CHAUSE1

Wondering if it is worth it....appreciate the input!!

kh6idf

I just got mine today. I'll try it out for the first time this weekend. One question I have not been able to answer - can I set the odometer to my old computer's value? I had 1923 miles on my Cateye Strada which is being replaced by the Edge 200. I'd just hate to start at zero again :-)

CHAUSE1

Good luck with that...everything I read about the Garmin 200 has looked great. Please update us on what you think.....congrats!!

charlie

kh6idf

I sent an email to Garmin on the odometer question. I'll post their reply here when it arrives. Without actually taking it on a ride yet, I like the Edge 200 so far. I wanted a computer that didn't require the fork sensor/wheel magnet but just needed the basic speed, distance and odometer functions. The GPS mapping of the ride is a nice extra and I'm sure I will consider it a necessity after I use it a few times. I do like the Garmin mounting system, quick to install, quick to remove and apparently very secure. One thing I'll have to get used to is pressing the start button to start the timer at the beginning of a ride, but the Edge 200 beeps to remind me to do that once it is turned on.

kh6idf

Garmin's reply: " I am sorry but no you are not able to transfer mileage to the odometer on your new unit."

CHAUSE1

Too bad...but I am sure you will enjoy. Let us know!

dcrowell

Strange. Can you at least reset the odo to zero? Could come in handy to reset it yearly or something.

kh6idf

Yes, I can reset to zero. It has two odometers, both can be independently reset. You would think they would let you set it to an arbitrary value - something every other bike computer can do.

CHAUSE1

Can you change the mileage on your pc when you download??

kh6idf

I don't think you can change it.

I went on my first ride with the Edge 200 today, it works as advertised. No problems at all

dcrowell

Actually the old CatEye Velo 8 wired computer can't set the odo either. That's why I switched to a CatEye Strada.

But the Velo8 costs around $15. A "bike computer" costing ten times that should have that simple feature.

Garfield Cat

I quickly learned on my Edge 305 that the best way to keep odometer readings is to download the data from the Garmin unit after each ride. If you were not a software user before, you will need to be with the Garmin line of products.

My Garmin saves ride data of each ride on the unit. Ultimately, you run out of static memory storage and then have to manually command it to delete. That's why you need to download your data with some frequency onto your desktop or laptop. Hopefully you have learned to get a backup of your data. Leo LaPorte says the key to backing up is redundancy.

christ0ph

In many small embedded devices, it is not unusual for there to be configurable files visible in a USB-mountable filesystem that can be tweaked to change settings that are not changed any other way.

But make sure you have advice from somebody who knows what they are doing, because those kinds of settings are rarely supported by the manufacturer directly and they can often have unintended consequences.

For example, you might be able to open up some text file and change it back to zero..(the record it might be kept inside of a zip or cab archive that s decompressed on the fly into memory when the unit is turned on.)

If the unit cannot be connected to a computer, or if the internal flash filesystem is not accessible.. it might not be hopeless if you want to get a little more technical and of course, possibly void your warantee. You could make whats called a JTAG cable - JTAG is a specification that is used to test and debug electronic devices and a majority of microprocessor containing units have a JTAG header somewhere so they can be tested before leaving the factory.. Usually they are pads that contain solder but its rare that there are convenient pins there to connect a JTAG cable to. (They use custom clips that contain individual springs for each connection)

You would solder on some short pieces of siff wire to make pins and plug a JTAG cable into them, its an interface to your computer's USB or parallel port..

Either solder some small header pins to the PC board on your cycle computer or figure out some other way to make a temporary, solid electrical connection that mates the wires to the cable's JTAG leads.

Then you open up the appropriate JTAG software (it depends on what kind of CPU architecture the cycling computer has) and tweak your settings.

Its not uncommon that if you search on your cycling computer's name, someone will have tried this before and put the info somewhere on the web.

If you look at the URL below you can get a good overview of JTAG. Thinking about it, I suspect that its quite probable that any cycling computer or GPS would have a JTAG header somewhere to connect to. Most cycling computers probably use the ARM architecture.

https://hri.sourceforge.net/tools/jtag_faq_org.html

Here is what the pad shape that the pins would be soldered to should look like and the connections function

https://jtagcables.com/jtag-pinout

kh6idf

When you connect the Edge 200 to your computer, it appears as a USB drive. All files are accessible.

christ0ph

"Bike computer" could mean a GPS device or it could mean a fairly simple, odometer-like device that tells you how far youve gone that day and how far you still have to go to your destination, a cumulative total, etc. That seems to be the norm, right?

All embedded devices have similarities to some extent, but there also is a lot of variation. But a great many of them can be modified in some way. Its a god skill to have because then they become quite versatile as far as what you can do with them, and they are very cheap.

In many PDA-sized computers that have an internal flash and the option to add a SD card, etc. they "overlay" the filesystem on the SD card with the internal filesystem and so it appears to the user as if you have a writable filesystem, and writes seem to persist. (however, if you remove your SD card and reboot it, it goes back to the original state)

The cheapest devices may not have any flash memory and not have any writable configurability, the most common setup in car GPSs is for the device to use flash for both the OS and the maps, but the main area of the flash is setup so that the only thing that can write to it is a firmware upgrade and that has to write the entire flash image at once. Then they use the overlay for the SD cards. This is an area I'm not super knowledgable about but a good place to find out about any device that contains a GPS is https://gpspassion.com - which is a hub of activity for GPS modding.. I would guess that most bike computers were variations on the PND/GPS/PDA theme, so its quite possible that you can do all sorts of additional things with them, if you know what you are doing, which isn't that hard to get started on as you'll find lots of help online.

Old GPS's that don't have map upgrades available should not be tossed out as there is a fully functional CPU and GPS chip in there. For example, I have an old mio GPS that is completely non****ional because at some point last year it stopped showing the correct time. However, I'm told that it can be flashed with the software for other commercial PNDs (although that would not be legal if you have not paid for it, and its going to need updating a some point, which brings you back to square one.) A better alternative seems to be to, if its possible, install (free) Linux OS for ARM. If I flash it with Linux, then its a suddenly a general purpose computer with built in GPS available on a serial port internally. Gpsdrive ( https://www.gpsdrive.de/ ) is a fairly mature GPS program which runs on some ARM, devices, and their web site implies that they have bike users.. I don't know how I could expect it to perform on a 400 MHz ARM device. It might be too slow. Text to speech might not work, etc. But maybe not.

Gpsdrive uses the openstreetmap maps, which are increasingly good. And that setup is free, and legal, and it can download new maps as they are made...so it should be flexible enough to remain upgradable and functional until the unit literally falls apart. I can "cross-compile" any other software that I want to run on it on my Mac using the gcc compiler for ARM that can be installed via macports. (macports.org) A significant number of PDA-friendly programs are already compiled for ARM, there are ARM-centric Linux distros..quite a few of them, it appears..

It already has a touchscreen which can be used as a keyboard, a, SirfStar III chip, and the battery life is still semi acceptable.. (thats usually the reason people toss them, not realizing that replacing the battery is a trivial repair) There even is a combination wifi card and SD card that might be able to be put in it..to communicate wih oher hardware, etc. (just speculating)

So, if I do some research, and proceed in a straightforward manner, the chances are very good that I could make that broken mio into an awesome bike computer withou reinventing the wheel, in an afternoon of work.

The situation varies from one device to another, but chances are, if a portable gadget is popular, and has a computer in it and is widely available, someone has modified it or something else that uses the identical chips (and then the instructions for that might apply with little or no modification) and posted a how-to to the net. Thats becoming very popular.
However, there always is a risk you might "brick" your device and then you will need one of those JTAG cables to resurrect it.

-----

There also is open source software on the net *to connect your computer to* the following bike computers, at the URL below. I don't know anything about it except what's there. Looks like it might offer some extra functionality, perhaps it would be useful if the manufacturers software doesn't have a feature that it does. It also runs on both Mac OSX and win32

CICLOSport
HAC4
HAC4mph
CM414AM
CM436M
Polar
S710
XTrainer
SportTester
Huger
SPY

https://hac4linux.sourceforge.net/scr...p?menu=devices

rollinbone

Used mine for 1st time 23/Oct/11 - looking good so far

see this for full details:
https://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=56906

also brief uTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMwxQ-9iaLc

TromboneAl

I'm very happy with my Garmin 205, which I bought used for $100. I don't miss having the extra features like heart-rate monitor, cadence, etc.

It seems that the feature set is similar. However, I like being able to customize my screen on the 205, a feature which the 200 seems to lack. That is, I like to decide exactly which data to display, and I can actually choose, while riding, between several different sets of data.

For example, I currently have it set to show me speed, distance, max speed, avg speed, elapsed time, time of day, grade, and direction.

habcup

I just received my edge 200 from REI with the 20% coupon. I have only used it for one ride, but it seems to work as advertised. Speed changes are not picked up as quickly as with my old Cateye. Also, the altitude is inaccurate, but I knew this before I purchased the unit (and uploading rides to garminconnect.com will correct the altitude anyway). I love the 200's simplicity and ease of use. The lap feature is awesome. Since I don't use indoor trainers or power meters, and I already have a Polar HRM on my bike, I didn't see the need to get the 500.

CHAUSE1

My wife bought for me the Edge 200 for my birthday about a week ago. I love it, and have not had any problems. Just trying different settings. I am however suprised that there are not any instructional videos on the Garmin website! Maybe it is too new. Not very much action on the Garmin forum either.