I'm considering one of these, and am looking for opinions from anyone who has used one. I've tried the cell route, but battery drain issues are a problem, and when you add a battery case, none of the waterproof cases work well. Also, when inside the watertight case during hot weather, the phone heats up and shuts down. Not satisfied at all with the phone solution.

First, let me say that I don't have a Garmin 1000 but my riding buddy does and he likes it very much. However, it still requires a full time cell phone connection for some of it's nifty features like "Live Tracking." At one time, I was actually looking at a Garmin 800 but decided to hold off and I'm glad I did because it saved me a lot of money. Next, let me say that the problem people are having with using their phone as a cycling computer is most likely not so much a battery problem but more of a user problem. Most people download apps and leave the default settings as is, not knowing what that app is doing when it's not running. Many of these apps, when left with default settings, use your data services to check back with their developer and/or data servers for updates, notifications and to refresh their data in order to maintain current data when you decide to use them. This burns up battery power. Another issue is opening an app and closing it and thinking that the app is shut down. Not so! It's still running in the background until you stop it from doing so. This is how phones handle multi-threading and multi-tasking. Apps running in the background take up an enormous amount of battery power because they are still performing as if they were on the screen; only you just don't see it. The more apps running in the background, the more battery power is needed. However, riding with the screen turned on in order to see your speed, mileage and other stats is the biggest killer of battery power when using a phone for a cycling computer.

Solution! You can do an internet search on how to optimize your particular phone to increase battery life. There are hacks to do this that are available for almost any phone made. A hack is a set of instructions for changing the behavior of your phone, from it's original or default settings, in order to accomplish a specific task. In this case extending the life of your battery. I've done this with my iPhone 5c, which I use as my cycling computer, and definitely noticed a difference in battery life, even when not used as a cycling computer. In order to keep my screen turned off while riding, the next thing I did was purchase a Wahoo RFLKT+ computer. It's really not a computer but I'll explain that shortly. I also use the Wahoo HR monitor and Wahoo speed/cadence sensors. All three of these devices are connected to my phone via BlueTooth. With this setup, I am currently using up about 10% of my battery per hour. Unless I plan on doing a 10+ hour ride, I don't worry about how much battery life I have since I have done centuries using this setup and still had enough battery life left for emergency calls. Sunday's 52 mile ride lasted almost 4 hours, including stopping for breaks. At the end of that ride, I had 63% battery life left and didn't need to charge my phone until I went to bed.

If you haven't heard about the Wahoo RFLKT ($99.00) and RFLKT+ ($129.00), they are simple devices that connect to your phone via BlueTooth. Only certain cycling apps (the more popular ones) work with these devices, including a free one from Wahoo. When connected, you customize the screen layout you want using the cycling app. On my iPhone, I use Cyclemeter which offers more customization than the others I've seen. Once connected, it displays the data from your phone app on it's screen(s), including data sent to your phone from other connected sensors. Your phone screen stays turned off and you still get your GPS tracking and are able to view any data from your ride without getting out your phone. One difference between the RFLKT and the RFLKT+ is that the RFLKT+ has a built in thermometer and altimeter that do not rely on your phone collecting that data. The main difference is the RFLKT+ has an Ant+ bridge so that if you already have Ant+ sensors, you can use them with your phone as a BlueTooth connection. Unfortunately, the Ant+ bridge only works with iPhones at this time. The RFLKT works with iPhones and Android phones using BlueTooth sensors.

Garmins are nice and have some really good features and some nifty things that they do but you pay a price to have them. Unfortunately for Garmin, top end cell phone apps are now doing the same things and more. Most of my Garmin friends make fun of me because I use my cell phone. That's OK because I get the same features they do, have features they don't and saved myself a lot of money in the process. I'm not trying to talk you out of getting a Garmin but you have already been using your phone, so why not optimize it and get what you need to do the job without breaking the bank?

I've been using my Edge 800 for about 5 years. It's never given me a serious problem. It's still in good condition and the battery still has a great life. Mine is mounted on the stem where it's very easy and convenient to see.

Recently I got a Garmin GPS watch which has a lot of cycling features, similar battery life, counts strokes and laps when I swim, has good running features, and a lot more. If I had it all to do over again I'd strongly consider just going with a watch.

I've used my Edge 1000 for over a year now. It impresses me more and more. So much functionality and it all just works. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

To be fair, that's not really any different from saying "However your cell phone still requires $1,000+ a month in fees to use all the apps that could possibly run on it."

Well...

-Firmware V3.0 issued in May broke my Garmin HRM strap's pairing. That is right. Garmin's own software update broke their own HRM straps. GREAT JOB GARMIN!
-I come to a particular 3-way T-intersection of country roads from the East, my Edge 1000 will full power off completely. Only that intersection and only from the East.
-2 weeks ago I got prompted to install firmware update v2.50 on my device that was already running v5.0
-Hangouts notifications for SMS don't work right...but at least I don't use iPhone as iOS paring has been broken for most people since launch 18 months ago.

Segments as implemented is bug prone and very limited...and how they implemented it is moronic and prone to breakage....and odds are Garmin being Garmin they will never fix it.

Hopefully the Edge 1000 is my last Garmin (305->705->1000), I'm tired of this ****. Hopefully phones will be equal replacements soonerish.

With all due respect, I know what I'm doing with my phone. I shut off all unnecessary background activity, shut down all options that drain battery life, kill all apps not in use, and use a battery monitoring app to spot potential battery killers. And, as I said, once you add an additional battery case, you lose the ability to use watertight cases. And I've yet to see ANY solution for the heat issue. The phone screen needs to be active, heats up, and with no ventilation inside the case, it shuts down. So I'm looking for another solution.

The recent 2.50 ... 2.70 file is for the language text files. That's a separate matter from the 5.10 firmware. They are separate files for separate functions updated on different dates.

I've used the 1000 for a few months now, after a few years of using a 500 and a few years earlier use of a 305.

I like the larger, higher resolution, color screen. I'm pleased with having live maps. It adds more than I'd expected. And I like the live segments feature.

Some days I just ride, and the maps can be helpful there, to help get me where I want to be after exploring new places. And sometimes I want to push myself just for fun, and I'll see if I can set a new PR on a hill, so the live segments is nice.

And some days I want to know that I've gotten a text message, so the Bluetooth connection to the phone is useful.

And yes, it does work.

There's always one

I have one and use it but it's still sort of buggy and the UI is sort of ancient. But it works, it's durable etc... Connectivity for position/location transmission will need a smartphone with bluetooth.

J.

I didn't mean to imply that you didn't know what you were doing with your phone. I posted it because you weren't very clear as to how you were using your phone. The post may also help others that may not be as astute on using a phone as a cycling computer as you already seem to be. However,

(1) There are phone cases that will hold a phone with a protection case or slim battery case. I use one that I got from AltGear.com called a Zixtro Flash. It's not waterproof but it does do a damn good job of keeping out the rain. I've had the same phone case for three years and it's mounted on my aero bars against the handlebar and I've never had my phone get wet in the rain.
(2) Not sure why your phone screen needs to be active. I use a RFLKT to connect to my phone and I get all my ride stats across several customized screens. My phone sits horizontally on the aero bars with the screen facing up. I don't know where you live, but I live in Florida, and the sun hits the screen for my entire ride. Not once have I had it overheat or shut down while riding.

I hope you find the solution that you are looking for.

The point I was trying to make was that a lot of people will buy a Garmin for that feature and not realize that it requires your Garmin to be connected to your phone the whole time Live Track is being used. So if you want to use your phone and keep a full charge for emergency calls, you can't use this feature for long rides or if you do, you will exhaust quite a bit of battery power and defeat the purpose of why you carry your phone.

Fortunately Live Track too is bugged.

-If your Garmin pauses your ride it will crash. Say autopause to stop and have a granola bar for 30 seconds or to take a leak.
-If you leave cell phone data reception it will crash.

LiveTrack doesn't actually burn that much more smartphone battery over BT pairing to start with. Odds are on long rides your E1000 will run out of battery before your phone will...with GPS only, BT pairing on and ANT+ speed/cadence and screen lock on-hope for about 7 hours before the E1K is complaining about low battery.

Live Track works fine for me every time I've used it. Planning to use it on my upcoming tour.

To be fair, I did hear someone complaining about using MapMyRide exports with their Edge 1000 yesterday. Although on the ride with them, it worked like mine did. That's the first actual person I've talked to face to face that has had any complaint about an Edge 1000 they owned. Everyone else I've bumped into says it works fine for them as it does for me.

To the OP, I used to swear by my phone as a cycling computer, but once I started using a Garmin, I can't imagine going back. On rides, I've had my Edge 1000 doing the following at the same time:

Tracking my ride as any cycling computer would
Following a route that I've downloaded to the device
Actively updating and displaying a ton of real time ride metrics
Using Live Track connected via BlueTooth to my phone
Taking feeds in from my speed, cadence, heart monitor, and power meter
Sync'ed with my phone via BlueTooth giving me active weather alerts, text message, phone and caller ID info
Sync'ing two Garmin VIRB video cameras at the same time where they will start when I start pedaling. Also gives me low battery warnings for them.

And that's just part of the things an Edge 1000 can do. It's amazing all the things the Edge can do at once. So, it makes me laugh a bit when I read someone complaining that it stopped doing onefunction for a couple of seconds during a 5 hour ride when its doing all of these other things flawlessly.

Maybe I got lucky and got a good one? I dunno. Early on the firmware had some glitches, but Garmin continued providing free firmware updates and somewhere there several months ago, they became really stable for me. Since then if it says it wants to update the firmware, I let it knowing that they have it pretty dialed in now.

So don't let one or two negative posters turn you away from the product. There are thousandsof people out there riding with them everyday with zero issues. Most of them just don't have the drive to come to a forum and tell others how well it works. What you find on the forums typically are the angry detractors and they can seem like a higher percentage than they really are.

There have been a lot of reported problems with bluetooth connectivity between Garmin units and smartphones. Mine is one of them - it's always dropping out and reconnecting and warning me in the process. It's so annoying that I just turn it off. So that pretty much takes out LiveTrack for me but there are plenty of smartphone apps that will do that just fine (actually, better) without needing to involve the bike computer in the process.

The 'thousands" of people that are using these things are also almost always not using very many of the features of the devices either.

I do like my Edge 1000, but I pretty much see it as a slightly better than average attempt at a technology product. The benefit to the Edge 1000 is that it is going to be/is the hub of a bike centric network that includes many sensors, cameras, lights and other peripherals. The extent to which Garmin does that well will be the extent to how "good" the Edge 1000 is. The base bike computer functionality is being done just as well (and maybe even better) by devices that are much cheaper so that does not justify the premium that Garmin wants for the Edge 1000.


J.

The increased capabilities are just one of the reasons I'm considering a GPS. That, and the damned cell phone just isn't cutting it. Decision time comes soon.

Me, too. to answer one of your questions, why I need the screen active, I use routing. And when I'm not using routing, I like having a bit of info, like distance traveled, available all the time. I think that's what causing the phone to overheat and shut down. I've noticed this happening to others, as well.

The problem with LiveTrack isn't whether it "works fine for you" ....it is whether it works for anyone else trying to follow you. If you're riding you'd never know anything was wrong, but after you stop take a leak and your Garmin auto-pauses the LiveTrack website ceases updating your telemetry and will not update for the rest of your ride.


Dropping cell reception, it sometimes recovers but most of the time.

Common bug much posted about on Garmin Forums. After 18 months E1K is still about 30% bugged or broken. Most previous Garmins were much better. Garmin seems to have thrown in the towel fixing it too. iPhone pairing is still broken, which is laughable as it seems there's a massive crossover between affording E1K and iPhone.

Correct and it works fine for me.

Let's see some proof that. I'm certain that percentage was pulled out of your ass.

This is the weird thing I find with Garmin products. These irrational online haters of their products.

Go to any actual group ride and take a quick poll. Ask what computer people are using. It will be Garmin. Ask them if it works for them, they will say yes.

But come on an online forum and you find these occasional folks that get irrationally mad at Garmin over an issue that was usually fixed about 5 firmware revisions ago, but they hang on to it and continue to post about it as if its destroying their cycling lives. So strange.

It's pretty easy. Don't like Garmin products? Sell yours, buy a competitors, be happy. It's almost as if some people continue to use a product that hate just so they get to come on forums to viciously complain about it. Very odd behavior.

Then you're the one user of E1K for whom everything works on the entire internet that I've ever encountered. I do ask, and everyone I know who users their device grunts angrily at them...the only people who are happy are those who just bought their Garmin and haven't used it enough to be angry yet. The Garmin Paid Beta Program is well known all over the internet and IRL. We were joking about it on Tour de Nebraska this year.

30%, based on the featureset of the E1K and what I and everyone else reports as works or doesn't.
-LiveTrack bugged
-Segments, buggy sort of works...but annoying especially where segments start within short distance of one another.
-Pathing logic for routing is bugged
-iPhone pairing severely bugged if not broken, E1K android pairing works but does not ever properly interface with either Hangouts (for SMS) or Inbox for notifications
-Wifi/BT upload, buggy. Sometimes works and sometimes randomly does not.


If you follow Garmin Forums for the E1K, all the above are common issues that come up with new/old users every week.

Sure I'll buy a competitor's product...when there is a competitor's product. Be happy? How? I have an expensive bugged cycling GPS with no competitor that still has severe firmware issues 18 months into its service life that has all but been abandoned by Garmin. At least with previous Garmin Paid Beta Program Devices, they patched and fixed broken products within a year (Edge 205/305 and 607/705 and 500/510 and 800/810-although the 810 users are pissed too as they too have issues and are abandoned). Only way Garmin will take it seriously is if there's enough popular outcry, further the OP was asking for input on the E1K and if he should purchase...it seemed right to warn him that you're the only person on the entire internet for whom the device completely works as advertised.

I had a feeling I was correct on the source of that statistic.

I think this may be the root issue for a lot of online haters.

Not letting cycling computers affect you so much would be a small step in the right direction.

If a ton of the on-box advertised high-end features of your phone didn't work...would you stay quiet? Because remember, the E1K retails for 2X what most people in the USA paid for their smartphone.

I don't know who these people are that spend $300+ on a bike computer assuming it has some kind of mobile internet access without ever checking. If you think about it for half a second, you'd come up with questions like who provides that service, do you pay for it, etc, then realize it probably just works through your phone.

Also Live Tracking only uses the data connection (but not the GPS) in your phone which extends battery life drastically.

If a ton of the on-box advertised high-end features of my phone didn't work for me, but were working for others, I'd wonder what I was doing wrong and educate myself and fix it. If I was not able to fix it, I'd use the company's official support channels. If they were not able to fix it, I would return or sell that product and buy one that delivered what it says it can do. The last thing I'd do is have repeated temper tantrums about it on the Internet while continuing to use and hate it.

Actually they are cheaper than a new smartphone now:

Garmin Edge 1000 GPS Computer - Computers & GPS Head Units - Excel Sports

I just happened to have bought a new smartphone yesterday (Note 5) and it was considerably more than that. And guess what, it immediately worked with my Edge 1000. I also added a power meter to my bike last week and the Edge 1000 recognized it and calibrated it in just a few seconds. Works flawlessly now as well, just like my other accessories do. What can I say? The Edge 1000 works for me.

I'll concede that early on, the firmware on the Edge 1000 was crappy. There were lots of problems. But Garmin continued to release new (free) firmware with fixes (and additional new features) until the device started to satisfy most customers. Somewhere around 2.80 it got really solid for me.

If the OP was asking whether to buy in August 2014, I might have said, eh... might want to wait a bit. But in October 2015, I recommend it wholeheartedly. If there is a better cycling computer out there, I'm not aware of it.