I need a computer for my mtn bike so was shopping around for computers. I’ve never really been tempted by GPS computers before because they seemed, big bulky , expensive and unnecessary. But the Edge 500 has a reasonable price and isn’t as massive as some of the older GPS models.
So speed, distance, etc. are all calculated via GPS? There are no frame/wheel sensors? I understand you can get a sensor for cadence but that isn’t important to me.
What has me intrigued is that I am considering getting a powermeter for my tribike at some point and could then use this computer for that as well. In the meantime, if I could get rid of the sensors on my tri bike, I’d use the Edge 500 as my tri bike computer too. Is there any problem using the same unit on two bikes? I’d assume with no sensors mounted on the frame/wheel it would be as simple as getting a second mounting bracket so I could swap it between my mtn. and road bikes.
Anything I am missing? Anyone have any advice or insight?
My Garmin Edge 500 came packaged with two bike mounts from Garmin. It is simply a quarter turn and the unit is in and out of its holder and ready to be moved from bike to bike.
The computer itself has settings so you can set it up for multiple bikes. It is a nice computer to use on more than one bike because you do not need to change anything if you simply want speed and distance.
I have a powermeter on my tri bike and it works great. It finds it quickly and the calibration offset step is simple enough (Quarq powermeter).
Cool, sounds pretty simple. Is the speed/distance via GPS pretty accurate as compared with a wheel sensor?
I don’t need a map of my rides during the ride so something like the 705 is overkill for me, but it would be cool to upload the information afterwards, is that a relatively straightforward process?
How about the altimeter? Knowing total elevation gained/lost during a ride would be cool too.