Best Cycling GPS Units
Multiple Protections: Non-slip Rubber Grip Cradles of the Bicycle Phone Mount Secures Your Device All-around to Guard Against Any Accidental Falls.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Minutes after I installed it, I set off on a 35-mile ride north of San Francisco and was blown away by how much more helpful turn-by-turn cycling directions are when you can actually see the map."
"I was a little dubious at first but this thing really works, it clamps tight on the stem of my fat bike and the adjustable phone clamp grabs my wide 5.5 inch phone in place, the last piece is the stretchy orange rubber bands that wrap around the corner of your phone."
"This is a very versatile mount for holding your device while you ride your bike."
"My phone has stayed on through some bumpy bits of trail and the occasional bunny hop on my cyclocross bike which does not have shocks. Side note: I forgot to bring lights for a night rise and I was able to use my phone's flashlight with this mount to give me some light for the trail and to make myself known to traffic."
"It does work well and pretty securely clamps the phone in place."
"There is a small rubber insert inside the mount designed to help it fit snugly around bars, they should use a different type of rubber because the kind they use slips a little unless you crank down really, really hard."
"The only down side and the reason I’m not using it anymore is the rubber strap slides between the components and causes the mount to go into “swivel” mode."
"Other then that it will hold a phone well in a slim case."
Think about it: a gadget like Garmin's Edge 520 Bike Computer delivers live-time updates to Strava, displays your power output when connected to a power meter, and defines your fitness level while you ride. The number acts as a major landmark in a sea of constantly changing power output metrics when you're out riding, letting you know when you're riding at a level that isn't effective for a given day's training goals.Once you sync the Edge 520 with your heart rate strap and power meter, you'll also be able to look at V02 max estimates to help track your progress during a training plan and map out future workouts. Connected features: automatic uploads, live tracking, smart notifications, send/receive courses, social media sharing, weather.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Much of the issues I stated below still stand, however Garmin has addressed two of them: 1) Garmin issued a firmware update that retains the last activity profile chosen, so you no longer need to re-select it on every ride. That said, it still takes a full two to three minutes to upload a ~150kb ride file, which boggles my mind. The early reviews of the 520 seemed to indicate that many of the 510's issues (terrible screen, slow, bad syncing, dumb UI), were somewhat resolved. In terms of the major issues I had with the 510, here's how I'd describe the 520: Terrible screen: the 510, compared to the 500, was almost unusable on any but the sunniest of days. Syncing using the Garmin Connect iPhone app is an exercise in frustration. Occasionally, my phone, power meter, and HRM will all disconnect at the same time, then bounce back after 10 seconds or so. Overall, the 520 is definitely an improvement over the train wreck that was the 510, but it's clear Garmin is not listening to usability feedback on the software side, instead focusing on features that make them seem innovative."
"Despite the bad early reviews I pulled the trigger on the newest update to my venerable Edge 500. Auto pause is toggled off by default, the setting is under individual activities menu. Great cycle GPS for me, expect it to only get better as it's updated down the road."
"Why do I need to connect to Garmin to load information back to my laptop?"
"Use it for mountain biking with garmin speed sensor, cadence, and heart rate monitor and all work together perfectly."
"The picture, for example, shows 6 fields displayed at once."
"It keeps track of every single bit of information about my ride that I could possibly want, which I can track easily through Garmin Connect and Strava."
HIGHEST QUALITY LATEST 2016 RELEASE - UNIVERSAL BIKE PHONE MOUNT Designed to fit all SmartPhones and devices up to 3.7” in width as well as motorcycle and bicycle handlebars of 0.9” to 1.3” diameter. TOP LEVEL SECURITY For the most extreme users of our bicycle phone mount, we’ve equipped it with 3 special durable silicone bands that provide extra protection of the device. HIGHEST QUALITY 2016 CUTTING EDGE UNIVERSAL BIKE PHONE MOUNT PRODUCED BY MONGOORA. For the most extreme of users – the 3 special durable silicone bands will provide the extra protection of the device.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Ditto fitting the phone into the holder is also easy and the rubber straps do a first class job of holding the phone safely in place."
"He is 13 and never seems to have pockets to take his phone when he rides his bike, and when he does, he says he can't hear my calls."
"My only complaint is that the plastic piece that holds the width of the phone seems as though one cannot rely on it too much."
"The product is exactly as described and works great!"
"I'm not sure I would trust it to hold my phone securely without one of the provided rubber bands, although other reviewers said they've had good success."
"I was looking for a cell phone holder for my cruiser bike and decided to give this one a try since the money was right."
"Trucks bounce and vibrate a lot and I wanted something that I would feel confident would hold my phone in place as I use it as a commercial GPS."
"It works better on the bicycle for the fact that it's too much of a distraction while riding the motorcycle."
Best Cycling Electronics
Make every beat count with Fitbit Charge 2—the all-new heart rate and fitness wristband built for all-day, workouts and beyond. PurePulse continuous, automatic wrist-based heart rate tracking to better measure calorie burn all day.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I found the Fitbit to be an incredible fitness device compared to the Apple watch. The fitbit can also track sleep, and give you an estimate of your cardio fitness score (V02 Max). Other features: Clearly the fitbit is not a smart watch, but the text and call notifications are great when you're working out and don't have quick access to your phone. Accuracy: Tie. I have no idea what the negative reviews are talking about (Maybe they received a defective device or have exceptionally hairy arms?). The apple watch is slightly more accurate when it comes to distance, and probably more suited for someone who runs at a competitive pace. I love watching my cardio fitness score change and keeping an eye on my resting heart rate overnight. Apple has a ton of 3rd party apps which are great, but it lacks the complete integration of the fitbit. I haven't decided which one I will be keeping yet, but if I were basing my decision on fitness alone, at a non competitive level, I would choose the fitbit hands down. There are other useful features that make the Apple watch appealing in my line of work, so I'll have to weigh those into my decision. The apple watch doesn't have the same coolness factor with regard to fitness, and really doesn't motivate me to workout anymore than my iPhone would. It is perfect for someone who doesn't care about tracking fitness goals, but wants to leave their phone at home during a workout. The ability to stream music, track distance with a built in GPS, and respond to text messages are wonderful. I have a 7 inch wrist and the large band fits me on the last 2-4 holes (keep it loose when not working out)."
"As a Blaze and original Charge HR owner, figured I'd try my hand at the newest Fitbit Charge 2. It replaces the original best selling Charge & Charge HR. Steps, Flights, Heart Rate, Calories Burned, Connected GPS (shows a little map post workout when tied to your phone, and yes, you need to bring your phone with you on walks/runs), and notifications (as of now, just texts, calendar alerts, and displays phone number of incoming calls). The Charge watch has been the workhorse of the fitbit line. Since you're familiar with the Charge already, let's go over some of the issues you may have experienced and highlights/common questions answered: 1) Build Quality: The Charge 2 is a far far superior quality than the original Charge. **If you had problems with your original Charge band bubbling, the ability to swap bands and how the tracker is connected to the bands should eliminate the issues you have experienced ** Obviously way too early to make a call on how the device will hold up, but given my experience with Blaze & Alta, this feels similar in build quality, if not better, and neither of those devices have suffered from bands falling apart on a wide scale. 5) Display is nice, 4x larger than the original Charge. The font is a bright offwhite, as opposed to the original Charge that had a soft almost blue to it. Some display day & date, and most have option to where when you tap the display it will cycle through stats (may display heart rate, date, steps taken, how far you are in your goals, your hourly movement reminders, etc). Yes, two of the watch faces are digital (numbers display, not hands) and have seconds displayed. There is no 3rd party support at this time such as facebook, instagram, etc (The Blaze watch will be offering these soon in next software upgrade, so I guess there is hope the Charge 2 will get those as well). Heart rate was spot on as it usually was with original Charge HR & my Blaze. Obviously some folks have trouble with them due to body hair and whatnot, but the sensors on Charge HR, Blaze, and now Charge 2 seem to be spot on. An issue I had with the original Charge was it getting "lost" when I hit higher cardio levels. CONS: - vibration is notably weaker than the original Charge. The Charge HR slowly scrolls texts and notifications to you, which can be annoying if you're used to the Blaze. They serve their purpose well though, and I can't ding it for this as it's a step up from the original Charge. The Blaze is their high end product at the moment, but the Charge 2 is a very close second. I'll happily answer questions as I did for when I originally reviewed the Blaze out of the gate, and edit this review to reflect common questions or any issues I face as I put the device through its paces in the coming days."
Best Running GPS Units
Color: Black/Gray |. Style: Watch Only |. Configuration: New. Battery Life 11 Hours Training, 9 Days Watch, Activity Tracking, Notifications + Heart Rate.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"With a brightly coloured strap, it could even look like a trendy time piece that doesn’t scream “FITNESS TRACKER!”. --HR recording--. I compared the HR data to that from a Polar H7 Bluetooth Smart HRM and the comparison is shown in the attached pictures. Finishing time. Features like training calendar and my workouts require that you log into Garmin Connect web and do some planning. The FR 235 allows the user to set interval distance, duration and time right from the watch device. As for finishing time, you just need to set a distance and go about your run while the FR235 will display roughly how fast you can complete the distance based on the current pace. The screen during activity tracking can be set to a total of 5 screens of which 2 can be further split into 4 data fields each. So in total you’re getting 4+4+1 (Heart rate) +1 (HR Zone gauge)+1 (Clock)= 11 stats to view during tracked activities. --Smart notifications—. The FR235 allows you to expand and read smart notifications or set the mode of alert, be it audio, vibration or both. --All day activity tracker—. The FR235 tracks steps, distance, calories burned, sleep, all day HR and intensity minutes but it doesn’t track number of stairs climbed due to the lack of a barometer. I was able to set alerts during a tracked activity session to buzz when I go beyond a certain HR. • Measure all day heart rate and heart rate during tracked activity sessions. • GPS+Glonass enabled with smart or per second tracking. • Vibration and audio enabled for smart notifications, alarms, move alerts. • Expand and read full messages on FR 235 display. • Pick up phone calls only. • Heavily customisable. • Garmin Connect IQ compatible for apps and watch face downloads. • VO2 Max score, Race time predictor, Recovery advisor. • Automatic laps for 1km/1 mile or customised. • Auto pause during tracked runs. • Interval run features. • Water resistant to 5 ATM. • Big screen that is not touch enabled. • Sunlight readable screen with back light. • Connect IQ compatible. • Reads lap number and time from Garmin Connect mobile app from connected smart phone. • Shows weather and calender events from smart phone. • Water resistant to 5 ATM. Cons. • Navigation on the FR235 takes getting used to. • No virtual pacer feature. --Updated 28th Jan 2016--. Well I had the watch for a while now."
"I was a runner through the Charge and Surge (GPS) but then had a knee injury and became a gym rat through the Blaze time period. This was an epic fail for me and although Fitbit customer service was awesome and replaced it under warranty, the new unit still did not work on GPS. It had a lot of bluetooth problems including not connecting often so that I could access music controls. It's also MUCH easier to download apps, widgets and watch faces connected to your computer than to your smart phone. I have read lots of reviews here that say this product has a bad hrm, but I have found that to be untrue. Since I have had many fitbits with this feature and experience with Polar heart rate straps (they cut my skin so I had to stop using them), I believe that the heart rate monitor is pretty reliable. It does not show the heart beat moving like the Blaze does, but that's minor and it does take a minute to update. Also, the Garmin does not let you know when you have reached your goal and that feature on the blaze was kind of cute. I wish they made small watch band sizes for women like me. Here is where I agree with the reviewer about making sure that you are buying this watch for the right reasons! -On the first night I had my Garmin, I was 100% sure I was going to return it because the set up process was such a pain in the butt. If Garmin could hire a Fitbit software engineer to sort out their IOS app, I would be a happy camper. I don't see any icon or any indicator that it is charging and I have to just come back in a few minutes to see if the percentage has changed. I charged it fully on Wednesday and then used it only during the day (turning it off at night) and it is Sunday now. I was very sad to leave Fitbit and I will probably go back if they ever come out with a Surge 2 that is not square (hate that look) so I can use their awesome app and do challenges with my friends and coworkers."
Best Handheld GPS Units
DUAL BATTERY SYSTEM Use with 2 traditional AA batteries, or the optional rechargeable NiMH battery pack that can be charged while inside the device.Weight 8.1 oz (230 g) with batteries.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Mainly, I wanted the much more finely detailed map of the US, but the built-in Bluetooth connectivity also seemed interesting and possibly useful. To even come close with the 64st, you have to turn off features like Bluetooth and GLONASS and use the display "battery saving" mode (which means the the screen is not on unless you press a key). To get around this, the manual suggests that you use (ultra high priced) lithium batteries. Even the user manual for the 64st is a minimalist document which appears to be designed to prevent you from finding how the 64st is supposed to work. Of course, since the device doesn't have most trails built in, the "calculation" always fails-- it never finds a route. I have had frequent trouble with the 64st including nonsense points in a track leading to absurd odometer readings. How hard would it be for the GPS to deduce that it is not possible to travel 24,000 miles per hour and ignore the spurious track point?"
"GARMIN real gives you the finger with there top maps. what I enjoyed about the app was. 1-the app is free. 2-the apps uses very detailed 10 ft elevation change USGS maps overlayed over your position. 4-due to the touch screen nature and the fact that the apps are designed for hunters they had convenient waypoint markers that could be used to designate tree stands, game cameras, trails etc. Luckily online you can find some very good FREE but limited 24K maps."
Best Golf Course GPS Units
AUTOSHOT - Round analyzer measures shot distances with auto-recording for post-round analysis on your Garmin Connect account.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In order to get, let's say hazards, you have to push the "OK" button to bring up the menu, press the up or down button to get to "HAZARDS," press OK button and it'll show you distances to hazards, if there is more than 1, you have to press the up or down button to look at each as it will only show 1 hazard at a time, then to get back to main screen you have to push the "BACK" button. When it's enabled, the watch knows you've just hit a shot and will ask you which club you just hit, so it can track it, it's also pretty good at figuring out which club you just hit and makes it the first choice, for example you hit a drive, the watch asks "driver?" It does take some getting used to to pressing buttons after EVERY shot, if you don't press anything and hit your next shot, no big deal, it'll still track your shot distance, but when you download info to Garmin connect it'll just show a ? Basically it says "the courses you play most often are updated automatically via the Garmin connect mobile app which by the way you must have in order to connect to bluetooth to get message notifications from your phone to the watch; it does not connect to bluetooth the traditional way, you must go through the app. SUMMARY: Good watch, some cool features if you don't mind pressing buttons all the time, at first it's frustrating because you will NOT remember to press the buttons after every shot, just part of the learning curve. Also, asked about being able to edit the club selection list for shot tracking and they said its not possible right now, but maybe with a future update."
"Here is my review: Opened the box and connected the S20 to my laptop via the included USB cable. I already have a Garmin account setup and the software on my computer because I also own a Vivoactive HR as my everyday activity tracker. When you walk onto the green it automatically pops up a prompt asking you to enter your score, number of putts, and whether you hit the fairway. My personal experience has been a great one so far, and I've thankful that it seems that Garmin has fixed the issues that seem to have plagued earlier firmware versions. I'm hoping that Garmin only improves the S20 and am looking forward to seeing what features they adding the future."
"One reason I purchased this watch was so I could measure my shot distances. This watch will measure shot distances, BUT scoring must be turned on! With scoring activated the watch will try to keep track of every shot, but it can't if you take a practice swing because it adds the practice swing to the total swings forcing you to correct the score. Much later in the instructions they tell you scoring must be turned on for measuring shot distance."