REVIEW: Garmin Edge 500

REVIEW: Garmin Edge 500 Blue, with HR and Cadence sensors, Wiggle £219.99
This all started with me being unable to get speed and heart rate data from the back wheel of my bike to my Polar CS 200 - and because I'd just hired Tom Newman, my coach. It was important that (a) I acquire the right data when training on my turbo (when the front wheel doesn't turn), and (b) that he could easily look at it by using my log-in to Garmin Connect (what better way for a coach to keep an eye on his charge, without it being obtrusive?). So out came the Visa card. As one club mate blogged: "It's just money isn't it?"
I take it as an interesting point of departure that Tom told me all his friends use Garmin, whether this model or the longer established Edge 800 with full sat nav capacity. Does this mean Polar is losing? Certainly their GPS devices are horribly clunky the last time I looked, and their software less intuitive. The social networking/sharing rides/beating virtual rival aspect has suddenly erupted to the point when its as much a consideration as the actual hardware.
I was attracted to the Edge 500 Blue because my team kit is blue (!); and because it's 56grams instead of the 100g+ Edge 800, and because I don't typically envisage that many situations where I would really use the mapping/sat nav. It's also half the price of the Edge 800 but still alot of money, the cited price here including a discount from Wiggle. Finally, it has a lithium-ion battery, mains re-chargeable, with a claimed life of 18 hours. This is very attractive unless you do multi-day events such as 24 hour TTs or Paris-Brest-Paris. My old Polar burned through the coin batteries fairly quickly, and they cost money.
Please take note, if you buy the Edge 800, it's even more eye-wateringly expensive than it appears, because you have to get the right mapping bundle otherwise you might have well have not bothered. The 'universal embedded mapping' that comes with it is totally, utterly useless for riding purposes. I know because I had a loan unit from Garmin for a magazine review and it was hopeless. Why the Garmin press folks didn't load up some great maps is one of the mysteries I never solved. The Edge 800 package with maps is going to tip the scales at £400, which is far too much in my book.
But for the purposes of this review I wasn't totally thrilled at every detail of the Edge 500. The Garmin HR strap is heavier and clunkier than the thinner, more-fabric-and-less-plastic Polar one. Then, to my dismay, I found that the cadence sensor was too thick to pass the swirly stays on my Ridley X-Night. OK, it's a cross bike. But it doubles as a winter trainer and I do want the cadence function. There is no need for the pedal sensor to be this thick.

The same applies to the spoke magnet/speed censor. It does work over a flat aero spoke, but less from design than good luck, amazing given the racy credentials Garmin claim. In the 'Quick Start' hand book, the picture shows said magnet clamped to a traditional, round profile spoke. What decade is Garmin living in with respect to this? Maybe the 1980s. How about providing more than one magnet to suit customers who have spent this sort of money? The magnet provided is functional, but it doesn't grab your heart or your eye.
My final gripe concerns the initial set-up of the software. A DVD comes with the unit, but your best bet is opening Garmin Connect (a web site) and then hitting 'upload' while the computer is connected by the USB cable provided. None of this is adequately explained, and I was led off on a wild goose chase with Windows saying it couldn't read a FIT file, and then a third party vendor trying to get me to download their solution for this unwanted problem. And etc. I went onto a forum and the first remark I read was: "I don't know why it's doing X; is it really meant to be this complicated?" My sentiments exactly, although now I have downloaded a few files I am impressed by the software itself.
Other than these gripes, the actual unit seems to have performed flawlessly so far, and unlike the Polar it is not (so far) prone to any false readings or hiccups out in the field. The Polar's biggest weakness was defaulting to a HR Max reading of 220 at the first sign of speed work and intervals, when the pulse was changing rapidly. The Garmin does not do this. My wife Stephanie has the wrist-mounted Polar FT80, one of Polar's top models, and despite a recent £30 repair and a new HR strap, it is still prone to these fake readings, a shocking state of affairs for such an expensive item.
A final comparison comment: the Polar over reads calorie burn by a whole 30-40% compared to the Garmin. They can't both be right and that's a huge discrepancy. Garmin claim to have done sophisticated modelling of calorie burn taking into account the other relevant data, weight/height/gender/age, which might be true. Polar might instead have wanted us to feel great about ourselves and our exercise, and taken the generous route from a one-size fits all universal calculation linked to heart rate. But I honestly don't know.
My initial, overall feeling is that I've made a good choice, indeed an excellent choice, but I will only know for sure over a much longer period of training and racing, so the plan is to use it hard for a year and report back once it's had some knocks and scratches.