Garmin Edge 500 Cycling GPS

I bought this to help me with training for a Century and it really helped a lot. There is something very motivating about being able to see yourself progressing in average speed, distance, etc. I originally started with using Endomondo, which was a great tool, but had one major flaw (which had nothing to do with the program itself) the battery life on my phone would get eaten up. It was fine for one or two hour training sessions, but not usuable when I would be out for 5+ hours for my weekend training rides. My fear was that I would kill the battery on my phone and then get stuck in a situation where I needed my phone because I broke down, got in an accident, etc. The battery life on the Garmin Edge 500 is great. I recently rode a Century that lasted over 6 hours and my battery was still at around 60% by the end. I don't plan on ever going longer than that as I am pretty sure my body won't be able to hold up as long as the Garmin! The ability to set up interval training is very easy to do and is a great help when trying to gain speed on your bicycle. The premium heart rate sensor is very comfortable and picks up my heart rate instantly without the need to put on special gels or get the device wet or anything. I just stick it on and go. The screens are great and are fully configurable which is awesome. I love being able to modify all of the information that I see at one time. The unit comes with software to use the data with as well as Garmin Connect which is a website you can go to and upload the information to. Garmin Connect is a lot better, the software program is pretty useless. I also am really happy that it came with mounts for two bikes, one for my road bike and the other for my mountain bike.My only gripes are that the screen scratches very easily. I already have a few scratches on mine after a few months. Sometimes the unit can take a few minutes to figure out where you are which is the case with all GPS units. Not a big deal as this is usually when I am warming up anyway. Finally the buttons can sometimes be a bit of a pain to hit. Sometimes they aren't fully responsive.

I bought this Garmin Edge 500 back in March 2011 and have recorded over 500 different activities.I am a crazed cycling enthusiast and a data freak who records every single mile religiously. I track the stats recorded by my Garmin, and use them to improve my riding. Making sure I have a device that records every foot of every ride was my motivation for my investment into the Garmin Edge 500.This little Garmin has been through a lot of tough environments. It survived a sand storm in the 2012 Tour de Palm Springs, a soaking in a thunderstorm during the MS150 ride from Miami to Key Largo, and it's been covered completely by mud in a 10k Mud Run.I really thought the device was done for after I found it sitting at the bottom of the wash machine. I put my Garmin out in the sun for a day without opening it. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best, I was prepared to spend another couple hundred bucks because I had already recognized the Edge 500's value. I took it out the next day and borrowed my neighbor's Garmin Edge 800 to compare results and see if it was still working. At the end of the ride, my Edge 500 captured more distance than my buddy's Edge 800! All was good.About the Features Disclaimer: I have not been able to use all of the features the Edge 500 has to offer. I have my Garmin set up just the way I like it. I have my Pages set up the way I like them. Each Page displays just the stats that I want to see while I'm riding. Garmin Connect and Strava give me more data once I've uploaded my activities, but while I'm out there, I don't need to see everything all at once.These are the features that I still have yet to use, but are available:1) Creating a Route and sending it to my Garmin2) Planning a Workout and sending it to my Garmin3) Creating Courses and sending them to my GarminOne of my favorite features, which isn't really a feature at all, is the Battery Life. I've been out on a long Century event (with stops 6+ hours) and the unit still has more than 80% Battery Life. For my normal 1-2hr ride, the Garmin Edge 500 doesn't ever get below 90% battery life. You'll never really have to worry about the battery dying on you while out on an epic ride.The last thing I'll mention, which is available on all Garmin Edge models, is the AutoPause feature. Again, I'm a Data Freak so I like to see my exact stats on each ride. With the Autopause feature, the second my wheel stops turning, the Edge 500 will autopause my "Moving Time" and let the "Elapsed Time" continue to run. At the end of each ride, you can get "Moving" averages for speed, which is perfect for the person looking to see what their average speed was only when they were moving.I definitely suggest picking up the Garmin Soft Strap Heart Rate Monitor which has proven it's worth when training for races.  Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor (Soft Strap) If you're getting more and more serious with your riding, then you cannot live without the Speed and Cadence Monitor. Garmin GSC 10 Speed/Cadence Bike Sensor If you have more than one bike, you can create different Bike Profiles in your Edge 500 which works out great with multiple Speed/Cadence Monitors. Your Garmin will only detect the Speed/Cadence Monitor for the Bike Profile Selected. This is also really important when Riding in groups with other cyclists, the Bike Profile + ANT+ technology used to connect your Garmin with the Speed / Cadence Monitor prevents your Edge 500 from connecting to another cyclist's speed / cadence monitor. You only get your own speed and cadence data.Pros:+ Can survive the wash machine+ Can take a beating if dropped (3ft - 6ft)+ Provides very accurate GPS Data+ Has amazing Battery Life+ Allow user to create multiple Bike Profiles+ Each Bike Profile Tracks the data only for that bike when selected (total miles, Top speed, etc)+ Allows you to create multiple Pages with only the details you want to look at in that moment+ Allows you to create Routes on your computer then send them to your Device before you ride+ Allows you to create Courses on your computer then send them to your Device before you ride+ Garmin includes multiple bands to use for mounting your Garmin on different bikes+ Garmin includes USB cable to connect to your Computer+ No issues with Edge 500 connecting to other cyclists speed / cadence monitor or heart rate monitorCons:- For night riding, it would be nice to have the light stay on for more than a maximum of 60 secondsTips:+ Make sure you mount the sensor magnets very well on your wheel and on the crank arm+ Mount your Garmin on the Stem instead of the handle bars+ The closer the magnet is to the sensor, the better data performance you will get from your deviceHands down, the Garmin Edge 500 is the best cycling computer that I've ever had the joy of using. It even serves well with Running if you can find a nice place to store it during your run. So get out there and record yourself, but be careful, it can get addicting! You have been warned!!

This computer has all the basic function you need on a bike. If you don't need navigation, this is the one to get. You can still plan and follow routes on this one, but it's a "follow the dots" kind of navigation, if you get lost, this won't help you get back home.

This unit was bought to replace a 6 year old Edge 305 which had ceased to talk to the computer. In summary it's been a great replacement.Pretty much does the same except it has a barometric altimeter rather than a GPS one and has a temperature indicator.As a bike computer for what I want it is great. It records where I have been accurately and is easy to set up and use. The multiple displays are good to set up depending on what information I am wanting to monitor. So is a good replacement.I also use it for hill walking and there the altimeter is of more interest. Whilst it appears pretty good (and it should be more accurate) you have to make sure the initial reading is correct as it will change with the atmospheric pressure, this is relatively easy to set up if you are starting from the same place but a bit laborious if you want to start in different places. Unlike the GPS altimeter, correction is not available on Garmin Connect so, if you forget to set it, it may not be at the correct elevation. Not too important to me but a bit of a niggle. On a long walk the return elevation may not read as that when you left! Still it provides a good record of the walk.The temperature reading was something I though would be novel but not really of interest and not considered as part of the reason for buying. This is a good job as it just doesn't read correctly. Slow to respond and reads 3 to 5 degC high. A lot of discussion elsewhere (simply Google). Don't buy it if this is important, the annoyance is if it's there you want it to work. The function should be removed.

Got this a week ago after much deliberation and I am so glad I did. Fantastic product for any cyclist who wants to check or improve their fitness. It is incredibly easy to set up, the satellites are located almost immediately and you can customise how many data fields you would like to see whilst you're riding.Garmin mount is extremely easy to attach and is very secure, unlike the dodgy cycle computer one I had before, which would come loose after going over the slightest bump!Garmin connect is fantastic for uploading your ride data and will let you plan further rides. It breaks down all your ride data into different categories like av speed, distance, elevation etc and shows you the map of each ride. Just what I was looking for.You can programme each course into the Garmin and it will record your fastest time over that distance, so if you want to try and beat that time, it will tell you if you are ahead of schedule or behind. This is great if you are riding alone and want a challenge.Overall a superb product for any cyclist who wants to get fitter!!

The GPS is working fine, thé battery life is good, I charge the device each time I sync it with my computer and I never ran out of battery. The only issue with it is the GPS position detection when powering on the device, it takes way too long, about 3 minutes or it takes forever if I'm moving during satellite detection process.

Very good and fairly easy to use.