Pioneer paired with a garmin 1000

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walkercycling
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:42 am

by walkercycling

Just can't seem to gel with the pioneer bike computer (CA500)

I really miss the features of my Garmin 1000 - screen, navigation, programmed training, ease of use etc etc,

Has anyone else given the pioneer a chance and then gone back to the Garmin?

What are you experiences? Should I go back?

by Weenie


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Fixie82
Posts: 348
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:45 am

by Fixie82

Went the other way, came from Garmin and moved to the Pioneer computer. Got sick of the bugginess of the Garmin and wanted a change. Much prefer the Pioneer, after adapting navigation is simple, changing screens and data fields is awesome. My only niggle is that you can't go back a page when scrolling through the menu it takes you back to the start. I hear this will change in a future firmware update.

I don't need navigation, if I did I would experimented with the Magellan 505, rather I needed a tool for training and logging rides. I find the data field options better, being able to highlight and change data screens easily is a plus and tailoring the information depending on my program is better. I don't miss programmed training as I found setting sessions taxing on the Garmin and not really needed for me.

If you have a Pioneer Power Meter you can use the Garmin but will lose a whole host of data and the ability to record at the higher data rate the pioneer power meter can produce at.

I'd say give it some more time, mine has continued to grow on me.

djwalker
Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:35 pm

by djwalker

I'm like fixie82. I was a long time Garmin user. But I went through 3 800's and 3 510's in 4 years due to hardware and software failures. They were all replaced under warranty. Then my last 510 started randomly losing data and crashing multiple times in a ride. This was a common bug that had been around for almost a year and they couldn't/wouldn't fix it. They could, however, add support for Vector and the camera. I got fed up that they didn't care about basic functionality and protecting our ride data. So, I got a full refund and bought a Pioneer. I have had it for seven months and couldn't be happier. The only thing it is missing is navigation which I never used on the Garmin anyway. The screen was too small for me to read. Plus, I virtually never need it anyway since I ride mostly around home. So, I use my phone on those rare occasions I need to navigate.

I have nothing but good things to say about the Pioneer. It has never lost data. Even when I forgot to charge it and the battery ran out in the middle of a ride it still had all the data up to where it ran out of power. I love the wifi auto upload. It always pairs instantly to the sensors on three different bike and never loses the pairing (unlike Garmin 510). It has more data displays than you can shake a stick at. You can configure the size and arrangement of the fields which makes it easy for my bad eyes to read the screen. And if you tap any item on the display it will expand to full screen to make it easy to read. Tap it again to make it go back to normal size. The altimeter actually calculates a reasonable elevation gain unlike Garmin's inflated number. Most importantly, it has been perfectly reliable.

If you really need navigation you are out of luck. Otherwise I highly recommend the Pioneer. I would never buy anything from Garmin again. They use their users as beta testers and that stinks.

walkercycling
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:42 am

by walkercycling

Thanks guys. Really good feedback.

What about the programming your training? I have heard that may be coming? Any ideas?

I have 7 years of training on Garmin Training centre. The desktop version. I tried uploading my pioneer files but ithe file type isn't recognisable by Garmin. Suggestions on how to overcome this?

djwalker
Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:35 pm

by djwalker

I have never used the Garmin Training Center for anything. I have used TrainingPeaks in the past and Strava now. CycloSphere directly forwards workouts to those sites. You could forward to either of those sites and then export the workout in a format that GTC can use and import to GTC. Not very clean but it should work.

walkercycling
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:42 am

by walkercycling

Fixie82

If you hold the menu key for a few seconds it will take you back one step. Very handy......

Pieta
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2011 9:27 pm

by Pieta

Is there a training page feature on the CA500 like workouts on the Garmin. I use the workouts feature a lot and just train according to wattage. Very handy on the Garmin. In saying that, my Pioneer 2nd gen is giving problems since replacing the battery. :(

walkercycling
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:42 am

by walkercycling

Currently you can not program your training like you can on the Garmin. That is a feature Pioneer need to add.

Replacing batteries, I haven't had to yet but from memory I thought I saw in the installation manual you had to re pair left and right.

http://pioneer-cyclesports.com/us-en/support/products/

by Weenie


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Tinea Pedis
Posts: 8615
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:08 am
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by Tinea Pedis

Rode with a mate today who has both the head unit and power meter. Power meter constantly drops out, but head unit has been rock solid and I really like the looks of it.

If they can add the ability to program workouts, then I could have the replacement for my 810.

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