NoWhammies

Santa was kind enough to bring me a power meter for Christmas. Woohoo! I'm looking forward to using the pm this summer.

I have the pm setup on my bike and my Garmin 520 recognizes the thing. All good. My question is what information screens from the pm are you showing on your Garmin (or computer of choice)? Also how many of you are using 10 second averages vs 30 second averages? Is one better than the other?

Thank you.

DaveLeeNC

My main screen is

Time
Speed
Power (3 sec averaging)
Distance
Heart Rate
Cadence
Heading
Grade
Elevation
Calories

When all is said and done I have not found anything useful to do with the pedaling dynamics stuff

If I am doing any interval things I have some lap data available on another page (along with average speed, avg power, total elevation).

dave

GreenAnvil

You can set up multiple screens with different metrics to suit your needs. I have defined an indoor profile and and outdoor profile. My outdoor profile has 5 screens. On the two screens I use the most I have:

Screen 1:
Power
HR.
Cadence
Speed
Current Lap

Screen 2:
Power
Bal. 3s
Speed
Cadence
HR
Distance
Time (ride duration)

For intervals, or when I’m on a fast ride I use screen 1. All I want to know is what power I’m laying down, and I want to see what is my HR and cadence relative to that power so I can fine-tune my RPE estimates. I also want to know my speed but that is the least important metric as that can vary relative to wind speed, terrain, etc. It’s a wonderful pacing tool; I know what I have in the tank so I don’t blow up.

Screen 2 is similar but the bal. 3s has worked wonders to help me identify imbalances and ineficiencies in my pedal stroke (which I can later study furhter using the power phase and peak info). I also use this screen to check my riding (moving) time and distance.

Seattle Forrest

It's kind of a question of what important to you. Show that. Good news is you really can't get this wrong.

I leave my Garmin (Fenix 5x) on the power gauge screen most of the time I ride.

3 vs 10 vs 30 second averaging is ... try them, use the one you like. Do you want the number to home somewhat steady and be a representation of what you've been doing, or do you want it to bias more towards immediate feedback? I prefer instantaneous (not averaged) power when I'm out riding in traffic and stop lights. Most people don't prefer this.

Make sure your Garmin is set to record every second, not "smart."

rubiksoval

First screen is an interval screen:
interval time, 3 sec power, speed are the big boxes. little boxes are int avg power, int norm power, int avg speed, cadence

Second screen is a whole ride screen
ride time, 3 sec power, speed are big boxes. little boxes are avg ride power, norm ride power, avg ride speed, hr

Third screen has 10 different fields, including kJ, TSS, avg hr, avg cadence, distance, etc.

Time, speed, and power are my 3 most important in training and racing, as speed is all that really matters in a race, along with how much time is left.

Dopefish905

NoWhammies

I need to be careful on how many items I put on any one screen. My eyes are not as good as they used to be, so too many variables + too small print = I can't read what I'm seeing.

@rubiksoval can you elaborate a bit on interval time? Is this something that get set/reset each time you press the lap button?

@Seattle Forrest Thanks for the suggestion to try out different second averaging. For my first (and only ride thus far) with the pm I went with 10 second averaging. Seems like 3sec is common in the thread.

Where do I find the setting about recording every second and not "smart"? For that matter, what is wrong with using the smart setting?

sdmc530

I Have a two screen set up:
1:
3 sec power
speed
cadence
HR
distance
2:
time
elapsed time
L/R balance
elevation climbed
gradient

I don't use the 2nd screen very much but if I put more data on a single screen I can't see it well enough. Very old eyes. Heck was considering to get the Garmin 1030 just for the larger size! Still tempted to sell the 520 that has been perfect for me and upgrade!

caloso

For interval work:

3s power
lap power
lap time

For JRA:

Time
Distance
Direction
Time of day
TSS

Seattle Forrest

Somewhere in the system menu. I could tell you for my Garmin but it's a watch.

1 second means it writes a data point to the file every second, with your position, whatever else, and power. This is the finest resolution you can get. You're going to want that data later for your best power average at different intervals.

Smart recording comes from the days when storage was expensive. It basically "compresses" the file, by writing fewer points. Only when it needs to to show a difference in the line you're taking, when you turn. So you wind up with gaps in the file and can't find your best 5 minute average.

on the path

With the understanding that everybody’s different, here’s my take. For solo or group training rides the data most useful to me are heart rate and cadence. Also useful but less so are a timer and odometer. Power output, etc is fun to observe in real time but I prefer to review power after the fact. For an upgraded Strava user analysis is a tremendous feature. It gives you the ability to isolate segments and display specific momentary data as well as averages and changes throughout the isolated segment.

When on the trainer I’m usually monitoring power output continually, so I need to have that displayed prominently, along with heart rate, cadence and timer.

There are also some apps available that configure the display in many and customizable ways. Check it out when you get a chance.

rubiksoval

Yep. That's it exactly. Just shows what I'm doing for that specific interval and will reset when I hit the lap button .

tony2v

I use the Edge520Visual data field: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/8e44850f-2e1c-444d-b5b3-2f1e92dfe38f

• Bar graph - Power
• Center under current speed - Distance
• 1st row left - Cur Power
• 1st row right - Cur HeartRate
• 2nd row left - Max Power
• 2nd row right - Cur Cadence
• 3rd left - Time of Day
• 3rd right - Total Ascent

Seattle Forrest

Except in the winter, I try to do a 20 minute power test once a month, 60 minutes every 3 months.

​​​​​For these rides, I like seeing lap time, lap average, 30 second average, and current power. In practice I have a screen like that but with lap distance instead of 30 s avg because that's more widely useful, eg I hit lap when I'm doing a ride with sections, so I can get details for each one. What kind of power did I put out over that climb, how long have I been on gravel?

nycphotography

on my 520, I only use the training profile for everything w/ 4 screens

main screen is (5 lines, top two full width)

POWER 3s

HR

Power 3s zone ---|--- HR Zone
speed ---|--- cadence
grade% ---|--- elevation



second screen is for climbing (5 lines, 1 per line)

power 3s

hr

grade%

elevation

left% / right %



third screen is

power 3s

HR

speed ---|--- cadence
time et ---|--- distance
total ascent ---|--- Kjoules <-- very important for long rides to know "calories how deep in"




fourth screen is

power 3s

HR

Power 3s zone ---|--- HR Zone
speed ---|--- cadence
time of day ---|--- temp F


A few notes:

All 4 screen have the same two top lines... that I ALWAYS care about.
I don't do intervals on the garmin, I do them on the kickr/zwift. much more effective.
I don't do navigation on the garmin, I have a phone w/ gps and maps.
I don't do laps on the garmin, the files are messy and it (used to) screw up various training log programs.

on the path

Oh, forgot to mention. When on a ride with a pre-determined, pre-loaded route, I have another answer. On the elevation profile screen there are 2 data fields available. In those fields I choose to display HR and gradient %, respectively. When doing long climbs the elevation profile graphic gives you a pretty good idea as to when it will stop hurting.

NoWhammies

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks. @NYCphotoraphy thanks for going through each of your four screen.

@tony2v Thanks for the link to the Garmin app. I may check it out. I just wonder if my eyes, which require reading glasses more and more nowadays, will be able to read all of those data fields.

caloso

JohnJ80

I keep it simple and have the same issue with needing reading glasses.

On all my computers, my first screen is oriented to in-ride data: Speeds, Cadence, 3s Power, heart rate, Di2/etap gear position: 4 or 5 fields depending on the bike.

The second screen is related to ride data: time in ride, distance, ascent, calories, etc.. and anything else that strikes my fancy for the given month or so.

The third screen is the map.

On computers where you can swipe/click both ways, that gives you one click either way to get to the other screen. One swipe right from the important in-ride metrics gets the map, one swipe left gets you the ride specifics. With that, I typically don't need help from my readers.