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Hopefully good for somebody 🙂
£129 on Amazon at the moment. As far as I can tell they've never been that cheap before. I've been trying for ages to get something similar but they're always that price used on eBay.
Same price in Halfords right now so extra 10% discount if you’re with BC
10% off Halfords via Blue Light Card also 😉
10% off with an AA card too!
Doesn't the BC discount exclude cycling technology? It says it does on the voucher.
Argh! And I thought i got a good deal
Is this the one that talks to Ant+ or the version they decided to disable that for?
The description is vague and the answers in the Q&A are just one liners.
I prefer my Garmins to talk to a chest strap HRM and Cadence sensor...
Bit of research and yep it talks to Ant+, I'm certainly tempted, it's basically the same price as an Edge 130...
Says European maps preloaded, does that include the UK? should do right?
Although is the mapping just going to be a bit bobbins anyway, and get overwritten with something better?
It works with a HR strap, I use it all the time.
Apparently you can connect other meters, and you can get third party apps to display the data but not record it. Not tried cadence.
The mapping does include UK and is pretty good. They are vector maps unlike the OS ones, and they are sometimes actually better than OS because there are more trails. Round here they also include some (but not all) of the cheeky homemade MTB trails. Routing is now good, unlike the older Edge Touring.
You can also change the amount of detail visible on the maps, which is useful, and you can route to addresses and POIs which is occasionally useful. I plan routes on Strava and there's an app on the device that just syncs with them. I'm dead happy with it as a nav and recording device.
The nice man from Amazon has just placed one on my doorstep after I ordered it on prime day......blimey its bigger than I expected(fnaar)
This is tempting ,what is the real life battery experiences of people when following courses/routes with map screen open at a medium brightness? My old 800 struggles doing this for more than 4-5hrs I'm hoping this newer unit is an improvement ?.
interested too as my 810 only just covers a 70mile road ride with navigation
does it do pedal dynamics stuff with vectors? assume it does
does it do pedal dynamics stuff with vectors? assume it does
No, there is no power meter support. That isn't what this computer is about.
This is tempting ,what is the real life battery experiences of people when following courses/routes with map screen open at a medium brightness? My old 800 struggles doing this for more than 4-5hrs I’m hoping this newer unit is an improvement ?.
About 8 hours for me if navigating, but I have the screen brightness lower than that. It does have a battery saver mode but I find it a bit glitchy.
I've been singing the praises of the Explore on here - mine must've heard me so it decided to freeze when out on a ride last week. Had to take a detour to get back up to 100km 😉
what is the real life battery experiences of people when following courses/routes with map screen open at a medium brightness?
The only time I've run it until it conked out, was 12 hours (with a switch to battery saver mode about halfway through). The times I've run it without conking out have generally pointed to similar runtimes.
As above, battery saver mode does seem to occasionally bring one or two Garmin Bugs out of the woodwork (different ones depending on what version of firmware you have).
I get 12 hours from my Edge Touring, hoping for similar from the Edge Explore I picked up earlier 🙂
It's an immediate win over the Edge Touring by having a much nicer screen.
I ordered one that should be delivered tomorrow. Was gonna buy one at £180 a couple of weeks ago so well happy about this.
Mine arrived today. Not used it yet but touchscreen is responsive and komoot connected really easily. It has ant+ for whoever was asking.
Here's a question, WRT battery life can it take a charge from a powerbank/dynamohub while recording/navigating?
TBH 8 odd hours would do me fine 99% of the time, but for a big trip a powerbank option would be nice, noting the poor position of the old fashioned power connector...
Here’s a question, WRT battery life can it take a charge from a powerbank/dynamohub while recording/navigating?
I can't see why not, even my old 800 would do that.
I think it can charge whilst being used. I can check later.
Re battery life - you can use it with the screen brightness all the way off, if it's at all sunny or bright, which helps. Also battery save mode works well for me. Screen stays off until you get to a turn or you touch it, then it goes off again.
It's not a deal breaker TBH, and having skimmed the DCR review comments it looks like you can charge on the move...
I expect the shorter battery life over a 520 is simply down to having a bigger, brighter screen to power from about the same capacity battery.
I do wonder if this being dropped in price is a quick offload of units by garmin before a replacement comes out, perhaps something with more battery life and/or works with the 530/830 battery pack?
Yes, it’ll charge while running. However the port is on the underside of the unit, so you need to choose your cable/mount/position carefully.
Everything seems positive about this so I've got one on the way too - thanks for the PSA poe82 .
With regards to the turn prompting on it-I have always made my own GPX routes in an old Memory Map program,would the device smart enough in an offroad situation to know/guess and prompt that theres a turn coming up or does it need the route to have the information embedded in the GPX already , made by a specific app- like the Garmin ones for example ? If it is smart enough - I'm thinking it would really save/extend battery life.
Upgrade your base map too.
The base Garmin map is very out of date.
Look at TalkyToaster where you can buy maps (£11 or so). . TT’s maps include contours, rerouting etc without talking to the phone
https://shop.talkytoaster.me.uk/
Or the free one without the above
Free TalkyToaster map – https://shop.talkytoaster.me.uk/product/free-british-isles-map-ready-for-use-with-garmin-devices-nonroutable-contours
I have a Garmin Touring and it was very glitchy, bit better now. Hardly use it now as I prefer my 130, which if anyone is interested can be charged on the move.
Handy tip for transferring routes from Strava to a Garmin is to click the star icon on a Strava route (favourite it?) and the next time you sync your Garmin to Garmin Connect the route will now be on your device.
The device calculates turn by turn directions when you start navigating the GPX you've uploaded. Or TCX etc.
It's optional though. If you don't want TBT it'll just display your route on the map and chirp if you go off course. But that's also optional.
Thanks for the PSA - the USB port on my 810 has started getting a bit erratic, so been looking to change to something newer - have ordered and will see how we get on when it lands. Looks like it'll do most of what I want a bike computer to do without all the fancy performance metrics that I've never used on my 810. I assume elevation/ascent/descent are interpolated from contour lines as no barometric pressure sensor?
is any9one using these for mtb route following? How do they rate them for that?
I assume elevation/ascent/descent are interpolated from contour lines as no barometric pressure sensor?
Correct. And a significant underestimate IME. I just ignore it now.
So I've just pushed the button on one of these. Will hopefully collect from Halfords later today.
I used mine on the commute to work for the first time today, just to get a feel for it.
I haven't played with any settings yet - how do you get it to select minor roads over main roads? There are loads of little country roads which shadow the main roads into my work but everytime I deviated it tried to reroute me back to the nearest main road. Does it make a difference if you download different maps like talkytoaster etc?
On the older device routing priority is fixed but the type of route for each road was in the map, and Talkie Toaster maps tweak these.
You can choose routing type but it's not clear what the effects are - experiment.
Routing by default is done with trailforks, so popular routes get used. You can turn this off.
If I am using the device itself for route planning I put a couple of waypoints along the route to force it to go a particular way. Or I just use Strava etc to do it and get it how I want it. The device does not change a route you've uploaded to it, unless you deviate then it will route you back onto it.
is any9one using these for mtb route following? How do they rate them for that?
It's pretty good at getting you places. It uses trailforks so if you are MTBing it should take you on well used trails. But I nearly always plan using Strava and the heatmap so I can understand the route a bit better. The few times I've used it whilst out, it's been sensible.
It's never going to be perfect for recreational riding, it's not an MTB guide. It does as well as it can, but it's got no idea of what you actually want out of a ride - if you just want to get somewhere or you're looking for the best gnar. In the latter case it has no idea how to determine that because the data's not really available. I mean it uses trail popularity, but I am often riding a road through a particular area beacause I just want to get home, even though there are good trails; or sometimes a trail is good in the dry but bad in the wet so I avoid it. This means that popularity routing is only a very basic tool.
Just received mine to (hopefully) replace an 820 which infuriated more than it was useful when it came to maps and navigation - hoping the larger screen (and higher resolution) will be an improvement.
Following on from the question above - what map / settings do people find best for following a route off-road? I've struggled to find a good combination that has sufficient detail but doesn't lose the actual track in a mess of colour.. often end up wishing for my old 25 breadcrumb trail!
how do you get it to select minor roads over main roads?
There are a couple of settings: “Avoid highways” in the routing settings (which only avoids really major roads) and something like “Activity type” or “Ride type” somewhere, which gives you options like road, mixed terrain etc.
That said, I’ve always found you end up either being routed on big, fast roads with the “road” option or up sheep tracks with “mixed terrain”. There’s no option like “prefer minor roads” and if you deviate then you’ll need to go about a hundred miles off course before the “recalculate route” command finally figures out that you don’t want to be on the trunk road you’ve been deliberately riding away from.
It’s great for riding pre-planned routes, but if you like quiet tarmac then IME the on-device routing still sucks.
@bez it really does. I just played around with the settings on the way home and every single time when faced with a choice it took the most dangerous. There seems no logic either - seemed like it was programmed by a car driver who wanted to make the least turns to get home.
Also 3hrs of use on 50% brightness and I'm at 58% battery...oh and no temp field
Hmmmm glad I didn't sell my 520
On the plus side the touch screen works very well.
Mine turned up today-and I like it so far,everything seems easier ,course installs( more than 2 at a time) ,clearer visually and snappier than my old 800 so heres hoping it does OK out and about .
Is there a link or have I missed the boat anyway?
seemed like it was programmed by a car driver who wanted to make the least turns to get home.
TBF it probably was.
It could well be a porting/adaptation of some of their old car GPS software. Think about it, auto-routing is what a car GPS needs to do by default and the options on offer sound like the sort of thing you'd expect from one...
It follows Trailforks for routing by default. It puts you on the most popular route, not the quietest most scenic one. Take a look at the Strava heat map - many of the most popular routes are the big ones, for some reason. You can also turn this feature off.
Ordered an Edge Explore from Halfords yesterday. Picked it up this morning, got it home only to find box was empty!
Rang store they said come in and we'll sort it out.
Go back to store but they didn't have anymore in stock but could get one in for Thursday or I could have a refund and re-order from a nearby Halfords.
So I got a refund but now the price has gone up to £219, very frustrating!
Mine turned up yesterday, and is off to Santa. I've already got a 705 and a 200, but this will be way better for MTBing
Picked one up from Halfords yesterday for my birthday in November. Better get my wife to check it's in the box!
In store it was showing as £229 but they honoured the online price and gave 10% off with Blue Light.
Mine has arrived.
It's a lot of device for the money. I think I'll be using the lanyard Just to be on the safe side with this one...
I also don't think there's much point in me having more than one data screen.
The touch screen is so much slicker to operate than on my 510.
The extra data screen is useful if you are doing laps or racing or something.
Maybe, and if this was your only GPS toy that might make sense, but this ain't a device pitched at racers.
If I was racing (unlikely TBH these days) I think I'd actually want to use something smaller and more basic, unless we're talking endurance racing but then the battery life becomes an issue again...
Basically racers shouldn't be buying an edge explore, at least not for racing (IMO of course)...
Are people who bagged one of these still happy with them a few weeks on? Battery life decent? I'm a roadie and only concern about it is lack of barometer which would be a bit annoying if it's massively out. Guess Strava correction will sort that post-hoc.
Missed the boat and thinking of getting one if they re-appear at the reduced price during the whole black Friday malarkey.
Edit - should have googled when thanksgiving is (26/11) before making this post.
I'm pretty pleased with mine, battery life is Just about sufficient for a solid day of riding or three 2-3hr rides.
I use it it with a HRM and a cadence sensor as these are the most useful measures of effort for me, and only bother to have total ride ascent displayed as an indicator...
I haven't tried out navigation much yet though, I'm not sure how much following a route spanks the battery, or indeed how effectively plugging in a power bank Will extended it.
The touch screen is good, but being so sensitive I tend to lock it while on a ride as I only have one data screen up...
Good: touch screen, size of display, speed of rerouting, price (@129) , accuracy of data even without a barometer.
Bad: battery life, no temp reading, battery life.
On the whole its a win at the price I bought it for but I wouldn't have paid anymore and ultimately I think that 8 hrs is too short a battery as it won't even last a full day riding in some circumstances. For that reason I will probably punt it on fairly soon.
On the battery life point, just as a non-scientific experiment last night I plugged in an cheapo mini power bank happened to have (1500mAh/1x18650) into the explore (not recording, just on with auto power off disabled).
It went from displaying 68% to 86% when I came back to it a couple of hours later and appeared to have drained and powerbank (or at least drop the current so low it couldn't draw anything more) so +20ish% from something dinky enough to just tape to the bars might extend running time by a couple of hours (depending on use).
So a bigger, better (but bulkier) 10,000mAh powerbank should be able to fully charge it, but to that's an Extra lump to lug about Vs the battery life of a newer 530/830... something to consider if you plan to use it for longer/multiday rides or actually exploring...
Only used mine once. In foul weather on a four ish hour ride. It performed brilliantly, showed me some great new routes in an area I thought I knew. Easy to follow route, screen was great. Used about 50% battery but was not in saver mode.
So a bigger, better (but bulkier) 10,000mAh powerbank should be able to fully charge it, but to that’s an Extra lump to lug about Vs the battery life of a newer 530/830…
Mine fully recharges from a 3000 mAh battery with plenty to spare. I get about 8 hours if navigating, 10 hours if not.
7/10
Upgraded with Talky Toaster Maps.
Been great when out on open, exposed moorland criss-crossed by occasional tracks (the Ochils). Change my mind, scroll the map, drop a pin on my newly-chosen destination and then follow the trail through the clag.
Navigation following a route is a bit prompt-heavy.
Certainly beats digging my phone out every few minutes for ViewRanger (and OS maps don't show any of the trails I follow).
Food for thought, thanks for replies.
Hardly ever do a ride that would test the battery life if it goes over 6hrs, but if the battery deteriorates over the course of a year or two then it could be a problem. I don't really want to be replacing it every two years. The lack of barometer is a minus too.
The edge 1030 for £300 looks worth it while these are going for £180, but maybe still tempted with the explore if it reappears at £130.
Are people who bagged one of these still happy with them a few weeks on? Battery life decent? I’m a roadie and only concern about it is lack of barometer which would be a bit annoying if it’s massively out.
I still love mine (can you tell?), but the lack of barometer never bothered me, I don't think I need accurate readings.
The best thing about this device is what you get for the money.
The battery saver mode works pretty well, if you are concerned about battery, and given that I only use it when down to my last 10-15% it seems to make a very big difference.
Has anyone had any issues with their phone strugglng to connect? I've been having a few
I guess Garmin (still?) have issues with battery consistency.
Like I say, I've had 12 hours out of mine, navigating. That's the only time I've drained it in one go, but I'm fairly confident mine performs consistently with Garmin's claims, both in normal and battery saver modes. That said, my past experience of Garmin devices (notably Edges and Virbs) has generally been some way short of their claims, and it seems other people get quite variable results.
I think the Explore's battery is something like 1200MAh or so, which means even a cheap single-cell USB battery (2600Mah) should easily fully recharge it. If you're getting a 20% boost from a claimed 1500MAh battery then my suspicion would be that you have a crappy external battery.
Has anyone had any issues with their phone strugglng to connect? I’ve been having a few
Yeah, that's a Garmin Connect issue I think. It was generally patch, then I upgraded the device to 5.2 and it wouldn't connect at all until I re-installed and re-paired everything, now it seems better than before.
Has anyone had any issues with their phone strugglng to connect? I’ve been having a few
Have done once or twice in the past. Seems to be playing ball at the moment.
Fundamentally, as good as it is by Garmin's standards, the Explore is still subject to their firmware bug lottery. I regret upgrading mine, which took me from one significant but mildly irritating bug to a more significant and quite problematic one which was almost the polar opposite of the first. (There is a third party website where old versions are archived, but they don't go back far enough to include the version mine came with.)
OK so I've done 4hrs with no nav and I'm on 52%
Clearly my battery will not do anywhere near 12hrs
How does it work with Garmin - am I allowed to send it back under warranty? (bought through amazon)
Amazon are usually pretty good, just say it doesn’t meet the description or whatever the equivalent response is, fill in the comments to explain it, and you’ll probably be fine for a refund. If that fails then go to Garmin and see what they say.
OK so I’ve done 4hrs with no nav and I’m on 52%
Clearly my battery will not do anywhere near 12hrs
1. Li-ion batteries need a few cycles to reach capacity so give it a couple of weeks.
2. What screen brightness did you have it on? A quoted 12 hours is going to be on the lowest brightness. I find that it's quite usable on lower settings. There's also an adaptive display function you could turn that off.
3. You could try battery saver - it's quite usable IME, you just need to touch the screen for it to come on.
"1. Li-ion batteries need a few cycles to reach capacity so give it a couple of weeks."
I've found this not to be true of modern batteries. In my experience a crap battery is obvious from day one. I don't want to faff around with settings to get close to a reasonable battery life really. The brightness was set to 40%.
Seems to be swings and roundabouts with garmin, my 520 has been excellent and the battery lasts if anything longer than the stated max.
I'll use it till the end of the week but I'm not expecting the battery life to improve.
How are people getting on with theirs?
I’m about to pull the trigger on one but at £169 as it’s the cheapest I’ve seen it for months...unless anyone wants to sell theirs that is 😉. Does it come with an out front mount and if not how do you mount yours? It’s a lot more prone to damage there on a MTB as opposed to on a roadie...
Comes with a 1/4 turn mount that is bungied onto your stem.
Really like mine, it's just the job. I bought a cheap mount from CRC that works. Never really explored what's in the box.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/lifeline-out-front-mount-for-garmin-edge/rp-prod155367
Mine is on its way back to Garmin at the moment. One of the tabs on the bottom snapped off, and Garmin are replacing it. I use it daily on an 8 mile commute. I charge it, and my lights, once a week.
I need to explore the functions to get the most out of it. Currently it is recording my activity, and that is it. I know that my Alfine needs a service...
Any one else experiencing a blank screen after starting to record? The unit is on and the track is recording (it beeps at turn intervals) but the screen is blank and unresponsive. It's done it a few times now and it's really annoying.. you have to do a hard power-off to reset it...
Any one else experiencing a blank screen after starting to record?
Is it on battery save mode? Sounds like it.
I'm wondering if Garmin know full well that there are yet more issues with the Edge Explore and are quietly letting it die off with retailers selling their stock off. That was the way that the Edge Touring went.
And I know how bad that is because I have one. I kept looking at the Explore when it was on sale and could never quite convince myself to buy another Garmin.
Is it on battery save mode? Sounds like it.
I think I've tried it with and without.. the screen doesn't respond when you tap it in either case.
3 rides with my new EE. Not impressed with battery life. I bought it predominantly for off-road navving in new areas. I’ve done a 3 hr off road and a 2 hr road ride not using the map for nav, battery dead. Today I did a 3 hr roadie not using maps to nav from, battery down to 53%. This seems a bit shit to say to least. Would this stand up to a full day’s map navving in the Lakes? I very much doubt it. Read beforehand about the battery - some seem ok, some seemed like they had issues so bit of a lottery. Seems mine is a duffer - not happy. What can I do about it?
Sounds like you might have a problem but - how long did you leave it between those two rides? When you press the button it doesn't turn off, it goes to standby. For me it can lose a lot of battery power in a week on standby. But mine is ok for probably 9-10 hours of riding. You could consider turning the screen down of course but I find battery saver mode pretty usable. It comes to live when you touch the screen or get to a turning.
What can I do about it?
Talk to Garmin of course, who else?
8 days between ride 2 and 3. It was def off and charged to 100% prior to today’s 3rd ride - lost half the juice in 3 hours whilst it wasn’t having to work particularly hard...
On Amazon Prime Day at £149
Today I did a 3 hr roadie not using maps to nav from, battery down to 53%. This seems a bit shit to say to least.
Since the last firmware update, I've had this problem on mine. However, the problem is the battery indicator, not the battery. My unit lasted about two hours with the battery showing 0%.
I’m on my second unit which has the battery display issue, it’s going back to Garmin. Hopefully will be third time lucky but I won’t be holding my breath
I did a 5.5hr ride a couple of weeks ago and it went down to just over 50% charge, with HRM and phone connected. Although the display brightness was way down, it didn't matter as I can still see it in daylight just fine without the backlight.