Garmin edge 500 vs 510

jamesd

Evans had the red edge 500 plus the better strap hrm with speed/Cad.. Sensor delivered for €224 last friday so i ordered one and its on the way but i see amazon have the 510 delivered now for €280 so im tempted to return the 500 and go for the 510.

Worth the extra few euro? I like the idea of being able to upload from the 510 via the iPhone instead of bringing in the garmin to the pc.

Will be using it for training/club spins and sportives - no racing.

Kinet1c

I'd do some research in relation to how the firmware on the 510 is now operating. After doing some research recently, when it came out it wasn't great but given it's on the market a while, it could be plain sailing. The only feature I'd choose the 510 over the 500 for is the live tracking, which I might not even use.

jamesd

Kinet1c wrote: »

I'd do some research in relation to how the firmware on the 510 is now operating. After doing some research recently, when it came out it wasn't great but given it's on the market a while, it could be plain sailing. The only feature I'd choose the 510 over the 500 for is the live tracking, which I might not even use.

Probely wouldn't use live tracking myself either - the wife can use Find My iPhone if she gets worried about me.

G1032

I had the same decision to make earlier this year in April or May.

Went with the 500 instead and don't regret it. The only thing I'd have been getting the 510 for is the live tracking which would never have been used.
As the missus told me 'If you think I'm going to be sitting at home wondering or looking at where you are, then you're sorely mistaken!!!!!:)'

IMO the upload via smartphone is little more than a gimmick. Others might disagree with this. The upload via PC is quick and flawless.

The 500 is a great device I think and I don't the extra money for the 510 gives any real benefits

t'bear

Doesn't the 510 have a bigger screen though? :-)

Unknown Soldier

Was there not something about the '10 series and being able to attach a battery pack without the device resetting, mentioned here in the past?

jamesd

t'bear wrote: »

Doesn't the 510 have a bigger screen though? :-)

Yes the 510 is a little bigger and colour screen.

WillyFXP

jamesd wrote: »

Yes the 510 is a little bigger and colour screen.

Touch screen too....
Bluetooth sensors can also be used with the 510 unlike the 500

James, is the 510 deal including speed/cadence and HRM? If it is, then its a bargain!

BTW, got the saddle today, cheers.

jamesd

Excellent I was going to ring them today to see if you collected it, I knew I had it well packed anyways so it was safe in there.

This is the amazon deal:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Touchscreen-Computer-monitor-Cadence/dp/B00APBMNP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409569749&sr=8-1&keywords=garmin+510+performance+bundle

Bluetooth would mean I could use my wahoo sc as a backup sensor or even better transfer the garmin over to my other bike and have the wahoo sc on it.

Hassle though of returning the order to Evans.

WillyFXP

Actually, I may have made a mistake regarding the bluetooth, I'm not sure if it can actually use bluetooth sensors, all I can find is that it can use bluetooth to pair to a smartphone.

codie

For what its worth I was in my lbs last week and 3 garmin 510 units came in .The shop assistant asked the boss whats the story with these .The were for replacements under warranty.I was surprised and questioned it and he said they were a terrible unit.Have an 810 myself that can be a pain in the ass at times but anywhere you read it gets good reviews.

dragratchet

G1032 wrote: »

The only thing I'd have been getting the 510 for is the live tracking which would never have been used.
As the missus told me 'If you think I'm going to be sitting at home wondering or looking at where you are, then you're sorely mistaken!!!!!:)'

ha, i had the exact same reaction

jamesd

What I really liked the 510 for was the sync via the phone to Garmin/Strava to save me the bother of bringing in the Garmin and syncing it to the pc.

Maybe I am best stick with the 500 as its surely less trouble some at this stage of its life.

triggermortis

I've just decided to upgrade my 500 to an 800 as I wanted maps. I decided against the 810 as I wouldn't use the bluetooth facility and from reading reviews, the 510 and 810's seem to be giving troubles to some users.

bikermartin

Bluetooth


As far as I am aware the cadence and hr sensors only work with Bluetooth 4 which the edge 510 doesent have. I think garmin only use ant + sensors.

I had to return the first edge 510 for replacement. there was something dodgy about the power switch, so ia asked for a replacement, was done no problem but the delay was a pain alright.

jmoore50

Live tracking is pretty useless any time i have used it. Drops the route, especially if you are anywhere in and around the Dublin/Wicklow mountains. Find my iphone much better. I dont use anything over and above what my older 705 used to do. Find the Bluetooth to phone uploads a pain too, too long to upload and as I use Strava I have to connect to PC anyway. It is a reliable unit and I like the touchscreen (some positives)..

rab!dmonkey

I've had a 510 for a little more than a year now and I would not recommend it generally. The hardware has proved to be very sturdy, standing up to crashes which led to two snapped BarFly mounts (BarFly's free crash replacement coming into play there - highly recommended), but the software has repeatedly shown to be lacking.

The first problem I encountered was in a Tabata workout: the device couldn't keep up with the 20 s/ 10 s intervals and dropped a lot of data points. Fairly minor, but disappointing all the same. Later, I broadcast a race via Livetrack and when I tried to save the activity at the end, the device crashed. When I turned it back on, the only activity profile remaining was corrupted and the it just generally wasn't working properly. Garmin's support gave me a RMA, but I managed to fix the problem in the meanwhile by deleting some corrupted files and restoring from a backup I had made earlier. That was the worst problem, but since then the device has deleted data screens from activity profiles and a bunch of settings in separate incidents.

On the plus side, the tracking performance is very good (the 510 has GLONASS, unlike many other devices), with TTFF regularly under 15 s and I find the activity profiles useful because of the varied riding that I do. The Bluetooth functionality is basic, but useful. It's very convenient to upload to Connect (and onwards to Strava, via CopyMySports) wirelessly and a few friends told me they enjoyed some Livetracks from races.

Overall, the 510 can only be recommended if you need the best available tracking performance (particularly useful for MTB). Otherwise, the drawbacks over the 500 are too great.

WillyFXP wrote: »

Actually, I may have made a mistake regarding the bluetooth, I'm not sure if it can actually use bluetooth sensors, all I can find is that it can use bluetooth to pair to a smartphone.

Yes that's right. The 510 does not have BT4.0, which all the exciting new tech uses. It's a hardware issue, so it can't be upgraded to this standard at a later date

jamesd

So going by the above stick with the 500 that I think has arrived in the post today I hope as there's a parcel waiting for me anyways ?

jamesd

Red Garmin edge 500 arrived yesterday with premium HRM and speed sensor, didn't get to even open it but for 224€ I think I'll stick with it.

dfdream

I think there is a big question about the reliability of the data recorded by these devices (garmins etc and smart phones).
I was out with a group a few weeks back and 7-8 of us recorded the same 84km route.
Mine (S5) and 1 of the Garmin 500 had similar results. (524m climbing).
But the others were all completely different everything from 450m to 890m.
These were on iphones (2) and garmin devices (1 x200, 2x500, 1x510, 1x 810).

The results were all over the place.
Speed or cadence differences would be fine but surely we all did the same climbing.

jamesd

Taking my first cycle tomorrow with the edge 500 so just connected the SC and the HRM there now and the 500 is reading them perfectly.

Manual says to record a ride
Press and hold MENU to view the timer page.
Press START to start the timer.
History is only recorded while the
timer is running.
After completing your ride, press
STOP.

Then Press and hold RESET to save
your ride data and reset the timer.

That seem ok?

breanach78

Both are great units. I know some with 500 and never have any issues with them. I got my 510 for the Bluetooth up load but to my extreme annoyance only works 50% of the time. Multi able emails of complaints to Garmin only to be told a SW update is going to solve the problem but to no availe even up the the latest last week.

jamesd

breanach78 wrote: »

Both are great units. I know some with 500 and never have any issues with them. I got my 510 for the Bluetooth up load but to my extreme annoyance only works 50% of the time. Multi able emails of complaints to Garmin only to be told a SW update is going to solve the problem but to no availe even up the the latest last week.

Bluetooth upload was my reason for looking at the 510, setting up the 500 tonight and testing it on the bike stand and was impressed with it.

breanach78

jamesd wrote: »

Bluetooth upload was my reason for looking at the 510, setting up the 500 tonight and testing it on the bike stand and was impressed with it.

Well it really pisses me off about the unreliablly of the BT upload tho. 500 owners don't have that problem!

jamesd

That would really annoy me too as i like my tech to just work.

breanach78

jamesd wrote: »

That would really annoy me too as i like my tech to just work.

Likewise, enjoy the 500 and put the mileage on it.

Puggy

The Bluetooth on the 510 worked fine for me till a Garmin update in May this year. Despite numerous updates and emails from Garmin, it's still not working.

It was really useful, at the end of a spin, it would auto save to the iPhone, and the iPhone would auto save to Garmin. There was never any need to connect to the PC, though to upload to Strava you do need to connect, unless your using something to sync Garmin and Strava.

Since the update on Monday, the 510 has reset randomly on me twice, really annoying. I only commute or do weekend spins for fitness, if I raced I would have binned it last May.

Other really annoying thing was Ms Puggy found the receipt, which I'd left in the box. No more upgrades for me this year.

rab!dmonkey

Puggy wrote: »

…though to upload to Strava you do need to connect, unless your using something to sync Garmin and Strava…

Connect syncs to Strava natively now. It won't transfer the names of the activities though, so I use CopyMySports instead.

(How many more times will I keep finding people to tell this to? :rolleyes:)

jamesd

Did 110km with the new garmin this weekend and all worked great, loved the auto pause feature.

Dazzy

I use the 510 and haven't had any issues with it. I use all of the sensors, live tracking and BT upload. The upload is an excellent feature and it always works.

I use a forerunner for running which doesn't have the auto upload and its a pain having to look for cables and then connect to a PC/Tablet. If I was changing my watch the most important feature (for me) would be the auto upload.

G1032

dfdream wrote: »

I think there is a big question about the reliability of the data recorded by these devices (garmins etc and smart phones).
I was out with a group a few weeks back and 7-8 of us recorded the same 84km route.
Mine (S5) and 1 of the Garmin 500 had similar results. (524m climbing).
But the others were all completely different everything from 450m to 890m.
These were on iphones (2) and garmin devices (1 x200, 2x500, 1x510, 1x 810).

The results were all over the place.
Speed or cadence differences would be fine but surely we all did the same climbing.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/05/understanding-sport-device-gps.html

Puggy

rab!dmonkey wrote: »

Connect syncs to Strava natively now. It won't transfer the names of the activities though, so I use CopyMySports instead.

(How many more times will I keep finding people to tell this to? :rolleyes:)

Cheers, do use the garmin to strava, problem is bluetooth to the iPhone was working may 105 of the time.

Got the latest Garmin update (3.20) at the weekend end and all is well. Auto upload working to Strava.