Yay!

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Twitter @achtervolger

I will resist the urge to upgrade before IMAZ...

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Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding it hurts.

Yeah, please spare me the expense of having to catch a plane down there at the last minute to kick you in the nuts. Have a good race!

Seems like rolling averages were the big missing link for using the 310XT exclusively as opposed to in concert with an Edge 500/705/800. Any real reason to go with an Edge 500 now?

Cool. Iv'e got both and 310 and a 500. I'm going to test out the 310 and see if I can do without the 500 and sell it.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Screen size / number of fields. I bike with a 500, run with a 310.

i think the only other thing that the 500 now gives is the ability to select if you want to record zeros or not...if i am not mistaken.

Finally! Too bad after waiting a year I caved and I have a Joule now as well, but I still use my 310xt as my primary computer on my second bike so better late than never.

Sweet!!!! My first powertap setup will arrive Monday from wheelbuilder! I got the Pro+ with the DTswiss RR585 set on the way . . . already had the 310xt and though the lack of average gave me reservations for not getting a dedicated power computer, looks like lady luck has smiled !

Great! Thanks for the heads up.. I am updating as I am writing this.

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T. Guertin / Spocket

Stuck at 'Loader Loading...'

Yay.

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I ride Felt.

rode a quick ride today with a couple of friends, but its a nice update.

As someone that's new to power what's better, the 3s or 30s rolling average. Which should I have displayed during my rides.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Useful but not critical features : barometric altimeter and temperature.

Screen size is much better. However 310xt allows 4 pages of data, 500 only 3.

whichever one works best for what you are doing. For flat coarses the 30s will probably be fine but if there are rollers/hills you may want 3s to make sure you don't spike too much. Maybe havec the 3s & 30s at the same time?

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Ride Scoozy Electric Bicycles
http://www.RideScoozy.com

Seems to happen to me every other firmware update. Try a soft reset (mode+lap?), then run the update again. Haven't bricked one yet doing that.

Finally loaded on the 3rd go. Phew. Each time I update, I get worried it'll brick.

Now that snow is in the forecast for this coming week, I'll be sure to put it to a test soon. :)

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I ride Felt.

To consolidate/add to/clarify some of the above, the main 500 advantages:
-Smaller/lighter/more aero (cough)
-Less orange
-Slightly bigger screen and more data fields per screen
-Choice of Zero Averaging for Power and Cadence (note: this is only for what's *displayed* on the unit - they all *record* exactly the same data)
-More accurate elevation (barometric altimeter)
-Temperature

I think Zero Averaging is probably the most important of those, with the data fields per screen being second. Although neither are a huge deal in my experience.

so as i understand 310 doesn't give you the option to do zero averaging. and its off is that correct?

Correct - Zero Averaging is OFF and can't be configured (i.e. zeros are excluded – meaning your averages don't creep down when you are coasting - so your numbers will be artificially higher as they only include times when you are pedaling).

True but the 500 does 8 fields per page versus 4 per page on the 310xt. There's alot of data on 1 screen on a 500.

if you have the neutral and it is in good shape, let me know your price.

thanks that is what i thought, that is what always screws me up....that was the one reason i was going to the 500....but with the 3 sec and 30 sec averaging i will do my best to manage until i sell the pt and buy quarq.

So out of curiousity (having never used a Garmin product), how do you set your FTP in the 310XT? (Hopefully it doesn't require using software, ala the Joule.)

It is entered manually. The watch will show you the range for each zone.

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Bruce
ALBOPADS XTERRAWETSUITS NEWTON OAKLEY FIZIK GARMIN ROTOR COMPUTRAINER QUARQ HONEYSTINGER

As antonbp said, you manually enter it on the watch.

Under Power Zones, you enter your FTP, and there are two choices for "Zone calc:" "Based on FTP" and "Custom"

e.g. if you enter an FTP of 250, you can select View Zones and it spits out this:

Zone 1 63w 138w
Zone 2 138w 188w
Zone 3 188w 225w
Zone 4 225w 263w
Zone 5 263w 300w
Zone 6 300w 375w
Zone 7 375w 500w

If you choose Custom, you can edit the Zones to whatever you'd like.

Thanks for posting this and the FTP post as well. I did the download last night, really improves the 310's functionality.

You can do it manually as described or you can also use Garmin Connect

Settings -> Training Zones -> Cycling -> Power Zones

then press the send to device button.

This makes data easier to recover when Garmin wipes it out by a firmware upgrade or you do a hard reset on the watch to recover.

yes these updates help alot but the 310 always had an avg power of sorts...-->the lap power was the avg of the lap u just had to manually reset it

What did you do to finally get your 310 to update? Mine's been stuck on Loader Loading now forever. I've tried 3-4 times and get the same thing.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Was just patient. It takes a long time. Like 15-20 minutes. Watch the ANT Agent transfer status bar to see how far along it is or whether it's stuck.

-Chris

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I ride Felt.

It finally worked but I have no idea how long it ended up taking. I did it for a 5th time and left the house. When I came back several hours later it was done.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

  
Have any of you guys that updated your firmware done a comparison of the 3s & 30s averaging to another power head unit (like the Powertap LYC or Joule, for example) to see if it's accurate?

Is the 3s averaging useful, or is it like "Current Pace" for running, where it jumps around so much that it's not very accurate/useful?

Any other issues with the update that I should be aware of before updating my unit?

Thanks.

Steve

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

Bump for the weekday crowd. Looking to see how the 3s/30s average power feature is working or if anyone's compared the numbers to another power head unit before updating my firmware.

Thanks.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

I find 3s useful - it's what I use primarily for tracking power. 30s becomes more useful for longer/steady-state efforts. Overall, I'm now perfectly happy w/ my 310 + Quarq. Prior to this firmware I was planning on picking up a Garmin 500 once I got my quarq...now not so much.

Looking at buying the 310xt soon and love this option....though worried about a release of a upgraded 310xt the moment I purchase. Anyone with info on a soon to be released 310xt replacement, or should I just bite the bullet?

Speculation - I've heard nothing that would indicate an imminent update to the 310 hitting the shelves. I believe most I've read/heard indicates that 2012 would be likely for an updated product to be released.

Gonna hold out as long as possible until outdoor training begins for me (Northwestern Wisconsin....that might not be until June!!;).

Was at Phoenix marathon and tried to get some information out of the Garmin rep to no avail....I suppose I try to get by as long as possible!

Thanks.

It would be great if they released a version that did heart rate.

??? My 310xt does heart rate... And has all along.

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"which is like watching one of your buddies announce that he's quitting booze and cigarettes, switching to a Vegan diet and training for triathalons ... but he's going to keep snorting heroin." Bill Simmons, ESPN

Yea, not sure what you mean but the 310xt definitely does HR.

Normal Garmin product cycles would point to an update this spring for the FR310XT. Typical announcements happen in Feb/Mar,with availability starting april (Boston Marathon) through June.

Products in a series are normally updated every two years (FR310XT was Spring 2009).

To date, Garmin hasn't strayed from this in the fitness realm.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

It has a strap and displays numbers next to the letters HR - but it doesn't measure heart rate accurately.

Thanks! I'll try to hold off until then.

A relatively useless metric doesn't get more useful if it's more accurate.

Compared to what? It gives me the same readings my Polar did

A good point. With a Garmin and a Computrainer I am coming around to this way of thinking :) Neither does HR.

Any indications or cycles as far as their $50 rebate program? If they have one coming up, I'm in for the 310.

I believe it's the "soft strap" that comes with the 310XT bundle that's the problem. Mine worked for almost a year, but now seems to be way off high. I paired the strap from my FR305 (not a "soft strap) to my 310XT, and it works just fine. Kind of a bummer, since the "soft strap" is a bit more comfortable.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

Soft and hard are problematic. hard is less problematic but still off.

A soft centre stuck in a polar strap is much better though

Have you tried replacing the batteries? That can help w/ something that relies on them.

The 310Xt is accurate if you dump the Garmin soft strap, and attach the ANT+ HR transmitter to a POLAR 'Wearlink +' Transmitter strap for about $17 from Amazon...see dcrainmakers review of this option.

I've been doing this for the last 9-10 months, works alright but a damning reflection on Garmin. If only there was a watch that did speed and HR out of the box (and worked as a power head unit)

Late to this, but FWIW I updated to 3.00 when it first came out and haven't had any problems (although, cough, I haven't been riding much). It looks like there have been two minor bugfix releases since then (3.10 and 3.20) but I didn't bother installing those.

In terms of comparing with another unit, the 3s & 30s is purely a realtime display thing (i.e. it doesn't affect recording at all) so it would be hard to do a true comparison, but to eyeball it it seems to do a good job.

Previously, I had my screen configured for Power (which obviously jumps around a lot) and Lap Power (which was very stable depending on the lap length) - I now have 3s (30s is a bit long for my liking) and Lap Power and I like that combination for a fairly smoothed "short term" view as well as the "long term" lap view.

I also haven't heard of or read of any major problems so I'd go for it if you haven't already.

I read that review of the Polar and bought one - It doesn't work for junk in the desert southwest. It is to dry here to work correctly and ironically I have went back to the Garmin one and it has been working just fine.

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Visit The Chipotle Calorie Calculator

I'll probably download the update this evening. And, I plan to configure my display similarly.

JOOC, have you done any testing to determine if the "average" is a rolling average (ie. it recalculates for the last 3s or 30s each time a new data point is taken - every second, I believe) or if it simply starts a new average every 3s or 30s (similar to Lap Average where each lap would be 3s or 30s)?

It would (obviously) be most useful if it were the former. But, this is Garmin we're talking about...

Steve

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights