holytrousers

Free Software is about that, the source code is open so everyone can see what the program is doing

UniChris

There's still the underlying OS components doing whatever, but you do have a point to a degree (customization is the more personal interest), might have to checkout the Osmand sources and build them.

And of course one can presumably still upload the tracks that feel comfortable to share to a place like strava.

speedevil 

OSMAnd is very nice for Android phones (the "And" part of the name) and the maps are free so there's no Garmin map tax. I've tested it against my cycling gps and it matches up very well.

You can find older Garmin units on ebay at reasonable prices and while they may not have the latest features it doesn't sound like you need or want them anyway. You can download open street map files for your Garmin unit and avoid the Garmin map tax. I have a Garmin 705 unit that has been reliable (even after being launched from the bar mount a couple of times) and it tracks the ride / provides navigation well enough for my purposes.

I recently picked up a Garmin Fenix 3HR, and as much as I didn't want to like it, I do. The ease of strapping on a watch and clicking start is pretty nice. Nothing mounted on the bike, and the battery life is 24+ hours with the gps enabled. Mainly I got it for the RAIN ride coming up, and in the meantime I'm figuring out the options and features. Works well, and you can link it to Ant+ sensors if you want. I don't, just use the tracking feature and HR. Next ride, I may link the cadence sensor just to see if I'm doing better at keeping my cadence up.

I upload ride data as a .FIT file to RWG, and it works fine. I use a Linux laptop and a lot of units want windows which I don't have. Once you learn where the files are stored, it just takes a few seconds to upload ride data. I leave wifi off, don't see a reason to link it to my phone. I don't need to be THAT connected while I'm riding but to each their own.