Carbonfiberboy 

We've been riding our Speedster since 2007. We run a Shimano Flight Deck and a Polar 725x HRM up front, and a low-end Polar HRM with a Cateye Astrale in the back. For lights, we use a Cateye white blinky and a B&M Ixon IQ battery lamp up front, and a PB Superflash and a Viewpoint blinky in the rear. We run the blinkies all the time.

We're going to be doing some more loaded touring. Specifically, we're going to the Czech Republic this summer for 3 weeks. The Czech Republic has a maze of little bike paths, most of which are paved but not roads. Thus we'd like to have a GPS to supplement our usual maps and cue sheets.

GPS immediately brings up the question of battery life, already present with our 4 current battery lights. We won't or rather hope we won't have the opportunity to recharge internal batteries. We could go with an eTrex 30 which uses AAs, but the 800 is very tempting, lighter, cycling specific, and slightly larger screen.

Considering the 800, it occurs to us that we could do a complete revamp of our electrics: Schmidt SON hub, Pedalpower USB charging system:
https://www.pedalpower.com.au/index.html
and Schmidt Edelux dynamo headlight and B&M dynamo taillight. We'd also carry a battery taillight as a backup. This would be simpler, lighter, and more trouble-free. If we ever wanted a smart phone, we could charge that, too.

Concerns: can the 800 in front pick up the rear wheel sensor? Is the 800 screen as good as the eTrex? Should we bother with the cycling package? We like our Polar 725x very much and we get cadence from our Flight Deck. We could put the 800 in back and leave my Polar 725x up front, since Stoker navigates anyway, but she doesn't like electronics and might not enjoy that. Or if that were possible, we could put the 800 with the performance package up front and put the Polar 725x in the back. Stoker would like a better HRM. Or we could put the 800 w/o the package up front along with the Polar 725x and leave Stoker's setup the way it is.

We don't plan to ride at night on tour but we burn our blinkies all the time now, so would burn our dynamo lights most of the time, maybe set on light sensor mode. We think the SON might charge the 800 and burn lights at the same time.

Comments?

rdtompki

The 800 will work just fine up front. Can't comment on the screen versus the eTrex, but just a touch on the screen and the 800 backlight turns on for a user-definable time period. Don't know if you can run the 800 and charge at the same time.

waynesulak

We haven't toured but here is a link to a blog of a guy who does tour in Europe that you may be interested in.

https://piaw.blogspot.com/2008/01/rev...map-76csx.html

Skyler_WA

CFB,
I'm hoping to meet you sometime since we're practically neighbors. I bicycle commute year round from Snohomish to the Big B in Everett, so maybe we've seen each other and didn't know it.

I've been using a SON hub, Lumotec IQ Cyo headlight, and B&M Toplight Line Plus tail light on my commuting/solo-touring bike for 2 years.

On my new Rodriguez Classic Tandem that we picked up a week and a half ago, I got the new SONdelux Wide Body hub, the new Lumotec IQ Cyo T headlight, and another Toplight Line Plus.

Notes on each item:
1. The new SONdelux Wide Body hub is great for a tandem. Rolling resistance is imperceptible and wide flange makes a solid wheel.

2. The Lumotec IQ Cyo has the same reflector/beam-pattern as the Edelux and it's about $70 less expensive, but I think the best setup is the new Lumotec IQ Cyo T model which has 4 bright pinpoint LEDs which automatically come on during the day -- it makes you more visible during the day and has the same great light-up-the-road beam at night. I'm itching for an excuse to replace the old model on my single bike with the new "T" model...

3. The Toplight Line Plus is a good, solid rear light, but if I'd have seen it in time I would have ordered the new Toplight Line Brake Plus which glows brighter when you're slowing down like a car brake light. However, in addition to the solid, dynamo-driven tail light, I still use a PlanetBike SuperFlash all the time for two reasons: 1. Redundancy, 2. I think the visibility of a blinking tail light is much better.

By the way, the wires which come with the tail light aren't long enough for a tandem, so I got 12 feet (had a couple to spare) of the Schmidt Coaxial Wire which Peter White sells by the foot. It looks really nice when installed and I highly recommend it.

As for the GPS, I've got the Garmin Dakota 20 because I wanted AA batteries for my solo camping tours and also because I use it off-bike for geocaching with my kids. It works fine on our new tandem mounted to the captain's handlebars with a Garmin cadence sensor on the stoker's cranks, so I'd imagine that other Garmin products would be OK with that much distance between the GPS and sensor. (If I was buying a new GPS today, I'd probably go with an Oregon 450 for it's larger screen.)

If you'd like to see my lights in action, PM me and maybe we could meet up sometime. Depending on where you are in Everett, it may not be too difficult for me to stop by your place on my way home from work sometime too.

Skyler

Carbonfiberboy 

That's just about what we want to do. Love to talk/ride with you. PM'ed.

Ritterview

This is making me dizzy. The Edge 800 will pick up neither the Shimano Flight deck nor Cateye Astrale speed sensors. Garmin uses the ANT+ protocol, and essentially the only other ANT+ computer is the Bontrager Node. If you get an Edge 800, you'll need the Garmin Speed/cadence sensor. If you have that, the stoker's Cateye will not be able to pick it up, and you'll need retain its own speed sensor. She could use a Bontrager Node, which has ANT+ HRM, grade %, cadence and will pick up the Garmin speed/cadence sensor.

Carbonfiberboy 

The Flight Deck is wired to its sensor. The Cateye is wired to its sensor. The Polar will only pick up its own wireless sensor. The 800 will only pick up its own wireless sensor. It's just a question of where to put what. Since the 800 has one combined sensor it has to go on the rear wheel, so I was curious to know what the range of the wireless was. I now understand that the rear wheel Garmin sensor works fine for the captain's 800.

That's good to know about the Bontrager Node. We might go for that. Though she only wants to see distance and HR, one device can be better than two. Maybe when our Polar HR belts give out again. Thanks for the suggestion.

Question: are the ANT+ belts coded like the Polar belts and HRMs are? Because with our coded Polars, we can run separate captain and stoker HRMs with no crosstalk.

Ritterview

Yes, they are coded. It latches on to the first HRM, cadence/speed and power meter it sees. Otherwise a peloton would be ANT+ chaos. The big problem is if you forget to sync it before meeting a group, you have to ride 50 ft away from any rider so that it only picks up yours.

Carbonfiberboy 

OK, thanks. Wow, that much range!

Chris_W

On my single light tourer / all-road bik, I have a dynamo hub plus USB converter that I use to charge my Garmin 800, and some other devices. The USB adaptor is called The Plug and is sold branded as Tout Terrain or Supernova. The assembly goes inside the steering column, and the plug is located at the top cap, so it's a very sleek-looking option. It will fit in most steering columns, but not ones that have super-thick carbon walls. When travelling above 15 kph, it provides a good charging current to the Garmin. When plugging it in during a high-speed descent, there is a lot more power and the Garmin gets a lot of juice. The Garmin 800 will last for 10-12 hours by itself, but it's nice to have this for those extra long rides.

I also have dynamo lights, previously the B&M IQ Cyo, but I recently upgraded to the Supernova E3, which has a much wider beam pattern which I prefer, it's especially useful on twisty descents. You can even run both the light and charger at the same time, although the light's power is slightly diminished, and you need to maintain a decent speed.

When we go on a long tour later in the year, I'll be transferring the dynamo, lights, and charger to our tandem. The Garmin 800 picks up the chainstay-mounted ANT+ sensor without any problem on the tandem, and my wife's Garmin 500 does the same.

Ritterview

There's this too for the Garmin on the go!