Garmin 800 setup

[TomE.]

I received Garmin 800 unit, and I picked up a GSC 10 sensor as well, but I am having difficulties simply understanding how everything works. The manual that came with the unit as well as the online manuals are really sparse. Do you save your lap as a "New Course", then load that course whenever you ride that trail again? I'm guessing there are no real maps that come with the unit, and no SD card either. Do most people buy maps from Garmin or use the Open Maps I've been reading about?

Also, I managed to get the sensor married to the unit, but during a ride yesterday at Lakeshore, the Garmin kept auto-pausing and re-starting. I thought the sensor wasn't on, so I stopped and spun the wheel and the sensor would flash. The "Bike Settings" menu said a sensor was present, so I gave up trying to get it to work and finished the loop. When I got in, it said I'd ridden 1.97 miles in 54 minutes. I thought I was faster than that, but hey...Garmin said so. Is there a procedure for simply starting a ride with an active sensor and recording the trail you just rode, and then load that trail up when you ride it again?

[TomE.]

Okay, I figured out how to save the data to a "new course", I wasn't hitting reset before attempting to save it. I still can't figure out how to have the sensor be the sole determination for speed and distance though. I'm using the bike profile for which the sensor was set up, but when riding it appears the GPS is controlling everything because it continues to "Auto Pause" and "Auto Resume" throughout the ride.

Any tips appreciated.

[c0nsumer]

I still can't figure out how to have the sensor be the sole determination for speed and distance though. I'm using the bike profile for which the sensor was set up, but when riding it appears the GPS is controlling everything because it continues to "Auto Pause" and "Auto Resume" throughout the ride.

I believe the only way you can do this is to turn off GPS. Which has its own downsides...

These niggles are exactly the kind of complains I have about the Garmin Edge 500. It's just lacking in a bit of flexibility. I'd love it if they open-sourced the stuff so we could build our own versions which start/stop differently, etc.

[TomE.]

I believe the only way you can do this is to turn off GPS. Which has its own downsides...

These niggles are exactly the kind of complains I have about the Garmin Edge 500. It's just lacking in a bit of flexibility. I'd love it if they open-sourced the stuff so we could build our own versions which start/stop differently, etc.

I did not try that, and it probably wouldn't have occurred for me to try that for a while. Thanks for the tip.

I like the whole idea behind the Garmin, although it seems geared more toward road riding, at least right now. I definitely need more time to get acquainted with it. I like I can upload my rides and stuff, but this initial learning curve is needlessly hard. Having to scour the internet to learn basic setup stuff is frustrating. I'm sure once I get used to it, I'll start having the same advanced niggles you are having.

[Doc_d]

I'm not in front of my Garmin, so I don't remember what auto pause options are available. I do know that mine never randomly auto pauses when I'm riding so I don't know why you're having such a issue with it. I ride mine with two bikes (one with and one without a cadence/speed sensor).

If you pick your bike up and spin the rear wheel does the Garmin show speed?


If you go into Menu -> Bike Settings -> Auto Pause -> Auto Pause Mode - what's it set to?

As a last resort you can turn off auto pause completely I believe and simply hit the start/stop button manually. But you really shouldn't need to do that.

[TomE.]

If you pick your bike up and spin the rear wheel does the Garmin show speed?

No it doesn't. The green sensor light comes on though.

If you go into Menu -> Bike Settings -> Auto Pause -> Auto Pause Mode - what's it set to?

As a last resort you can turn off auto pause completely I believe and simply hit the start/stop button manually. But you really shouldn't need to do that.

It was set to 2.5 MPH. I just changed that to "When Stopped".

Going thru the options, I can't find where I defined the bike to use the sensor only. I'll look over my notes when I get home, but it isn't jumping out at me in the unit settings right now.

[utabintarbo]

Why would you want to use the sensor only? You paid $400+ for a $15 bike computer with a color screen?

[c0nsumer]

It was set to 2.5 MPH. I just changed that to "When Stopped".

Going thru the options, I can't find where I defined the bike to use the sensor only. I'll look over my notes when I get home, but it isn't jumping out at me in the unit settings right now.

This option isn't there. THe only way to force it is to turn GPS off.

That said, on the Edge 500 and Edge 800, if a wheel sensor is present then it'll be used for distance measurement.

I'd suggest using the GSC10, leaving GPS on, and either disabling auto-pause or simply changing it to when stopped as you have. To me this provides the most-desired result of accurately recording distance while also logging where one has been.

[TomE.]

This option isn't there. THe only way to force it is to turn GPS off.

That said, on the Edge 500 and Edge 800, if a wheel sensor is present then it'll be used for distance measurement.

I'd suggest using the GSC10, leaving GPS on, and either disabling auto-pause or simply changing it to when stopped as you have. To me this provides the most-desired result of accurately recording distance while also logging where one has been.

That is basically how I have it now, only with auto pause on. Doing the B loop at Maybury yesterday, it showed 8.3 miles. My $15 computer from the last few years always had that loop at 9+ miles.

[TomE.]

Meh, I guess everything is pointing to me having the sensor set up incorrectly or not engaging well enough. I'll adjust and mess with it some more. Thanks for all the help so far.

[Doc_d]

Meh, I guess everything is pointing to me having the sensor set up incorrectly or not engaging well enough. I'll adjust and mess with it some more. Thanks for all the help so far.

Yep you have 2 issues I believe. Your Garmin isn't seeing the speed sensor and you had auto pause set to 2.5 MPH. With auto pause set to "when stopped" and the speed sensor working you'll be golden.

Make sure your bike profile has the speed sensor turned on. If I remember correctly when the garmin 800 first receives a signal from the speed/cadence sensor it will put up a little message on the screen saying "speed sensor detected" (or something like that). I'm also pretty sure it will show speed on the screen if you lift the wheel and spin the tire.

If you press the power button quickly it will bring up a screen showing you which bike profile you are using. It has images of which sensors it's currently detected (heart rate, cadence/speed, power meter).

Good luck. I had a garmin edge 305 and now a Garmin Edge 800 and they have both been great for me.

[c0nsumer]

Meh, I guess everything is pointing to me having the sensor set up incorrectly or not engaging well enough. I'll adjust and mess with it some more. Thanks for all the help so far.

Just FYI, after pressing the button on the GSC10 the light will illuminate briefly then go out. Then with every pass of the wheel or cadence sensor it'll illuminate red or green. (I forget which is which.) This is a great diagnostic for setting up the magnet right. Note that there is a groove in the arm and on the body which illustrates where the magnets should pass.

(For what it's worth I'm having a GSC10 problem whcih might be low battery. Last night mine was showing me at 107MPH when riding up Sheldon Rd. towards Stony Creek. I just set the sensor to no and went GPS-only instead for that ride, knowing it'll underrecord about 15%.)

[TomE.]

Pulling a Lazarus on this thread since I got my Garmin connected to the sensor. It was a battery issue. I guess I didn't want to believe a battery in a brand-new device wasn't bad, but it was. I set everything up over the weekend, set the auto-pause to "When Stopped", took it to Stony today. It *still* auto-pauses, even when the speedometer is over 8 mph. Whatever, I just turned auto pause off. Perhaps the auto pause uses satellite data and everything else uses the sensor? I dunno. I'll play with it some more I guess. I'm learning to hate the sound of the auto pause going on and off.

[Alexg]

Is there a similar problem with aliasing on the 800 as there is with the 500? I have a 500 and a 310XT. I noticed my 310XT always shows longer laps than the 500 so I am wondering if the 800 is similar to the 310XT as well.

[c0nsumer]

Is there a similar problem with aliasing on the 800 as there is with the 500? I have a 500 and a 310XT. I noticed my 310XT always shows longer laps than the 500 so I am wondering if the 800 is similar to the 310XT as well.

Sure. There's aliasing with any GPS-only solution for measuring distance. There's also complications due to inaccuracy, but that's harder to quantify. There's a good chance the 310XT has a better sensor or maybe higher sample rate + greater accuracy resulting in more detail. Or it's possible that the longer distance is inaccurately longer?

Measuring distance via the number of revolutions of a wheel will always be more reliable.