Thinking of getting an Edge 520

[pdlpsher1]

I never had the 500 but my 510 locks onto satellites instantly even inside my garage.

[stormyClouds]

If I remember ahead of time, I turn on the 500 while I am getting other things ready.
Sometimes I forget and my wife laughs at me as I set there, ready to go, waiting for it to connect. Pretty silly.
I use a Garmin Forerunner watch when I run and that one can take several minutes to find satellites.

[AJS914]

For me the biggest reason to not get the 500 was the lack of bluetooth. I have a 510 which works fine so I won't be upgrading but if it didn't connect automatically and upload to Strava I'd be upgrading in a heartbeat.

[Rick]

Did you get your dropout problem fixed with the 520?

No. The switch of head units made no detectable difference to the dropout rate. I ended up getting a refund from Stages.

Lastly, does the 520 automatically does a calibrate with the power meter? With the 510 I have go into a series of screen to select the calibrate function before the start of my ride.

No. In fact the 520 is a little more annoying on that particular aspect. On the 500, it can be set to notify you when it detects a previously linked PM, it then asks if you want to calibrate, and then hitting the button goes directly into calibration.
On the 520, it notifies you that it has detected the previously linked PM, and asks if you want to calibrate. But when you select "Calibrate" it goes to another screen that tells you to unclip from the pedals and set them level and select calibrate a second time. So I have frequently been left staring at the second screen for many minutes waiting for it to calibrate because I thought I ALREADY SELECTED "CALIBRATE"!!

Just a quirk that you get used to. After the second button hit it calibrates very quickly, using a Powertap hub anyway.

[stormyClouds]

I will second that. Have run out of juice a few times with my 500 in the middle of the ride.
Are you saying the 520 battery last longer or it lasts longer after warning you that the battery is getting low?

[eraser501]

got the 520 a while back, its nicer than the 500 but one of the main things I was looking forward to was the Live Strava Segment Integration. It has that but it really does not work well at all most of the time, so don't count on it.

[MikeD]

I had a 500 and a 510. Sold the 500. The 510 has a larger screen so more fields can be displayed, touch screen, and Bluetooth. Don't know about the 520, but didn't they make the screen smaller and took away the touch screen? Sounds like Apple. They remove features and call it an improvement.

[nathanong87]

touch screen was idiotic on a garmin. good riddance

[Super Brad]

I have been using a 520 for a while now which was an upgrade over the 510.
The 520 has been very unreliable with my Stages power meter and the Stages distro in Australia seems to suggest it's a known problem.

That's been the only proper downside, although getting used to the buttons after having a touch screen was a pain in the backside!

[3Pio]

I had Edge 500 for few years, now Edge 520 for few months. For me Edge 520 is much better device:

- It has much better screen and resolution. This make it possible to have more data fields on the screen, so u dont need to shift between screens.

- Im riding often in area that i dont know (sometimes in other country's as well).On Edge 520 there is possability to put Open Maps and to have very detailed lets' say navigation. Also turn by turn guidance

- Live Strava Segments. Make my riding more fun. It's important that segment is recorded properly. If it's saved with some bad phone GPS, does not work well.. From my experience 90% of segments works, 10% not.

- Much better integration with telephone trough bluetooth. From updating the firmware, to just upload acitivities. Also very nice to be able to see on the screen who is calling me or sending me sms, so i can pick the phone or just ignore it.

- Connect IQ possability (i did not installed any app until now, but sound like very nice option)

- Things in software like Recovery check etc...

- New way of mounts for speed and cadence sensor which dont use Zip ties and dont scratch ur frame


With open maps and turn by turn guidance, if u dont ride let's say things like Transcontiental race and dont have access to laptop, i dont see a point in Edge 820. Also i think that touch screen in any form is not suitable for bike gps device.

I was also thinking should i upgrage from my EDGE 500, and i had a chance to check my friend EDGE 520. Im very happy with the upgrade now, go for it, u gonna like it

[TImeMachine]

I had the Edge 1000 and sold it then bought the Edge 520, reason mainly for upcoming TTs, I wanted something smaller on the front as the 1K is BIG.

I would say I do not miss the 1K mostly, the 520 is an awesome piece of kit, I am amazed at what it can display on such a small screen without any loss of visibility, if there was one thing it would be the turn by turn directions - but I knew that would be lost with the switch.

Depends what you want to use it for, for Audax, Sportives, Touring the Edge 1K and Explorer would be top of my list but for racing I tend to think smaller is better so I'd go for the Edge 520, I use it outdoor and indoors without issues, the Edge 1000 survived torrential down pours, sleat, heavy snow and sweat (from the turbo) both great units in there own right.

My Edge 520 pairs against the following power meters I have:

Stages - Road Bike

PowerTap P1s - TT bike

PowerTap Hub - TT bike

The only PM I sometimes have issues with is the Stages as someone pointed out above, sometimes (not often) it loses track of it and disconnects - this includes when stopping during a ride with friends - and you cant get it to connect back without a lot of messing about.

Don't have any issues with satellite tracking, just got back from a 2.5k flight where I turned it on and it locked on with a minute in the new location.

[bogus]

520 is small and portable.
But it is inconvenient because I can not touch it.
But the price is good because it is popular.
But I will choose 1000.

[shotgun]

I liked my 810, but the rubber of the power button fell into the unit, so I'm having it repaired. I got a 520 in the meantime, and I find 6 or 7 buttons harder to use.

[TheDarkInstall]

I liked my 810, but the rubber of the power button fell into the unit, so I'm having it repaired. I got a 520 in the meantime, and I find 6 or 7 buttons harder to use.

Exact same thing happened to me.

You can repair it yourself!

1. Get an old cash card / credit card.

2. Cut away all of the split rubber from the power button hole using a sharp craft knife.

3. Cut one piece of credit card to fit in the hole, so that a small amount, maybe 1mm is sticking out the end. Once you have got this size correct, cut more pieces of the same size from the credit card. SuperGlue them together.

4. This is your new 'power button'. Slide it into the hole to see if it fits. If not, file the edges until it does. If it is a bit loose, add another layer of card, either from the credit card, or from something thinner.

5. Put the power button in, so it is sitting right up against the micro-switch inside.

6. Put a bit of electrical tape over the whole thing.

I did this months ago to my 810 and it is still going strong now. This is a massive design cock up by Garmin (which surprises nobody, obviously), and Garmin were ridiculously shit about responding to any emails I sent them about warrantying it. But that is how you fix it, anyway.

[kervelo]

One annoying issue related to 520 is the incompatibility with Wahoo TICKR. The 520 can find the TICKR easily, but the HR is not shown during the workout. Every now and then the HR figure is visible, but then it disappears again. At the same time the HR from the Wahoo TICKR is shown correctly on other devices, for example in Trainerroad running on iPad, so the belt is working fine.

The issue is discussed on the Garmin forums. The solution seems to be replacing the TICKR with TICKR RUN or TICKR X.