Recommend a Garmin

harringtonp

Have had an Edge 705 and Garmin 500 for years and they are both pretty much dead now... enough wrong with them to make using them difficult (was ready to feck the 705 over the wall during a lunchtime session and 500 is worse).

I'm looking for something modern along the lines of the 500. It should be

- light and compact
- resilient, if touch screen want to be able to lock it out so falling rain doesn't upset it (like on your phone) and would like buttons for lap, stop and restart
- good value

I'm not concerned about modern features or maps just need to be able to monitor power, heartrate, cadence.

Any pointers as to which models to start looking into ?

seanin4711

Bryton rider 530.
Does heaps for 160€

joey100

I moved from garmin to wahoo and find it better. Use the wahoo elemnt but think the bolt is there 500-equivalent, easy to set up, easy to use and a neater package.

C3PO

I've swopped from the Garmin 500 to 520 - definitely recommend it!

brownian

Love the 520, but don't use the HR or anything v fancy. V. reliable and simple. Needs charging every few rides, tho.

pikefisher

never had a garmin but just got the wahoo element bolt package and love it

Plastik

A Wahoo Elemnt Bolt.

harringtonp

seanin4711 wrote: »

Bryton rider 530.
Does heaps for 160€

You mentioned the right manufacturer but wrong device !

After reading the 530 saw a link to the 310

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/gps-devices/product/bryton-rider-310-review-50686/

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/bryton-rider-310-e-524431?delivery_country=71&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq73_r5Xc1gIViLztCh21_goOEAQYASABEgIASfD_BwE

which fits all the above requirements

terrydel

harringtonp wrote: »

You mentioned the right manufacturer but wrong device !

After reading the 530 saw a link to the 310

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/gps-devices/product/bryton-rider-310-review-50686/

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/bryton-rider-310-e-524431?delivery_country=71&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq73_r5Xc1gIViLztCh21_goOEAQYASABEgIASfD_BwE

which fits all the above requirements

I've the most baisc garmin 200 edge and cant see a need for anything else.
Surely one of the great things abotu cycling is getting away from the always-connected, data obsessed world we currently live in?
As an aside, those bikeradar reviews, the 'beer of choice' thng in the writer bio is surely as toe curlingly cringeworthy as it gets?!

harringtonp

Right nothing like a broken device messing a training session up to get moving

Order from Mantel 1 x Bryton Rider 310 E for 85 euro including delivery (no explicit delivery charge).

And as I've got my order in before 5pm they're telling me I can expect delivery on Monday.,

See there is a Mantel Irl website, the new chainreaction perhaps...

tuxy

I'm surprised about the garmin 500, mine has been bullet proof. Although I've only tracked 14,000 km with it, maybe you have used yours much more.

Weepsie

I've a Garmin 500, 510 and both are great. The 510 drops the phone connection a bit too often though for quick saving and other features. I've a Vivoactive and Vicoactive HR. Both are good alternatives. The HR is more fully featured but I've used them both out cycling and I always have one on me anyway.

Also have a Bryton 50 and 60, and had the 21 and 40. Loved the 40, as good as the Garmin 500 until it just died mid ride never to recover. The 50 was second hand from the UK and takes an age to get a signal so only ever been back up. The 60 is great, but for the pointless bluetooth integration and Bryton have kind of stopped supporting their old computers even though this was their flagship Garmin 800/1000 competitor.

Also have some MIO comps. The cyclo 105 is a good Garmin 500/510 alternative.

However to answer your original question.

If a Garmin that you can just go buy now, probably the 520 or Vivoactive HR.

I am precisely the opposite of terrydel, I've a gadget and data addiction sometimes. Probably comes with the profession

harringtonp

harringtonp wrote: »

Right nothing like a broken device messing a training session up to get moving

Order from Mantel 1 x Bryton Rider 310 E for 85 euro including delivery (no explicit delivery charge).

And as I've got my order in before 5pm they're telling me I can expect delivery on Monday.,

See there is a Mantel Irl website, the new chainreaction perhaps...

Nothing like CRC for delivery, it arrived but not until late Thursday evening, 6 days after ordering

harringtonp

Very impressed with the Bryton Rider 310. In terms of design way better the the Garmin Edge 310. A lot of thought has gone into usage... bit like Apple when Steve Jobs was around.

Only negative for me is that Golden Cheetah doesn't process the fit files correctly for some reason (power and cadence figures are all wrong). Strava is fine with the files

seanin4711

does a lot for the money

Wishbone Ash

terrydel wrote: »

I've the most baisc garmin 200 edge and cant see a need for anything else...

If they added the time of day on it, it would have been a great little unit.

(Time of day is important when commuting and would save the hassle of taking out the phone especially in wet weather).

Eamonnator

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

If they added the time of day on it, it would have been a great little unit.

(Time of day is important when commuting and would save the hassle of taking out the phone especially in wet weather).

If you hold down the bottom left button, time of day is displayed on top left of screen.

Wishbone Ash

Eamonnator wrote: »

If you hold down the bottom left button, time of day is displayed on top left of screen.

Now you tell me!

It was my first Garmin but haven't used it in about 5 years.

crosstownk

Eamonnator wrote: »

If you hold down the bottom left button, time of day is displayed on top left of screen.

Every day is a school day.

I always wear a watch so not having the time isn't a biggie for me but in winter months having the time on the Edge 200 would have been handy - especially with winter gloves covering my wrist.

I must tell my mate who bought the the 200 from me.

triggermortis

I liked my Garmin 500 and it did all I asked of it. I only upgraded to an 800 after I washed the 500 with my kit and destroyed the display. At the time I was moving abroad and needed maps, but now rarely use them. I like the touch screen and being able to customize the fields displayed, but I find it cumbersome to pair with my other sensors (even though they are all Garmin sensors). Not tried any other computers so can't compare, but I find it a good unit. I got a refurbished unit off of ebay.

RobCyclist

Garmin etrex 30 is a great one and i have no complaints with it. requires double a batteries last a fair while. Fairly cheap on amazon & can have in mounted to your bicycle handlebar.

tuxy

RobCyclist wrote: »

Garmin etrex 30 is a great one and i have no complaints with it. requires double a batteries last a fair while. Fairly cheap on amazon & can have in mounted to your bicycle handlebar.

I have one for hiking and it's great at that. But it's missing loads of stuff people on a bike would want. No Ant+ for heart rate and power. No laps for intervals. About 5 times bulkier and heavier than my garmin 500.
If you had one already and were using it to track your commutes and a few leisure cycles it would do the job but it's not going to cut it as a training tool.
The garmin 520 is only slightly more expensive on amazon.

harringtonp

triggermortis wrote: »

I liked my Garmin 500 and it did all I asked of it. I only upgraded to an 800 after I washed the 500 with my kit and destroyed the display. At the time I was moving abroad and needed maps, but now rarely use them. I like the touch screen and being able to customize the fields displayed, but I find it cumbersome to pair with my other sensors (even though they are all Garmin sensors). Not tried any other computers so can't compare, but I find it a good unit. I got a refurbished unit off of ebay.

These units should be as small as you can get away with. I've owned 2 Garmin 500's and they were great for their time. Buy the Bryton 310 when your 500 packs in, you won't be disappointed

harringtonp

Bryton 310 froze on me during a turbo session and only came free when battery ran down. Used it since on a ride without issues. Emailed support looking for ways to release it, still waiting on a reply.

Anyway I can't train without metrics so decided not to be reliant on a single device. Looking to buy another budget device that is similar to it and the Edge 500 (small, push button and supports ant+) and from a different manufacturer. Best I have come up with so far is

http://www.roadbikereview.com/reviews/lezyne-micro-gps-review

which I can get for 114.

Before I pull the trigger later this afternoon can anybody else suggest anything that competes pricewise (Not looking for a link to the 300E latest and greatest gismo ) ?

harringtonp

Bryton got back, pressing 3 buttons on bottom simultaneously releases it so will try that next time.

Meanwhile the Lezyne arrived, just tried it once and so far so good. It is tiny as photo shows so you need to be organised with your data fields when training (2 fields per page is readable, can take up to 4).

Biggest improvement for me for these devices over older Garmins is ability to get rides to Strava immediately when finished using bluetooth and a phone app