Workaround for Lezyne Super GPS (probably works with other Lezyne units)
Hi, I'm bumping this old thread because I am a Lezyne Super GPS owner who loathes the same thing about it that yall do, flaky navigation starts. I use mine for randonneuring, so big gpx files. The battery life and minimal navigation off of gpx tracks is much appreciated. But the bad bluetooth app is such a downer and I considered it a deal breaker untill I worked out the hack I will share below.
Basically, by the time you are starting a ride it's too late to try and load the route on through Bluetooth. The app is just not dependable enough and once in not many times, it simply won't work in time for your scheduled ride start and you are going to be riding with no navigation. But you can work on it the day before. So:
1. The day before your ride: Your goal at this point is simply to battle your way through the ******** app and start the ride. Just do the annoying resyncing, restarts, etc and wait until the nth time when it works for no understandable reason. This can take hours but it's no problem, you aren't riding today and don't have to stress. You can do it while you work on other aspects of getting your bike ready.
2. When the navigation actually starts (we know that generally it will work, eventually) it will be in navigation mode but not yet recording. Now you can plug the unit into the charger and leave it overnight.
3. In the morning, do not simply unplug the unit. It will be in a charging mode and will immediately turn off once it's unplugged. To counteract this you can start recording a ride while it's plugged in; then unplug. It will not turn off while recording a ride. Now you can immediately end that ride and discard it, it has served its purpose. I recommend playing around with this step a bit under non-stressful conditions (like not when an important ride is starting) so that you understand how it works.
4. Hooray? Your gps is now all set to start recording, with the ride loaded, and it will "Just Work" instead of stressing you out with its flaky bullcrap as the minutes tick down to your scheduled ride start.
As Whitney Houston said, "it's not right, but it's OK". Thanks to working out this hack I can avoid buying another better designed GPS for the next little while.