Pro triathlete Pip Taylor reviews the Edge 800

Garmin-sponsored triathlete Pip Taylor has a long history with our GPS-enabled Edge series. Find out why the 800 edges out all the others.

New toys: So it is pretty apparent we are living in a time of rapid change when it comes to technology, and being a professional triathlete gives me the opportunity to access some pretty cool stuff, particularly having Garmin as a sponsor and their headquarters being a 20-minute drive from my U.S. home. Occasionally though I get something that is just really, really cool. A full colour touchscreen GPS for your bike. If you had told me that 5 years ago, I think I would have laughed…hard. I have been very fortunate to have had Garmin Edge products since the start and have utilized the 205, 305, 605, 705 and 500 variants, all of which are brilliant products and have exponentially raised the bar from the basic bike computer since their release. However, the Edge 800 achieves what I like to call “technological simplicity” – something that is cutting-edge simply by its usability. The type of product you can take out of the box and have up and running in 5 minutes with no cerebral meltdowns. My type of toy. Let’s face it, when touchscreen technology is done right, it hands-down beats buttons because you can “see” what you want to do.

So aside from all that, why do I love my Edge 800? Well, as a professional athlete, I won’t use a product unless I know it will lead to a tangible performance improvement or advantage. With the Edge 800, I use it to view and monitor power and other variables during training and racing. I use it to map training rides. I use it to find training roads when in new towns. I use it to do course reconnaissance for races. I upload race routes and use it for turn-by-turn navigation and “technical reminders” on race day. Oh, and I use it when I blow to pieces on a long training ride to find the nearest general store.

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