Category: electronics

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.

Planning to follow a TrainerRoad plan with Kristen all winter, and a little irked at the quirkyness of shifting to hit power targets on my current setup, I became interested in a smart trainer. My buddy Mike let me borrow his Wahoo KICKR, something I’d been itching to try after hearing so many good reviews of them. In short, I really liked the experience and was quite impressed by how much easier it made riding indoors. I focused more on putting out effort and selecting my cadence and less on staying on target, and large swings (say, over/unders) were MUCH easier to do when I didn’t have to seek the moving power target. I really wanted one. A few days later I noticed that Wahoo was selling NOS (new old stock) 2016 model for $899, which seemed perfect! The $1199 retail price is a bit more than I can afford, but this was doable for both Kristen and I. Orders were placed and we got ready to sell our fluid trainers.

Not hearing anything on the order after four days we sent notes to Wahoo’s customer service department. The responses indicated the units had accidentally been oversold, so we were offered refurbished 2016 units for $100 less. Having the same warranty and being even cheaper, that sounded great! We both accepted the offer and waited. A day later we were informed that the warehouse had found more stock of the new 2016 units and those were on the way, with the refurb offer rescinded. Not as good of a deal, but still, great! Because of this back and forth Melinda, the customer service person, tossed in a 142×12 Thru Axle Adapter for me and a TICKR X Heart Rate Monitor for Kristen; both things we could use and a really nice gesture.

Unfortunately, when the KICKRs arrived, we found that Wahoo had screwed up. These were not new units, nor refurbished, but instead returns which likely hadn’t been opened since the customers packed them up. Mine was scraped and the end caps were chewed up as if the previous owner didn’t clamp it down properly and had the bike come off while riding. The cassette was slightly greasy, it had a bunch of non-Wahoo stuff (Garmin manual and packaging, Monoprice packaging) in the box, and fine plastic dust from the expanded foam packaging was spread all over, including in the resistance unit. Kristen’s was arguably worse, with a heavily scuffed flywheel area (as if the owner had it resting against something), an empty through axle adapter box, and the previous owner’s personal info: the RMA from Clever Training and — inexplicably — a copy of his vehicle inspection report from Volkswagen Credit.

My KICKR:

Kristen’s KICKR:

Separately we both immediately contacted Wahoo, but being Saturday didn’t hear back until Monday afternoon. (They’re open M-F, 10am – 7pm, and email responses seem to take about a day.) The first responses offered $100 refunds claiming the units were refurbished. After pushing back indicating that they are simply used and don’t seem like it’d be up to their standards, the refund offer was upped to $200 with the opportunity to test them out before accepting. While $699 is an even better price, neither of us were keen on paying so much for used trainers with plastic dust in sensitive electronics.

Since it’s often easier to work things out over the phone I decided to call Wahoo. I spoke with Micah, who explained that the original customer service person I’d contacted via email, Melinda, was best suited to help me. (I got the impression she’s a lead or manager.) Indicating that what I really wanted was a new trainer, and that I was hoping they could sort this all out, he informed me that the 2016 units are gone, so that’s no longer possible, but he’d get in touch with Melinda and let her know that we had talked. A short while later I heard back from Melinda, offering to return the used trainer and give a 10% discount on a new 2017 KICKR. I replied asking for the RMA, declining to purchase the 2017 model. (In the mean time Kristen had called and set up an RMA for hers, but did not receive a discount offer.)

I understand that things go wrong with warehousing and shipping, especially when winter (trainer time!) is coupled with the busy holiday season, but I can’t help but be left quite soured by this experience. Almost two weeks after making the purchase, with time sunk into a back and forth via email and visiting FedEx, we’re both back where we started… without smart trainers. And waiting on refunds.

Good thing we’ve still got fluid trainers to ride… Because the CycleOps Hammers that we ordered are still en route.