Garmin Edge 530 vs 1030
 

So, I'm sitting on both Garmin offerings from Amazon and need to decide which to return by the end of the month. It's to be a refresh on my still working 520, which will be relegated to indoor/backup duty.

My big goal is navigation. I think I like the idea of the on-the-fly capability of the 1030, but not so sure I like the size, and maybe not the touchscreen either. The 530 would be look/feel comp[atible with my 520 and has some navigation capability.

Anyone have any thoughts on these two as regards navigation and size?

Moving to the electronics section

Larger size is easier to view maps, touchscreen allows you to pan and zoom. Thus I’d keep the 1030.

I got the 530 and sort of wish I'd gotten the 1030 plus. Many of the new features I'm interested in using will be more intuitive and easier to navigate to with a touch screen than button pushes. And the 1030's touch screen is said to be better than previous models of all Edges, though how much of that is software that might be fixed through updates or actual hardware improvements, I don't know.

My son has a 1030 plus that replaced an 820 he had. He has no regrets and says so far he has not encountered any of the touch screen problems he had with his 820. And he's had plenty of opportunity to ride in rain and also hot sweaty days when you can't even keep your fingers dry from sweating so much.

The bigger screen is a big deal for navigation. The touch screen makes it easier to do things like panning the map.

The touch screens can be an issue in the rain but there isn't always a problem. You can lock the screen (if it's raining heavily). It can be hard to use the touch screen with gloves. I have used these units with touch screens and hasn't really been that much of a problem.

The size isn't a problem. After a couple of rides, you probably won't care about it being "big".

If you aren't using it for navigation, you don't really need the larger size (though, the 1030 has a bigger battery).

In the winter, like on todays ride where it was 30F, I've learned to blow on the finger of my glove to get it warm and moist to be able to swipe screens. It works most of the time but on screen button pushing is pretty hit and miss with gloves.

I have a 530 and had a 1000, and both are just awful for navigation compared to any smartphone IMHO. Not like anyone is ever going to go without a smartphone (to a close approximation anyway). I just put a stick-on garmin quarter-turn cleat on a rugged phone case, and run both when needed. Garmin on out-front mount, phone on stem. Not exactly what you asked I know, but this works great for me.

BTW I've not been impressed by the GPS accuracy on my 530. Under trees I often don't get credited with segments (in Strava) because the Garmin track shows me off to the side of the true track. 1000 was better in this regard.

I went from 500, to 520, then a 530 for a short while now a 1030. By far the best has been the 1030. Works great. No issues with touch screen and the navigation I don't use often but do find its adequate.

I love the size, its bigger yes but for my old eyes its great.

IMO, if you want navigation, you've got to go Edge 8XX or above. There's just no comparison between the true navigation they offer and the much more limited features of the 5XX. Both are great, but they're not the same thing. I know the 820 has been discontinued now, not sure about the 830. Personally, I liked the smaller form factor that allowed for navigation as well. But that's just me. You can't go wrong with the 1030.

Very satisfied Edge 530 owner here. I cannot see how anyone would want to use the 530 for on the fly navigation. It works fine for following a course that has been loaded and that's easy enough to do from computer or smart phone. But for actually planning a route? No.

What you're experiencing is the difference between the 5XX and the 8XX and above. I enter a destination all the time while I'm out riding and when I haven't previously been using any GPS capability. The functionality works very similar to the way a Garmin car GPS operates in that you can input an address, look up a point of interest, etc. Once you've got that capability, it's great because you can just wander and always know that you'll find what you want.

For those with the garmin 530 do the speed and cadence automatically calibrate on their own?

Yes.

By default, the Garmins determine the wheel circumference using the GPS in the first 0.1 miles. The wheel rotation sensor needs an accurate wheel circumference. You can also enter the circumference manually.

The devices can also determine speed from the GPS alone. That works fine except it won't be quite as sensitive to quick changes in speed.

The cadence sensor doesn't need calibrating.

Note that you have to pair the wheel rotation sensor and the cadence sensor to the device (the "headunit").

Thank you. I appreciate it..

Another vote for the 1030 plus. I can't imagine it being any smaller and being useful for navigation also.

When I used my iPhone 8 as strava / gps map navigation the battery would die around 3 hours. With the 1030 plus I never have to worry about the battery.

I ended up going with the 1030 over the 530 for the better navigation capability. Since it's been non-stop snow in the northeast, and I don't ride when the temperature is below about 60F, it's seen nothing but indoor use so far. Lots of sweat dripping on it has had no effect so I'm sure rain will not matter much either. Frankly, I almost never ride in the rain anyway. Coming from a 520, I'm used to Garmin menus, and the touchscreen is really nice and easy to use. I did play with setting routes a little, and so far I like it.

It's big, and it's noticeably heavy. It's funny that 25 years ago I would spend a lot of money to drop a few grams from anything I could and now I have a quarter pound computer. On the good side, the battery does seem to last forever. My 4 year old 520 battery would last 2 or 3 days of indoor riding. The 1030 battery has been lasting 2 weeks or more.

Maybe the 530 and 1030+ calculate faster but I haven't noticed any issues with the 1030 speed.

I am not very interested in navigation. If that's the case, is the 1030 still the better buy versus the 530?

Yes. Probably. Maybe.

As I've stated here and elsewhere, if you are using any of the features that require you to do anything but change to a different page, then the button pushes on the 530 can get confusing. There are features that I'd use more often while riding if it wasn't so durned tricky to get to them via buttons. I think this is where touch screens will excel. My son says the touch screen works much better on his 1030 plus than it did on his 820.

I've never uses the 1030 "build a route" features. I'm always following a downloaded route from ridewithgps. But I have tested out the "return to start", with "shortest route" selected. It was pretty effective,and simple to launch. (returning via the recorded route is also an option, but often, that's a longer way back.). Shortening a planned ride, it's nice to know about how far it is back to the start point.

I really like the Elevation page. On a downloaded route, it's set to show an elevation chart of the previous half mile, and the next 1.5 miles ahead. This is zoomable to more detail or to more miles, but this setting is just about perfect for seeing what's coming up next. Is the hill short or long, and what's over the crest -- more rolling hills or a downhill? Does this hill get steeper near the top (which is quite common). This works much better for me than the "Climb Pro" which cuts off the display right at the crest.
On some rides, I just leave the Elevation page on the screen, with two data blocks at the bottom, and the loaded route prompts me when I get close to the turn, popping up a map of the turn.

The touch screen works okay in the wet, and is fine with thin to medium gloves. Winter gloves with glove liners just aren't going to work. So I leave it on the map screen in the winter. Otherwise, I'm often swiping between screens.

The touch screen is excellent for configuring the screens and menus. I've even changed data blocks while riding. For example. switching "Heart rate" to "Grade%" when I didn't have the heart monitor strap with me. Just press and hold that block on the screen, then tap it again when it turns color, and select from a data element list. (Safer to stop briefly to do this, but possible while moving...)

I have the 1030. I’ve used the build a route. Worked well but takes time. If I’m on a trip in and unfamiliar place I use the auto route builder. Though once in State College PA it routed me on a portion of the route on a bike path that was just a side walk next to a road about 15 yards to the side. I just road on the road but the GPS kept trying to have me turn up driveways to get back on the sidewalk. The road was wide enough. The sidewalk if one could call it that was narrow and the concrete slabs heaved up.

Anyway the other thing to watch is auto route will not always send you on the shortest or quickest path back to you destination or selected point. It may send you out of the way to a bike path. I’ve had it do just this and make less direct route adding 17 miles.