I'm hoping Santa will toss a Garmin 800 down the chimney. I'm sure it will dramatically improve my hill-climbing and speed. Does anyone have one? Any comments so far?

I've been thinking about the 800 though I can't figure how I would ever need the mapping features. I'm generally lazy when it comes to uploading data files and I know most all the routes I routinely ride. I suppose it might come in handy should I ever do an event out of my area but then I usually just follow the crowd. Perhaps the 500 would better suit my needs.

From what I can read it is a tweaked 705 with a touch screen. I own a 705 and like it. I bought it because I travel and I ride bikes; which means I have to navigate in areas with which I am unfamiliar. The 705's mapping function allows me to navigate with reference to physical locations while in the car or on the bike without having to find, purchase and use a paper map. Or, since I may be in several places on a trip, multiple maps.

If all I needed was the ability to navigate with reference to GPS points I'd save some money and buy the 500. If I were primarily riding in the same geographic area and didn't need to navigate I would buy neither. A good heart rate monitor and a cheap bike computer would do the job for a lot less money. Unless you are a racer, of course, is which case you are in a whole different world than me and cost effectiveness is no longer the issue.

I've had a 305 for years and throw a GPSMap60 in my pocket when I think I'll need mapping, but I lust for the 800. Let me know how it works out for you. FWIW I'm always wary of the first release of any new electronic product. Called being on the bleeding edge.

I want one something fierce. I'll make do with my Forerunner 305 for a while until the price comes down considerably or I win the lottery.

I have one and I think it is fantastic. I had a Garmin Forerunner 305 and it was really good. The Edge 800 is a huge improvement. I was able to utilize the 305 heart rate strap and cadence transmitter.

The touchscreen is very easy to read and quite functional. I used after-market freeware maps and they function well.

The calorie consumption calculation is a huge improvement, and is probably as accurate as possible without a power meter.

I can easily change screens with winter gloves.

The quarter turn bike mount is great. The battery life is fantastic.

Jen,
I have one and really like it. I've used the map function when I was riding out-of-town over the holidays and needed some navigational assistance. Unlike gtragitt, the calorie consumption is way off when I use the HR strap that I bought with the device. Without the strap, it is much closer to the mark. From reading on the Garmin forum, this seems to be a problem that lots are having.

I love the touch screen (but then, I have an iphone and ipad - I lust after cool technology) and it is easy to switch screens while riding. I had a major problem with it on the Tour de Foothills - in the middle of the ride it has me taking a side trip to Tokyo and back. That only affected my mileage and mph - everything else was okay. But adding 14,000 miles at over 5K mph to my training log really messes up my averages

I agree that the battery life is quite nice. I had one point where it wasn't reading the cadence sensor, but that appears to be a single incident glitch - as was Tokyo. Even though it was pricey, I have not regretted the purchase for a minute. Should I put in a special word with Santa for you?

My Garmin Forerunner 305 was predicting calories much too high and never utilized input from heart rate strap. The Edge 800 utilizes an advanced correlation including heart rate data.

My Edge 800 is determining the calories to be about 60% of the Forerunner. If the Edge 800 is predicting 30 cal/mi or greater, it is providing realistic values. Those having serious issues with calorie predictions are recording less than 10% of realistic values. Many of those with ridiculously low calorie predictions have had success with a hard reset. The Edge 800 also has an option to enter fitness level. This setting may take a little trial and error for tweaking the calorie predictions. I am currently using fitness level 7.

I forgot to mention the Edge 800 obtains a satellite fix very rapidly. The 305 was slow to obtain a fix.

Mine is in that 10% or less range...often much less...104 calories for 45 miles with 2000 ft of climbing is one example. I wore a BodyBug calorie recorder the other day and it registered a realistic total that had no connection to what the Garmin recorded. But I will try the hard reset and fitness level and use the BB to calibrate it. Thanks for the suggestion.

And I agree about the rapid satellite fix. Little if any wait time

Your calories are definitely 10% or less than what they should be. I am not sure if Garmin has determined the cause of the issue. I haven't heard of anybody using older style heart rate straps having the issue, but I can't imagine why a newer strap would cause the problem.

I am intrigued by the BodyBug.
Can you elaborate on how well it functions, and what the calorie prediction was for the 45 mi ride?

i have the 705 and like it. I bought it for the ANT+ capability. If I had to get another Garmin to replace this one, I would get the 500 with ANT+, altimeter. I do not use the mapping function on the bike. I think the 500 records GPS data for mapping on the computer but it is not clear that it does from a cursory review of the technical data.

For those of you using Garmin bike computers, how often do you have to recharge them? In the winter I basically ride only on the weekends (62 on Sat, 30-40 on Sunday). Mid may thru August I have enough light for a training ride before work of 11-14 miles. For the past several years I have used either the cateye Astrale 8 or Strada computers.

Yen,

I don't understand how a garmen could make you climb hills better. By your latest account, you are already a fine climber (and we have witnesses). Some of the gps devices will tell you the % grade. But then again, you probably have already realized that the hill is #($&@@* steep!

For most rides, I only need to do them once or twice to have them in my memory bank anyway. Most people do not seem to be like that.

A friend of mine who races said that she can not understand power meters. She said that if you are off the back, you aren't going hard enough!

But hey, if you like it, get it. It is always fun to have a new gizmo to try. I guess it would have some cool stuff like cumulative feet climbed, steepest grade, a hill profile and other goodies in it.

Pat

The 500 does record your ride using GPS. When you upload the ride data on the computer, you can see on a map exactly where you rode. There is some complaining going on at the moment because Garmin has switched from using Google Maps to Bing Maps for the display on their Garmin Connect website. It seems that this is a bigger issue outside of the US. Something to note regarding the 500 (and I've been told it's the same on the 800). If you're not using a powermeter with the 500, it records your GPS track using "Smart" recording. This means that it takes GPS checkpoints according to some Garmin algorithm. I believe that the 705 offers 1-second recording, which many 500 users (myself included) want. The downside to the smart recording is that if you change your course frequently such as mountain biking, when you upload your ride data it may not show the exact route...and when it can't it simply draws a line from the last checkpoint recorded to the next one recorded.

I have the Garmin Edge 500, and it has a claimed battery life of 15 hours (IIRC). I've never had it die on me and I frequently do 2-3 rides before recharging it. I've done long rides back-to-back on weekends (century one day, 60-75) the next and still had battery life remaining.

One of the complaints about the 500 particularly by long distance riders is that you cannot charge and use it at the same time. The Edge 800 is supposed to be able to work around this by using the official Garmin external battery pack, but I don't know if anyone has actually verified this yet.

I think the 500, 705 and 800 all can navigate. They all use GPS points but those with mapping reference the GPS location to physical locatons on their internal map. Those without mapping reference just take you from one GPS point to another since they don't have an internal map. Where the line gets blurred is when a user mixes in online maps. A user can lay out their ride on an online map, download it to the bike computer and ride. Or, the user can ride, record the GPS points and then get the mapping reference by uploading the data to an online map like MapMyRide.

More simply: A unit with internal maps(705/800) tells you street names, business names, etc as you ride because they have an internal map which includes a data base of a wide variety of service facilities. Without the internal map and data base this isn't done.

I'm like you, if I didn't want the ability provided by the internal maps and data base I'd go for the 500 also.

Thanks for your replies.

The features that I want most are (not necessarily in this order): navigation, upload/download maps, % grade, HR monitor, and good screen display.

With my 705 I use a battery designed for charging USB devices and can use the Garmin when charging so I assume this will work with the 800 as well. This is great for brevets when you are riding through the night with the back light on.

I am considering the 305 or the 500, possibly in 2011. Do those of you using Garmin computers download or keep the workouts?

Thanks for the info. I use the 1 second recording on my 705 for power measurement - sprinting. Also, I use the device on 4 different bikes even though it only has 3 bikes on the profile. I double up on the third bike setting.

Thank you ...

I am intrigued as to how a computer will increase hill climbing speed? Set it for km instead of mph?

I picked up a Garmin 800 this morning at the LBS. I'm sure it will take me a month to figure out how to use it. I chose the 800 for the larger display. My eyesight these days isn't getting any better. I'll give a whirl at the century ride in Charleston, SC tomorrow.

Watch out for Garmin. Short warranty, bad customer service. Lost my wife's 205 in their repair center for 6 months now, will not replace yet... my 705 went nuts just past warranty, now they want 100+ to fix and it seems they know that they had an issue with the USB port failing.

I have found there customer service to be stellar. I have never heard of anyone having issues with Garmin's customer service.
I have had the 305 for years and love it. If I need mapping I just go to my phone and get it there. I use the 305 for running also so its a better choice for me. It also frees up funds for other bike related stuff.

I guess I must be lucky! The Edge 800 is the 4th Garmin I have purchased. My wife and I both have Forerunner 305's. I have a nuvi 855 for auto navigation and now the Edge 800.

I bought a foot pod for my wifes's 305. It wouldn't pair. Garmin sent another very quickly, which did. That is the only problem I have had other than putting the heart rate strap on upside down, which was my inattention. I had either erratic or no heart rate data for that ride.

I loved my TomTom software for auto navigation, but TomTom is terrible about upgrading software. TomTom also does not make a good alternative for bicycling.