Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

Light equipment, precision and practical.
The link to the site for data transfer is easy.

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

I ride 4-6 times a week. I have the 510 paired with my I phone, Garmin connect and to a power meter. everything pairs beautifully and I am impressed with all the information I can obtain. I cannot imagine needing anything more

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

I've been riding a bike for the last several years and put about 3000 miles a year on the bike. I had just a basic cyclometer and had been trying to use my iPhone with bluetooth heart strap, cadence, and speed only to find it very frustrating for several reasons.
The Garmin 500 was on my mind when thinking of purchasing an all in one unit. I did quite a bit of research a comparing the 500 with the 510 and found that the benefits and advantages of the 510 were well worth the extra $30.
I've used it now for about a 20 rides and find something new that I can either customize or benefit from with each ride. It took some time to understand and select the screens and what I wanted on each, but once that was learned, the amount of data from the unit and information provided seems to be endless.
The touch screen is nice, but I would have to say is that the best feature for me is the ability to pair with my phone via bluetooth to keep track of activities, courses, and all riding data. Creating a course online with GarmninConnect and then to upload that via my phone to the unit is great. I can get home from work, turn on the unit, upload the course from my phone within 1 minute while getting ready to ride. There is no need to ever connect the unit to a computer. Not that connecting it the computer is labor intensive, it's just a great option.
I find the data captured and accessible via GarminConnect is excellent and will help me improve my rides and try to beat previous metrics.
I have had no issues with this unit and next thing I'm going to test is following a preloaded course. I'm interested in how it notifys (if any notifications) to the upcoming route change or direction.
The installation was easy and the pairing of the various devices was completed with ease.

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

I use this as a head unit for my power meter and as a tool to measure data for my MTB and road racing. I will say the single feature I love the most is the pairing and auto-upload to Garmin Connect. No having to hard-connect the unit to my laptop for activity uploads is worth the upgrade from the previous Edge 500.

The only glitches I've experienced is with heart rate and cadence dropping out during a ride. I lost both about 4.5 hours in to the Cohutta 100 race this year and have lost them a couple of other times during other races. Unsure if it's a problem with the unit itself or the other accessories reporting data but it is mildly frustrating. Still, a solid four star review for features and intuitive OS.

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

As an owner of the 500, I upgraded because I live in San Francisco and do urban rides in which its hard to maintain GPS coverage, the GLONASS was a strong selling point to me.

Pros:
-GLONASS works as advertised, pick up GPS FAST, even in the middle of downtown SF.
-UI is sleek, innovative and easy to use
-Measures everything I want it to
-SO much potential here for this unit IF and WHEN they release the firmware to make it work

CONS:
-There is currently a known issue in which all ANT+ sensors randomly drop out and both show and record bad data making this useless.
-Elevation data is incorrect, I am hoping this is a firmware fix, but worried its actually hardware. THis unit shows 2-3X the elevation gain/loss that my 500 or iPhone apps do on the same rides. This is also a known and common issues according to the forum boards and Strava CS.
-Battery life is not great, not anywhere near what the 500 was, maybe 50% of it
-Screen is not as easy to read as the 500, often leaving you wanting the backlight, but this unit will only last about 6 hours with backlight running
-Notification system is ridiculous, every time there is a notification the whole screen dims and you must physically touch the unit to dismiss it. IF you are in the middle of a workout this can really cripple your ability to execute and enjoy your workout.
-Garmin continues to see Strava/Training Peaks and other 3rd party sites as their competition rather than the reasons we buy their unit in the first place. As such they block these other apps from either being able to connect to the unit to gather data, or utilize the bluetooth connectivity to automatically post your ride to their sites. Garmin only lets you upload via the bluetooth directly to garmin connect which is years behind Strava in terms of development and features.
-Weather updates do not work as advertised, but they are incredibly annoying. For example, I was out riding and every single minute it would push me a "flood warning" that would block my access to the data and screens until I dismissed it.
-Following courses is slow and buggy, much like the 500 that never had its feature fixed.

All in all, this unit has a lot of potential if and when it gets the updates it needs to work properly. Unfortunately, Garmin is unresponsive to its users and slow to release firmware updates for known bugs despite the thousands of angry posts on their forum boards. They may regret this someday when a viable competitor releases a product that can rival theirs. Instead of innovating, working with partners such a Strava, testing their products prior to release, and acting on known issues, they have began to act like a monopolistic company would.

If you train with a power meter, or rely on your other sensors such as speed/heart rate, your best bet is to watch their forum boards and hold off buying until Garmin posts a fix to all the issues this unit is currently having. A fix was recently posted for the 810 that helped some, but not all of the similar issues the 810 was having, but the 510 has been left out in the dark. If history is any indication they will get this right, but they will be slow and not address all the issues. Past users of the 500 can attest to this, along with early adopters of most any of their units.

I'll happily adjust my rating once Garmin gets these issues fixed. THis has the potential to be a 5 star unit, but the fact they released it in its current state says a lot about Garmin as a whole.

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

Upgrading from an old Bontrager wireless and a Planet Bike wireless computer have made the 510 a pleasure. I was excited about the fact that I could store my data and upload everything online. Previously I never had the advantage of using a heart rate monitor or cadence sensor and both have been a great asset to my training. The advantage to easily switch between bikes is also exciting. So far the GPS signal has been great and the quick upload to Garmin Connect works most of the time. I have found that for some reason sending workouts from my phone to the device via bluetooth does not always work which is annoying. Also a pain when using the workouts or an "alert" flashes the screen has to be prompted (by touch) to switch back to your ride. Other than that I have mostly been excited about having the workouts online to compare and upload to Strava as well. Some reviews I have read say its not worth the upgrade from the Edge 500 but if you don't have the 500 (which I cannot compare to) and had similar basic wireless computers like mine, I suggest making the jump.

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

Got the Garmin 510 bundle a couple days ago for my Novara Trenta that i bought from REI and used it on my first ride Saturday.. Let me say, Brilliant!!! This is exactly what a bike computer should be. All the information you want to know on the screen at the same time. Best part is; it Sync's with you Iphone as soon as your done and uploads everything from your ride, i mean everything including a map showing exactly where you rode this can also be done with your computer via the included cable. If your reading this that means you contemplating buying one... DO IT!!! you will not regret it and if you buy it from REI and you don't like it (HA, yea right!!!) then take it back. This is not more than you need. I love it and cant wit to get out on the road again.

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

This is my first GPS bike computer. I'm a commuter, recreational rider, cat 5 racer and I sometimes tour.

The good:

- Heart rate monitor works well
- Seems to be quite accurate and picks up GPS satellites quickly.
- Following a bread crumb course works pretty well for navigation
- Highly configurable, but it can be a bit of a pain to navigate menus to configure everything. It would be nice if I could do this on the computer and then transfer settings to the unit.
- Good battery life so far
- I like the blue tooth features for uploading rides

The bad:

- Out front handlebar mount holds the device at a a slightly offset angle
- Occasional crashes
- Has features that are not described in the detailed user manual
- Touch screen is hard to use with thick gloves
- Notices such as "Sensor detected" or "GPS lock acquired" must be dismissed manually.
- 1 stuck pixel

Comments about Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bundle Bike Computer:

I currently use it on my commute bike. (27 mile loop)

Garmin's site allows the Edge 510 to upload the data from your ride and look at graphs for cadence, speed, heart rate, outside temp, and power (assuming your bike has a power meter) against your GPS location.

Note: since you can store more than one bike profile and all the sensors are wireless, you can easily add more bikes by buying additional cadence/speed sensors.