Son wants a Garmin for mountain biking, any thoughts on the 520 plus? Any recommendations on type of mount that works best? He likes Strava. Is the trailforks app the best for navigation and maps?
Thanks
No personal MB experience, but the 530 has a number of optimizations designed specifically for mountain bike riding. One of the popular ones is jump tracking (air time), plus Trailforks directions seems pretty good. For the incremental spend, the 530 might offer a lot more.
I would get the 530 or 830 simply for Trailforks integration. I have an 820 and I wish I had that feature. It comes in handy when you’re riding an unfamiliar spot.
As far as mounting, most people I know use one of the standard Garmin mounts attached with the supplied rubber bands, either to the stem or handlebars. There are also some third-party mounts like K-Edge that attach to the steerer tube above the stem but under the cap. I haven’t tried one but they look pretty slick.
https://k-edge.com/shop/computer-mounts/garmin-mounts/adjustable-garmin-stem-mount/
I have a couple of MTB’s and move my Garmin 520 across them, it of course does good strava integration, but I don’t use it for trail guidance. Since they are pretty close price points, I’d recommend the newer 530, just because you will get a longer support life from Garmin on it.
Mounts get a little trickier. For XC riding ( meaning crashes are a relatively rare occurrence) I prefer the ‘out-front’ mounts like Garmin’s ( plastic and fairly inexpensive) or K-Edge ( $40-50 and made of aluminum). However, I have dinged these in crashes and had to replace the interior mount-plate. The rubber-band mount that comes with the computer is perfectly fine on the stem or bar ( and I’d recommend that if your son is doing jumps and ‘all-mountain’ or downhill riding since the computer is better protected).
Since mounts can be a personal preference - I’d leave it to him to select. Get the 530 computer, and if he’s been a particularly good boy, the gift certificate to purchase the mount of his choice
I too would recommend the 530 just because it’s newer and will be supported longer. That being said, I haven’t found the MTB features useful at all, and it could well be that I’m just not using them right, but it’s annoying that it’s not straightforward to use if that’s the case. Also, the jumping feature is pretty much BS. It goes off all the time and says I’ve jumped 8 feet when my wheel has barely come off the ground. I hoped the flow score would be useful and be tracked independently for each trail (since it does have trailforks) but this isn’t the case. Either way, it might be something they refine in the future.
Thanks for the responses. I’ll go with the 530 given the comments. Only problem with the jumping feature is he would probably want to attach it to his motocross bike and see how far the jumps are and his hang time. Mostly XC on the mountain bike.
Running Trailforks from your phone is great for when you want a general area with trail names and okay-ish tracking (i’ve still taken wrong mountain bike directions in the middle of nowhere with trailforks from my phone, and it’s obviously annoying busting out your phone every couple of seconds to see if you’re on the right track). The integrated gps devices are highly more accurate with all routes and trail names and work really great with all their functions.
You’re going to crash with it, it’s guaranteed to happen. So protect it with a silicone case and screen cover. Mounting it behind the bars and to the side of the stem can help protect it some more. If i know exactly where I’m going, and I just want to track my rides, I actually keep it in the top of my pack. Too many times have I run straight into a tree, or bailed and have the bike flip multiple times.
I prefer the rubber band mounts either to the stem or to the handlebars. I had an out front mount on my MTB once, took a spill, and it snapped off. I’m not sure if the computer actually hit an object such as the ground or a rock, or if it was me hitting the mount as I went over the bars. Probably not that likely to happen, but I honestly don’t need an out front mount for MTB riding, so spending $25-40 on one just to increase the chance of it breaking doesn’t really make sense now that I think about it.
I use the standard mount with the supplied rubber bands to mount my 520 to the top tube, as close to directly behind the stem as my frame allows. I’ve cracked the screen twice, once with it on the bars, once with it on the stem. On the top tube is the safest spot I’ve found that is still visible relatively easily. If the trail requires so much attention that you can’t see it there, you shouldn’t be looking at it at that moment anyway. Definitely get a silicone case and screen protector. Also, use the lanyard. You can knock it off with your knee during a crash and not realize it.
I have the 520+ and it does all I need for XC riding. But agree that new is better if they are the same cost.
I use the SRAM quick view MTB mount.
https://www.bikemag.com/news/news-sram-offers-quickview-computer-mtb-mount/
I am not sure if they make it still, but I think it works really well. Keeps it a little closer and have not had any issues with it.
I also know a lot of people use the tether when they MTB. I dont, but I am guessing as some point ill wish I had.