Garmin Edge 810
Review Title: Garmin Edge 810
Review: This GPS enabled cycling computer sits towards the top of the current family tree of Garmin Edge devices.
It is a fairly sophisticated device with ANT+ and bluetooth connectivity, so it is possible to connect external sensors such as HRM, Power meters, Speed/Cadence sensors etc. Garmin's phone app also means that it is possible to let family, friends, or whoever, view a live track of your progress, with position, speed, distance and heart rate. Although this facility will increase battery consumption in both phone and 810.
It comes with fairly basic built-in maps that are of limited use for navigation. However, free detailed open source maps of most countries of the world, are available on the internet and are easy to install on the unit, via an SD card. Instructions can be found here: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/ 2013/05/download-garmin- 705800810.html
The 810 will give turn-by-turn instructions with visual and audible alerts, with distance countdown. When navigating, the map will display continually (if on the map page) unlike earlier devices that tend to zoom out the breadcrumb trail map, until you start off again.
It is also possible to change courses without stopping the timer. So, changing your mind or swapping a destination is quite easy.
It is also possible to save favourite sections of roads or segments (as in Strava segments) which will display as your approach and display the target time of the selected athlete. You can do this via Strava Premium, or also for free using - http://www.gniza.org/segments/ #/
In use, I have found the device to works fairly well, and overall I have been very impressed with it. Although, it has to be said, that on a ride of 95 miles, the device reset itself just as I was stopping and produced a corrupted ride file; which Garmin Connect would not accept. Fortunately, it was possible to manually upload this to Strava, so the ride data was not lost. There are also online tools to correct corrupt .FIT files, so presumably this is not a unique problem.
It is even possible to change the start up screen to display a personal message and/or contact details if you lose the device.
Mark out of ten?: 9
Reviewer: Duncan Robertson