece of kit but it doesn’t get used fully. I’ve got a HRM but it tends to get used for tracking the ride and not much else…however, the biggest grumble I’ve got with it is that I need to plug it into a PC to upload the ride data.

I’m trying to find a suitable replacement that does the same as the 500 but also has bluetooth connectivity so my phone can be used to upload the ride to Strava and a couple of other places.

What is there out there? Obviously it would need Ant+ as well so I could use the HRM as well.

I like the look of the Lezyne Enhanced Super GPS but just wondering how that compares to the Garmin 500 and if it is any good? However, also wanting to see if there is anything else I might have missed that might be worth a look.

Saying all that, I suspect I’ll find something and then decide the cash to buy it will mean I just live with the 500 (first world problems and all that).

Garmin Edge 520?

520 or 25 if you don’t need the mapping.

Edge 810 on the cheap at ALDI?

Garmin forerunner 230? It’s a watch but ticks all the boxes

Curveball……

Edge 1000 auto uploads via WiFi. 🙂

520

520

Think those are touchscreen…are they not?

@Dick Barton
I’m riding the Lezyne Super GPS MK1 and it’s been just fine. Been riding a couple of races besides the normal rides in the woods and the road.
It’s not the enhanced version but it does just fine. Takes ANT+, Bluetooth and micro-usb for charging.
I know it’s the wrong section but it’s for sale if you’re interested ?
you can email me in the acc info.
Basically need the money and my seasons ends soon(my excuse for not training)

Nope, buttons only.
Best gps at the mo, even has good mapping if you load them.

Think those are touchscreen…are they not?

Edge 1000 is, yes, hence it being a curveball. However, you could just choose not to use the touchscreen. Set it up as a scrolling display if you like, or set the relevant data fields on one screen. It would solve your “biggest grumble” however. 🙂

500 buttons
510 touchscreen but bigger
520 smaller, back to buttons

810 buttons and touch, what’s the grumble with touch works well for me after 4 years.

Why not touch?

I’m not keen on touch as it ruins the battery – phones are a recharge daily thing now. 810 is 15 hours, the Lezyne Super is 22 hours and the Bryton Rider 330 is over 30 hours – last 2 are buttons and no fancy mapping – which seems to work for me.
My 500 does all I need apart from upload instantly…the 810 is still a lot of cash for something that’ll only get about 30% of the options used, so really no need for it.

Lezyne seems to be the preferred option as it isn’t touch, long battery life, weather-resistant and about £120 which seems more palatable.

Forgot to add, I’m unconvinced a touchscreen will work as well with thick gloves on…

Doubt its the touchscreen that kills the battery, more usually its backlit screen on which is the power hungry use. I can see an aversion to touchscreen if you struggle to use it, but power draw I’ve not heard before as a reason to avoid them.

[Edit: And now, having googled, I find I am wrong! http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/dont-buy-a-touch-screen-laptop Interesting, never thought about this before]

Backlight and maps kills the battery (on non ts) you can turn both off or down on the 520 which as I said is the best about at the mo.

Depending how varied ops riding is and if they want a mapping gps the 520 might bring another aversion – it hasn’t got enough storage space for maps. I think it’s not great as a mapping GPS as you can’t just fill it with maps or use an sd card. If they don’t want to plug it in to upload they’re not going to want to faff changing maps before a ride. I wouldn’t have one for that reason alone.

For a basic unit, edge 25 does everything op wants I think? Ant, Bluetooth, non touch?

So originally I was asking about the Lezyne gps…1 response and the rest about Garmin…more to think about now…

The Lezyne Super GPS looks interesting. It claims 24 hours battery life, which is much better than any of the Garmin Edge models.
But is it any good? I’ve not seen many reviews of it.
And is the phone app any good? Can it upload your rides to Strava?

Apparently it can, and apparently you can download a route from app -> phone -> gps so if your phone fails the route is still on device.

I had kind of thought the Lezyne was the one but was looking for comment/thoughts, seems Garmin is the default but something is making me think the Lezyne is it – certainly cheaper and appears to do same as the Garmin 520, but with better battery life.

For someone who doesn’t get full use out the device it is more about doing what I need well and cheap…

DC Rainmaker gives it a fairly good review, I think the key advantages for the Garmin would be the mapping which I use a lot here and abroad, not a big selling point on the 520 but its actually very capable when you upload openstreet maps.

If thats not a big deal for you, he certainly rate it.

Touchscreen won’t be the battery killer. Bluetooth will drain it though, and will drain the battery on the phone also. Though if you don’t want live tracking and want upload at end of the ride, just turn off Bluetooth on both until you need it.

Make sure backlight is turned off also.

510 will talk to Garmin’s app on a phone, and I find battery can last a good day of riding. 10hrs+ easy. It has a basic touch screen but you can lock it so it’s not going to get messed up while riding, especially if you stick it in a pocket or backpack. Has buttons also, which actually concerned me that they might get knocked as they don’t lock, though they’ve been fine. I’ve heard some newer Garmin’s have the buttons on the sides and some have had problems with bar mounts and knocking the buttons with knees etc.

Biggest problem you’ll have is the shockingly poor pairing ability of a Garmin over Bluetooth. I give up and use a cable on my PC. It’s really not that much hassle. Connect Garmin, drag files to computer, upload to relevant web site. I don’t use Garmin Express software. Messes up things on the computer and also auto updates the Garmin with new firmware which can mess that up big time. Always wait numerous versions after firmware release until you can conclude that it’s stable, and even then it probably isn’t. Garmin do nice hardware but terrible software.

No idea about Lezyne.

That is pretty much what I’m doing just now, but I want to upload to a website so I can get anoraky and view stats (although I’m yet to actually do anything with the stats!)…so uploading after a week due to not being at a computer is a mild annoyance, if I’ve managed to avoid the PC for a week, I really don’t want to go back to it, so doing it via the device and phone would fix that (and also allow me to do it immediately).
I was under the impression it was Bluetooth ‘light’ (or whatever it is called), so the bluetooth connection only gets used when 1 or the other device needs to do something…
As I said, the current system I have works, I’m just finding a grumble about it so I can buy a newer device – I don’t use half the features on the one I have so unlikely to use half of the ones on the new device either…but I’d like something newer and Garmin seems expensive compared to the competition which appears to offer the same thing for less.

I use a TomTom Multisport, it does what you want. It’s not touch screen , it tracks my ride, displays HR, distance etc and then uploads to the TomTom app on my phone via Bluetooth which then syncs to Stava. HRM is Bluetooth though not ant+.

I’ve not used one, so cant comment on how good they are, but the Leyzene uses your smartphone for mapping and directions. ie it doesnt waste space storing the maps on the unit itself. It uses the power of your phone (and saves battery) by just getting the route information passed to the device – sort of like a terminal on your handlebars.

Pretty nifty IMO. Mind you, I’m a garmin man and got my heart set on a 735XT, once I have saved some pennies.

Latest bluetooth 4.0 has very low battery use, much better than previous versions, so much so I would say its no longer an issue.
Connection is better also, I have 520 and a FR25 both sync seamlessly to Garmin Connect and Strava as soon as the ride/run is saved on the Garmin. They also display notifications which are mixed blessing.