Garmin Edge users

Frannybobs

Thanks to some great advice on here and a fantastic article written by DC Rainmaker online I have ordered the Garmin Edge 800 Bike Computer as the mapping and navigation was of particular interest to me. It is being delivered on Monday,

I ordered the one with the 1:50 base map (Europe) and ordered the HRM separately as that worked out cheaper. I've found online that you can download Open Street Maps rather than pay for their City Navigator software. Has anyone tried either of these options?

Has anyone got any tips on how best to set this up - I'm guessing it would depend on your goals. I want to track my speed, calories burnt, average speed, elevation etc, and to try and "beat myself" on my commute to and from work. I basically love stats and to be able to see graphs of my progress and compare workouts looks to be possible.

Any tips from existing users of Garmin Edge devices greatly appreciated

Cheers,
Fran

Kupe

Congrats on the new swagg. I have an Edge 500, so no upload able maps. However I do believe that the basics are similar.

There are more options in these things than at your local chinese takeaway.
Mine has a max of 3 screens with splits per screen of up to 5/6.
What it comes down to is what info do you want while you are riding and then what info do want when you start analyzing how your ride went. This dictates which screens get what info.

You will also have to set up an account with Garmin, which should prompt you once you plug the device into into your computer.

Make sure that you put all your vitals into your Garmin account and then sync with the Edge as this will then give you a true indication of how you are doing and what your energy expenditure was.

Hope this helps, Enjoy and many happy km's

mikes99mail

the 800 is a great toy, have been very happy with mine. Top tip would be to turn off auto-routing otherwise it tries to take you on all sorts of stupid routes, and gets very confused when you're doing a loop type ride!

(but I dont completely trust it, especially in the wet, the 705 I had before let me down in a big way - I did a 1,000 mile / 7 day ride last year, got home and plugged in the garmin and it'd corrupted all the data.... )

Frannybobs

Thanks for the advice! I guess I'll know what I want when I start using it. At first it's speed, average speed, calories, distance - the basic stuff - then I will discover the more detailed data as I go along I reckon. I think they are something like 5 screens to play with!

Is the auto-routing like a sat-nav which keeps trying to get you to go a certain way when you know that road is closed? I'd like to use that at some point, as one of my friends lives 19 miles away and I'd like to do that on my bike but the way I go in the car is the motorway so would be good to have a bike sat-nav, but hopefully it won't send me down a motorway!!!

It's coming tomorrow as they needed to do some security checks on my billing address because I am having it shipped to my parent's house so the addresses differ. Ah well - I can wait that long I reckon!!

RedSunshine365

I have a much older 305...so not sure what the 800 does or not, but...

I set mine to auto-pause when I hit 2.0mph and I also bought a cadence unit. Also, you can upload your workout directly from your Garmin to Endomondo or Strava (in addition to Garmin Connect and I'm sure many others) which is fun if you like challenges or competing against other people riding on the same routes that you do.

TheBigYin

...I ordered the one with the 1:50 base map (Europe) and ordered the HRM separately as that worked out cheaper. I've found online that you can download Open Street Maps rather than pay for their City Navigator software. Has anyone tried either of these options?

I originally bought my 705 just after it's release (early adopter syndrome) and i'v lost count of the patches and firmware downloads I've been through on it. Finally, a few months ago, they seemed to get a version that actually works properly. Sadly, the regularity of updates to the system firmware doesn't extend to the mapping. I bought the pack with the road mapping, and frankly it was very poor. Not only that, but as far as I know, they don't do updates - you have to re-buy a new one. So - I went for the open street map solution. Much better, updated (not frequently, but often enough) and best of all free.

Has anyone got any tips on how best to set this up - I'm guessing it would depend on your goals. I want to track my speed, calories burnt, average speed, elevation etc, and to try and "beat myself" on my commute to and from work. I basically love stats and to be able to see graphs of my progress and compare workouts looks to be possible.

Any tips from existing users of Garmin Edge devices greatly appreciated

Cheers,
Fran

The Garmin "head unit" pretty much tracks everything - there's a whole list of things in the manual - the "setting up" only really configures what's displayed on the screen - even if you don't display it while you're riding, it'll still be recording it for analysis at a later date, when d/l'ed into your computer. If you want an analysis package on your computer, then I can happily recommend either Goldencheetah - http://goldencheetah.org/ especially if you're playing around with power data - and as a logging program with lots of extensibility, I think that SportsTracks 3 is porbably up there with the best of them - http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

CDGolden

The Garmin "head unit" pretty much tracks everything - there's a whole list of things in the manual - the "setting up" only really configures what's displayed on the screen - even if you don't display it while you're riding, it'll still be recording it for analysis at a later date, when d/l'ed into your computer. If you want an analysis package on your computer, then I can happily recommend either Goldencheetah - http://goldencheetah.org/ especially if you're playing around with power data - and as a logging program with lots of extensibility, I think that SportsTracks 3 is porbably up there with the best of them - http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

I will second Sports Tracks 3...I think this version is a pay version, but you maybe able to find V2 online someplace. As for setting up your Garmin, as others have said, plug in your basics, height, weight, age, HR zones if you like and it does the math. I have been running a 705 from the week or 2 after they came out just like "thebigyin", its good but has had its growing pains.

I have used the turn by turn nav. on my 705 as I own the disk for US maps to share with my 60csx. It works fine, its fun but not something I would use regularly unless I was touring or sightseeing someplace I was not familiar with.

Chris

TheBigYin

Version 3 is a pay version, but it has an "evaluation" level of operation that is pretty much fully functional, apart from it has a restricted number of functional plug-in's. I worked with this for over a year with no problems whatsoever, and only really ended up getting the full version as I needed the ability to impost polar .HRM files from my Tacx trainer and convert them to .TCX so I could have ALL my training online in Garmin Connect to keep my health practitioner abreast of what riding I was doing (my Physio uses GC to check on my progress and that I wasn't over-training etc.) To get a .HRM import and a .TCX export plug in, along with the Withings Scale importer working at the same time, I needed to register (only a few euros... peanuts really. Literally - I spend more on peanut butter in a year than I did on the software :laugh:)

Frannybobs

That's fantastic extra information - thanks all.

I used it for the first time yesterday - set up 5 data screens I think - I like to see my Heart Rate and cals (although the burn seems significantly lower than my Polar HRM and I have plugged all my personal data in). I set Auto Lap to 1 mile, so I get 1 mile splits, and like to see ascent and gradient. Also now I have recorded my commute both ways and saved them both as courses I can race myself!

@TheBigYin : My next task is to get maps on there. I'm looking into the OpenStreetMaps at the moment, which are the best? I've seen recommendations for RideWithGPS, BikeRouteToaster and BikeHike.co.uk - where did you get yours from? I am hoping to use turn by turn navigation at some point so I'm guessing a routable one. I'm sure I saw on one website that you can get one with the Cycle Network routes (UK) on there....

Cheers - one happy Garmin Edge 800 user here :-D

TheBigYin

Ah - you're in god's own country... I didn't check, so didn't give specific recommendations as to downloads etc...

I went though the Wiki page (that's what I bookmarked anyway!) , and iirc, ended up with the Talkytoaster page...

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download

http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm

Can't be much more specific, as I'm using a 705, rather than the 800, so you may have more options etc., but what the hell - they're free anyway, so just download one give it a try, and swap until you find one you like...

TheBigYin

had a quick "sniff around" on the computer, and it appears i'm using "120629-British-Isles+Contours-Routable-OS50tt-GMAPSUPP.zip" which has been pretty much spot on!

Frannybobs

Cheers !! Yep, God's own water-drenched country, in fact, God's own city (Manchester) !!!!

After much deliberation I was between Velomaps & TalkyToaster and have gone with TalkyToaster first to see how I get on

Thanks for all the help

Frannybobs

I loaded both Velomap and TalkyToaster full GB map with contours. The TalkyToaster one was much clearer to look at - had more details on.

dexradio

Frank Kinlans Blog has a great "Dummies Guide" here http://frank.kinlan.co.uk/garmin-edge-800/dummies-guide-to-the-garmin-edge-800/

As far as uploading your rides to evaluate, the Garmin Connect website is good for most things. You can now create workouts and courses there to upload to your 800. And its free http://connect.garmin.com/ The biggest complaint I have about it is the "Explore" feature which I still can't understand and I've been using Garmin Connect since it was launched (and MotionBased before Garmin took it over). But everything else works very well.

Dex.

EDIT: Hmmm sorry, not sure why the links aren't clickable? You will have to cut and paste :-/

TheBigYin

I'm thinking it might be time to swap my Garmin 705 for the 800. Yesterday, out for my normal 50km loop, it was raining - hard. 2/3 of the way around this ride, there's a fairly steep hill to climb - maybe 1/2 mile at 5-8% upslope. For the entire duration of this slope, my Garmin was reading -1/-2% - i.e. a gentle DOWNSLOPE. When I returned home, it said i'd climbed a grand total of 788ft and descended 876ft. After importing the file, and applying elevation corrections the figures altered to a far more representative 1925/1866ft. I'm guessing that the barometric sensor is on the fritz...

Frannybobs

Yeah I've not quite worked out the elevation bit of it yet. I've now done two commutes to work and two commutes from work on it, and the elevations were all different. It does say about if I know the elevation to enter that, but it should still show the same ascent and descent figures regardless of starting elevation surely? I'm sure it's something I've not set up right, but not fathomed it out yet!

Also, I went to compare the 2 runs to work and I couldn't see that you could overlay graphs of the two, so see your speed in both runs on the same graph. Maybe I have to export it to Excel for that.

I know I haven't scratched the surface with the functionality of it yet so it's going to be fun doing it :-)

Frannybobs

Oh and thanks for the blog reference @DexRadio I've bookmarked to read it later, looks pretty comprehensive at first glance!

TheBigYin

Yeah I've not quite worked out the elevation bit of it yet. I've now done two commutes to work and two commutes from work on it, and the elevations were all different. It does say about if I know the elevation to enter that, but it should still show the same ascent and descent figures regardless of starting elevation surely? I'm sure it's something I've not set up right, but not fathomed it out yet!

Also, I went to compare the 2 runs to work and I couldn't see that you could overlay graphs of the two, so see your speed in both runs on the same graph. Maybe I have to export it to Excel for that.

I know I haven't scratched the surface with the functionality of it yet so it's going to be fun doing it :-)

One trick with elevation is to set a waypoint for your home, and ensure that the elevation is the ACTUAL elevation of the building. Then when you start the GPS running by pressing the START button at the beginning of a ride, it will automatically check if there's a waypoint, and amend the starting altitude to the figure in the waypoint. I know it works this way on the 705, and I can't think they'd have dropped this facility on the 800.

Frannybobs

Yeah I've not quite worked out the elevation bit of it yet. I've now done two commutes to work and two commutes from work on it, and the elevations were all different. It does say about if I know the elevation to enter that, but it should still show the same ascent and descent figures regardless of starting elevation surely? I'm sure it's something I've not set up right, but not fathomed it out yet!

Also, I went to compare the 2 runs to work and I couldn't see that you could overlay graphs of the two, so see your speed in both runs on the same graph. Maybe I have to export it to Excel for that.

I know I haven't scratched the surface with the functionality of it yet so it's going to be fun doing it :-)

One trick with elevation is to set a waypoint for your home, and ensure that the elevation is the ACTUAL elevation of the building. Then when you start the GPS running by pressing the START button at the beginning of a ride, it will automatically check if there's a waypoint, and amend the starting altitude to the figure in the waypoint. I know it works this way on the 705, and I can't think they'd have dropped this facility on the 800.

Ah that makes sense - I'll give that a go, thanks!

phil85207

My 800 came with the city maps and cadence, and has been mostly trouble free. One thing I my mention is that my old garmin had a much better HR strap. Not as flexible maybe but works much better. I got a lot of HRs of in the 200s with the new strap and I am no where close to that HR. IF you have trouble with it, the old style strap may be an answer. Good luck and be safe. Phil

TheBigYin

My 800 came with the city maps and cadence, and has been mostly trouble free. One thing I my mention is that my old garmin had a much better HR strap. Not as flexible maybe but works much better. I got a lot of HRs of in the 200s with the new strap and I am no where close to that HR. IF you have trouble with it, the old style strap may be an answer. Good luck and be safe. Phil

Yeah - the old style plastic one was a bit unpleasantly sweaty, and nowhere near as comfortable as the new one, but I've reald of all sorts of people having problems with the new-style band and HR "Spiking" - mainly, I'll admit, on the Tacx Turbo Trainer support website (the Tacx machines support Ant+ heart rate bands, and indeed Tacx sell a re-branded Garmin HR belt as an accessory to their fancy computerised trainers.) I've got both, and I've just started using the new type - mainly because the old HR belt's elastic has so many broken rubber strands over the last 2 years of usage, it barely holds the belt in place anymore. Haven't had the new one long enough to have experienced any problems as yet, but I'm keeping an eye out for 'em.