Hey everyone,
I made a thread a couple weeks ago asking what folks thought about the new Quarqs and I asked in passing about the Garmin 510. I figured I’d start a top specifically on the 510. I’ve read that lots of people have had issues with them doing the following things:
- turning off mid ride
- dropping ant+ connections (mainly power meters/cadence sensors it looks like)
- very small memory space
It’s hard to piece together what the current state of affairs look like because as people’s problems go away they tend to not write on forums anymore. I know when the garmin 910xt came out there were lots of problems but it seems as though most of them have been resolved now. I know DCRainmaker’s review of the 510/810 concluded with stating flatly that if you are using a power meter you should probably skip these units, but perhaps most people are fine now with the firmware updates garmin has subsequently released.
Anyway, what are folks impression of the 510 with the latest and greatest updates from garmin? Any thoughts would be appreciated. 
I’ve had mine only a couple of weeks, and I do not use power.
My only issue with the 510 is that the elevation is totally screwed. It reads way more elevation gain (2-3x) than when I was using my 405CX as my cycling computer. Elevation correction in SportTracks takes care of it, but when you apply elevation correct on Garmin Correct nothing happens. It seems to be that there is not enough smoothing on unit.
No other issue so far, but I do have the latest firmware. Has read all sensors (heart rate and speed/cadence fine).
No issues with mine. Took me a bit to get it to read my HRM though.
I ride with the 510 and the 910. They are very similar but with different auto-pause delays.
I agree that elevation varies greatly between the 2 units.
I do not use power so I can not comment towards that.
If i had to do it again, I probably would of got a 500 and saved some $$ but I am not disappointed. My 910 actually loses my GSC occasionally and my 510 does not
I’m using a Quarq , hr strap and I connected my phone. All were disconnecting mid ride regularly to the point I was ready to throw the piece of junk away and just use my 910 instead. They released a software update 3 weeks ago and since updating most of the issues have been resolved. Phone won’t always stay connected for the auto upload to Garmin Connect but otherwise its performed well. At least now I can still consider selling it with a clear conscience. Before, I couldn’t.
I’ve been using a 510 for a few weeks now. I had some issues with display of cadence from time to time, but this was more related to the cadence sensor not being lined up properly vs the unit just losing a connection. Only real big issue I’ve seen was using it for a ride through Nola, and the GPS dropped out numerous times, making any mapping non-existent. Other than that, I’ve really had no issues with it. Now I just need to figure out how to get cadence/HR to display on the workout pages instead of just speed.
I’m using a Quarq , hr strap and I connected my phone. All were disconnecting mid ride regularly to the point I was ready to throw the piece of junk away and just use my 910 instead. They released a software update 3 weeks ago and since updating most of the issues have been resolved. Phone won’t always stay connected for the auto upload to Garmin Connect but otherwise its performed well. At least now I can still consider selling it with a clear conscience. Before, I couldn’t.
If it seems to be working now since the update what makes you still interested in selling it? is auto-uploading a big selling for you? or is it just that you think you can make your 910 work?
I guess partially because I was getting really frustrated that they released a new product with new enhancements over the 500 that didn’t function as designed, it shows me they didn’t test it well enough before release. The auto upload is a feature I really wanted simply due to laziness on my part. If I wanted to plug in to upload a workout I would not have paid the additional money for the unit they said wouldn’t need to. I like to get what I pay for if they advertise the feature.
Its interesting that others have had problems with their gps as mine has worked well for that function. Shows their products are inconsistent.
My 910XT has worked flawlessly for me. No complaints other than being difficult to see (my problem with bad eyes). From the forums a lot of others had had issues with theirs that I haven’t.
I like to stand behind the brands I have a good experience with and right now they don’t completely have my trust. If someone else came out with a similar feature set I would try them. I will say both products work better than my Polar RCX5 did. It was very inconsistent data.
I guess partially because I was getting really frustrated that they released a new product with new enhancements over the 500 that didn’t function as designed, it shows me they didn’t test it well enough before release. The auto upload is a feature I really wanted simply due to laziness on my part. If I wanted to plug in to upload a workout I would not have paid the additional money for the unit they said wouldn’t need to. I like to get what I pay for if they advertise the feature.
Its interesting that others have had problems with their gps as mine has worked well for that function. Shows their products are inconsistent.
My 910XT has worked flawlessly for me. No complaints other than being difficult to see (my problem with bad eyes). From the forums a lot of others had had issues with theirs that I haven’t.
I like to stand behind the brands I have a good experience with and right now they don’t completely have my trust. If someone else came out with a similar feature set I would try them. I will say both products work better than my Polar RCX5 did. It was very inconsistent data.
Ah seems reasonable enough. I have a 910XT and have had only minor issues occasionally. 97% of the time it’s been spot on. I am interested in a dedicated bike computer just because I don’t really want to use the 910 quick release system as I’ve heard some horror stories of the watch getting kicked/knocked off while swimming. It would also be nice to be able to see more than 4 fields at a time.
Maybe I should just go with the battle tested garmin 500. I just figured it’d be nice to go with a current/more actively supported product rather than one that is going out the door.
I always prefer to go with newer models if I can just because they are more likely to get new features. To be fair, since the recent update my 510 is much better than it was. Hopefully the next update will be even better. Like you, I wanted the screen in front of me with more fields and easier to read. I’m planning to just use my 910 for races, or run training. I don’t use it for swimming though. I go old school there and use a pace clock.
I have had no issues with the Garmin 510 as long as I keep it up to date by doing the automatic updates with Garmin Web Updater. I use a SRM and the power seems to be very consistent and accurate. I have never had the power drop (however, on the 500 near the end of its life the power would not always pick up). The 510 is a little more confusing to use with the symbols and not word prompts, so I was forced to look up some things in the manual (such as autopause). One downside is that it IS a bit larger than the 500…that is the only thing I do not really care for. Other than that it is very reliable and the touch screen is not uber sensitive (i.e. sweat does not set it off).