{"id":18680,"date":"2018-05-11T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/?p=18680"},"modified":"2018-05-11T07:00:26","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T11:00:26","slug":"garmin-edge-130-vs-edge-520-first-impressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/2018\/05\/11\/garmin-edge-130-vs-edge-520-first-impressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Garmin Edge 130 (vs Edge 520) First Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_0027.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in 2011, when I was thinking about trying Lumberjack 100<\/a> for the first time, I bought a Garmin Edge 500<\/a> 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<\/a>, 520<\/a>, and now the new Edge 130<\/a>. 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<\/a> and Marji Gesick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0(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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, and the software quirks will be changed:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Zones (heart rate and power) must be defined using Garmin Connect<\/a>; they cannot be configured in the unit itself.<\/li>\n
  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.<\/li>\n
  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.<\/li>\n
  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.<\/li>\n
  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.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    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<\/a>\u00a0so they’d align with the Edge 520 names):<\/p>\n

    Battery Level \u00b7 Battery Status \u00b7 Beam Angle Status \u00b7 Cadence \u00b7 Cadence – Avg. \u00b7 Cadence – Lap \u00b7 Calories \u00b7 Dist. – Lap \u00b7 Dist. to Dest. \u00b7 Dist. to Next \u00b7 Distance \u00b7 ETA at Destination \u00b7 ETA at Next \u00b7 Elevation \u00b7 Grade \u00b7 HR – %Max. \u00b7 HR – Avg. \u00b7 HR – Lap \u00b7 HR Zone \u00b7 Heading \u00b7 Heart Rate \u00b7 Laps \u00b7 Location at Dest. \u00b7 Location at Next \u00b7 Odometer \u00b7 Power – 3s Avg. \u00b7 Power – Avg. \u00b7 Power – Lap \u00b7 Power – Max. \u00b7 Power – kJ \u00b7 Power Zone \u00b7 Speed \u00b7 Speed – Avg. \u00b7 Speed – Lap \u00b7 Speed – Max. \u00b7 Sunrise \u00b7 Sunset \u00b7 Time \u00b7 Time – Avg. Lap \u00b7 Time – Elapsed \u00b7 Time – Lap \u00b7 Time of Day \u00b7 Time to Dest. \u00b7 Time to Next \u00b7 Total Ascent \u00b7 Total Descent<\/p>\n

    Here’s the additional fields the Edge 520 will display:<\/p>\n

    Balance \u00b7 Balance – 10s Avg. \u00b7 Balance – 30s Avg. \u00b7 Balance – 3s Avg. \u00b7 Balance – Avg. \u00b7 Balance – Lap \u00b7 Course Pt. Dist. \u00b7 Dist. – Last Lap \u00b7 Dist. to Go \u00b7 Front Gear \u00b7 GPS Accuracy \u00b7 GPS Signal Strength \u00b7 Gear Battery \u00b7 Gear Combo \u00b7 Gear Ratio \u00b7 Gears \u00b7 HR – %HRR \u00b7 HR – Last Lap \u00b7 HR Graph \u00b7 HR to Go \u00b7 Light Mode \u00b7 Lights Connected \u00b7 PCO \u00b7 PCO – Avg. \u00b7 PCO – Lap \u00b7 Pedal Smoothness \u00b7 Power \u00b7 Power – %FTP \u00b7 Power – 10s Avg. \u00b7 Power – 30s Avg. \u00b7 Power – IF \u00b7 Power – Last Lap \u00b7 Power – NP \u00b7 Power – NP Lap \u00b7 Power – NP Last Lap \u00b7 Power – TSS \u00b7 Power – watts\/kg \u00b7 Power Phase – L. \u00b7 Power Phase – L. Avg. \u00b7 Power Phase – L. Lap \u00b7 Power Phase – L. Peak \u00b7 Power Phase – L. Peak Avg. \u00b7 Power Phase – L. Peak Lap \u00b7 Power Phase – R. \u00b7 Power Phase – R. Avg. \u00b7 Power Phase – R. Lap \u00b7 Power Phase – R. Peak \u00b7 Power Phase – R. Peak Avg. \u00b7 Power Phase – R. Peak Lap \u00b7 Rear Gear \u00b7 Reps to Go \u00b7 Target Power \u00b7 Temperature \u00b7 Torque Effectiveness \u00b7 Trainer Resistance \u00b7 VS – 30s Avg. \u00b7 Workout Step<\/p>\n

    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<\/a> and\u00a0Edge 520 Manual Appendix<\/a>\u00a0for more information on what each field means.)<\/p>\n

    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:<\/p>\n

    Page 1: \/ Six Fields: Timer, Speed, Distance, Time of Day, HR Zone, Heading<\/p>\n

    Page 2: \/ Four Fields: HR Zone, Cadence, Timer, Heading<\/p>\n

    Page 3 \/ Three Fields: Timer, Time of Day, Sunset<\/p>\n

    Page 4 \/ Map: No Fields (Map only, shows breadcrumb \/ loaded course.)<\/p>\n

    Thus far I’m happy with the unit; happy enough that I’ve sold my Edge 520.<\/p>\n

    For more specifics on the Edge 130, please check out both the excellent Garmin Edge 130 In-Depot Review by DC Rainmaker<\/a>\u00a0and the Garmin Edge 130 product page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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…<\/p>\n

    Continue readingGarmin Edge 130 (vs Edge 520) First Impressions<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acquired-things","category-cycling","category-electronics","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18680"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18702,"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18680\/revisions\/18702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nuxx.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}