Alternatives to Edge 520 ?
 

Hi, is there any viable alternatives for the Edge 520 ?
I will buy a powermeter soon so i will need a bike computer with it.

The 520 seems to be the most interesting, but I have read that there is problems with elevation data and gradient lag.
Is there anything else on the market that can do the job ?




thanks

Sigma Rox 10.0

SIGMA ROX - Overview

I have an 800, it's more than 5 years old but it can show me my watts. I'm also using a Fenix 3 watch which has all the features of the 520 and a lot more. :)

For power, etc.: Edge 500. It lacks wifi and Bluetooth and maps.

Instead of a Garmin 500, try a Bryton 310. Essentially the same features as the 500, but newer tech and significantly better battery life. Also cheaper.

I never even considered the 520, as it will take Garmin 2+ years to work most of the bugs out of the software. Having Live Strava Segments seems like a gimmick at best.

Thanks,the Bryton looks to be good choice.Will probably try this product.

Just to say, I haven't had any bugs with my 520 in the several months I've owned it. It seems to work fine. Temperature runs a few degrees colder than it should. I've never tried the live Strava segments; I don't much care.

What is gradient lag?

I assume this is where the road gradient the device displays is for the road about 5-10 seconds behind you, since this is what mine does.

The Bryton manual doesn't show any support for courses, which the Edge 500 will let you follow providing turn-by-turn alerts, the next turn and distance to it, on the navigation screen, and the next three turns with distances on a cue sheet screen.

The Edge 500 if you don't need maps, Edge 800 if you do. The 500 screen is more visible in sun-light than the newer computers, the software is more stable, the battery lasts longer, it's smaller for less interference with mounting lights/cell phone, and it costs less. Unlike the Edge 810 the Edge 800 doesn't spontaneously power down or crash when you're navigating. The 1000 is more power hungry, new Garmin devices have historically experienced a lot of software problems, and it is a lot more expensive.

The ELEMNT screen is more readable than the Garmins, especially color units through the 810/520. Some day the ELEMNT should be better over-all, but it still lacks the Edge 500's basic navigation features, gets less battery life, is bigger, and cost about double what I paid for my Edge 500. I prefer its buttons over the newer Garmin's touch screens which pickup my greasy finger prints, although it's farther behind those with no street names, no panning on the map screen, and no navigation.

After returning my ELEMNT I bought an Edge 810 to replace my Edge 500 which lost the lap/reset/down button after 21,000 miles and didn't support maps. I've had issues with spontaneous power-downs and .FIT files Golden Cheetah won't read. I ordered a refurbished 800 to replace it, and am probably going to send it back.

The 810 adds to the 800 with

• Integration with your cellular phone for wireless upload to on-line services. I don't find that useful because I still need to plug it in for charging, and primarily use Golden Cheetah locally.
• Activity profiles with separate screen sets. I've done OK with one with a main just riding screen, interval screen, and summary screens. One is fine on the 810 with an additional screen.
• A nicer user interface.

You lose the per-bike odometer on the 800 some people like.

I used the turn-by-turn on my 500 a grand total of one time. When traveling at any respectable speed, the turn cues would come up far too late, like a car GPS in a sitcom. So I think I may have mentally omitted it as a thing. I'm still a paper cue sheet guy for routes, and resort to the Google Maps if things go really sideways.

It works OK when you accommodate the implementation.

The "turns" are actually course points which occur at the target GPS coordinates; so with no adjustment there's no alert until you're passing the turn.

You need to use software which generates them before the turns, like ridewithgps.com where you can specify a lead with a 30 meter default.

My issues with it are that

• Sometimes it loses its mind when you go into a grocery store and won't redraw the course.
• The next way point and distance/time to it are not configurable fields, so you need to be on the map or cue sheet screen to see what's coming up.
• The Edge slows down on longer courses because the software engineers didn't do a good job. You can kludge around that with a longer lead out.
• It misses turns sometimes. That's an engineering screw up where they should be signaling course points when you should reach them based on where you were and velocity. You'd need to keep your computer on the navigation or cue sheet screen to avoid it.

GPS units like the Edge 800/810/1000 know where the roads are, know when your course turns onto a different one, and can be smarter. You can have a switch to the map screen with an arrow in the shape of the turn as you get within hundreds of feet so you have plenty of time and will have a harder time screwing up when there are multiple options.