# GPS Overload- What to Choose at the Lower End



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

I am looking for GPS to use instead of tracking my rides with Strava (I track to see elevation, distance, and in general how well I am riding). I am not really concerned with mapping, if I am in the back country, I carry and know how to use (and like) paper maps and can download backup maps for my phone with Gaia GPS.

I am looking for something that is easy to use and would like the following:

Automated or near automated upload to Strava for my tracking.
Compatible with my Polar HR sensor (H10, ANT+ and Bluetooth).
Ability to display heart rate, current speed, trip distance, trip climbing feet, and elevation. 
Things that I don't need or care about:

Maps on the display.
Power output (if I am making it up the hill, my power is fine, if I am not, I need more power)
Strava segments.
Cadence (I can tell if need to shift without a computer)
It might be nice to have turn by turn for new routes, but from what I have read, they don't work that well.

In my reading, it looks like the Garmin Edge 130 Plus, Element Bolt, or one of the dozen Lezyne computers (I can't make heads or tails of all their models) would work well, but which? I am at an age where I will trade off customization and extra features for ease of use and dead nuts reliability.

Thanks.


----------



## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

I think most any gps cycle computer will do what you want. Garmin 520 and 530 are really good but the 130+ Is fine too. I'm not familiar with wahoo's lineup but from the reviews I've seen they're nice too. Same with Lezyne though I did have some pairing snafus with one I had a few years back. I'd get a garmin 530.

You don't want power & cadence but that's an option with all of them anyway, just need a power meter and/or a cadence sensor.


----------



## trulede (Sep 12, 2018)

The Wahoo devices (Elemnt) are setup wtih a phone app, which is actually a nice way to do that ... unless you don't have a phone. Physical buttons are nice too, if you don't need/want a touch screen. Automatic uploads to Strava etc.

I've used tur-by-turn too, getting the routes on the device was a little fiddly, but otherwise it works well. There is some difference in capability there, between the ROAM and BOLT ...


----------



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

trulede said:


> The Wahoo devices (Elemnt) are setup wtih a phone app, which is actually a nice way to do that ... unless you don't have a phone. P


I may be getting old and grumpy, but I have a smartphone. Heck, even my 78 year old mother has an iPhone 6s that I handed down to her.


----------



## Catmandoo (Dec 20, 2018)

Edge 130 will do what you want. A larger unit like a Bolt or 530 will allow more data to be displayed. I also would state you can underestimate the need for maps on screen, incredibly useful.


----------



## KevinWaterloo (Dec 12, 2020)

FWIW My son has a Wahoo Element Bolt and never uses it for MTB. It works great on the road, but on the MTB it significantly under reported distance even when using a wheel sensor. Likely because the GPS couldn't sample fast enough to follow the corners. His Wahoo usually reported 10-20% shorter distances than my mobile phone and the expected distances from Trailforks.

We've since purchased Garmin 530s to replace the Element Bolt (and my Android phone) but haven't tried them out yet. They are very feature-rich devices though. I'm looking forward to trying them out.


----------



## trulede (Sep 12, 2018)

KevinWaterloo said:


> FWIW My son has a Wahoo Element Bolt and never uses it for MTB. It works great on the road, but on the MTB it significantly under reported distance even when using a wheel sensor.


Is it possible the wheel sensor was not connected/configured? Because that's a bit odd, they way you describe it, sounds like what happens with no wheel sensor.


----------



## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

A GPS watch like a Garmin Instinct will do those things that you want, plus be more versatile for other sports. I get more than 16 hours running it continuously (endurance races) and it has a built in HR sensor, although likely not super accurate...although not horrible either. Interface with ANT sensors. I use tempe sensors on both of my bikes and it interfaces.


----------



## trulede (Sep 12, 2018)

Cary said:


> I am looking for GPS to use instead of tracking my rides with Strava (I track to see elevation, distance, and in general how well I am riding).
> 
> I am looking for something that is easy to use and would like the following:
> 
> ...


The simple Garmin Edge 130 (not the "plus" model) would do all that. Also perhaps the Polar M460. Both have a barometer, and ANT+/Bluetooth. I guess they both also automatically upload to Strava via a phone app.

Here the Garmin is selling for 100€ and the Polar 150€ ... pretty good. Nice small and light units.


----------



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

Thanks. Leaning towards the Lezyne Super Pro, as it seems to have a good balance of what I want and I have had good support from them in the past.


----------



## gpeden (Nov 17, 2014)

trulede said:


> The simple Garmin Edge 130 (not the "plus" model) would do all that. Also perhaps the Polar M460. Both have a barometer, and ANT+/Bluetooth. I guess they both also automatically upload to Strava via a phone app.
> 
> Here the Garmin is selling for 100€ and the Polar 150€ ... pretty good. Nice small and light units.


Hi trulede, FWIW the M460 has only Bluetooth connectivity. However their H9/H10 chest straps have both Bluetooth and ANT+ to let them work with other equipment.

Also, I wonder if a new model is about to be released because Polar Canada has dropped prices lower than most retail it seems. Thinking about grabbing one to replace my 450 with sagging battery.


----------



## wayold (Nov 25, 2017)

Cary said:


> Thanks. Leaning towards the Lezyne Super Pro, as it seems to have a good balance of what I want and I have had good support from them in the past.


I've been pretty happy with my Lezyne Super (previous version of the Super Pro). The newer version allows for Landscape or Portrait orientation, but is largely the same in function. I use it with a speed sensor on my road bike and and HRM on my MTB and I've never had any trouble with pairing. Mapping is poor to non-existent compared to the Garmins, but if you don't care about that then the price is right. Best deal on these I've found is waiting for one of the frequent sales at ProBikeKit. Should be possible to find it for under $120 if you wait for a sale. I'm on PBK's mailing list and they offer me 10-12% off every week or two and 14-18% off on rarer occasions.


----------



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

Thanks for the pointer on where to buy, it even looks like they have items in stock. A novelty in 2020-2021.


----------



## brankulo (Aug 29, 2005)

so why dont you just use phone to track what you need? apps like Jepster will do it all.


----------



## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

brankulo said:


> so why dont you just use phone to track what you need? apps like Jepster will do it all.


Or even the Strava app.
But as he wants to see the info as well, a bike GPS unit just does a better job.


----------



## brankulo (Aug 29, 2005)

yeah, agree, my phone will only last 5 hours +/-, with display on and sensors connected, fine for me, as i only need display on while doing structured workouts . and they never last 5 hours. other than that, the phone is in my backpack and will last whole day.


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

There are some valid reasons to want a dedicated computer on the bike.

The big ones being always-available display and handlebar mounting with a small form factor. There are plenty of others, too.


----------



## cavo (Apr 18, 2011)

if your rides are fairly short, 5-6 hours max i would not bother with dedicated gps. just get a smaller cheapo smart phone, they can be had for around $50 everywhere. and use one of many apps that would do what you need. get a quad lock mount out front mount. i use both, dedicated phone (meaning, used solely for tracking purposes, no carrier on it) on 90% of my rides and garmin 530 on the rest 10% (all day epics and bikepacking), but honestly, i prefer display on the phone, its mapping abilities, plus other apps i can run and use while outdoors if necessary. i also never had phone messed up my gps track, while Garmin seems to struggle from time to time. but again, if battery life is the priority, dedicated gps all the way.


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I've seen lots of phones wreck GPS data. Especially after they lose cellular reception and have to rely exclusively on the GPS chip and the substandard antenna they put in phones due to space constraints inside the case.


----------



## brankulo (Aug 29, 2005)

^^agree, i am yet to see my phone mess up my track, while my older garmin 520 would, from time to time. my newer fenix 6 watch has done as well on several occasions while during the same ride my phone did perfectly fine. so far, most reliable device for me has been smart phone, within cell range or not.


----------



## wayold (Nov 25, 2017)

The reflective LCD screen on most bike computers is a lot easier for me to read in bright sun than a phone. I haven't measured it lately, but I suspect if I left my phone screen on constantly at max brightness (which I need to see on a bright day) it would last a good bit less than 5 hours, but YMMV. 

Still I tried using a phone as my bike computer for a while. It worked OK, but I did get GPS drops and errors in the trees from time to time. The last straw was when I tried to use it with an HRM - all sorts of intermittent pairing problems. I gave up and bought a bike comp and the HRM connection and GPS track are solid the whole time - and the battery life is MANY times longer than my phone. 

Yes a phone can do most things a bike computer does, but for me even a cheap bike computer performs much better.


----------



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

I finally made a decision and bought a Bryton 15 Neo. It should do the tracking I want and display the minimal information I want to see while riding. At $69, I won’t feel bad if it dies in a couple of years.


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Cary said:


> I finally made a decision and bought a Bryton 15 Neo. It should do the tracking I want and display the minimal information I want to see while riding. At $69, I won't feel bad if it dies in a couple of years.


if it makes it that far. I have an older Bryton and it's a pretty crap device. fatal bugs the mfr never fixed. the dumbest UI I've dealt with. I would never recommend one, regardless of how cheap it is.


----------



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

Harold said:


> if it makes it that far. I have an older Bryton and it's a pretty crap device. fatal bugs the mfr never fixed. the dumbest UI I've dealt with. I would never recommend one, regardless of how cheap it is.


Took your advice and bit the bullet. I have a Garmin 130 plus on the way.


----------



## Bill1974 (Jul 15, 2020)

I also tried using my cell, and it was okay tracking gps location if I set it to record location often enough. But there were many times that something gets messed up and you get random point way off. So far with my Garmin 530 I have not seen that happen. Although I have forgot to start or save a number of times. I have also used the Garmin to keep track of walks and skiing. So it's not a one trick pony.


----------



## Cary (Dec 29, 2003)

So my long term follow up. After having had a 2.5 hour ride turn into a 4 hour slog because I downloaded a bad GPX route into my 130 (my fault for not confirming the route before using it) and couldn't find alternative routes or see other nearby trails due to its limited breadcrumb mapping, it has been returned (thank you REI). I also was frustrated multiple times where there were forks in unknown trails, the 130 didn't say which way to go (but yet would constantly tell me that there was a turn coming up in the trail where yes, there was a turn, but no fork or other choice), and the only way to figure it out was to pick one and then see if I was off the breadcrumb map after a couple hundred yards. Finally, the inability to turn off the stupid jump alerts without muting everything was maddening. Having the thing constantly beeping was annoying. 

I have replaced it with an 830 to have the option of seeing full mapping on the device and being able to put a destination in directly on the unit by putting in an address, so I at least stand the chance of getting an alternate route if needed. My new frustration is that the trailforks integration doesn't work, something I found after I couldn't get it to work and found post after post on the Garmin IQ site of others having the same problem, despite multiple software revisions. At least it has the garmin base maps and I am able to download strava maps to it. We shall see.


----------



## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

I love my little 130+, but mapping isn't it's forte 
That's when I take the 530. 

Racing - 130.
Training/normal riding - 530.

Road bike - Stages Dash L50.


----------



## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

I recently got an 830 (mountain bike bundle) as a birthday gift and it has been so much fun. I have since used it in so many different ways and for so many different purposes. The included speed/distance sensor, remote, sleeve and bar mount have all been awesome (I like the K-Edge mounts as well, which I bought for my other bikes). Who knew data could be so fun?

Embarrassingly, I almost returned my unit because the display was pure $hit for the first few rides. Until I removed the protective plastic from it…


----------



## NordieBoy (Sep 26, 2004)

I really miss the touch screen of my old 810.
Maps need touch.


----------

