K100Fran 

I have been shopping around and doing research on GPS bike computers and think the Garmin Edge 510 meets my data and HR monitor needs, but through all the searches I do on bike forums and Garmin forums I read so many negatives. Is anyone willing to share any truly positive experiences to help reassure me their is some hope for a working unit that does what it's supposed to do?
Thanks
Fran

TallTravel

Garmin is one is the biggest names in GPS technology. It stands to reason they'll have more comments on the net than most any other manufacturer.

Most retailers will allow a refund or exchange within 30 days. It's not like you're getting married.

Gus90

I have an 810 which has had some issues especially with creating a route on a computer, uploading it to the Garmin, and then using it on a ride. Seems to get all wonky when you go off course and try to get back on regardless of whether or not I have reroute enabled. There were some additional bugs that have since been fixed with the current firmware updates. If I'm not following a premade route, it's fine. The map surprisingly doesn't have half the bike paths in my area which is annoying but there is a way to download free custom maps but I haven't bothered to try.

As to the 510, I bought a 510 for my wife last summer and surprisingly, it has been absolutely bug free. It has worked flawlessly and has all the essentials such as heart rate cadence, etc. As long as you don't need maps, it would be a good investment.

I've learned that with Garmin, more so than other companies, they appear to put out products without fully having all the bugs worked out. Great design and innovation but horrible software engineers, lol. It took over a year for my 810 to, for the most part, be problem free. Just look at the issues people have had with the 1000 since it came out. Give it about a year and I'm sure those will finally be resolved as well. Point being that the 510 has been out long enough that I think they've pretty much fixed any major issues.

Their mac/window software is still somewhat buggy. The new "look" is in my opinion awful but you still have the option of looking at the "classic" view. The biggest problem I've had with the computer software is, again, with creating routes for upload to the device. For example, when I'm trying to create route on a MacBook, it seems to freeze up before I'm able to complete it. Happens occasionally if I'm using a PC. It's also somewhat sporadic in recognizing that you've hooked your device to your computer so you can upload/download rides and update software.

All in all, you should be very happy with the 510. Hopefully you can get one at a great price too.

njkayaker

I think you have to keep navigation issues separate from other issues.

The 810 you have probably works as well as the 510 for stuff the 510 does.

Borrow your wife's 510 and see how you like it.

Gus90

That was exactly my point.

njkayaker

???

Does the 810 have any issues with the things that the 510 (or the 500, even) does?

As far as I know, they all work equally as well for those things.

That is, you already have a 510/500 in the 810 (though, slightly bigger).

The maps might be useful, even without turn-by-turn working.

Downloading Openstreetmap maps is easy but bicycle paths still might be spotty (depending on where you live) and they can make navigation more problematic.

(I bought my 800 for maps/navigation and it works very well for me. I've tried a Touring and that appears to work as well. The problems Touring has seems to be mostly due to problems with the Openstreetmap maps it uses.)

K100Fran 

Thanks Gus.

I don't want to open up a whole can of worms and start rehashing negatives and realize you can return the product w/in 30 days. My interest was to see if anyone has been using the 510 for 6 months to a year and had no or very few issues. I think mapping would be nice to have but my typical riding dictates that I don't need it nor can I really afford the extra cash (I know it's against "the rules" but family comes first!). I may just continue using my current method of tracking using my wireless computer and phone foregoing the uploads to strava etc.

Gus90

I probably would have gotten the 510 as it's been great since my wife's been using it last summer. Had I known the 810 with routing and all the other issues I had with it, which I won't go into here, has been a huge let down. It's why I'm not upgrading to a 1000 anytime soon. In fact, if my 810 crapped out, I'd buy a 510 instead.

Gus90

You think I don't know that the 810 has all the 510 functionality built into it, Captain Obvious?

Whataguy5431

I've had my 510 for about 2 months and being a pretty anal OCD type guy, I really like it. There are 3 or 4 screens that you can put whatever info on you want, from 4 items per screen to 7 and you can rotate like 6 or 7 screens with firm touch screen. I normally track HR, speed, distance, cadence, elevation and time. I can see all the info I want during the ride and after it's over I just save to the 510, then save to Garmin Connect so I can review on phone or computer. Have never had a problem with data loss. No the route map screen is not like Google Map, it's just blank but showing trail you've ridden, but that's ok, I know where I'm going and where I've been. I think I spent like $350 for it and the sensors bundle. For a simple 250 mile per month guy, it does what I need and want.

tcpasley

If you don't need maps you might consider a Garmin Edge 500. The price just dropped to $150 at REI and several other places. I just ordered one to replace my trusty Forerunner 305 (a $43 REI garage sale find).

I wanted something with a barometric altimeter that is compatible with power meters, and I didn't need a 510 or 810 for the phone-connected live tracking or the map navigation. I always carry an Android phone and I can use any number of apps if I need a map, since I typically ride where I have cell service. For live tracking, I just started using the Glympse app. So far it seems to work well without eating up too much phone battery.

Newer Samsung phones like the Galaxy S4 have ANT+ capability built in, which allows you to just use your phone as your GPS-based bike computer. I've been using my S4 with the ipBike app as my main bike computer lately. With ipBike you can collect your GPS readings from you phone GPS (not as accurate as a Garmin but not bad) as well as your ANT+ sensor data (heart rate, speed, cadence, power). You can save each ride's data as a .tcx or .fit file and upload them to Strava, Training Peaks, etc. directly from the app. You don't get temperature or altimeter elevation readings, but you can typically get corrected elevations once you upload your data.

The big downside to using your phone as your bike computer is the battery drain - not a problem if you only do short rides, but on longer rides a dead battery leaves you without phone or computer. That's the main reason I ordered the 500 - to save the phone for communication and emergencies.

Another downside is that your phone can take some hard jolts when mounted on your bike, and you have to worry about crashes. I have jarred loose the SIM card in my phone 3-4 times, but it usually takes a speed bump to cause that.

One last thing - the 510 uses GPS and GLONASS (Russian) satellites, while the 500 only uses GPS satellites. I've read in one blog that the 510 is much more accurate for mtn biking (where trails are narrower) and in mountainous/dense tree cover/urban canyon environments. I'd like to know if anyone here has done a side-by-side comparison of the 500 and 510 to see if the GPS accuracy difference is significant.

Gus90

I'm not replacing it. Go back and read what I said.

njkayaker

I crossed your post with the OP's on my phone.

K100Fran 

Thanks. I'm definitely keeping the 500 in the mix. But I do like the screen customization on the 510. But the price is nice...

Dunbar

The other advantage of the 510 is bluetooth uploading of your ride files through your smartphone. It will upload to your Garmin Connect account. If you use Strava it can be automatically setup to grab Garmin Connect files from "the cloud."

SA_Brak

I've had my 510 since May and love it. I had read all the negative reviews which made me think twice but ended up getting one. Now I wonder why I didn't get it sooner. The Live Track allows my wife to monitor my progress which gives both of us some piece of mind because I travel back country roads and she can also check my progress when waiting on me at charity events. Also, I didn't realize that that there is a psuedo mapping that tracks your route on a blank screen which is almost as good as having real map for me (if I need a real map I just use my phone). Coupled with the Turn by Turn directions and I never need a map.

K100Fran 

Thanks SA_Brak, your thoughts pretty much echo mine. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Santa drops one in my stocking!

bbbean 

Love mine. Have been using it for close to 2 years. Use the live tracking on every ride, use the bluetooth upload at the end of every ride, the size is perfect for my needs, pricetag is manageable, and the display is easy to read. Pairs painlessly with my phone, speed and cadence sensors, HR monitor, and PM.

The auto-sync has been wonky on occasion, but hat's easy to work around and doesn't affect my ability to use it during a ride.

Even when I dropped mine during a race and it got run over, I opted to replace it with the very same thing (which Garmin did for $70) rather than "upgrade" to a unit with a larger screen or color display.

I recommend it.

K100Fran 

bbbean, I knew there had to be lots of people who appreciated them, glad you made the right choice for you.

bbbean 

Just remember that everyone posts when there's a problem, but very few post to say "the gear I got a year ago still works just fine!"

BigC_82

All good info when I purchase a 510 bundle in the near future.