tomgdaly

I have a Garmin Edge 500 which ans I thought the auto lap function would be very handy for recording lap time and other data on the track (outdoor).
I set up auto lap by location at the sart line and it worked ok, recording each lap.
Next I wanted to do 500m intervals and record those separately. In the process I pressed a 'wrong button' which split the lap in two and I couldn't 'delete' the start points.
I'm not very good with gadgets and would appreciate any pointers. E.g -
Are these startpoints stored permanently and, if so, how can I delete them?
If I re-set the start point at the start line, what is the best way of recording separate intervals within the overall session?
Any other useful pointers appreciated

carleton

I have a Garmin 500 that I use on my road bike. The Auto Lap function is pretty much useless on the track.

The margin of error when dealing with the satellite is too great. When you start analyzing the data you will just be frustrated.

According to his Garmin, a guy at our track once hit 78mph.

Buy the optional speed/cadence sensor and program the head unit to ignore the satellite and defer to the speed sensor for speed data. Then it will be MUCH more accurate.

The satellite speed data is only good for averaging over long road rides.

joshpants

I've had pretty good luck with my Edge705 and satellite on the 333. I have the speed and cadence, but it tracks cadence defaulting to satellite on speed / distance, unless I'm in my basement or something. Have never tried to use an autolap or lap function - you just do way too many and I couldn't take my hands off the bars to press a button if I'm really working.

This really makes me miss the indoor track. Our chips would track EXACTLY what you are looking for.
I still haven't even taken my chip off the bike in fact.

JMR

You can only use one or the other to do what you want to do.

If autolap is on, if you try using the lap/split button, it will then autolap everytime you go past those points again until you stop and reset the garmin.

If you want to do splits, you need to turn autolap off.

Autolap works fine for me on an outdoor (obviously) 333m track, but as Carleton mentioned, you really need a speed/cadence sensor for it to be accurate (which I have). I just start it at the start of the session as I am rolling over the finish line, and it will click over every time I complete a lap. On the odd occasion you will a half or double lap, but not much.


JMR

queerpunk

My teammate occasionally uses his Garmin at the track, and he says that when entering the corners, the lateral change in location is within the Garmin's margin of error, so it reads turning as decelerating.

So, yeah. Speed sensor.

tomgdaly

Thanks for all the replies, but I am still a bit confused.
if I get a speed/cadence sensor will it work accurately with auto-lap (by location)? I understand that I can't get splits - all laps will be recorded.
I presume satellite accuracy will vary between tracks depending on the number of satellites engaged etc?
Using the start/stop button isn't feasible for the short efforts, but I can also understand that the data isn't of much use if not accurate.

carleton

Auto Lap is guided by the GPS, not the speed sensor, even if the speed data comes from the speed sensor.

The Garmins were made for road riding/racing. Things happen too fast on the track, even the endurance efforts.

The Garmin 500 records once every second. If you are doing high-speed effort (flying 500M or 1K), then you'll need either a stopwatch or an SRM (set to record at 0.5"). You are simply moving too fast to get any meaningful splits from the auto-lap feature.

The SRM is useful because it measures every 0.5" and you can section-off your splits using the software. But, it's still not as accurate as a stopwatch.

Maybe get someone to record a video of your efforts (using a cell phone or digital camera) then you can time yourself with a stopwatch during playback on your computer at home.

Also, note your top speed and finish speed from the file. Those indicators will be just as strong as splits to measure progress.