garmin alternative...

[tawraste]

hi all,
I'm new here, and hoping you can help!
I'm an 810 owner who has finally lost faith. I'm in the market for a new bike computer and I'm looking for any advice I can get my hands on.
Basic requirements:
current speed
heart rate monitor
cadence
ability to get my hands on the ride data with a pc
I'm through with all the gimics like phone connectivity, turn by turn directions, etc. I just want something that works consistently that I can use on my commutes and on my turbo trainer.
If strava would just support a cadence sensor for android it would be so much cheaper and simpler!
Thanks for any input/experiences/advice,
Regards,
Tawraste

 

[Owboduz]

I had the same frustration, which is why I started using ipbike. The trial gives you 1000,000 wheel revolutions to try it out, which should be more than enough, and the app costs a mere £5--a whole lot better than a strava subscription!

It has many export and upload options, including strava and mapmyride.

It says ant+, but it also supports Bluetooth LE (smart), all through ipsensorman, which is free.

 

[tawraste]

Wow! Thank you! As it goes I'm due a phone upgrade and have been looking at a model that supports ant+. I'm going to try this out and if it works the 810 is going on ebay.

 

[ecarter202]

What is wrong with your 810? (just curious)

 

[tawraste]

It has never worked properly, software updates cured some problems but caused others. Problems I've had include: Activities not saving. Activities saving but corrupted. Unit has ignored the pre-prepared course and repeatedly insisted I join a motorway. Unit won't connect to the smartphone via bluetooth. Sensors routinely disconnect. Etc etc etc. I think the hardware is ok, but garmin have problems with writing software.

 

[tawraste]

They've been rolling out update after update and asking for feedback. This makes me feel like a beta tester who's paid four hundred bucks for the privilege.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

My 510 Garmin has been pretty darned good over about 6 months of use. I bought it after the first round of 510 'fixes' from Garmin.

The only weirdness was a couple of rides that plotted/graphed as a straight line from some point in the middle of the ride to the end point. Maybe like the GPS dropped out or lost contact with the satellites?

The ride mileage, heart rate, cadence, etc. was correct, but the route graphing and altitude recording was FUBAR. The jagged altitude graph went to a flat line for much of those two rides and the map route line was a straight line (not following any road at all) during that same time period of the rides.

Those were only two out of many, many rides though and my Cateye Stealth 50 GPS unit did the same thing once or twice. I've been through one firmware upgrade to the 510. It is frustrating if it happens only a couple times. I can't imagine putting up with that constantly and the dreaded 'Not Saving' syndrome at any price level.

I have no ide what causes the data loss, but corrupted ride files, no-saves and shut downs are inexcusable. Garmin does need to fix their faults faster and offer greater reliability out of the box.