Garmin on road bike-worth it?
I only have power on my tri bike and have always used cat-eyes etc on my road bikes.
After many years I am getting a new road bike and do not plan to use power (I have a joule with my power tap on my tri bike). I need to get a computer for my new road bike.
Should I get another good old cat-eye or is the fancy stuff on the Garmin units worth it? If I go with a Garmin should I go with a 510 or 810 (do many people us the map features with the 810 if you do more "training" than "touring")? Should I go with a cheap computer for now and wait for a better iteration of Garmin to come out ( I thought the reviews in rainmaker etc weren't too great for either the 810 or 510).
Thanks for the advice!
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I have a Garmin 800, but only because I got a great deal on it. I would get a 500/510 if I had to do it over again. The map is so small and hard to use while riding, that it's really only useful when stopped (when I could just whip out my phone with a much better/more visible map). If I were "touring", I don't think I'd be able to use the map feature effectively.
As far as the question b/c a good old Cateye, etc. vs. a Garmin, depends on how much "extra" stuff you want to be able to see/track. The Garmin will tell you things like %grade, altitude, temp, direction. Haven't looked at the price difference b/w Garmin 510 and a Cateye. Certainly, if you don't need/want HR, then a Cateye will be much cheaper.
True -- the use of the power data is extremely different when riding on a road bike with a group vice riding your tri bike while training. But there is useful, actionable data to be had and exploited.
If you really are deadset against using power on your roadie, I'd still use a Garmin. But that's me. Why? So I can upload everything. Why? Because that's how I am. If you dont' want to log and track your training then sure, a CatEye will tell you your speed. The 500 is an excellent little computer and I use it all the time. I do have an 800 that I use for training purely so I can get some variety in my routes and not ever have to worry about navigation.
Thanks for the info guys.
It'd be nice to have power on the road bike but I'm not planning to spend the $ for a power tap (or other power options) at this point (hence I'm not "planning" on using power but would definitely like it !)
I have a 10 speed SRAM on my tri bike and will have an 11 speed shimano on my new road bike so switching wheels would entail more work than I want.
I may very well go with the 500/510 and who knows what power options will be on the horizon.
As always, I appreciate everyone's help.
http://www.wheelbuilder.com/powertap-11-speed-freehub-body.html
Thanks Steve and Rich. It sounds like that's the way to go.