In this weekly series Wyatt and Jesse will give their opinion on various subjects. Please keep in mind that these opinions are solely theirs and do not represent the opinion of any of 613 Cycling’s sponsors or members. Last time we looked at the Cervelo R5. This week we’ll be looking at the Garmin Edge 520:
Jesse’s Opinion on the Garmin Edge 520:
I know these are supposed to be 150 words but really what is there to say? When you have a product so ubiquitous as the Edge 520 I wonder why people even bother to review it. All other brands shouldn’t even try to compete. I do hear the new Wahoo computer is pretty awesome though. And I’m pretty partial to the Pioneer SGX-CA500 but really they hold a tiny market share compared to the Edge.
You see the Edge 520 everywhere because it is basically perfect. It does everything, you can even hack it to give you navigation. It’s layout is almost perfect other than the unbelievably dumb placement of the lap button (I really hope they fired the guy behind that). Unless you need a giant colour screen to give you perfect directions (Edge 1000/820) or want a tiny low profile unit (Edge 20/25) just do yourself a favor and buy an Edge 520.
Wyatt’s Opinion on the Garmin Edge 520:
In my opinion, the best-must have cycling computer for avid riders interested in data. I had the Garmin 500, which was awesome and I wasn’t personally interested in the 510 because of the size increase. The decrease in size on the 520 is awesome and I like that they went back to buttons versus touch screen. The buttons are much easier to manage in more conditions like wet/cold weather when the unit is very cold or your wearing gloves. It also connects to satellites lightening fast (mainly comparing to my 500 though which was quite dated). The auto-upload to Strava and option for live Strava segments are quite cool too. Although, if you do not use heart rate, a power meter, Strava (or some form of online ride analysis platform), then it is definitely overkill. Also, it is very expensive, but worth it in the long run as it will be a great device for a number of years.