I just got a Garmin Edge 500 at an electronics show at the WTC. For NTD 5,000, I got the unit (Taiwan model) and a speed/cadence sensor. After a an hour or so of wrangling and a good amount of tape, I finally got it working. Now, I am just overwhelmed with the amount of data this little device plus the Garmin Connect online site is able to deliver.
Any tips, tricks, favorite settings or other cool stuff you can offer a newbie with this device?
Just ride and record!
You got that for a good price!
I have the Garmin 800. So I don’t know much about the 500. I do like the fact you can have custom displays, I have set-up a few on mine, including one for climbing which has elevation gain, gradients and actual elevation.
It’s a cycling geeks dream!
Don’t use the English version of Training Center to upload workouts to your Garmin. I tried and it froze up every time and had to be replaced by the factory about 4 times. They are great about replacing it but their call center staff aren’t too helpful if you have a problem.
You can upload your rides to http://www.Strava.com and compare your times with other riders if you enjoy that kind of thing.
Enjoy
I was about to get the Garmin 800 but i decided it was a bit too large and I use my phone for maps.
Thanks for the tip about uploading from Training Center. I’ll watch out for that. How about using the Garmin Connect website? Looks much better than Training Center software.
BTW. If you happen to have a GPS android smartphone, you can use the speed and cadence sensors on your apps simultaneously with the Garmin 500 device. I’ve tested it with Endomondo and My Tracks and it seems to work well. I just wish I could actually purchase the full version of some of these apps.
Strava has an android app as well. But it doesn’t look like it is able to connect to sensors. Kinda ridiculous if you ask me.
It’s fine to use Training Center (downloading files is fine, uploading is not) and Garmin Connect. There are a few more tools in Training Center but they are mostly for training. For “recreational” use and sharing, Garmin Connect is actually a better option.