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Garmin Xero C1 range reports & reviews, post them here! (Page 9 of 10)
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Originally Posted By Trollslayer: I wonder, how many other people have been working with bad data from their chronograph? +1 Trollslayer, I have. Current data seems more complete (ie: no more missed shots), different (same historic loads, much different data), and my loads/chrono data are more consistent. Makes me want to use it more. Yep, expensive pill the Garmin but now I am kind of glad that my Shooting Chrony "walked away" when I "left it at the range." There is some joy in knowing that whoever helped it "walk away" can't use it - I have the reader. |
Then President Biden added “The only garbage I see floating out there is [TRUMP] supporters.
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Originally Posted By Zhukov: Yup - I can't recommend it highly enough. It truly changes the way you shoot and gather data. Initially, I had a hard time justifying it but am I ever glad I did... Exactly this. |
Then President Biden added “The only garbage I see floating out there is [TRUMP] supporters.
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Originally Posted By fgshoot: That's about how I feel. Some people seem to pay $600 like it is chump change. I have to think pretty hard about a $600 purchase. I've seen different chronographs come and go, the good ones seem to stick around. I feel the Xero is going to stick around. I also think a lot of people used crappy skyscreen chronographs, and seem to just brush them all off as old tech or inferior. I have not tried every one out there by any means, but the Pro Chrono is so stupid reliable. And there's nothing to it, you just hit the on switch and you are ready. The DLX model even sends the stuff right to your phone. Until someone proves otherwise, this is the only chronograph I have found that will read EVERYTHING from bows, to airguns, to rifles and handguns, shotguns, muzzleloaders, slingshots, whatever. As long as it's 20 to 10,000 fps it can read it. I can even get it to register the speed of my hand over it. It just works. All that and it's a whopping $135 at Midway. To top it all off, it seems to be the only chronograph made in the USA. I do think the Garmin Xero looks really nice, but is the 60 seconds it saves really worth an extra $465? You be the judge. Originally Posted By fgshoot: Originally Posted By Bubbatheredneck: I understand tollslayer's point. Tech is constantly improving and what was the hot thing now is old news in months/years. And some folks don't want to get on that treadmill. And some do. My only advice is to chose your treadmills carefully, as they can get expensive. As an aside, I picked up some of the Monarch 9mm Academy had on sale. It was nice to see how it performed and how consistent the velocity was. Using the Xero was practically an afterthought. It lives in my range bag. Just turn it on, hit a few buttons and I was in bizness, lol. Too easy. Never would have taken the time with my LR to do that. Taking it to the range and setting it up was a deliberate decision. I got enjoyment from that episode using the Garmin that I wouldn't have from my LR. YMMV. That's about how I feel. Some people seem to pay $600 like it is chump change. I have to think pretty hard about a $600 purchase. I've seen different chronographs come and go, the good ones seem to stick around. I feel the Xero is going to stick around. I also think a lot of people used crappy skyscreen chronographs, and seem to just brush them all off as old tech or inferior. I have not tried every one out there by any means, but the Pro Chrono is so stupid reliable. And there's nothing to it, you just hit the on switch and you are ready. The DLX model even sends the stuff right to your phone. Until someone proves otherwise, this is the only chronograph I have found that will read EVERYTHING from bows, to airguns, to rifles and handguns, shotguns, muzzleloaders, slingshots, whatever. As long as it's 20 to 10,000 fps it can read it. I can even get it to register the speed of my hand over it. It just works. All that and it's a whopping $135 at Midway. To top it all off, it seems to be the only chronograph made in the USA. I do think the Garmin Xero looks really nice, but is the 60 seconds it saves really worth an extra $465? You be the judge. Setting up a traditional chronograph at a public range is a huge pain. Garmin just plop it on the bench and get to shooting. Before Garmin I was looking at magneto speed, but I didn't like it attached to the barrel. Labradar reviews were iffy and spending $500 I was hesitant. When I saw the Garmin unit I didn't hesitate about spending $600, and I used up some gift cards I had. |
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So, I got a new phone and none of the data I had transferred over through the app. The shot string data on the old phone is gone too after updating the app there too. I can sync my Garmin unit, but it doesn't bring over the data to the app. I can start a new string and the new data comes over but no old data. Anyone have that issue? I pulled the data off to a CSV when I connected to my computer and still have it, but it's missing what gun I was shooting. |
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There are several pics of foam inserts for the smaller Apache and Pelican style cases. They don’t come with foam like some of the bigger cases do. Where is everyone getting their foam for these cases? The Apache 550 for example doesn’t come with foam from Harbor Freight. Thanks |
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Originally Posted By memsu: So, I got a new phone and none of the data I had transferred over through the app. The shot string data on the old phone is gone too after updating the app there too. I can sync my Garmin unit, but it doesn't bring over the data to the app. I can start a new string and the new data comes over but no old data. Anyone have that issue? I pulled the data off to a CSV when I connected to my computer and still have it, but it's missing what gun I was shooting. I suggest you start taking notes when at the range- keep a log and also make notes in the shotview app as you are shooting... I export the file to onedrive and then back down to my system. I also save the FIT files in case I need them later. along with target pics and any other data, it all goes into a dated range folder. |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: That is one of the negative features of the unit... it will transfer the current data ONE time to ONE device- after that you have to have saved the FIT files off the chrono to your computer storage and then run a CSV convert to get somewhat usable data - but it doesn't stop there... you have to know how to manipulate the FIT and CSV files so the data is actually useful. One of my big complaints no-one seems to care about. I suggest you start taking notes when at the range- keep a log and also make notes in the shotview app as you are shooting... I export the file to onedrive and then back down to my system. I also save the FIT files in case I need them later. along with target pics and any other data, it all goes into a dated range folder. On a computer at home, transferred the hand written data to the original xls file for archive and data crunching. Figure I'll have to do the same thing with the Garmin. Attached File |
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I do something similar, and a small mod to your system might make it a whole lot easier... I don't have an online image host so i don't think I can post pics here, but I'll try to describe my system... I decide on the various loads I will be testing and create a line item for each in an Excel spreadsheet. I also have a 'range sheet' form with all the loads listed that I pre-fill out and print. At the range, as I fire each shot string, I assign a 'string' number in order (1,2,3...). I note this # next to the load on the range sheet, next to the holes on the target and put 'S-#' in the note field of the Garmin Shot view phone app... this S# survives a file copy and ties them all together for ID later... The range sheet also has the gun next to the load, and I copy the avg V0 in a space provided in case I lose or mix up data somehow. When I get home, I batch upload to one-drive all the strings from shot view as a single excel tabbed file (one tab for each string). This at least gets them off the phone and into a single file I can open with Excel, but the data is unusable as it is in "text" format and doesn't convert easily (although I did find a couple tricks to mass convert to number format). It's also not laid out in the horizontal line format I use in my Excel load data file, so I wrote a macro to convert all the data from the shot string tabs to in a single tab in the horizontal numeric format I use... then it is a simple copy and paste. It only takes a minute to make the notes at the range, at first it was a big inconvenience in my workflow but not I look at it as letting the barrel cool a little... you could probably do something similar to ease your pain... |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: I do something similar, and a small mod to your system might make it a whole lot easier... I don't have an online image host so i don't think I can post pics here, but I'll try to describe my system... I decide on the various loads I will be testing and create a line item for each in an Excel spreadsheet. I also have a 'range sheet' form with all the loads listed that I pre-fill out and print. At the range, as I fire each shot string, I assign a 'string' number in order (1,2,3...). I note this # next to the load on the range sheet, next to the holes on the target and put 'S-#' in the note field of the Garmin Shot view phone app... this S# survives a file copy and ties them all together for ID later... The range sheet also has the gun next to the load, and I copy the avg V0 in a space provided in case I lose or mix up data somehow. When I get home, I batch upload to one-drive all the strings from shot view as a single excel tabbed file (one tab for each string). This at least gets them off the phone and into a single file I can open with Excel, but the data is unusable as it is in "text" format and doesn't convert easily (although I did find a couple tricks to mass convert to number format). It's also not laid out in the horizontal line format I use in my Excel load data file, so I wrote a macro to convert all the data from the shot string tabs to in a single tab in the horizontal numeric format I use... then it is a simple copy and paste. It only takes a minute to make the notes at the range, at first it was a big inconvenience in my workflow but not I look at it as letting the barrel cool a little... you could probably do something similar to ease your pain... I do something similar. Since I'm shooting precision, the time to record the data is not distracting. This works for me at the range and then I just transfer the data into a spreadsheet that does the calculations. It takes extra time, but it works for me. 
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President, Quantico Shooting Club where we shoot 1,000yds every Sunday!
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Picked up one of these from Family firearms. I've had a regular chrono for years and only used it when I really needed the data for ballistics. This garmin is a game changer. So small, sets up and is ready to go in seconds, and hasn't missed a shot. I was showing it to my dad and chronod shooting a pistol in one hand and holding it in the other. I've chronoed 22 quiets in my basement. We randomly chrono guns just for giggles while hanging out. I've bought a couple 3d printed cases off of ebay and like this one the most so far. Fit's in a back pocket and you don't have to remove the tripod. Attached File Attached File |
I'm not here because I make sound financial decisions.
Nice case, a Garmin also fits perfectly in this case 
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"Has anyone else battery started to drain faster after the last update? " I charge mine to 100% the day before. I had a 3hr session yesterday and the battery level was 35% when I looked today. Looking back a few months, the sessions were around 2 hrs but it seems to me I always had a lot more battery left at the end. |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: "Has anyone else battery started to drain faster after the last update? " I charge mine to 100% the day before. I had a 3hr session yesterday and the battery level was 35% when I looked today. Looking back a few months, the sessions were around 2 hrs but it seems to me I always had a lot more battery left at the end. How long have you had it? I updated my unit about a month ago SW: 3.27. What update revision are you referring to? ETA: Just sitting stored for a month the battery dropped to 81%. I just threw the charger on it again. |
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I was at the range Sunday to chronograph some new rounds I made. Another guy there had a Garmin and let me try in since we were both curious how it compared to my Competition Electronics DXL with Bluetooth. I was impressed with how simple the Garmin was to set up and use where mine takes a few minutes to set up a tripod, adjust the distance, height, angle and positioning between the gun and the target. As far as shooting and seeing the results, the two chrono’s were writhing 3 FPS on every shot, some higher and some lower that the other chrono. I did not see any consistence of anything like one chrono was always lower than the other. If you shoot alone or have your own range than I don’t know if I see a benefit to spend the money just to get a different chrono. But if you shoot somewhere with a bunch of other people and have to get a cold range to go adjust and move and set up the chrono past the firing line then I see the beg benefit of the Garmin. Is that benefit worth the $450ish price tag? |
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Originally Posted By Blowout: I haven't experienced that. After a 4-5hr session mine was showing 50%. I got mine November '24. Make sure to charge it after it's used. Batteries should be stored with a full charge to get the longest battery life. How long have you had it? I updated my unit about a month ago SW: 3.27. What update revision are you referring to? ETA: Just sitting stored for a month the battery dropped to 81%. I just threw the charger on it again. The last session was 2/8 (charged to 100% 2/9) and on 3/2 before I charged it I seem to recall it was down to about 66% - i noticed because that is lower than I recall previously. Of course the temps at the range have been in the 40's & 50's the past few months so that might cause more battery drain but not sitting at room temps for a month. I'll keep an eye on it. If it wasn't so darn expensive and easy to set up I'd replace it... |
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Originally Posted By steve8140: If you shoot alone or have your own range than I don’t know if I see a benefit to spend the money just to get a different chrono. But if you shoot somewhere with a bunch of other people and have to get a cold range to go adjust and move and set up the chrono past the firing line then I see the beg benefit of the Garmin. Is that benefit worth the $450ish price tag? That is a difference between the two technologies, undoubtedly, BUT... Are you getting $450 worth of value from your chrono data? Please explain your answer. Never mind, it's a hobby and I always forget that. Enjoy! P.S. - My Club does have a seriously excellent range. P.P.S. - Keeping the skyscreens right at the target eliminates all that alignment hassle and reduces to near zero the probability of shooting your chronograph. It is VERY FAST & EASY to set up, effectively just two points - rifle and target. It is VERY unlike the conventional 3 point set up - bench, skyscreens (tunnel) & target. |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: Yep, I always charge back to 100% the next day. I check for updates the morning before use. I bought it Dec '23 and have used it 21 sessions. I updated to v3.27 a couple months ago. Minor issues seem to have manifest after that update. It HAS missed 4 or 5 perfectly valid shots with no other shooters around. The last session was 2/8 (charged to 100% 2/9) and on 3/2 before I charged it I seem to recall it was down to about 66% - i noticed because that is lower than I recall previously. Of course the temps at the range have been in the 40's & 50's the past few months so that might cause more battery drain but not sitting at room temps for a month. I'll keep an eye on it. If it wasn't so darn expensive and easy to set up I'd replace it...  If your unit dropped it's charge from 100% to 66% in less than a month without being used, that doesn't sound right. Might reach out to Garmin CS to see if they have any thoughts on it: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/ |
| I've tried to reason with garmin on other issues, spoke on the phone to C/S a few times, emailed, created support tickets... always get a run-around... they either stonewall, ignore or defend without actually addressing any obvious issues... I have no faith in their C/S. |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: I've tried to reason with garmin on other issues, spoke on the phone to C/S a few times, emailed, created support tickets... always get a run-around... they either stonewall, ignore or defend without actually addressing any obvious issues... I have no faith in their C/S. When I have something I don't like, I sell it. Works every time. 
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: I've tried to reason with garmin on other issues, spoke on the phone to C/S a few times, emailed, created support tickets... always get a run-around... they either stonewall, ignore or defend without actually addressing any obvious issues... I have no faith in their C/S. It almost seems that the Garmin is in standby mode if it's draining power that much while not in use. I'll keep checking mine for drain over the next month. In the past several days since posting here it hasn't registered any loss. |
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Originally Posted By Blowout: ...and replace it with what? https://mylabradar.com/labradar/ |
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Originally Posted By Melvin_Johnson: https://mylabradar.com/labradar/ I have an old version Labradar sitting on the floor next to me at this moment. Always used an external battery. Just sent them a message about how it registers shots not fired where it never did before. It went from being a great device to a brick in under 5 years. I'm asking if it can be refurbished/repaired. We'll see how they respond. |
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I never noticed any battery issues until about a month ago, that 2/8 session caught my eye as being lower than I had previously noticed after a range session... I wrote it off to the cold weather that day (45-50) plus I leave it on when i go downrange to mark targets... This last time I was more aware that it was using more battery than I usually see-again chilly weather... now that warmer temps are appearing I will keep an eye on it. I haven't read any reviews of the Athlon unit and would want to check out its app before making any jump. Plus I have a lot of time in writing an excel macro to format the exported shotview file. |
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Tried mine out for the first time a few days ago. Super simple to use. Just kept track of what I got for the average for each string, then went into the data the next day and added notes to describe each load. Added the app to my ipad as well as the phone so now I can look at the data on either. Only really dumb thing is that the app stays phone size even on a full sized ipad. Around here with rain, rapidly changing weather/clouds, etc, this is so much better than an optical chrono. Only lose shots if I shoot too fast, so that is simple enough. Highly recommend it. Added- just checked the Garmin data vs the notes I have from the old Chrony for a 9mm subsonic load I loaded a batch for the AR9 a few years ago. Same exact average velocity as what the Garmin read, which is good to see! |
a loaded gun won’t set you free, so you say…
| Tried mine in a indoor range. Pistol range. Worked just fine for my shots. There were other people in different lanes about 4 down. Did not pick up theirs. Then a lane next to me started firing. Nothing picked up. Very happy with results and i believe this item will allow others to get their loads developed without having to be outside. Facility has indoor rifle and will try thr next time and report. |
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Spent 3 1/2 hrs at the range, 65-70*F Xero was at 58% when I left. I was testing some reduced lead loads in an old 6.5 Jap I have... Reddot, Greeendot, Unique and i4227 in the range of 1400~1700 fps... of 36 shots it failed to record 14 of them even though I used the low rifle setting of 600-1700 fps. No reason I can see. In one case it threw me a message saying it recorded a reading but was discarding it as invalid - no idea what the reading was nor any option to keep it anyway... When I switched to 223 in the 2600~2950 range, it picked up every shot. |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: Spent 3 1/2 hrs at the range, 65-70*F Xero was at 58% when I left. I was testing some reduced lead loads in an old 6.5 Jap I have... Reddot, Greeendot, Unique and i4227 in the range of 1400~1700 fps... of 36 shots it failed to record 14 of them even though I used the low rifle setting of 600-1700 fps. No reason I can see. In one case it threw me a message saying it recorded a reading but was discarding it as invalid - no idea what the reading was nor any option to keep it anyway... When I switched to 223 in the 2600~2950 range, it picked up every shot. Dang! I've recorded 900ish to 1550 FPS .45-70 loads and .22 LR without a hiccup. |
"I do believe that some gun laws are needed and yes, I am a Republican" ~ tc556guy - NRA Member
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Yeah that surprised me too as i have often recorded 22LR with others and always 10 good readings - old habit... I use 22LR as a gauge to see if the chrono is believable that day... This missing a shot has started fairly recently - probably since the "upgrade" to 3.27 (which also took away the secret developer menu options). I'm reluctant to send it back but if this keeps happening I will definitely look at the Athlon after it comes out and gets positive user reviews. ETA... After some head scratching and analyzing my target and reviewing my shots... I think I figured out the issue with not registering any velocity... They all seem to correlate with bullets that tumbled... Because of other shooters present I wasn't able to go mark my targets after every string but I was able to do it about every 3 strings so i have a fair marking of which tumbled holes are which string and they pretty much align with all the NCD's (No Chrono Data)... which does make some sense with long slow moving lead... However it doesn't explain missing regular HV 223 shots in the past... |
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Originally Posted By SyberSniper: Yep, I always charge back to 100% the next day. I check for updates the morning before use. I bought it Dec '23 and have used it 21 sessions. I updated to v3.27 a couple months ago. Minor issues seem to have manifest after that update. It HAS missed 4 or 5 perfectly valid shots with no other shooters around. The last session was 2/8 (charged to 100% 2/9) and on 3/2 before I charged it I seem to recall it was down to about 66% - i noticed because that is lower than I recall previously. Of course the temps at the range have been in the 40's & 50's the past few months so that might cause more battery drain but not sitting at room temps for a month. I'll keep an eye on it. If it wasn't so darn expensive and easy to set up I'd replace it... SW v3.32 released Monday 3/25. 3.30 was causing shots to be missed. |
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I've used mine in my living room (way less than 20 yards across) with a .177 air rifle and CO2 gun; outdoors with shotguns, rifles, handguns and archery; and at indoor ranges with rimfire .17 and .22- no issues AT ALL in any situation. The Xero C1 has been one of the best shooting accessories I've ever purchased; I gave away my RCBS chrono and kept the Chrony just because. It has become a regular part of my shooting kit for every range session, whether I intend to use it or not. |
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I have noticed that my Garmin will drop a few shots when the target is too close, like 7 yards when shooting pocket pistols. Not a big deal. I was able to chrono my .177 pellet rifle out the back window, no problem! Battery life has not yet been ANY issue for me (YET!), but what happens when the battery dies? Anyone have a battery failure yet? |
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I went ranging on 3/12 and again 3/29 - temps had climbed into the mid 60's and IIRC before i went 3/29 the xero was still about 98% so I topped it off. It was on a full 2 hrs while shooting and when i got home it was at 75% before topping it off again. I think it may be sensitive to colder temps and drain faster - probably a cheap battery in the first place. Seems like batteries don't last as long as they used to. I switched my normal AAA & AA batteries to lithium thinking they would last longer but it seems the opposite - I seem to replace them more often in all sorts of electronics - and I do measure the voltage every time - I'm going back to alkaline next bulk-pack refill... |
Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
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Originally Posted By borderpatrol: I learned the hard way..... Originally Posted By borderpatrol: Originally Posted By Trollslayer: If you use regular alkaline cells, do not store them in the unit. The will leak, guaranteed. The benefit of the "lithium" cells is they do not leak. I learned the hard way..... Since then I always remove the battery when press is not in use. Just got in some Lithium batteries to use in the 1050 low primer alarms. |
Selling agent for Algores carbon credit scam.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
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Yeah, I've had a few items over the years that got leaked on... Ruined a good 3D MagLight... I had the most leakage from Ray-O-vac so don't use them any more. If they leak, sometimes you can clean or soak the corrosion area in baking soda to salvage the unit. Also if your device uses multiple batteries and it goes dead - check the voltages and usually only 1 is dead - the others are still almost new, so you only have to replace 1 battery instead of 3 or 4... New they should be 1.5-1.6V and I transfer them to mice and small flashlights when they get to 1.3-1.2V.. I throw then in the recycle box when they're in the 1.x range. If your Walmart has an auto repair section - some of them will take batteries for recycle. |
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I took my garmin with me yesterday to the long range. I ‘ve started getting multiple temps and velocities in my dope book. So freaking nice to be able to shoot and gather data at the same time. My total setup time was maybe 3 minutes to chrono 3 rifles because i put in bullet weight and named them after i was done. I can’t imagine how much time that would have taken with my f1 chrony trying to Move that thing around by myself and shoot from 360-1275 not to mention it only does 10 shot strings So i would have had to recrunch the numbers for my 20 shot striing |
Garmin Xero C1 range reports & reviews, post them here! (Page 9 of 10)
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