Attention Garmin 800 users: New firmware

Triathlon Forum
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For the intrepid (those who have been among the first to install new Garmin firmware in the past know the potential issues!), the firmware update featuring TSS, IF and more that Garmin had slated for late September is now available via their WebUpdater software as of this morning. Firmware for the Edge 500 does not yet appear to be available, but I did hear that Garmin are moving sequentially through their products to roll out this firmware.

They list the benefits of moving to v2.40 from 2.20 as follows:
Improved training page setup and increased number of user defined training pages to 5.Added a lap summary training page.Increased number of bike profiles to 5.Added Normalized Power (NP), Intensity Factor (IF), and Training Stress Score (TSS) data metrics.Made improvements to courses.Made improvements to workouts.Made improvements to map drawing.Fixed issues with Auto Scroll causing the device to become unreponsive.Added support for left / right balance for supported power meters.You can read the cumulative change history and download the firmware from this link: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=5237

The date is listed as October 17th, but I was not able to find this page or get the firmware update until this morning.

I was only expecting this firmware update to include support for the Vector as well as the additional metrics NP, IF, and TSS. I’m happy for the latter although not certain I need to see it during a workout.

I’m actually pleasantly surprised by some of the other benefits, such as raising the limitation on number of bikes and adding more training pages. I’ve bumped up against these limits (stationary bike/trainer, road bike, TT bike, MTB); I also like to have different views for training, road race, time trial, general road rides, and mountain bike rides (fewer sensors for the latter), and I found I would have to alter data on screens periodically to accomplish this. Now, it is both easier and faster to have all those pages ready to go and simply turn them on or off as the day’s event(s) require.

Let’s hope it’s stable!

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I have been considering buying a Garmin 800. Do you guys recommend it? It is really that much of an upgrade from a standard bike computer? Does it provide improved performance?

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I’ve had the 800 for about a year, and I love it. I’m not sure that by itself it improves performance - it really depends on how you use it and what type of rider you are. If you’re someone who uses a lot of real-time data to help adjust pacing and effort during a ride or a race then I think it’s amazing because the display is large, easy to read and very customizable. I like to keep track of power, cadence, heart rate and lap time, and have easy access to check things like distance and some average numbers - and if you’re that kind of rider IMO it’s by far the best bike computer out there. If all you use is one or two types of data when you ride then you can probably get that information with a much cheaper unit.

I also think that the GPS function is very nice to have when on long rides in areas I’m not completely familiar with. I have a horrendous sense of direction, so knowing that I can program the location of the car into the computer and direct the bike computer to get me back there if I ever get really lost is very comforting. Garmin could improve on the user-friendliness of the GPS functions though. I’ve had some frustrating issues come up when I’ve tried to pre-program a route. I think I’ve figured it out, but it took some time and effort, and I always carry a cue sheet and a phone with google maps with me as backup.