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Month: May 2018

Garmin Edge 130 (vs Edge 520) First Impressions

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Back in 2011, when I was thinking about trying Lumberjack 100 for the first time, I bought a Garmin Edge 500 so I could log data and use heart rate zones for training. This worked out very well, and over the years I’ve iterated through of other Garmin units, including the Edge 510, 520, and now the new Edge 130. After years of acquiring increasingly complex units I recently switched to the less-featured unit (the Edge 130), finding that it covers everything I need, with some nice upsides over the 520. It’s a great computer for my mixed mountain / gravel / dirt / road riding, including the same, basic, line-following breadcrump route support that’s gotten me through self-navigated events like Barry-Roubaix and Marji Gesick.

First, the upsides. This unit has a higher resolution black and white screen which looks remarkably good in direct sunlight; much better than the color 520. The unit itself is quite a bit smaller (41 x 63 x 16 mm) than the Edge 520 (49 x 73 x 21 mm) which fits better on my stem mounts. I think the all-dark-grey color of the housing blends in with a bike better. The unit also feels like it responds faster to button presses. While this may just be the faster-updating display, it’s nicer when flipping through data pages.

Now, the downsides. While there are fewer features (no base map, can’t have as many data fields on screen at once — all well covered elsewhere), none affect my general use of the unit, but are worth mentioning. All are as of v2.20 firmware, and the software quirks will be changed:

  1. Zones (heart rate and power) must be defined using Garmin Connect; they cannot be configured in the unit itself.
  2. It is not possible to rename sensors. This means I can’t name a bike’s speed/cadence senors after the bike, which can make things a bit confusing if I have multiple sensors active in an area and I want to be sure the unit is currently listening to the right one.
  3. The rubber cover for the microUSB connector feels a little flimsy. It effectively rotates on a small piece of rubber and as someone who plugs in my Garmin after every use I have concerns for how long it’ll last.
  4. Some of the fonts seem a bit small, leaving a bunch of extra white space (particularly Heading as seen above). They are still readable, just small.
  5. The unit prompts for ride type (Mountain, Road, etc) after each ride. You can’t select a ride type by default, although it does default to the last option. (Just something more to choose when saving.)

Outside of the display and size, the biggest difference between the 130 and 520 is the data fields each can display. While both units will record from the usual speed/power/heart rate sensors, they vary quite a bit in what each will display. Here are the data fields that the 130 and 520 will display (some names edited from official Edge 130 documentation so they’d align with the Edge 520 names):

Battery Level · Battery Status · Beam Angle Status · Cadence · Cadence – Avg. · Cadence – Lap · Calories · Dist. – Lap · Dist. to Dest. · Dist. to Next · Distance · ETA at Destination · ETA at Next · Elevation · Grade · HR – %Max. · HR – Avg. · HR – Lap · HR Zone · Heading · Heart Rate · Laps · Location at Dest. · Location at Next · Odometer · Power – 3s Avg. · Power – Avg. · Power – Lap · Power – Max. · Power – kJ · Power Zone · Speed · Speed – Avg. · Speed – Lap · Speed – Max. · Sunrise · Sunset · Time · Time – Avg. Lap · Time – Elapsed · Time – Lap · Time of Day · Time to Dest. · Time to Next · Total Ascent · Total Descent

Here’s the additional fields the Edge 520 will display:

Balance · Balance – 10s Avg. · Balance – 30s Avg. · Balance – 3s Avg. · Balance – Avg. · Balance – Lap · Course Pt. Dist. · Dist. – Last Lap · Dist. to Go · Front Gear · GPS Accuracy · GPS Signal Strength · Gear Battery · Gear Combo · Gear Ratio · Gears · HR – %HRR · HR – Last Lap · HR Graph · HR to Go · Light Mode · Lights Connected · PCO · PCO – Avg. · PCO – Lap · Pedal Smoothness · Power · Power – %FTP · Power – 10s Avg. · Power – 30s Avg. · Power – IF · Power – Last Lap · Power – NP · Power – NP Lap · Power – NP Last Lap · Power – TSS · Power – watts/kg · Power Phase – L. · Power Phase – L. Avg. · Power Phase – L. Lap · Power Phase – L. Peak · Power Phase – L. Peak Avg. · Power Phase – L. Peak Lap · Power Phase – R. · Power Phase – R. Avg. · Power Phase – R. Lap · Power Phase – R. Peak · Power Phase – R. Peak Avg. · Power Phase – R. Peak Lap · Rear Gear · Reps to Go · Target Power · Temperature · Torque Effectiveness · Trainer Resistance · VS – 30s Avg. · Workout Step

Most of these are around in-depth training with power, leg balance, support for electronic shifting, and other metrics that I don’t use. Therefore, nothing is lost moving away from the 520. Temperature — which is still recorded — is the only one that might be handy, but in my experience Garmin’s temperature readings seemed to be a bit off and didn’t really map to how it feels, and I definitely didn’t need it as an on-device data point during rides. (See the Edge 130 Manual Appendix and Edge 520 Manual Appendix for more information on what each field means.)

All said, I’ve had no problem configuring the Edge 130 to display the same screens as my Edge 520, resulting in the same functionality. Even nicer, on the 130 I can choose to not show the elevation chart; something that I’ve never found myself using and had to flip past on previous units. Here’s how I have the different display pages set up:

Page 1: / Six Fields: Timer, Speed, Distance, Time of Day, HR Zone, Heading

Page 2: / Four Fields: HR Zone, Cadence, Timer, Heading

Page 3 / Three Fields: Timer, Time of Day, Sunset

Page 4 / Map: No Fields (Map only, shows breadcrumb / loaded course.)

Thus far I’m happy with the unit; happy enough that I’ve sold my Edge 520.

For more specifics on the Edge 130, please check out both the excellent Garmin Edge 130 In-Depot Review by DC Rainmaker and the Garmin Edge 130 product page.

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Titanium Frame Caused Garmin Speed Sensor Issues?

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For a couple of years my main XC bike (2014 Salsa El Mariachi Ti) has had issues with my Garmin bike computers (Edge 510, 520, and 130) pausing mid-ride when I wasn’t actually stopped. This shows up as the head unit briefly flipping to a paused symbol (⏸), before returning to recording. Post-ride, when reviewing data in rubiTrack, the red callouts on the route indicate the pause locations and show they’d last for a couple of seconds. While I couldn’t reliably reproduce the pauses, they seemed to happen whenever I’d stop pedaling. It seemed to be more common when on tight/twisty trails where GPS positioning is spotty, but it’d also happen while moving at 10-20 MPH on straight, clear-sky areas. It almost seemed like the Garmin was choosing to pause when I stopped pedaling, an indicator that maybe the computer wasn’t aware the speed sensor was still moving.

On all of my bikes I have the Garmin Bike Speed Sensor fit around the rear hub and computer set to autopause when stopped, but the problem only happened on the El Mariachi Ti. It did not happen when using the older Garmin GSC 10 magnet/reed switch speed sensor which mounts to a chainstay. It also doesn’t happen on either of the steel (El Mariachi SS or Vaya) or carbon fiber (Mukluk or Camber) bikes, so I accepted it and figured the problem to be the wheel speed sensor. After acquiring an Edge 130 bundle I tried the new wheel speed sensor, but the problem persisted and got me thinking…

The solution ended up being simple: move the speed sensor to the front wheel. On an A/B test at River Bends Park where I did one lap with the sensor on the rear wheel, then another two with it on the front, the issue didn’t stopped appearing when the sensor was on the front.

Thinking it through I can only conclude that the problem was caused by the frame material. The sensor is detected by the head unit and seems to work fine the time, but perhaps the signal is sufficiently degraded that connectivity is sometimes lost. I suspect that then the unit falls back to pausing based on GPS signal + pedaling.

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Sensor on Rear Wheel (Problems)
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Sensor on Front Wheel (Problem Solved)
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