Garmin Edge 200 Review

January 10, 2012

by Matt Wikstrom
CTech editor

This review is for all those riders that have never used a GPS device, either in a car or on a bike. I had never used one, and while I was aware of these gadgets and what they could do, they were always too pricey and overstocked with features to appeal. That was until Garmin introduced the Edge 200, which was built to appeal to anyone that has yet to convert to GPS.

The Global Positioning System was invented and developed for military purposes by U.S. defence forces about 40 years ago. The system comprises a network of satellites that transmit precisely timed signals that ground receivers, such as the Edge 200, can use to calculate their position on the planet. The military has enjoyed high resolution GPS since the late-1980s, but rather than protect the technology, revisions to U.S. legislation by Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Bush have granted civilians increasing access to the system. Their hope was that GPS would serve the greater good of mankind, and so the system is available to serve the humble bike rider.

The Edge 200

Within moments of being turned on for the first time, the Edge 200 is ready to provide all the standard functions offered by a bike computer i.e. speed, distance, and average speed. However, there is no need to install a magnet on a spoke or determine wheel circumference, the Edge 200 uses GPS to work it all out.

What’s in the box?

Aside from the main unit, the Edge 200 comes with two mounting brackets, a stack of o-rings for securing the brackets, and a combined USB cable and AC adapter for data download and battery charging. There’s also a brief instruction manual. The only other thing you’ll need to make full use of the Edge 200 is a computer with an internet connection so that you can set up a free account with Garmin Connect to upload and share your ride data. For those of you with clear training goals, then you’ll probably find that Strava is better suited to your needs.

This is the main menu screen where you can select to view or use a course, start recording a ride, review your past rides in your history, or fiddle with the unit's settings. The unit has four buttons, two on each side, that serve multiple functions, depending on your menu choice. At each screen, each button is labelled clearly and the unit's menus are very easy to use.

Setting up the Edge 200

The first job is to charge the main unit. My unit was already 50% charged straight out of the box, so I dived right in. With the power on for the first time, there were a few questions to answer on language preference and clock format, plus my age, weight and height, then I had to go outside so the unit could locate a GPS signal. Within 60 seconds, the Edge 200 was ready for use. And there was no need to set the clock; GPS took care of that too.

Fitting the unit to my bike was dead easy. All I had to do was find a spot on the bars or stem, and stretch two o-rings to secure the bracket. The main unit requires a 90° twist to mount it in the bracket, so you’ll need to leave a bit of room to fit it lengthways.

Moments out of the box and the Edge 200 is ready to track your motion, be it on the bike, in the car, or on a flying fox. Once the unit has acquired a GPS signal, as shown, just hit the start button to record your progress.

Using the Edge 200

The Edge 200 essentially operates as a recorder. You can either press the start button before you set off, or the unit will prompt you to start recording when it detects motion. Once recording, the unit will display your current speed, time elapsed, and average speed. At the end of the ride, you then have the option to save or discard the data.

The Edge 200 can record at least 130 hours worth of riding, which should accommodate even the hardest riders for at least a month. All saved data is accessed via the History menu where you can look up the time elapsed, distance travelled, average speed, maximum speed, total ascent and descent, and estimated calories for each ride just like a regular bike computer. However, by uploading the ride to Garmin Connect or Strava, you will get access to data that a standard bike computer can’t provide: a map of your ride route and a display of your speed and altitude changes over the entire course of the ride. Very cool, if only because you can annoy loved ones with lots of data (and graphs!) when they ask where you went riding.

After you upload your ride to Garmin Connect, all of this data appears with a single click.

Split times

The Edge 200 easily records split times during a ride, all you have to do is press the lap button. Alternatively, the unit can be set up to measure split times at regular intervals (eg every 10 minutes or every 5km). I found the manual split times very handy for climbs and intervals, and I could view the splits on the main unit (in ride history) or after uploading the ride.

Courses

Strictly speaking, you can’t think of the Edge 200 as a navigating device, it doesn’t have any maps, but it can provide you with directions. The “return to start” feature can be activated at any point during a ride, and a squiggle (representing the course back to where you started recording the ride) replaces the data screen and an arrow points you in the right direction. It won’t help you find the quickest way home, but it will accurately show you the way you’ve come. Keep in mind that no street names or landmarks are displayed, though north is shown to help your orientation.

Here's a look at what a course looks like on the main unit. Note the scale near the top of the screen and the calculated distance for the ride at the bottom. When in use, the scale collapses to show 80m of the road ahead with arrow to show where to go.

Another way to navigate with the Edge 200 is to load the course information from a previous ride. This function is accessed via the courses menu on the main screen and, like “return to start”, a squiggle and arrow direct you along the path of the ride. As you follow the course, the unit will display how much of the ride you have completed and the distance remaining. The Edge 200 also becomes something of a race commentator as it compares your time to the course time and provides splits throughout the ride, even congratulating you at the end if you finish with a better time (“You win” flashes on the screen). If you deviate from the course at any point, the unit will alert you and an arrow will show you how to find the route again, but you’re free to re-join the course at any point. The Edge 200 appears to update its directions based on the shortest distance back to the course.

Here's a peek at the Edge 200 commentary team. As you gain or lose time, the bikes separate, where you're current time is represented by the lower rider, while the upper rider is the course time. When you stray from the course, you'll get the message shown on the lower part of the screen. The unit also scrolls through the time and distance in the lower part of the screen.

The value of the Courses feature increases several-fold once you start sharing or creating courses via Garmin Connect. You can search all rides that have been uploaded and shared for a region and download the courses that take your fancy. Alternatively, you can create a course by manually plotting your ride on a map. This is a great feature of the Garmin Connect site, just pick a start point and click on the roads you want to use and it will show you the distance as you design the course, plus you can program an average speed, which will then be used by the Edge 200 commentary team to mark your progress as you ride the course. My only grumble is the map provided for Western Australia was a year old and lacked a few new roads. Regardless, the courses feature allows you to do away with a map when venturing out on unfamiliar roads anywhere on the planet.

Other Features

Riding in the rain shouldn’t be a problem for the Edge 200 because it has been built to withstand “immersion in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes”. I didn’t test the validity of this claim, but I can report that the unit was untroubled by one hour of rain.

Like many other bike computers, the Edge 200 can be set to pause when you stop moving, so traffic lights won’t interfere with your average speed. The unit will also turn itself off after you stop recording a ride to conserve power. If you forget to stop recording, then ride will remain paused and the unit will stay on until you start or stop recording, or the battery discharges. The Edge 200 benefits from a backlit screen, perfect for early morning rides in winter or a late commute home. It’ll draw down the battery a little quicker, but the level and duration of backlighting is easily adjusted, or turned off, when you don’t need it.

Another nice feature is auto scroll, where the unit will scroll through the pages of data available. When you’re just using the unit to record your progress, auto scroll flicks through average speed, cumulative ascension, and calories at the bottom of the main data screen. When you’re using a course or “return to start”, the auto scroll will flick through the main data, map and commentary screens, and at any point, you can manually page through the screens with the pages button. In addition, there are three auto scroll speeds to choose from.

Limitations

The Edge 200 differs from its higher-priced siblings in that you cannot connect any other devices (i.e. no ANT+ support) . That means no power, cadence, or heart rate measurements can be collected. Also keep in mind that you have to actually move in order for the Edge 200 to provide speed and distance, which means it is completely useless for home trainers. The run time on a fully charged battery is around 14 hours, time enough for a long day of riding, but you’ll have to remember the charger when travelling. This might be an issue if you’re headed into the bush or away from power points, though Garmin sells an external power source that includes both a battery and a solar panel to address this issue. Finally, the battery cannot be replaced, so once you’ve depleted its charging cycles, the whole unit ends up in the bin.

Final thoughts

The simplicity of the Edge 200 makes for a tempting buy, it’s the perfect bike computer for anyone that has trouble programming a VCR however the device requires regular charging, which undermines its simplicity to some extent. For the price though ($149), you get a cordless bike computer, an altimeter, plus ride-mapping that you can share with your friends that have paid more for their GPS devices. I had no use for the calories measurement and would have liked a larger clock display on the main screen, but everything else seemed to be spot on. For me, the true test of any new gadget is that it performs a valuable function, and by offering some navigation functions, the Edge 200 has earned a permanent spot on my handlebars.

tags: bike computer, Edge 200, garmin, gps, product review

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http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

No comments….
TImo

Although it says “Altimeter” on the label, it’s not barometric which makes it no better for climbing then a phone with GPS.

I don’t understand why people wouldn’t just use their phone(who doesn’t and an Idroid these days?). Garmin even make an App and you can even get an ANT+ module for your phone.
Haydo

I considered this unit because I generally don’t care for any information during an actual ride, but I do like to use Strava for a post-ride analysis. I dismissed the unit because the Garmin information indicates that it doesn’t have a barimetric altimeter. If I’m correct, the unit is effectively the same as an iPhone app, although with longer battery life and possibly greater accuracy due to higher data collection.

Your review states that altitude is available. It would seem that either the information on Garmin’s is incorrect, or the elevation data (on the Garmin Connect/Strava sites) must be inferred from map data. Can you shed any more light on this?
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

Good point. Probably better off with a phone (but not if you really want to read it as you’re riding). But you can’t get Ant+ modules for Android yet (unless there are some Blue tooth version out there now???)
TImo

Yeah, there are no pluggable ANT+ modules for most Android phone hardware. Android(the OS) itself though supports ANT+ quite well. The Sony Ericsson Xperia line of phones comes with ANT+ onboard, as does the HTC Rhyme.

The HTC Highroad team were using modified Andriod based HTC Legends to do their live TDF data tracking stuff.

Interesting stuff.
TImo

You can get an altitude reading via GPS(assuming you can get a lock on 4 or more satellites) although it’s not very accurate. I quite often seen rides form people using GPS altitude up to 1000m out.

Strava recently got quite clever and have started aggregating the elevation data of all riders on a segment to come up with a very accurate elevation figure. They then use this to predict power for people without power meters etc.
Anonymous

There are several Sony phones that have ANT+ on them. It is actually available in a lot of android phones (the Broadcom chip that houses wifi and bluetooth also has an ANT+ receiver), however the drivers to use it in Android have not been written/incorporated.

http://blog.gsmarena.com/latest-sony-ericsson-xperia-phones-come-with-ant-sensor-technology-what-the-heck-is-that/
http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

Personally I like seeing my distance, speed, time, etc while I’m riding so using a phone app isn’t appealing to me. Also, if I’m out on an 8hr ride I would prefer my phone battery to stay well charged rather than risking it going flat while out on the road.
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

TImo / tallmantim…

There you go… I did not know that! It would be nice to see Ant+ built in all of them.
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

Agree about wanting see the speed etc when riding. Even as small my 500 is, I still find it too big, hence why I wouldn’t even consider putting my phone on there.

Also good point about the phone going flat.
TImo

Endomondo(App) has supported ANT+ recording on Android since last April; should you happen to have an Android phone with ANT+ in it.
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

Is that a change in Strava? I assumed Strava did the elevation corrections off the map data.

I have noticed some clever things with Strava’s leaderboards recently, courtesy of moving into different age and weight brackets (not good peeps). Their ‘refined’ leader boards will give you PB’s when you move between them. I thought it pretty cool.
TImo

I completely agree and if I was going from not having a cycling computer at all an didn’t have a GPS phone then I might consider the 200.

But you can get a bike speed/cadence/time computer (without GPS though) for ~$40. Then just record my ride on my phone for posting online.

I struggle to see how to justify the $160 for the 200. I would be inclined to save up and throw down the $320 for the whole Edge500+Spd/Cad+HRM bundle.
Steel

Question for those in the know. How PRO do I need to be before I need to review cadence and heart rate data? I mostly just ride to and from work, the odd jaunt down Beach road, and ride in rec rides like the Alpine Classic, Around the Bay, Otway Classic.

I think my main interest is in reviewing how I perform from year to year and to compare to others. But I guess if I could really improve my performance with these extra bits of data, I might be interested in getting a 500 instead.

PS. I also have a Shimano Flight Deck which gives me a calculated cadence rate on the fly, but no means of recording it and reviewing it.

On using the smart phone, I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’ve come to the conclusion that strapping a phone to my handle bars when climbing Falls Creek is just a recipe for disaster. I’ll run out of batteries over 5 hours and then have no ability to make the mercy call to the missus to come pick me up.
CTech

It’s the simplicity of the 200 that appeals to me. I’m a simple man though, I prefer an iPod Shuffle to the bigger models that have more features because it stores enough music to play on a ride and I don’t have to do anything other than turn it on to get it to play. Same goes for the Edge 200.

I’m still frustrated by the tiny clock display on the main menu though.
JM

I often found the Strava app on the iphone to be unreliable on big rides; nothing more heartbreaking after an epic to see half your ride data disappear. I picked up a Garmin 500 online for $270 AUD last year and use it for weekend rides. I think they’re around $50 less without the heart rate monitor.
Heiney

Is no one going to comment on how arty the backdrops on those photos look? Nice one.
Heiney

Is no one going to comment on how arty the backdrops on those photos look? Nice one.
http://www.chromaticdramatic.com/ Chromatic Dramatic

Not very pro at all.

I’m much like you in terms of rides, and I like have the HRM data. Mainly because I import my rides into Sport Tracks (http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/) and combined with the Training Load Plugin, it gives a good indication of where my fitness levels (excercise volumes etc) are. It’s a bit nerdy, and by no means am I using it anywhere near it’s potential, but I find it useful none the less.

I also find HR stuff interesting when looking at my ‘best times’ on Strava. Certainly in the periods when I’m less fit and really working it, the average HR on a Strava segment is higher. When I’m fit, and just poodling along, it tends to be lower.

Do you need to know any of that? No. I just like it.

Cadence. That is something else entirely. From my personal experience once I’ve got an idea what 80 rpm 90 rpm and 100 rpm is, cadence isn’t all that useful, as I know about what my legs are spinning at. So maybe you need to be pro to actually analyse it. It’s just if you get the version with a HRM, you get cadence.
Robert Merkel

You don’t *have* to do anything – Thomas Voeckler apparently plans his training on the way that the wind is blowing. That is, make sure he heads upwind on the way out so he can get a tailwind on the way back!

That said, if you are doing structured training, a HRM (even if you don’t log it) is useful to keep one’s enthusiasm under control. For instance, if you’re doing “base” work, a HRM can remind you when you are pushing too hard (which is very easy to do if, for instance, you’re going into a headwind).
CTech

Thanks Heiney. I tried a lot of different settings plus I borrowed a friend’s digital SLR to finally get a few decent pics of the unit. Wade sets a high standard for the quality of photos he’s willing to post.
Matthias

One major draw back of the 200 would certainly be its dependance on a clear view of the sky rendering it entirely useless for most mountain bike rides with tree cover. You’ll experience constant “autopause” and “autoresume” feedback and your ride data is completely skewed. The same can happen with extreme cloud cover on the road. I’m speaking from experience made with a 705 whilst my speed sensor malfunctioned and I had to rely on GPS speed.
CTech

Interesting observation. I’ve seen the data dropouts for other Garmin models but I’ve not seen it for the 200. I was riding under tree cover this morning for a few minutes and there was no autopause, nor was there during a storm with heavy cloud. Did Garmin improve GPS speed for this model?
http://www.aerospoke.jp/collections/aerospoke ???????

Amazing GPS device.
SMP

It sounds more like an auto-pause issue than loss of GPS signal. (The unit makes it quite clear.) Slow speed and GPS signal drift on an mtb can make the device auto pause more than it should. It can be exacerbated by setting the auto pause custom speed too high. Suggest you check/turn off the auto-pause custom speed or set it very low when mtbing. Otherwise chk you are running the latest firmware.

I’ve been using a 705 and 305 for years without the cadence/wheel sensor. I very rarely get GPS drop out. Signal drift can be an issue but its far from making it “entirely usless”.
Disqus

I’ve not seen issues with GPS coverage with my Edge 500 when riding mtb on singletrack in forests. The newer series of devices have far more sensitive GPS receivers and I’ve noticed significant improvements over my older Garmin devices when compared with my Edge. I did however have to turn off the “auto-pause” feature as when climbing off road on steep hills or riding technical sections the 500 would assume I was stopped and auto pause. I think recently Garmin added the ability to set the speed at which it decides you have paused to handle this situation better but I haven’t tried it yet.
JD

87 kph max speed. Phew!
https://twitter.com/#!/BPriestie Priestie

The 200 looks cooler than the 500 incarnations, and the 800 is pretty big.

ANT+ is a ‘must have’ for me.

Since my Joule did this while out in the rain, I’ve been enjoying the simplicity of having nothing on my bars. However, now I’m keen for a computer with GPS.

The new Joule 3.0 looks pretty cool and is to include GPS, but based on my experience with the 2.0 (water and sticky buttons) I’ve leaned towards Garmin this time ’round.

I understand the 500 is (if it hasn’t already) due for a software update very shortly (Jan?), to reflect the same updates given in the 800 back in September including NP/IF/TSS, more data fields and left/right power for the new Garmin pedals, to unify the models and align more with TrainingPeaks.

The SRM Computer head unit offers the best for me but also offers the biggest price tag. In fact, SRM confirmed this morning they are looking to include GPS in the next generation of PowerControl SRM head units later this year.

Like the SRM PowerControl, these soon to be released 3T/Powertap head units also look cool but are a bit more ‘miss’ than ‘hit’ for me:
http://road.cc/content/news/41601-3t-saris-powertap-collaboration-will-add-another-option-cyclists-wanting-watts
http://www.aerospoke.jp/collections/aerospoke Aerospoke

Amazing GPS device, truly.
guest

most phones won’t last for longer rides. This is the only problem I have run into. If the ride is 3+ hours you need the Garmin.
Chris

Agree with the shuffle, definitely. I have a shuffle with nothing but velobeats podcasts updated periodically on it. Simple, easy, light.
I have the Edge 500 and would have debated it against the 200 if it had been out when I was shopping. ANT means a heartrate monitor, though, and that’s a nice addition even though I don’t use it to train per se, just out of interests’ sake. Makes another nice squiggly line to look at along with speed, elevation etc on Connect post ride.
Chris

Agree with the shuffle, definitely. I have a shuffle with nothing but velobeats podcasts updated periodically on it. Simple, easy, light.
I have the Edge 500 and would have debated it against the 200 if it had been out when I was shopping. ANT means a heartrate monitor, though, and that’s a nice addition even though I don’t use it to train per se, just out of interests’ sake. Makes another nice squiggly line to look at along with speed, elevation etc on Connect post ride.
Mark Dobson

i have a 500, love it and feel like i’m riding without a helmet when not riding with it these days. I recently purchased a 200 for MBW and she loves it (did not want HRM etc) although have to whinge that both of us stunned to find the current time cant be easily scrolled on the display.. surely a bug and wait with fingers crossed a software patch fixes this.
Tav Campbell

This might be of interest – saw it at http://bit.ly/wJEA0q
“Garmin has sent the current clock issue workaround: while on the ride screen, press and hold the Menu (lower left) button for two seconds. This will take the unit back to the home screen (with its clock) without stopping recording.”