[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Thinking of getting a Garmin Edge. Like the look of the Edge 500/800. Not sure how much use the maps feature of the 800 would be (not at all on road, occasionally might be good offroad)

Any experiences of them or alternatives? Heard Bryton are also good but don't seem much cheaper. Anyone read any reviews comparing them?

There's an offer on Sportpursuit flogging the Edge 800 with HRM, cadence and OS maps for £315, good price for it but still a lot if I rarely use the maps feature.

Missed a 30% sale off Garmin Edge 500 on CRC, grrr.

[Paul B]

Thinking of getting a Garmin Edge. Like the look of the Edge 500/800. Not sure how much use the maps feature of the 800 would be (not at all on road, occasionally might be good offroad)

Any experiences of them or alternatives? Heard Bryton are also good but don't seem much cheaper. Anyone read any reviews comparing them?

There's an offer on Sportpursuit flogging the Edge 800 with HRM, cadence and OS maps for £315, good price for it but still a lot if I rarely use the maps feature.

Missed a 30% sale off Garmin Edge 500 on CRC, grrr.

I haven't used a Garmin edge but I have to say I was fairly unimpressed by their satnav technology in their car units. Maybe the one we borrowed was defective but it was useless. So useless in fact that we turned it off and used a map book.

[Johnny Brown]

Char has got one I think. If you follow him on Strava you should be able to see which one - its not a map one anyway.

[webbo]

I was thinking off getting somthing like this. I wanted distance, speed, heart rate and fancied the idea of a map when I got lost. However I heard they are not that acurate on distance and I also realised I wouldn't be able to see the map without my reading glasses.
So I bought a wireless Sigma bc 1909 which gives me all the other stuff and it was £80 from ribble.

[slackline]

I was thinking off getting somthing like this. I wanted distance, speed, heart rate and fancied the idea of a map when I got lost.

Bar heart rate you can get this information using something like the Endomondo application on Androind phones (might be possible to use bluetooth to connect a heart rate monitor, wouldn't expect batteries to last long though).

I use it regularly cycling too and from work and when I go out walking.  Doesn't kill the battery the way it did when I tried this a loooong time ago on a Nokia N95.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

The main reason I want one is heart rate. Been using Endomondo/Strava on Android for ages. The problem is a HRM connected to phone record heart rate but unless you can see the display its useless for training. I don't want my phone mounted on my handlebars.

However I heard they are not that acurate on distance

I'd be surprised is they were worse than your average phone gps? I know the new versions use Glonass and the US GPS systems for increased accuracy, but I doubt there is an issue with the older models?

[mr__j5]

I've seen the difference between my mate recording his route on his iPhone GPS in his pocket and his Garmin 500 on the handlebars.

The Garmin is massively more accurate.

[tomtom]

GPS accuracy (or rather precision) is absolute rather than relative. IE, if you want to know your exact position its +-5m etc.. but if you want to know your position relative to your position 1 min or 1 sec ago its far more accurate - as the errors induced 1 min ago (number of satellites, weather, buildings, trees etc..) are probably the same.. Hence GPS is fairly good for measuring speed and relative location...

If you stick a GPS in one spot and plot its (self located) co-ordinates every second, they don't vary as much as you might think.. (even though it may think its 10m away from where it should be!)

Also, phone based GPS's benefit from being able to triangulate between cellphone towers - which can increase the accuracy and speed up how long it takes to get a GPS fix etc..

[SA Chris]

I'm amazed at the accuracy of the GPS using google maps on my phone. Accurate to approx 2-5 m out in the open in some areas.

[underground]

I've got a forerunner 305, I never use it to tell me where I'm going, just where I've been and how fast etc. it's a wristwatch so useful for running, I use it in family walks too just to keep track. I've got a simple handlebar mount and it does fine. Has a hrm included and you can get a cadence sensor for 30 quid. I like it for what it tells me after the fact. And if I do a run I can keep going if I've set a target distance rather than give up when I've had enough, which I could use an egg timer for

[Plattsy]

In addition to Underground's post on the 305 you can hook it up to Endomondo to get all the stats, maps shizzle.

[mikester]

My girlfriend loves her 800, mainly because it accurately monitors all the important metrics, including her power meter, but also because she's a total numbers geek. We also recently discovered an unexpected advantage: when she was wiped out by a car, the GPS accurately showed her location (time and date stamped), as well as her speed changing from 35 kph to 0 kph in an instant. Try to argue with that Mr Driver.

[bigphil]

I've an old Garmin Edge but no maps which is great for setting a route on Tracklogs and following, and a Polar cycle computer with heart rate, which would do the trick for heart rate and which I can see on the screen, along with cadence and speed/distance etc.  Guess you want something that will strava and heart rate for you but I can't help there I'm afraid.

[webbo]

I read somewhere that gps on a bike is not as accurate as wheel based computor because of the gps up dating every so many seconds. So it may not measure you went wide round a bend to avoid a fallen log etc.
This may be an urban myth.
When I previously used my phone it often stopped recording due to the poor signal in the wilds of East Yorkshire/ Lincolnshire. 

[Snoops]

I've got a forerunner 305, I never use it to tell me where I'm going, just where I've been and how fast etc. it's a wristwatch so useful for running, I use it in family walks too just to keep track. I've got a simple handlebar mount and it does fine. Has a hrm included and you can get a cadence sensor for 30 quid. I like it for what it tells me after the fact. And if I do a run I can keep going if I've set a target distance rather than give up when I've had enough, which I could use an egg timer for

Second this. I've got the newer version - the 310.
20 hr battery, extremely accurate, HR, bombproof (designed for triathlons so can be used bike, running and is waterproof to 200m, which makes it waterproof when I'm fell running in the hills, unlike the 'waterproof garmins' which don't do very well.)

Basically does what it says on the tin - very well and is pretty versatile

P.S I have tried to avoid Garmin products ever since they chased down George Hincapie, but the tried and tested knowledge of Dark Peak FR said this is the shizzle, and I think they right.