Originally Posted by
Drew Eckhardt
That's what current model navigation capable Garmin bike computers with full ANT+ sensor support cost - Garmin's Edge 1000 is $500, and prior to the spring sale the Edge 810 was $400 plus maps at least $40 extra (although you can install your own free maps built with Open Street Map data).
There isn't any reason to expect that the car navigation market and the cycle navigation market work the same way.
The cycle navigation market is smaller and less competitive than the car navigation market. Those things work to make the cycling products more expensive.
The cycling units have to be much smaller with battery life. That means they either will cost more to have the same features or lack features to keep the costs down.
Another problem that car and cycling navigation markets are contending with is that many people already have cell phones that work as navigational units. Something that costs $450 might just lead people to use their cell phone instead. It's easier to use a cell phone in the car than on a bicycle.