Garmin are on a roll.
With Garmin’s 2018 cycling products you can take that headline literally as well as metaphorically.
At the end of this post are the headline specs of all 3 devices – the old Garmin Edge 520, the new Edge 520 plus and the new Garmin Edge 130. The headline specs are sourced from garmin and simplified slightly for presentation.
What Stands Out Most?
First up this seems like sensible product naming and marketing with the 520 plus. I had expected a 530 but, instead, Garmin have made incremental changes to the 520 and named it as such. Nice. The interesting additions, to me, are with the cheaper Edge 130 and had those changes been made to the 520 then we would have an Edge 530. But here we are…
Namely, the Edge 130 claims support for Galileo and has a black and white, higher resolution screen. The Edge 130 gains on BLE sensor compatibility, no doubt there will be a marketing line related to Zwift there somewhere, but the Edge 130 loses on interval workouts and is super-Tiny. Interesting.
The smaller format Edge 130 seems to be endeavouring to compete with the looks of the successful Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT and size of the ELEMNT MINI. I don’t think it will quite pull off the competition with the BOLT but the specs seem to imply that the Edge 130 might have a bit of spare CPU power to run CIQ apps and delight in whatever Galileo offers.
On that note Garmin may well have played a master stroke by first introducing GALILEO +GLONASS support on a low-end (ish) cycling device (July 2017, see FORETREX announcement). Cycling speeds and roads generally provide a forgiving environment for the determination of cycling speed and position; so, perhaps, any initial buggettes won’t be quite as noticeable as they would be on a running watch. Perhaps also the intended, non-competitor market for the Edge 130 might be more forgiving and less vocal of positional ‘bugs’ than would be the competitive cyclist or competitive triathlete.
Also of interest is that the Edge 130 does support limited power metrics as well as BLE/ANT+ power meters. Hmmm…commuting.
Nevertheless the Edge 130 very clearly, to me, paves the way for GALILEO support to be introduced on higher-end cycling models and on running/triathlon models. This COULD BE AWESOME for those of us who navigate and for those of us who want accurate, instant running pace. #VeryExcited
Hmmmm TT/triathlon. Look what’s next.
And there’s more! For a TT or triathlon Garmin has finally created a feature in this device that I have been writing about for over a year…EXTENDED DISPLAY. Essentially making the130 a dummy unit for a Fenix 5/935 (maybe other units too) but I bet they forgot a tethering mechanism or some means to avoid it being stolen in transition 🙁 (unlike the Bolt or Edge 820)
It’s nice that the 520 plus comes with the Best Bike Split Race Sync app pre-installed as well as TrainingPeaks. And the TBT navigation makes the 520plus a relatively complete device…if your old and reliable 520 broke you may well get the 520plus. I’d probably get one if my Edge 820 broke.
Potential Downer: But does it support dual-frequency Galileo? I don’t know!
Price, Discount & Availability
Summary
Interesting. Exciting. But I will keep using my Wahoo Elemnt BOLT on-road and my Lezyne Super GPS off-road. It’s so small, I’m not sure I’d be able to see the tiny screen…but maybe the 130 will be great as a simple recording-only device.
Q: Will There Be A Review? I’m not sure, probably not. there will hopefully be more interesting fish in the sea.
| Edge 520 | Edge 520 plus | Edge 130 | |
| RRP | $250 | $280 | $200 |
| Advanced bike computer built for competition | Advanced GPS bike computer for competing and navigation | Compact, capable GPS bike computer with cycling awareness features | |
| General | |||
| Physical dimensions | 1.9” x 2.9” x 0.8” (49.0 x 73.0 x 21.0 mm) | 1.9″ x 2.9″ x 0.8″ (49.0 x 73.0 x 21.0 mm) | 1.6” x 2.5” x 0.6” (4.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 cm). That’s quite a lot smaller, much more similar to a Wahoo MINI. |
| Weight | 2.1 oz (60 g) | 2.2 oz (62.5 g) | 1.2 oz (33 g) |
| Water rating | IPX7 | IPX7 | IPX7 |
| Battery | rechargeable lithium-ion | rechargeable lithium-ion | rechargeable lithium-ion |
| Touchscreen | No | No | No |
| Display size | 1.4” x 1.9” (35.0 x 47.0 mm) | 1.4” x 1.9” (35.0 x 47.0 mm); 2.3″ diagonal | 1.1″ x 1.4″ (27.0 x 36.0 mm); 1.8″ diag (45.0 mm) |
| Display resolution | 200 x 265 pixels | 200 x 265 pixels | 303 x 230 pixels SUPER CRISP and SWEET |
| Color display | Yes | Yes | |
| Battery life | up to 15 hours | up to 15 hours | up to 15 hours |
| High-sensitivity receiver | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Maps & Memory | |||
| Basemap | Yes | Yes | No |
| Waypoints/favorites/locations | 200 | 200 | 100 locations |
| Routes | 0 | 100 | 15 courses |
| History | up to 180 hours | up to 200 hours | 100 hours |
| Sensors | |||
| GPS | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GLONASS | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Barometric altimeter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | No | No | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | |||
| Smart notifications | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VIRB® Camera Remote | No | Yes | No |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | |||
| Customizable data pages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interval training | Yes | Yes | No |
| Advanced workouts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Auto Lap® | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| V02 max | No | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Partner | Yes | Yes | Yes (within a course) |
| Auto scroll | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cycling Features | |||
| Courses | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time/distance alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goal) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible with Vector™ (power meter) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power meter compatible (displays power data from compatible third-party ANT+™-enabled power meters) | Yes (records data approx. 1 per second) | Yes (records data approx. 1 per second) | Yes |
| Additional | |||
| Additional | Compatible with Varia™ bike radar and lights: yes | Alerts (triggers alarm when you reach time, distance, HR, calories goals): yes | Galileo: yes |
| Edge® remote compatibility: yes | Compatible with Varia™ bike radar and lights: yes | Bluetooth®: yes (BLE) | |
| LiveTrack: yes | LiveTrack: yes | Connected capability: LiveTrack, weather, Assistance, Connect IQ data fields | |
| Advanced performance and power analysis, including new Time in Zone, FTP tracking, cycling-specific VO2 and recovery and cycling dynamics | Advanced performance and power analysis, including new Time in Zone, FTP tracking, cycling-specific VO2 and recovery and cycling dynamics | Set-up streamlined via app | |
| Bike trainer profile for compatible Turbo trainer data display and control | Bike trainer profile for compatible Turbo trainer data display and control | V02 Max/Recovery: yes | |
| On-device segment compatibility for dynamic and engaging in-ride competition | On-device segment compatibility for dynamic and engaging in-ride competition | Segment compatible: Strava and Garmin | |
| Compatible with VIRB® action cameras: yes | Integration with Shimano Di2 electronic shifting: yes | Varia™ cycling awareness compatible: yes | |
| Integration with Shimano Di2 electronic shifting: yes | Weather alerts: yes | Extended display capability with Fenix 5/935 | |
| Weather alerts: yes | Power Meter Support: YES! But LACKS wide power metric support | ||
| Wi-Fi® compatible: no | |||
| Round-trip routing: no | |||
| Route planner: no |
This document WILL be continually updated without specifically noting what changes have been made. Sorry if this annoys you.
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Maybe I might be a bit of a dunce in regards to it…but what is the benefit of a Bike computer outside of the map/route in front of you if you already own a high-end sports watch? Doesn’t the watch already compute data within the activity AND compile external sensor information within that activity (i.e Chest Strap, Power meter, Speed cadence sensor etc…)? What will the bike computer do (or add) that the watch doesn’t already do?
I won’t lie, this has been on the barriers that have kept me from investing in the tech in the first place. Why buy all this if I already own a watch that does all this. Fenix 5x owners even have an actual map; albeit on their wrist, but still, have a visual that directs them around.
Like I said, I’d like more information on my rides to help better them, but at this point, I am getting a tad bogged-down in potentially superfluous tech.
it’s too small on a wrist watch and at a funny angle where you cant read it (esp when racing). you can buy a handlebar mount of course but then it’s still small. but then you need a quick release kit and the potential faff of something else going wrong in a tri.
a watchis probably a similar size to the 130’s screen 😉 maybe. you can perfectly well use your wrist watch as a recording device – until recently i use my 935 as my main recording device for bike power/everything although i never looked at it (come back the ease at whch it becomes a windows drive when plugged into my pc and ant+ compatability) although i’ve eventually got around to properly linking my wahoos to dropbox via wifi…all this tech…it’ll never catch on.
There is no touchscreen in the 520 Plus, its a mistake on the Garmin’s website (and here also)…
thank you