Garmin Edge 510

[bikeman66]

Hi all,
Similar to another GPS related thread posted earlier, I am looking in to purchasing a bike GPS for the first time, and having read quite a few reviews, have settled on buying a Garmin. I don't need anything quite as advanced as the all singing, all dancing Edge 1000, but like the look of the Edge 510 (which is also a bit more realistic with my budget). The team bundle looks ideal, as I like the added information provided by the heart rate monitor belt, and the cadence/speed sensor. I guess I'm just trying to cross-reference your experiences of the Edge 510 (including quirks or glitches) before handing over the hard-earned! Appreciate any opinions you have of the unit, thanks.

 

[Keith Oates]

I don't have an Edge 510 but some of the lads I used to ride with in Vietnam did and they were very pleased with them. They used to use them when we did our Sunday morning trail rides and they guided us very well.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[smutchin]

I've had a 510 for the best part of a year now and I've been extremely happy with it.

There was one very annoying quirk with it - it under-recorded distance by about 10% when following a route - but they've fixed that with a firmware upgrade. Battery life is impressive - easily enough to get around a 200km audax with plenty to spare. You could probably even get around a 300km audax on a single charge as long as you're not tooooo slow. For longer rides, I take a rechargeable USB battery pack, which I keep in a stem bag.

Obviously it doesn't have maps but I've had no trouble following a track - it becomes obvious pretty much immediately if you go off route (I find it best if you have the view well zoomed in). You can also program it with turn-by-turn instructions (classic audax routesheet style), though it only allows a very limited number of characters per instruction.

All in all, I'd have no hesitation recommending it. We have an Edge 1000 in the office for testing at the moment - I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but tbh it would have to be pretty damn special for me to consider it worth upgrading from my 510. Unless maps are essential to you, I'd consider it a better option than the 800/810 as well.

 

[TheJDog]

The route following is very good if you have a plot with instructions - otherwise I find I have to be careful.

The battery life on mine isn't all that great - but it was ex-demo - so it might have had a hard life in a shop.

Also, for some reason last week it managed to delete my "ride" profile, so I had to go and recreate it all.

Other than that, no problems. Screen is good, customizable, and I've had no problems with it recording rides or not.

 

[bikeman66]

I've had a 510 for the best part of a year now and I've been extremely happy with it.

There was one very annoying quirk with it - it under-recorded distance by about 10% when following a route - but they've fixed that with a firmware upgrade. Battery life is impressive - easily enough to get around a 200km audax with plenty to spare. You could probably even get around a 300km audax on a single charge as long as you're not tooooo slow. For longer rides, I take a rechargeable USB battery pack, which I keep in a stem bag.

Obviously it doesn't have maps but I've had no trouble following a track - it becomes obvious pretty much immediately if you go off route (I find it best if you have the view well zoomed in). You can also program it with turn-by-turn instructions (classic audax routesheet style), though it only allows a very limited number of characters per instruction.

All in all, I'd have no hesitation recommending it. We have an Edge 1000 in the office for testing at the moment - I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but tbh it would have to be pretty damn special for me to consider it worth upgrading from my 510. Unless maps are essential to you, I'd consider it a better option than the 800/810 as well.

Great reply, thanks Smutchin. Just the kind of all round view that helps with decision making. I think it's pretty well nailed on that I'll be making a purchase of a 510 soon enough.

 

[smutchin]

The route following is very good if you have a plot with instructions - otherwise I find I have to be careful.

Tbh, I find you have to be careful following any kind of route. If you zoom in to 200m on the 510, most junctions are easy to suss out but you'll soon realise if you've gone off course. In my experience, this doesn't happen very often anyway - usually if I go off route it's because I've been admiring the scenery or something.

Spurred on by this thread, I've taken the Edge 1000 out for a play tonight and first impressions are that the map could be pretty damn useful on an audax - shows street names and everything. But this still won't solve the problem of missing your turn through admiring the scenery.

Interestingly, they've done away with bike profiles on the 1000. This I don't like.

 

[bpsmith]

I dropped mine on first fitting. It bounced on rubber bits and slid along my drive on the screen. Not even a scratch was made on any part, in fairness. I always loop the safety strap in the carpeted garage first now.

Anyway, had it around a year now too, and never missed a beat. I find it gives better results if I let it climatise before use outside.

The sync with my iPhone is a great feature for seamless upload to GC and then that syncs with Strava. Only plug in to charge and that's not as often as I expected either.

Overall it's a great piece of kit!

 

[steve292]

I've got one and the gps unit is great. the hr monitor strap packed up after 8 months, according to the net this is fairly common. I bought a polar strap for it & it is much better.
sometimes it struggles to sync with my phone(android) but it finds it in the end.

 

[bikeman66]

Interesting points made in these replies.
I looked at the Team Bundle because of the inclusion of a chest belt and cadence/speed sensor. I had read that the wheel sensor gives a more accurate representation of actual speed (by about 0.5 km/h). However, I'm guessing that the GPS must give a totally satisfactory indication of speed anyway, and I'd be happy with a 500 metre margin of error during the course of one hour.
If the Garmin supplied chest belt is perhaps known for reliability issues, and one contributor has used a Polar belt, would I be right to assume that almost any chest belt would be compatible? I have a SigmaSport belt for my HRM and a Suunto one which came with my Concept 2 rowing machine. These both seem to have excellent reliability, so I'm wondering if in the event that they might be compatible with the 510, whether buying the team bundle rather than just the standard unit is worth it. With the HRM issue potentially solved, and reliance on the GPS attained speed readout, it pretty much only leaves me short of cadence input (which isn't totally the end of the world for me). I guess purchase of a cadence sensor could follow at a later date if it becomes a necessity.
Anyone out there able to confirm the crossover of compatibility of chest belts to the 510 please?

 

[smutchin]

Any ANT+ HRM strap should be compatible. ANT+ is the communication standard owned by Garmin but lots of companies make compatible devices. Just don't get a Bluetooth HRM strap!

I have the Garmin Speed/Cadence sensor and I find it is more accurate - significantly so for stop-start riding (eg if you have a lot of traffic lights) because the wheel sensor is quicker to respond to changes.

Again, any ANT+ sensor should be compatible, you aren't obliged to go for the Garmin one. And you can get separate speed or cadence sensors if you don't need both functions.

 

[bikeman66]

Any ANT+ HRM strap should be compatible. ANT+ is the communication standard owned by Garmin but lots of companies make compatible devices. Just don't get a Bluetooth HRM strap!

I have the Garmin Speed/Cadence sensor and I find it is more accurate - significantly so for stop-start riding (eg if you have a lot of traffic lights) because the wheel sensor is quicker to respond to changes.

Again, any ANT+ sensor should be compatible, you aren't obliged to go for the Garmin one. And you can get separate speed or cadence sensors if you don't need both functions.

Thanks again for your very informed replies Smutchin. Much appreciated.

 

[smutchin]

No problem, I just hope you like it as much as I like mine!

 

[Rustybucket]

If you have a speed/cadence sensor does it always use that for speed over the GPS? Sorry to hijack the thread!

 

[bikeman66]

Good point Rustybucket! I'm presuming you must be able to select GPS or sensor driven speed read outs.

 

[bpsmith]

I believe that the cadence sensor overrides the GPS. Important to set the wheel size correctly then!