Which MTB GPS?

I’ve currently got an Edge Touring, which is fine, but 10 years old now, and doesnt record mileage very well, on Saturday, both loops of Whinlatter were recorded as around 7 miles, when it shoudl be around 12, so a speed sensor on the wheel is needed, but cannot be paired to this GPS unit.
So, which one to go for? 2nd hand is fine if it works. Generally, the Edge is good, but is battery is dying, and has the annoying low mileage record.
Thanks.

Do you need mapping, or is it just to record distance, ascent/descent, etc?

If the latter then I’ve been incredibly impressed with my Polar Vantage M2 (RRP is £260, but I got it in a sale on Amazon for £135).

Distance recording is spot on, loads of well thought out info for training, and the heart rate tracking is excellent for a watch.

There is a large list of options that can be used for this and the price range can be from about £50 up to a serious amount of money. Depends on what kind of features you want to use…the more features the pricier it is likely to be.

Garmin tend to be reliable and are well known, but there are plenty others around that do the same thing. If you are already bought into the Garmin family, then I’d start having a look at that and see what you fancy. Touchscreen or not; mapping or not, etc. there will be at least 1 unit that matches your requirements (and most likely multiple options).

Wahoo seems to be having a sale just now, so you might get a bargain there…

Do you want a bike unit or would a watch work for you?

It’s got to be a bike/bar unit, and have maps please. Occasionally I go out to follow a route I’ve done before, but cannot remember the old route, so its useful for that, basically, I record where I’ve been, download it to the computer to see the map, then save it if it was a good route. Very easy to follow that route again in the future then, as well as giving mileage, time riding, and ascent.

I’ve just finished a 5 week tour using a coros dura. Very impressed, off road navigation was excellent, battery life is ridiculous, charged it once for the whole trip. Bought to replace my old Garmin edge explore and better in every way.

I had an Edge Touring back in on the day and in comparison to the Wahoo I replaced it with, there is no contest. Wahoo is so much better in every way. The Garmin would crash and have an absolute fit if you went off a route you were following if you changed your mind. The Wahoo beeps for a while then stops complaining and when you get back on route it is happy as Larry. The Garmin would capitulate without hesitation.

Garmin also have no idea how to design a UI in comparison.

I’ve currently got an Edge Touring, which is fine, but 10 years old now, and doesnt record mileage very well, on Saturday, both loops of Whinlatter were recorded as around 7 miles, when it shoudl be around 12,

I had a Touring as well (and then an Edge Explore 1) and both developed the same problem; they’d lose reception and “stall” then pick it up again but what it meant was the speed (and therefore the recorded distance) would drop out then reappear again.

My Touring was terrible in its latter life, the battery life got to mere minutes, the reception was forever dropping off. The Edge 1 got to the same point after about 4-5 years as well.
My Edge Explore 2 is considerably better in every respect but I’m not expecting it to last beyond about 5 years, that seems to be the lifespan of these devices.

My cateye stealth evo works on gps and uploads rides to cateyes atlas website.

Also connects to hrm strap and cadence sensor via ANT.

i like the fact that it’s big and easy to see in the dark (illuminated).

but it doesn’t do the turn by turn navigation.

their padrone version may do the same thing more cheaply.

Thanks for the suggestions, but, being at the lower of pay scales at the moment, they are a little out of my price range. One that has come up in searches is the Dash M200. Branded by Giant, but the same as original, at £100.
https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/giant-dash-m200-computer
Merlin still have it at £240.
Also, a few Garmin 810’s 2nd hand at £100, some a bit less, though it’s taking a gamble with battery life buying used. What is good about the Dash is it can export to Relive, I used to love that until it was taken down by (I think) Strava. Made it difficult to export to them after that.
Any thoughts?

At the risk of derailing the thread, do any of the bike GPS units have a feature which shows a simple pointer (compass heading) back to where you started?

I like messing about up at Cannock Chase, heading off down the seemingly endless supply of off-piste trails until I’m lost…  Not truly lost of course (the chase isn’t that big) but when the time comes to head home, my Garmin (Explore 2) has either the option to retrace the whole route, or it can try to plot a new route back (but will only plan a route via roads and won’t even create a route if you’re “off road” at the time)

All I really want is a rough direction of travel until I pick up some landmarks that I recognise…

My Edge Touring went to shit, a new SIM card improves it massively.

My partner has a new Touring 2 it’s really good.

but when the time comes to head home, my Garmin (Explore 2) has either the option to retrace the whole route, or it can try to plot a new route back (but will only plan a route via roads and won’t even create a route if you’re “off road” at the time)

The on-board route creation on the Explore 2 is pants.

I’ve tried a few times to do “return to start” and, even set to ROAD routing, it’ll still be finding weird alleyways, back roads, bridleways and anything to avoid main roads – it will wind you up and down 3 miles of hills and trails to avoid 100m of main road.. It’s literally only when you’re in a direct line of sight to your original start point that it’ll go “oh OK, fine, I guess I’ll take you that way if you really want”.

It’s a real let down on a unit that is, in all other respects, a HUGE improvement over the original Edge Explore.

I’d love to see a good review of some of the more basic and obscure mapping head units. There’s some interesting stuff coming out of China that looks like it can compete with Garmin but the info on them is really limited.

I’d like something that’s essentially just a basic android unit that I can run the Komoot and Wahoo apps on.

At the risk of derailing the thread, do any of the bike GPS units have a feature which shows a simple pointer (compass heading) back to where you started?

Take a look on the Connect IQ store – there are apps and widgets you can add to your Garmin. Something like this might suit?

Thanks!  Looks interesting but Sod’s Law, the Garmin server isn’t responding so I’ll try again tomorrow!

All I really want is a rough direction of travel until I pick up some landmarks that I recognise…

My Polar Vantage M watch had this function.  I’ve used it exactly like you have / want to,  in the past (just not at Cannock !).

I’ve seen full working wahoo bolt v1 on eBay for £35.

Thanks again frogstomp – The one you linked wasn’t compatible with my device but I found this one that seems to do exactly what I was looking for 🙂

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ce2cb5dc-7625-4dc1-853a-71af85b7b1e3

(It’s even called, “back to start”)

I have a Garmin Edge Explore I bought a few years ago. Used a handful of times but now surplus to requirements, you’re welcome to have that for £50 or whatever the market value is.

https://amzn.eu/d/3JDIqCZ

With fewer bells and whistles…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256549979942?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=A_TfRzkBSZK&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=gwW0qHEeSsW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY