Garmin Edge 500 or 800

zo1d · 7 Apr 2011 at 15:36

Been working hard on the bike since last summer and kept up with my training throughout the winter, subsequently my distances have also been steadily increasing, thing is allot of the longer routes have been ridden with other people but when riding solo I've been really struggling to find my way so I'm looking into either getting the Garmin Edge 500 or 800.

I know the 500 doesn't have full GPS mapping but I understand you can still download routes and upload them to the unit so it can give you a basic route display to follow telling you when to turn and if you've gone off course which I've been told is very accurate.

I don't know what people would recommend by obviously it's allot cheaper than the 800, if I did go for the 800 what bundle should I choose, I'd like it to include a heart rate monitor and mapping is only going to be used for road use so I wouldn't need full OS mapping.

Any suggestions welcome.

SDK^ · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:08

You'll only require full mapping if you need to set or change your route whilst riding.
The breadcrumb tail on the 500 is plenty enough to follow.

booyaka · 7 Apr 2011 at 18:18

500 is very good and I think much better value than the 800.

Got mine from Lemon Digital - very good service and quick.

InsomniaCalls · 7 Apr 2011 at 19:45

Thanks for posting this - I hadn't realised the 500 had any mapping/navigation at all.
Might well save myself £200 on the 800 now!

SDK^ · 7 Apr 2011 at 20:03

It's only very basic but it works.
You can zoom in and out manually or set it to auto zoom. The device beeps and displays a message when you're off course.

You also get a route profile which really helps showing the hills coming up.

InsomniaCalls · 7 Apr 2011 at 20:18

Nice one, thanks for the pics.

Apologies to the OP for the slight hijack.

zo1d · 7 Apr 2011 at 22:34

Many thanks for the replies!

Question to the owners of the 500, if you uploaded a route that you had never ridden in a completely new area would you feel confident following the 500 route as your only source of navigation?

VaderDSL · 7 Apr 2011 at 22:35

Are the 705s going cheaper now the 800 is released? Really like my 705 for on the road stuff.

Phil99 · 7 Apr 2011 at 23:17

Paid £225 or so for my 705 including heart rate and cadence sensor (cheaper if you don't want the sensors). Has full GPS mapping etc, might be worth a look as the 500 doesn't look that much cheaper than the 705.

booyaka · 8 Apr 2011 at 11:45

Phil99 said:
Paid £225 or so for my 705 including heart rate and cadence sensor (cheaper if you don't want the sensors). Has full GPS mapping etc, might be worth a look as the 500 doesn't look that much cheaper than the 705.

The 500 has gone up in price a bit since I bought mine. I got HRM & Candence monitor and 500 gps unit for £140 from Lemon Digital - looks like it's up about £30/£40 more now. That was only about 4 months ago

janesssssy · 8 Apr 2011 at 12:35

imho spend the money and get the 800. Buy cheap - Buy twice.

booyaka · 8 Apr 2011 at 12:59

janesssssy said:
imho spend the money and get the 800. Buy cheap - Buy twice.

it depends on whether you need the "full" mapping capabilities - if so buy the 800, if not 500 is an excellent unit and will do 95% of what the 800 does for half the price

zo1d · 8 Apr 2011 at 19:02

booyaka said:
it depends on whether you need the "full" mapping capabilities - if so buy the 800, if not 500 is an excellent unit and will do 95% of what the 800 does for half the price

That's what I'm trying to work out i.e. if I need the full mapping of the 800.

If I can download routes that other people have ridden and also create my own which I then uploaded to the 500 will the basic mapping functionality of the 500 be enough even when riding in completely new areas?

If the answer is yes then the 500 should do me, if not then I guess I'll need to get the 800.

Let me provide an example, my sister has just moved to Haslemere in Surrey and I'm considering riding over to visit her, the route would take me from Dorset, into Hampshire via the new forest and then into Surrey. Most of the roads will be completely new to me so if I plan a route and upload to the 500 I'd be totally reliant on it, would it be enough?

SDK^ · 9 Apr 2011 at 10:44

zo1d said:
If I can download routes that other people have ridden and also create my own which I then uploaded to the 500 will the basic mapping functionality of the 500 be enough even when riding in completely new areas?

If the answer is yes then the 500 should do me, if not then I guess I'll need to get the 800.

Provided you have a GPS signal (which the 800 also needs) then you can do this.
I've done a 70 mile road event through twisty country lanes using just the 500 for guidance and it was perfect.

platypus · 11 Apr 2011 at 11:16

InsomniaCalls said:
Thanks for posting this - I hadn't realised the 500 had any mapping/navigation at all.
Might well save myself £200 on the 800 now!

Same. I'd ordered the 500 on price anyway, so this is a bonus!

booyaka said:
The 500 has gone up in price a bit since I bought mine. I got HRM & Candence monitor and 500 gps unit for £140 from Lemon Digital - looks like it's up about £30/£40 more now. That was only about 4 months ago

Blimey, its £225 on Wiggle.