Strava + GPS options
 

So everyone seems to have there own requirements for cycling computer and the closest I can find for mine is the Garmin 520 at £250. The Mrs would kill me, my bikes only £200 worth of refurbished 1970's single speed fun, but it does shift:D

Since I am a commuter mostly 7.5mile x2 per day I don't wanna be farting around setting things up and reaching into my pocket every time I ride in and out of work but I would like to compete against other commuters using Strava live segments.
I would also like to be able to plan a big ride for the weekend, load it up and follow turn by turn navigation.
I know there are alternatives to Strava but unfortunately all my mates use it.

In summary, i would like a device mounted on my handlebars to:

1. Record my ride and upload to Strava
2. Give me turn by turn navigation from saved/imported routes
3. Show me Strava live segments so I can turn up the pace and steal some segment

s

Is there anything else cheaper than the 520 that will do all this without too much messing? I thought about grabbing an old iPhone4s and installing Strava but can I use that at the same time as having a GPS app open???

Appreciate your help folks

Hmm, I think the 520 will not allow TBT alerts with Strava Live Segments with imported routes...unless, maybe, the routes are created in GarminConnect. Check into that, and be very cognizant of the terminology, because Garmin are very specific (and I think confusing) about what constitutes "guidance," "navigation," "turn guidance," "course points," etc.

This whole category is a hot-f***in'-mess, IMO, and I don't get why. Our phones can do live TBT nav (i.e. figure out how to get you to a destination based on where you are, on the fly) and run Strava Live Segments, so why can't a cyclocomputer? Garmin's car units do live TBT nav, but not the cyclocomputers (aside from 1000)? There's the 810, but that's quite old and has its issues...

I also hate hate hate Garmin's UI. Navigating the menus and the maze of settings is a nightmare.

All of which recommends the old iPhone idea (yes, you can run nav and Strava simultaneously), if you can bear a huge phone on your bars, the short battery life, and other issues.

Wahoo ELEMNT has added TBT guidance with a recent update, so those units may be worth looking into now, though they're unlikely to be less than £250, especially since BREXIT has screwed the pooch for y'all.

You can pick up an iPhone 4S for dirt cheap and all you will need is the Strava app. You don't even need a cell plan for the phone. If you are only doing 14 miles a day, I wouldn't worry about battery life. If you don't want to have the phone on the handlebar, get a Wahoo RFLKT for $79.00 USD and put it on the handlebar. It will connect to your phone and display data from the Strava app.

If you plan on doing longer rides, battery life will depend on age of the battery if you don't turn on cellular service. Here's a screen shot of a ride from last week. I took it after a member of another forum said there was no way I could do a 50 mile ride and have any battery life left. I have an iPhone 5c that is almost 3 years old with the original battery.

I get turn by turn navigation on my Edge 800 and on my (Garmin) wrist watch.

Use RideWithGPS to create a route if you want to plan one in advance. Export as TCX. I have to convert to FIT to get turn by turns in my watch but I think the Edges don't require this step. But it has to be TCX, a GPX file isn't capable of holding the information to do it right.

This whole category is a hot-f***in'-mess:lol::lol:

That's probably why I find myself so confused. There are new £150 phones on the market that have the hardware needed to do everything we require I can only assume licencing issues or other BS are stopping the unity of devices. I would love to plan a ride on the desktop, jump on my bike, hit go, get guided round the route, race a few live segments and maybe even have earphones plugged in but guess its asking too much.

I'm currently looking at 2015 android phones since they are way cheaper than iPhones:

• Small
• Cheap (second hand)
• Decent battery life
• A-GPS, GLONASS
• Bluetooth v4.0 A2DP LE(I might buy sensors some day)
• Upgradable to Marshmellow 6.0

The Strava app only needs 4.0 and up but this might change some day. I might buy something with a faulty mic since ill be glueing all the edges shut, I lock the bike up in the house or the private car park at work so i'm planning on bolting it to the bike :crash:

Prob not a great idea...

I just bought a new Garmin 520 from Evans Cycle in the UK for $204 US, including shipping (7-10 day international).

When I switch their site to display in pounds, the price is £189 (you locals must be subsidizing us here in the US :)).

https://www.evanscycles.com/garmin-edge-520-EV250237

I had never ordered from these guys before so I did some research and found enough happy buyers on other forums that I decided to go for it. So far their communications seems pretty crisp.

It's not £79 but at least it's less than the value of your bike :lol:

Just to follow-up, may Garmin 520 from Evans Cycles in the UK showed up yesterday. I ordered it on the July 10th and got it in the Seattle area on the 13th. Pretty nice. As promised they sent me a brand new unit. Took it for a ride today and really liked it.

Well if you want live segments, you're kinda stuck dropping some cash.

Thanks for posting about this! I was able to order one too. Shipped today :)

Well, that link just cost me some money :) 520 with sensors/hr on its way....

Just thought I'd throw a shout out for Evans Cycle. I ordered the 520 bundle from them and they couriered it (DHL) as part of their free shipping. Less than a week from order to install and that includes the weekend and wait for Canadian Customs to screw around.

Full marks to Evans for decent price and delivery.

Did they exchange rate swing back in the UK's favor a bunch? I'm seeing £189 = $247

... and their own conversion shows $210

Garmin 520
 

How's the unit holding up? Still like it? Was there anything you had to do to set it up for US use? Or was it pretty simple? Still recommending?

How about the others of you who ordered the same from Evans?

Thanks!

save up a month or two longer and get the Garmin 1000 packagage with all the extras

I use Strava both on my regular Cell phone (S4 Zoom) with service and a beater phone without service (S4 Mini).

Dropping the phone out of my shirt pocket at 30 MPH was a bit hard on it.

My bar holder is mostly water resistant, but has a plastic sheet over the phone which gets a lot of sunlight glare.

The no-service phone allows downloading routes at home, but occasionally forgets the route mid-ride, I think due to exiting the program and restarting. Resolution of the maps mid-ride can also be low as it doesn't download all of its maps.

I don't have the voice route option, but an see the routes displayed on the screen. But, it does chew up batteries for longer rides. Last weekend, on a 100+ mile ride, I left the display on until I got out of town, then turned it off, only using it to verify the route periodically. It lasted most of the ride, although I gave it a boost near the end. I'm now looking at extended life batteries.

The units Evan's sells are brand new. Garmin sells the same unit worldwide so that setup is the same if you bought it from Evans, Amazon or a store where you live.

Mine's working great, really like it.

About to order one. Last question: Were there any surprise shipping charges or anything else?

Hey there. I'm about to order from Evans as well. How long did it take for you to get? Good purchase overall? Were there any surprise charges or additional shipping or anything? Thanks!

Took about a week to get to MI via DHL. No surprise charges or shipping fees. I know some fees may apply for import if the value is higher than a certain number (not sure). I ended up paying about $206 USD for the Edge 520 after using the £5 off code they sent in the email after signing up on their site. You should order from them if you can get a deal like I did!

I paid $204 for mine all-in, including shipping. No additional charges and it arrived much quicker then they promised on the website.