bonz50

ok, so my edge800 arrived yesterday and frankly I'm kind of in awe at how powerful this thing is. much more impressive now that I've really gone thru the device and am beginning to really understand what it is capable of. Aside from that, after getting logged into GarminConnect and looking around at that pretty extensively I'm trying to figure out how Strava, MapMyRide or RideWithGPS add any tangible value to the data that you get from the unit and can manage on GarminConnect.

can someone offer insight to some concrete benefit of these 3rd party tools??

Thanks guys!!! this whole GPS training tool is completely new to me but I want to get as much out of it as I can.

Seattle Forrest

The other sites are "social." (Which is different from social; nobody out on the ride with you to talk to, trade off in the front of a paceline, etc.)

The unit itself is pretty awesome. Best feature on Garmin Connect is the calendar, I think. I upload the interesting stuff I do, and I can look back at when I did certain rides I want to repeat and get an idea when things will be melted out enough. Plus it's good motivation if you need that.

bonz50

even GC has a "social" feed as well, allowing you to 'share' to twitter and facebook and etc. it just seems as though GC is trying to add in most of the features that the others have already. you can search for other 'rides' in the area, see how other riders did on that ride, etc.

seems like strava et al might be better served by those that use smartphones for the ride data, does that about sum it up?

generalkdi

You'll get the most informations out of garmin connect.

The other websites offer more ways to track what your friends does/did. So like bonz50 said, they are pretty much for "social". For example, You can follow people rides on strava and how they did on X segment compared to the others, discover who rode recently near your home, or who did the exact same ride as you. But if you upload only on strava, you won't get all the info you'd get from garming connect. So I always upload to garmin and strava (I reduced my choices to those 2)

bonz50

would the free version of Strava be adequate for "social" side of things? or does the premium version have some other benefits that might not be available on GC?

generalkdi

free is enough, I don't use premium so I cannot say if it has more benefits.

You can look there to know what premium is about : https://app.strava.com/premium?source=dashboard

TromboneAl

I like Garmin Connect best, but each of the sites has some advantages.

Connect doesn't automatically give you times for segments. You can't make the map as big. It doesn't show grade.

It has a great goal system and calendar display.

The latest designers at Garmin Connect apparently have some mental illness, however. For example, they changed the calendar, and made it so much worse, that the chorus of complaints forced them to change it back.

bonz50

at least they listen I guess.

guess I'll experiment with free strava/etc and use GC as my main 'console' for data.

thanks!!!

as an aside re: garmin settings, which data points do you find more helpful to have on your display(s) screen?? are there some you thought were cool to have but never really cared about?

ricebowl

Strava gets my vote mainly because of the segment feature. Not for comparing myself to others but for comparing my previous rides on a particular stretch. I don't believe GC has a comparable feature. Much harder to track info that matters(to me) on GC. I don't care about the overall ride info. Maybe I stopped along the route to enjoy the view, eat, just felt like taking it easy, etc.

But GC let's you set goals strava you have to pay for it. Another f

Don't look at the display much. Usually have HR and cadence. On longer rides riding time, current time, distance ridden, and maybe sunset time.

generalkdi

on your side question :

I use 2 pages and don't have a power meter. (I have a 500, so no maps)

My first page is my usual ride page : Speed, time, avg speed, stuff like that.
My second page is the climbing page : Speed, grade, altitude, gain speed, temp...

I don't plan on having more than 2 pages for now, maybe I'll add one when I'll get a powermeter.

I don't use my HRM strap because I hate that thing, but when I'll get my Smart helmet, I'll put in on my first AND second page)

Seattle Forrest

Current speed (big, taking up enough space to use two fields), ride time, time of day (always available so I don't get carried away and miss a social engagement), distance, temperature, and then depending on the ride, either HRM/CAD or distance to end and one other.

One page left gets me my current elevation and total gain for the ride, with a plot. Grade seemed neat, but wasn't very useful.

Sometimes speed on the map, sometimes no fields there.

I've never found a reason to use the virtual training buddy, and I've had an 800 since it came out.

MattFoley

I used GC to input my HR zones, but that's it. I use Strava to track my rides and stalk my friends, and mapmyride.com to create courses.

I have a HR page (speed, hr zone, HR, avg HR), climbing page (speed, distance, grade, HR) and a commuting page (speed, distance, time, temp) that I flip through depending on my ride.

TromboneAl

Yes, that's the biggest shortcoming of GC. You can do it with laps, but that has to be done during ride -- you can't evaluate segments after the fact.

The goals feature is perfect for training for a century, and is quite motivating.



The interface could be better (e.g. you can't view past, present, and future goals on the same page, and why is a completed goal yellow instead of green?), but it works and it's free.

SpeshulEd 

Strava for the segments.

With my 810, I automatically upload the ride to garmin connect using the garmin connect app.
Then garmin sync automatically uploads the information to strava.

The only thing I have to do at the end of my ride is hit save, go inside and take a shower and then check out my stats.

Gjc985

If you have a power meter then get strava premium. If not you are fine with free strava

evan938

i use 3. GC, Strava, and Ridewithgps. i guess i have some OCD tendancies.

theres things in each i like. yeah, it takes me a little longer to upload, but oh well.

Strava, i like the segments. i like to challenge my old times. i know someone is always gonna be faster than me, so im not really hoping to get any KOMs, just PRs.

GC, i like the lap feature. i dont autolap, but usually i'll have different sections of a ride i want to know about. if i ride to a group ride, i use the ride there as a warm up, then i want to know my data for the "meat" of the ride, then my cool down. i can figure out what im doing on the part of the ride im really trying on, and not the easy pedal to/from the ride

Ridewithgps i really use anymore because it shows grade (when im interested, which is rare anymore since i dont do too many new hills), and because it has all my miles logged since i got into cycling. i also like how easy it is to see my weekly miles/time/etc on RWGPS

TromboneAl

Here's how I have my 305 set up (BTW, it's good to document this in case your device gets reset):



A few unexpectedly useful fields:

Grade: "This feels like I'm going up, but why am I gaining speed."
Sunset: "Do I have to turn around now to make it home before dusk?"
Heading: This is useful because it can tell you which way the wind is blowing -- useful when choosing your route home.

SpeshulEd 

As an aside, I find the Yahoo Weather App on the iphone (haven't tried other phones) to be the most accurate at telling wind speed, sunrise/set times and forcasting weather. At least in my area. It's also nice because it's not littered with ads.