Anyone else use Foretrex 601 / 801 for cycling with Ant+ sensor(s)?

[Hon_Cho]

New here and have a quiver of Garmin units. Querying if anyone uses their Foretrex 801 while bicycling?

I have both a Foretrex 601 and a 801 that I use for cycling. Like others, I like the ability to use AAA disposable or rechargeable batteries with the Foretrex units, particularly while long-distance touring. However, Garmin appears to have abandoned the ability to pair ANT+ sensors for cadence and speed with the 801. I failed to do my due diligence before purchasing the 801 and mistakenly assumed that Garmin would support the speed and cadence sensors since they have been supported in other Garmin models I own that I never expected them to be like my Oregon 450, 550 and GPSMap 62. The 801 screen is so much improved, as is the responsiveness of the unit, that I find it hard to go back to the 601 just to use speed and cadence sensors.

I get it that Garmin has a slew of sports devices that provide plenty of cycling functionality that I'm unlikely to use; not to mention that they're all rechargeable units and more expensive.

Enough whining from me. On the bright side, I suppose if I take up shooting while riding a bike (or ride faster than a speeding bullet), I can connect a Garmin Xero chronometer to my 801.

[GPSrChive]

We were frankly surprised to find out these features had been removed from the latest Foretrex models.

[skinnie]

Sorry to hijack your thread but what is your motivation to use those devices for cycling?
If for AA batteries there were the etrex, oregon and gpsmap that could be more adapted no?
I used almost all of them, but also the edge series, and can't think of a motivation (appart from already having the product) to use the foretrex, but I am curious!

[Hon_Cho]

Delayed response to Skinnie's question as to why I use the 801 for cycling.

The 801 (and the earlier 601) are both very compact, use easily replaceable batteries and can be worn on my wrist. As I mentioned in my initial post, I have a variety of other Garmin handheld units that I used prior to acquiring a 601 and later the 801. Significantly, the battery life of the handheld units is not as good as the 601/801 and, for use while riding a bicycle, required a mounting solution. There are good mounts available, particularly from RAM, but the convenience of a wearing a unit on my wrist is nice. I don't use the mapping functions during our rides. For me, it's a fancy trip computer that records my ride details that I can use to create a map of where I went riding after the fact.