my 520 and 820 both have awful battery life now. I can barely hit 6 hours, which is way off the 15 they advertise. It seems like it was better before some of the newer firmware versions. If the 520 plus had a bigger battery, i'd be interested. I love everything else about my 520. The 1030 looks too big, which leaves me looking at Wahoo for now.

+1. I'm lucky to get 6-7 hrs too.

Dammit. That radar looks really solid now. But I have to buy a whole new 520 (plus?) to use it? I just got one last year!

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I'm more interested in the edge 130 than any of the higher end ones. smaller, more basic display should be easier on battery life, and still has navigation, power, and the other important features.

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My 520 battery life was so terrible i ended up buying a Wahoo Bolt, this does not address the battery problem. Sure you have slightly better navigation features over the Wahoo Bolt, but your battery life will eliminate this as a viable option for long rides where re-routing without cell service would be a concern. With the bolt i can quickly connect it to my phone if i need to re-route mid ride, which is very rare. I just updated my maps on the bolt for my primary state i live in and the maps are much more detailed than i expected, not Garmin 1030 detailed, but still good enough.

I've noticed the same thing. I thought it was just my battery getting old.

I'm more interested in the 130 as well - I just want something small and not super expensive to replace the old Garmin 500 (So old I know!) i'm still running. I only use it as a visual thing and just record/transmit everything from my Garmin watch, but its getting a little long in the tooth.

Same here, seriously was wondering the same thing. It barely used to use any power but now I have to charge it every other ride.

I don't understand the 520 plus. This can't be their new flagship bike computer that will hold up for the next 2-3 years. As Ray mentioned in his review, they are sort of undercutting themselves by making the 520 obsolete, unless they plan to drop the price to $220 or lower. Why would anyone pay $30 less for a computer with less features and less battery life? And if Garmin does still plan to release a 530 this summer, then what happens to the 520 plus?

If I'm a Garmin retailer...I'm like...WTF???

If I'm a consumer, I look at it 2 ways. Either this is Garmin's next flagship bike computer and it really hasn't changed all that much (Garmin gives this impression right off the bat by not giving it a new model number)...in which case I probably won't buy. Or, this isn't Garmin's next flagship bike computer, and I'll wait and see...meaning I still won't buy.

I don't get it.

Yup, I turn off Bluetooth and WiFi on my 820, run the backlight at only 10% and still can't get 6 hours without going into Battery Save Mode.

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you probably already know these things but here is what garmin recommends. I have the 520 and I've also had battery life issues. I'll wait until it dies to switch but the garmin 130 looks promising but I've also considered the lezyne micro gps. I don't need a color screen.


https://www8.garmin.com/...C4-1DF71F2A6CED.html

dc rainmaker just posted a review of the 130. Haven't read through the full thing yet, but he seems to like it based on the first couple of paragraphs.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/04/garmin-edge-130-in-depth-review.html

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DC Rainmaker has the 130 review up now.
Looks like an update to my good old Garmin 500 - I'm liking this!


https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...in-depth-review.html

I assume this is a stop gap to battle Wahoo. I'll at least give them credit for not calling it the 530 and trying to BS us that it is a completely new model.

While not a totally new product, this thing will sell. Buying the 520 plus if you have a 520 is a stretch but not everyone has a 520. Speaking personally and I doubt I am alone, I could not justify upgrading from my 510 to the 520 as long as the 510 was working but the 520 Plus does have sufficient new features to now entice me. Adding real turn by turn navigation and better maps is a pretty big deal and along with the stuff I am lacking now it may very well tip the scales on an upgrade. Navigation plus Connect IQ would be game changers for me and while one game changer is not enough to open my wallet, now we are talking several over the 510.

You're not alone. With my 510 crashing every dozen or so rides, navigation with re-routing being important to me and finally being able to use the Connect IQ screen for Best Bike Split, this seems like a great choice if staying within the Garmin family. The guy I usually ride with has an ELEMNT that's really calling my name though. If Wahoo drops an updated unit with improved navigation (street names, re-routing, ability to add a destination on-the-fly, etc) it seems like that would be the one. I'm also hesitant to go Garmin again with seeing several 520s that have atrocious battery life now and my Vivoactive battery got so weak within 2 years that it couldn't hold the correct time. I feel like this and the 130 are very important releases for Garmin if they work as advertised.

It also seems unusual of Garmin to announce it so far ahead of shipping. Are they trying to undercut a competitor release coming up?

My 510 has been going down the shitter too. Sluggish as hell, and yesterday it was messing up my ant+ signal, to the point that if the 510 was on, I couldn't connect my P1 pedals to my laptop via ant+ for Zwifting. I already tried a factory reset on it, but it's not working well anymore. I've had it for 4 years, so I'm not complaining. The 130 looks like a fine replacement.

If riding with the Varia, I couldn't make it through a 3 hr ride in January. I spent $500 for the combination at the end of 2015. I'm currently looking into a bolt.

Check out DCR's review. It was supposed to release imminently. DCR found a defect that led Garmin to delay the launch until they get it resolved.

It looking pretty nice, the only slight hitch I see is that it doesn't report NP, IF or TSS data fields, but I can set those up on my watch when I race.

Hopefully drives the 520 down. I have the 820 and I can't complain. I liked having few of the features when out on the road (crash detection, etc.), but I'm falling into the camp that is just doing my riding on the trainer outside of races. So no need for those features. Selling it after my next race and downgrading.