Category Archives: Bike Electronics

Heart-Rate Settings on the Garmin 800

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The first thing that I planned on mentioning here is simply that the settings for Heart-Rate Zones in the Garmin 800 GPS Bike computer are not where you might expect them to be.

Garmin Edge 800

Garmin Edge 800

I have had my Garmin 800 GPS unit for a couple of years now and have not reset the heart-rate zones since I got it. Well, since these zones are mostly based on age I knew that they were out of date and decided to reset them.

I’m sure this information is in the manual somewhere and I obviously had checked that when I first set it but it is NOT intuitive and was not where I expected it to be.

It seemed logical to me that you would set the heart-rate zones in the > User Profile section but that is not where you make the setting. You actually change the heart-rate settings in > Bike Settings (then down arrow) > Heart Rate.

The User Profile includes Gender, Age, Weight, Height and Activity Class. Since I could not find the heart-rate setting at first I thought that changing these parameters might change your heart-rate zones (seemed logical to me anyway).

So I made some changes here and went out for a ride to check my new 90% workout zone. I expected a change since I changed my age and activity class (from 45 min workout time a week to 1 to 3 hours per week which is much closer for me (if not even a little low).

HR Monitor

HR Strap

Next I go out to my first hill and push myself up to the 90% zone and check my heart-rate. Well, it was exactly the same as it was before. So just to check the settings I set my User profile to a 20 Year old, 150 lbs and workout time of over 15 hours a week!

So I find the next hill and start racing again to get my heart-rate up. No change… Well I tried resetting the trip setting then turning the unit off completely and on again… Another hill… another 90%+ heart-rate… No change!!!

OK, I finally decided that this information made no difference in the unit’s heart-rate zones and was totally exhausted after my ride.

BTW: You can set the heart-rate zones as I described above but the only way to see where how they are actually set (the heart-beat rates) you need to go out and ride and see what happens.

Anyway, when you track down where to make the heart-rate changes ~ under > Bike Settings (then down arrow) > Heart Rate > Heart Rate Zones. ~ you can set your Maximum HR, Resting HR and the method that you want to use to calculate the rates for each zone.

This lead me into a little more research on calculating Maximum Heart-Rate and decided to change my calculation from the easy and popular method (220 – your age) to what I believe may be a little more accurate formula that I found on the Wikipedia Heart Rate page.

I am now using the Robergs and Landwehr method where: HRmax = 205.8 − (0.685 × age)

They say you really need to do a Stress Test to get an accurate Max HR but, since I am not going to go out and pay for a stress test just to get my max hr, I like the method above since it yields a little higher ranges (than the 220-age method) and I think that fits me a little better.

When I originally got my Edge 800 I mostly wanted to upgrade my bike computer and even thought that the navigation would be really cool. I wasn’t that interested in the Heart-Rate monitor but I have since found this to be one of the features that I use the most with this unit.

I still love this GPS bike computer and all of its features. For a little more information specifically on the Edge 800 see our Garmin Edge 800 page on this site.

 

Garmin Edge Hints, Ride Time vs Elapsed Time…

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Here are a few hints, tips and clarifications on the Garmin Edge 800 GPS Bike computer fields and settings (which apply to the Edge 500 also)  that I have found helpful and sometimes difficult to find either in the manual or via an online search.

First, let me explain that I always use the Auto Pause feature which stops the stats and timers when you are on a ride and stopped (or below the minimum speed setting that you set with the Auto Pause feature (I usually set my minimum speed at 3mph)).

I believe that Auto Pause is NOT set by default when you first get an Edge bike computer, which means that your stats and timers ~ most importantly your average speed ~ continue to run while you are on a ride but stopped (to cross a road for example). So if you want your average speed to be your actual average, while riding (and not stopped), you’ll need to turn Auto Pause on (I don’t know why this is not the default). Garmin Edge Night View Display

What I just discovered recently is the exact differences between the Time Stats on the Edge computers. Although there are a number of time stats (lap times, times to destinations, etc.) the two key time stats that I am referring to are “Time” and “Elapsed Time”.

“Elapsed Time” is exactly what is says in the manual which is the total time recorded from the time that you press Start to the time you press Reset (or end your current ride data).

“Time” is what I think of as Ride Time. This is only the time that you have ridden on your ride and does not include the time that the unit is on Auto Pause. In the Garmin manual it says that this is “Stopwatch time” (very confusing, I think). I have also seen this called ride time or trip time on the older wheel, magnet based bike computers. Trip time can be confusing since it could potentially go either way depending on how you read it.

OK, so much for the time stats. Another little trick that I just learned about my Garmin Edge is that there is a much easier way to  change what is being displayed in any (programmable) window on any screen in the edge without going into the Menu>Bike Settings>Training Pages… process.

The easier way to change any of the stats being displayed in a window (or box) on the Garmin Edge computers is just to press and hold the window or box that you want to change on the screen until it turns blue.That will take you right into the menu area where you can change the display to anything else that you would like it to be. This should be right at the top of the manual where it explains how to change these things!

Of course, if you want to rearrange the entire screen (like change the number of windows (or boxes) on a screen then you’ll need to go through the regular Menu path process.

The last little thing that I wanted to mention is about the Lap Markers on the Garmin Connect Maps. Personally, I always upload my ride data, from my Edge 800, to Garmin Connect cause it is so cool to have all the stats and a detailed map of your rides to refer to after your ride is over.

What I discovered though is that not all of my laps show up on the Garmin Connect maps (in the numbered bubbles). All the laps do show up on the main screen and in the “Splits” tab but not on the maps. I actually called Garmin support on this to see if there was some way or some trick to seeing ALL of the laps on the map screens and confirmed that there is not. Garmin Connect randomly picks a few of the lap markers and, for now, that is all you get.

Another kind of cool feature with the Garmin Edge computers is the Color Mode Screen Display. This setting is set to Auto mode by default which means that in the daylight hours it is a black on white display and at night it automatically turns to white on black. The photo that I included above was my Edge 800 GPS from last night while the unit was in night display mode. This, of course, can be set to whatever your preference is.

Once again, I still love my Garmin Edge 800 GPS Bike Computer and I think that this is the most fun and useful cycling accessory that I own. I never intend to go back to the old style bike computers again.

If you do not already have a GPS bike computer and are considering getting one (or giving one, since it is that time of year), please see our Bike GPS page for a summary of these units and some good online resources.

Garmin Heart-Rate Monitor Issues and Replacement

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I’ve had my Garmin Edge 800 and Garmin heart-rate monitor for about 8 months now, have logged over 1400 bike miles this year and I still love this bike computer and use my heart-rate monitor on just about every ride now. Garmin Heart-Rate Monitor ~ Strap and Transmitter

It’s funny, I never had a heart-rate monitor until this year and was not really all that interested in having one before. Now, I feel like I am totally missing something when I ride without it. I am constantly checking my HR and my HR zone as I ride for an efficient ride and also to stay within a safe range for myself.

Anyway, here’s the story on the problems that I’ve had with my HR monitor. About a month ago the HR readings on my Edge 800 started to drop out occasionally or give me readings that were obviously too low. I wet the sensors on the strap, as Garmin suggests,  for a better connection and the HR readings would usually come back but they still kept dropping off occasionally.

After a few weeks, it became difficult to get the heart-rate readings on my GPS unit at all and when I did they were usually wrong.

So the most obvious thing to try was to replace the battery in the transmitter so I did that. ~ One note on changing the battery is that you need to remove 4 tiny screws that I found extremely difficult to remove. You have to get the perfect sized miniature screw driver to get them out without stripping them. When I changed the battery on my old Vetta bike computer, I could use a quarter and a half turn opened it up easily. I mentioned this to Garmin when I talked to one of their support people.

So after changing the battery, I had the same problems. Next, I did some searches on the internet for a resolution. I found that a few websites (including the Garmin site) that says that you need to reset the transmitter by waiting a minute after removing the old battery and putting the new one in. Well, I didn’t do that the first time so I opened it up again and did the reset procedure. Still no luck ~ Same problems.

My next step was to call Gamin support. I have actually found Garmin support to be very helpful in the past and with this issue. You need to wait a short time for support but it is not all that bad and I have found their support to be very good (and friendly people too).

When I talked to the support rep I explained the problem and the steps that I had already taken which was good because I would have had to do those things first anyway. I also mentioned that I cleaned the sensors on the strap after each use as they suggest.

The support rep told me that my HR unit would still be under warranty but suggested one other procedure to try which was to wash the sensors on the strap with a mild soap (like Dawn dish soap) and to soak it over night. OK, so I did that and once again no luck.

I called Garmin support once more and explained the situation. This time they just went ahead and sent me a replacement HR monitor (strap and transmitter) since it was still under warranty.

So a few days ago I received my new HR monitor from Garmin and have already used it on a couple of rides. It is so nice to have my HR monitor back again!

I am disappointed that the old one only lasted about 7 months and am a little skeptical  about how long the replacement will last. Only time will tell on that. I am very happy with Garmin support though. BTW: I tested the new strap with my old transmitter and it worked so the problem was with the sensors in the strap itself.

Well that got a little longer than I expected. Garmin Edge 800

I did also want to mention though that I still really love my Edge 800 bike computer and will probably never go back to the old wheel/magnet based bike computers again.

I was going to write a little more about the Edge 800 features that I have gotten to like so much but since this post has gotten so long, I guess I’ll just have to save that for another post.

I did put quite a bit of information out on the Garmin Edge 800 Bike GPS Review page on this site for those who may be interested in the Edge 800 (or the other Edge models).

 

 

Tour of California, Proform TDF and REI Sale

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I just have a couple of updates that I thought were important to post today. First, Today is the final stage of the Tour of California bike race ~ from Beverly Hills to LA which is on NBC at noon (at least here in the Chicago area). It’s not le Tour de France, of course, but this is a major bike race with plenty of professional riders (some that have been or will be in the TDF) and it is a lot of fun to watch.

I also noticed that they ran a Proform TDF Spin Bike commercial a few times throughout the broadcast of yesterdays race and that Proform is offering Free Shipping (which is a good deal but not something that they did not have before) and I believe that they may have been offering Free Rush Shipping also (which would be nice but I was not able to confirm that just yet). I will check this out today and update this post if I can confirm this.

The other important news is that this is the time of year when the REI Anniversary Sale is going on. If you familiar with REI then you know that their sales are actually legit and are really good on a lot of their products. This particular sale also applies to many of the Bikes on Sale at REI and you can get up to 15% off on some of their bikes (and they actually carry a lot of great bikes online).

See our May Deals and Discounts page for more of the details and the details on the Performance Bike Sale that is going on now too.

This is the time of year that a lot of stores are doing their Memorial Day and Beginning of Summer Sales so if you’re looking for Bikes or Cycling Products (or actually any outdoor gear) then this is a good time to get what you need.

 

 

Garmin Edge 800 Bicycle GPS Review

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Now that I have had my Garmin Edge 800 GPS Bike Computer for over a month now, have purchased and tested 3 different GPS mapping software packages and the heart-rate monitor, have tried out a majority of the features and tested this thing on numerous bike rides, I have completed the Garmin Edge 800 Review as promised in an earlier post.

Garmin Edge 800 Gpe Enabled Bike Computer

Garmin Edge 800 Bike GPS Review

I tried hard to keep my review of the Edge 800 at a fairly high level and not get too involved in all of the little nitty-gritty details but in the end it ended up getting much more detailed than I was shooting for. It’s just hard to cover something like that in a few paragraphs and have anything meaningful to say.

Well for better or worse (for longer or shorter) it is done!

You can see the full Garmin Edge 800 Bike BPS Review HERE.

I included some basic information on the Edge 800 and a brief summary of some of the best features before actually getting into my own review of the product.

I’m not going to repeat the information on the review page here but one little hint that I thought was worth repeating here is what I called the “Baggie Technique/Hint“.  I mentioned this in the Edge 800 review and I actually used this technique on my Green Bay Bike Trail ride (described below).

Basically I keep some cellophane baggies and rubber bands (mostly for my electronics) in my bike bag in case it starts to rain while I am out riding. It actually did start to rain while I was out on the Green Bay Trail last week and I stopped and put my camera in the large baggie (then in my bike bag) and covered the Edge 800 and my other Bike Computer with 2 more baggies.

This actually works great. It keeps the electronics dry and they still work and you can still use them on your ride. Most of these devices say that they are water resistant but I still like to play it safe when it comes to my bike electronics and rain.

Digitize Your Ride ~ With Garmin Edge 800 Bike Computer

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Garmin Edge 800 Bike Computer

Garmin Edge 800 Bike Computer

I’ve been giving my new Garmin Edge 800 GPS Bike Computer quite a workout and review lately and I gotta admit, I really love this thing! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am a little bit of a techno geek anyway and, of course, I love to ride. Bike GPS computers (like the Edge 800) are perfect for people with this combination of traits.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have just purchased the additional maps for my unit (City Navigator, TOPO Maps and Rails-to-Trails). Well, I have received, loaded and used all of these products now and I’ll give you my first impressions of these software products after a brief review of some of the new things that I have been discovering on the Edge 800 and some of the things that I really like about this GPS  unit.

First of all, I really like the touch-screen. I almost always swipe the screen to switch between windows and almost never use the arrows on the screen. I have also used this with gloves on it it works great (actually maybe even better than with no gloves on).

One of the other features that is also really great is the programmable screens on this unit. It is really easy to change the windows that are displayed on each screen and it’s great to be able to arrange them in almost anyway that you like (some screens have some limitations but most are pretty flexible) in addition to being able to select which screens are even displayed or not. You can include up to 10 windows on most screens (the photo above shows 8).

When you have made up your mind and decide to upgrade to a GPS enabled Bike Computer, we have included some good information and online resources Here on our Bicycle GPS page.

Today I just discovered the window that displays “Grade” and gives you the percentage up or down grade that you are on at anytime (there seems to be a very slight delay as to when the grade is displayed but that is not really a problem).

I was also paying attention to the total ascent and total decent windows. It’s nice to know how much of your ride has been uphill and how much has been downhill. They are close to the same at the end of a round trip ride (although there are some minor variances). Unfortunately, the unit does not come with both the ascent and descent windows on the same screen with the default settings. Of course, that’s not a problem because you can just program one of the screens to include both (which I am going to do before my next ride).

The upload and download features of the Edge 800 are really nice too, of course. The Training Center Software is pretty basic and it would be nice if that gave you a little more but the Garmin Connect site and software is loaded with features.

Finally, the MicroSD slot for loading additional maps is great. This is one of the reasons that you pay more for the Edge then for the lower priced models but IMO it is well worth it. The Base Map that the units come with is pretty limited (very few smaller side roads and no bikes trails (that I’ve seen)) so it is nice to be able to include additional maps.

Which brings me nicely into my last topic that I referred to above:

Garmin Bike GPS Mapping Software

I’ll start with the least expensive GPS maps that I have recently purchased which is the Rails-to-Trails maps. This is actually a nice addition to the TOPO or City Navigator maps (described below), can be used at the same time as the other maps (when you select the download) and it only costs $10. The Rails-to-Trails software is for a smaller area so you’ll need to select the correct map for your region (I have the Northeast version). These maps do not include ALL the trails in a particular area but it does have most of them (even some smaller, lesser known trails).

The next mapping package that I used was the TOPO Maps. Actually I really didn’t think that I would use this particular mapping package that much but now that I have it it just may be the primary mapping software that I use. This package does include plenty of bike trails and it also includes small side streets and subdivision streets as well as having the points-of-interest to reference.

The last mapping software package that I received was the City Navigator software. It’s actually redundant (to have both the TOPO and City Navigator software)  because you can only use either the TOPO card or City Navigator card in the unit at any one time.  It might be nice to have both once in a while but you really should probably decide which one of these mapping products suits you the best and just select one of them.

The City Navigator package includes all of North America (the version that I bought) where the TOPO software is limited to a smaller area (I have the Great Lakes version which includes the Chicago area where I live).  City Navigator has more points-of-interest than the TOPO package but the TOPO maps do include many of the important POIs. City Navigator does include some bike trails but it does not seem to be  nearly as extensive or detailed as the TOPO package.

On my ride today, I was just thinking about this vast amount of ride data that I now have (speeds, averages, distances, elevations, maps, heart-rate, lap info, ascents, descents…) and how my whole ride has been digitized for me enjoy and review later if I like (which I usually do).

That’s about it for the latest Bike GPS updates for now. These things really are a lot of fun. Check out Bicycle GPS for some good info and resources if you are considering getting one of these units.

 

GPS Mapping Software Purchases and REI Sale

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I have a couple of loosely related topics that I wanted to mention today.

First off, I just purchased the major mapping software for my new Garmin Edge 800 Bike Computer. This is actually one of the reasons why I bought the more expensive high-end model rather than one of the less expensive models.

After my purchase of the Edge 800, I realized that the touch-screen is an excellent feature 100 and I am really glad that I got the touch-screen model. It is really nice to be able to swipe the screen while riding to switch between the various screens.

Garmin Mapping Software Purchases

Garmin Mapping Software ~ for cycling

Getting back to the mapping software, I bought the 2012 version of City Navigator, the TOPO maps (for the Great Lakes region, which is the area where I live) and I even purchased a copy of Rails-to-Trails for our area.

I got the Rails-to-Trails maps directly from the Garmin site and that was a download so I already have that on on my GPS unit. It looks like this software actually has all the major bike trails in our area. I have already been on most of the trails that are close to me but I can’t wait to check this out when I am further away and close to some trails that I have not been on. You can also use the free Garmin Basecamp software to browse the bike trails that are loaded on to the GPS unit. This feature looks like it will be great for planning bike trips.

I bought the City Navigator software from Amazon because they had the latest 2012 version. This software is sold on a micro SD card which I have not received yet. I am looking forward to getting this software for the points of interest that it comes with as well as being able to see local roads (the base map that the units come with only shows major highways and it pretty limited).

I am not sure if the TOPO maps are going to be as useful for my own particular style of riding but I really wanted to check this out to see exactly what it does have. I bought the TOPO maps from REI and was able to use my REI annual rebate on the purchase along with getting 20% off.

REI Sale, until April 15th 2012

REI 20% Off Sale, until April 15th 2012

This, of course, leads me right to the next topic which is the sale that REI is having right now. REI is currently having one of their major sales that will be going on until April 15th. They are offering 20% off of one item (online or at the stores). They also just gave out their annual dividend which is a rebate that they give REI Members on anything that you buy at the store. This is actually a good deal even though there is a one-time fee of $20 (which is a lifetime membership).

There are some limitations on the 20% off deal but I was still able to use it on the Garmin software. It does say that GPS devices are exclueded but apparently not GPS software. Bike are also excluded except for  REI store brand Novara Bikes which are actually pretty nice bikes (much nicer than the big box store bikes).

At any rate, the 20% off deal is nice (and I took advantage of that one) so if you’re looking for some cycling products (or other outdoor stuff) you have until April 15th for this one.

One final note, I just did a major face-lift on the Bicycle GPS page on our website. I had originally posted this page many years ago (before bike GPS computers were even sold at many places and still very primitive) and although I have updated the page each year, there was some pretty out of date stuff that I needed to clean up. I have also checked all the links for the latest GPS products and deals so this page can be helpful when you’re looking for Bike GPS Computers or related products.