Garmin Edge 500 broken...
Discussion
As per the title really.
I've been off with a broken leg for 6 months, but before that I was muddling along with a broken Edge 500. The unit functions OK most of the time, with only occasional freezing and drop-outs. It's also suffering from the battery life tailing off, but I think that's probably due to the number of charging cycles it's been through.
How it really is broken, though, is the ¼ turn securing tabs on the back. They've both gone and snapped off. I've bodged a solution using silicon bands out of Cadbury's chocolate display boxes (son works in retail) to be able to use the unit in the meantime, but with the minor issues now mounting up too, I thought I'd look into repairing it.
Garmin want £74.40 for a refurbished unit on their repair/replace scheme. I'm presuming that'd get me one with a fresh battery AND new ¼ turn tabs?
Merlin Cycles will sell me a 'Raceware' Garmin Tab Repair Part... https://www.merlincycles.com/raceware-garmin-tab-r... ...for £10, but it requires sanding the back of the Edge 500 and supergluing the replacement tabs on. Also available direct form Raceware... http://www.racewaredirect.co/shop/garmin-tab-repai... ...at £13.94 delivered.
There is also the 'Dog Ears GPS' replacement tabs... https://www.dogearsgps.com/ ...which are aluminium alloy with self-tapping screws as well as glue. That'd be $29.97 posted to the UK, or about £24 (and you have to buy your own glue!!!
)
Then I could go for a new back cover from China, around £24 from ebay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Garmin-Edge-500-Back-Co... ...and fiddle around swapping the back over.
There's a tutorial page on the Dog Ears product here... https://www.instructables.com/id/Garmin-Edge-Broke... ...and some chit-chat on BikeRumor here... https://bikerumor.com/2015/01/14/broken-garmin-tab...
Apart from the official Garmin route, all these repair solutions leave me with a battery that's approaching the end of it's useful life. Which brought me to this... https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Garmin-Edge-500-Back-Case... ...a new back for my unit that is supplied complete with a new battery for £32.98. Pros? Cheaper than Garmin, and I'd get to keep the internals of my unit which functions OK 99.9% of the time. Cons? I'd have to fiddle about with the electronic side of things myself, and even if it did work, can i guarantee the battery is a genuine Garmin one (almost certainly no) and if it isn't, how safe, reliable, and long-lived will it be?
Or I could bodge it with a paperclip and some "crazy glue" for cheap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKJON9ObIs0
I suppose what I'm asking is what people think I ought to do? Get a (short) warranty on a refurbished unit from official Garmin sources? Or buy a bodge of sorts to fix just the tabs? Or throw myself in at the deep end with a (counterfeit?) battery and new case-back from Dodgy Del in Dongguan?
I'm currently using a Forerunner 910 on a wrist-strap when cycling, but it isn't ideal as the text on the screen is too small and it keeps disappearing under my sleeve. I like the Edge 500 front and centre so I can use it to monitor my speed and see at a glance how far I've ridden, etc.
Oh, and any advice/experiences from anyone who has used the Garmin refurbished unit solution would be good. I've heard about some "refreshed" units having issues with software, etc, but you only tend to find the moans on the internet, less so the positive experiences...
I've been off with a broken leg for 6 months, but before that I was muddling along with a broken Edge 500. The unit functions OK most of the time, with only occasional freezing and drop-outs. It's also suffering from the battery life tailing off, but I think that's probably due to the number of charging cycles it's been through.
How it really is broken, though, is the ¼ turn securing tabs on the back. They've both gone and snapped off. I've bodged a solution using silicon bands out of Cadbury's chocolate display boxes (son works in retail) to be able to use the unit in the meantime, but with the minor issues now mounting up too, I thought I'd look into repairing it.
Garmin want £74.40 for a refurbished unit on their repair/replace scheme. I'm presuming that'd get me one with a fresh battery AND new ¼ turn tabs?
Merlin Cycles will sell me a 'Raceware' Garmin Tab Repair Part... https://www.merlincycles.com/raceware-garmin-tab-r... ...for £10, but it requires sanding the back of the Edge 500 and supergluing the replacement tabs on. Also available direct form Raceware... http://www.racewaredirect.co/shop/garmin-tab-repai... ...at £13.94 delivered.
There is also the 'Dog Ears GPS' replacement tabs... https://www.dogearsgps.com/ ...which are aluminium alloy with self-tapping screws as well as glue. That'd be $29.97 posted to the UK, or about £24 (and you have to buy your own glue!!!
)Then I could go for a new back cover from China, around £24 from ebay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Garmin-Edge-500-Back-Co... ...and fiddle around swapping the back over.
There's a tutorial page on the Dog Ears product here... https://www.instructables.com/id/Garmin-Edge-Broke... ...and some chit-chat on BikeRumor here... https://bikerumor.com/2015/01/14/broken-garmin-tab...
Apart from the official Garmin route, all these repair solutions leave me with a battery that's approaching the end of it's useful life. Which brought me to this... https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Garmin-Edge-500-Back-Case... ...a new back for my unit that is supplied complete with a new battery for £32.98. Pros? Cheaper than Garmin, and I'd get to keep the internals of my unit which functions OK 99.9% of the time. Cons? I'd have to fiddle about with the electronic side of things myself, and even if it did work, can i guarantee the battery is a genuine Garmin one (almost certainly no) and if it isn't, how safe, reliable, and long-lived will it be?
Or I could bodge it with a paperclip and some "crazy glue" for cheap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKJON9ObIs0
I suppose what I'm asking is what people think I ought to do? Get a (short) warranty on a refurbished unit from official Garmin sources? Or buy a bodge of sorts to fix just the tabs? Or throw myself in at the deep end with a (counterfeit?) battery and new case-back from Dodgy Del in Dongguan?
I'm currently using a Forerunner 910 on a wrist-strap when cycling, but it isn't ideal as the text on the screen is too small and it keeps disappearing under my sleeve. I like the Edge 500 front and centre so I can use it to monitor my speed and see at a glance how far I've ridden, etc.
Oh, and any advice/experiences from anyone who has used the Garmin refurbished unit solution would be good. I've heard about some "refreshed" units having issues with software, etc, but you only tend to find the moans on the internet, less so the positive experiences...
I've had 2 units refurbished from Garmin, an Edge 1000 and a Forerunner 205....both have been fine and it's nice to have a bit more peace of mind.
I had a raceware mount for my Canyon. It was pretty poor. The fit into the 1/4 lock was rather loose and caused a small amount of rattling. When I mounted my light to it (it was a light mount version), it eventually snapped after around 6 months of use. I got a replacement FOC, but that was also crap. Got an official Canyon/Garmin one which is miles better.
I had a raceware mount for my Canyon. It was pretty poor. The fit into the 1/4 lock was rather loose and caused a small amount of rattling. When I mounted my light to it (it was a light mount version), it eventually snapped after around 6 months of use. I got a replacement FOC, but that was also crap. Got an official Canyon/Garmin one which is miles better.
There'll be no "tech" Christmas presents for me this year. I'm still not working, still on a fixed income, still just scraping by.
The Edge 500 and the Forerunner 910 were both ebay bargains. I'd watched/bid on loads that went way above my budget, and even the ones I bought were over my budget, but ended at less than others seemed to regularly sell for.
Unless the Wahoo comes in at £74.40 (or less) then I'm afraid "aaahm oot". I already junked £75 on a couple of Halfords front lights this month, but I could justify them to myself because they "make my essential winter MTB riding safer". As both the Edge and the Forerunner work just fine in terms of recording regular rides, I don't feel that I can justify replacing them right now. That'll have to wait until tonight's lottery win...
Ultimately, for the moment at least, the Forerunner is fine. Recovery from the leg break is still ongoing, and I'm riding "on feel" anyway, gauging effort and duration based on the reactions of my skinny leg and weak lungs. I don't really need the 500 on the bars to cajole me into pushing harder just yet, it's just been a fixture out there so long that it's formed a habit and it'd be nice to have it back again.
What really pushed me into the internet search for Garmin repair options was those new Halfords lights. They come with an 'Out Front' mount that has the ¼ turn mount on top and a 'Go-Pro' type mount underneath for the light. But it doesn't look like I can jerry-rig the same method of mounting the Edge to it as I can with other mounts I have.
Ho-hum. I think it's going to have to wait a while now, anyway, as I forgot to factor taxing the car into this month's budget...
The Edge 500 and the Forerunner 910 were both ebay bargains. I'd watched/bid on loads that went way above my budget, and even the ones I bought were over my budget, but ended at less than others seemed to regularly sell for.
Unless the Wahoo comes in at £74.40 (or less) then I'm afraid "aaahm oot". I already junked £75 on a couple of Halfords front lights this month, but I could justify them to myself because they "make my essential winter MTB riding safer". As both the Edge and the Forerunner work just fine in terms of recording regular rides, I don't feel that I can justify replacing them right now. That'll have to wait until tonight's lottery win...
Ultimately, for the moment at least, the Forerunner is fine. Recovery from the leg break is still ongoing, and I'm riding "on feel" anyway, gauging effort and duration based on the reactions of my skinny leg and weak lungs. I don't really need the 500 on the bars to cajole me into pushing harder just yet, it's just been a fixture out there so long that it's formed a habit and it'd be nice to have it back again.
What really pushed me into the internet search for Garmin repair options was those new Halfords lights. They come with an 'Out Front' mount that has the ¼ turn mount on top and a 'Go-Pro' type mount underneath for the light. But it doesn't look like I can jerry-rig the same method of mounting the Edge to it as I can with other mounts I have.
Ho-hum. I think it's going to have to wait a while now, anyway, as I forgot to factor taxing the car into this month's budget...
With my Canyon Garmin mount, I have "hacked" an "underneath" mouth but getting a K-Edge combination mount, and tapping and threadlocking 2 screws into the Garmin 3/4 turn (from underneath) ensuring NOT to go past the surface (so the Garmin still mounts OK) and then screwing the K-Edge mount to it. Works really, really well and incredibly neat.
nammynake said:
Treat yourself to an early Christmas present and buy a Wahoo BOLT. They’re are brilliant.
This is the right answer. Sounds like it gets a lot of use, so might as well stop messing around with a broken one and get something that works.Edited to add that, having just read your last post, you should definitely lash something up until you get back on your feet.
Good luck!
As you were...
Edited by smn159 on Friday 30th November 08:56
I used to have a Garmin 800. It failed about 2 months out of warranty - it stopped connecting via USB, a fairly common issue - and Garmin refused to repair it. My only option, as you've seen, was to spend £70+ on a refurbished product. Of course, they would've then refurbished my original unit for a couple of quid, and sold that to someone else for £70+.
The refurbished one died a month after the warranty on that when the power button stopped working. Again, Garmin's line was that I would have to buy a refurbished product for £70+, and they absolutely refused to budge an inch.
That was the first and last time I initiated a Small Claims Court proceeding. Strangely, once Garmin received the paperwork for that, they promptly refunded me for my initial request plus the cost of starting the claim, but too little, too late. Hopefully the arrival of Wahoo and possibly others will have a positive effect on them and they'll lose some of the arrogance that comes with having a monopoly on a given market, but I would never, ever buy from them again.
I took the refund money and bought a Quadlock mount for my phone instead. There is not one single thing I've missed about the Garmin. Yes, the battery won't last as long, but I can resolve that on longer rides with a separate portable power pack strapped to the bike, and for weight weenies, it's no heavier than the Garmin, and I'd carry the phone with me anyway even when I had the Garmin, so all good.
The refurbished one died a month after the warranty on that when the power button stopped working. Again, Garmin's line was that I would have to buy a refurbished product for £70+, and they absolutely refused to budge an inch.
That was the first and last time I initiated a Small Claims Court proceeding. Strangely, once Garmin received the paperwork for that, they promptly refunded me for my initial request plus the cost of starting the claim, but too little, too late. Hopefully the arrival of Wahoo and possibly others will have a positive effect on them and they'll lose some of the arrogance that comes with having a monopoly on a given market, but I would never, ever buy from them again.
I took the refund money and bought a Quadlock mount for my phone instead. There is not one single thing I've missed about the Garmin. Yes, the battery won't last as long, but I can resolve that on longer rides with a separate portable power pack strapped to the bike, and for weight weenies, it's no heavier than the Garmin, and I'd carry the phone with me anyway even when I had the Garmin, so all good.
yellowjack said:
I'm currently using a Forerunner 910 on a wrist-strap when cycling, but it isn't ideal as the text on the screen is too small and it keeps disappearing under my sleeve. I like the Edge 500 front and centre so I can use it to monitor my speed and see at a glance how far I've ridden, etc.
...
I've got a handlebar watch mount you can have? Would mean you'd be able to securely mount your forerunner on the bars, although I'm afraid it won't make the text any bigger ...
addey said:
yellowjack said:
I'm currently using a Forerunner 910 on a wrist-strap when cycling, but it isn't ideal as the text on the screen is too small and it keeps disappearing under my sleeve. I like the Edge 500 front and centre so I can use it to monitor my speed and see at a glance how far I've ridden, etc.
...
I've got a handlebar watch mount you can have? Would mean you'd be able to securely mount your forerunner on the bars, although I'm afraid it won't make the text any bigger ...
The decision for now is to keep using my current lash-up bodge, and maybe look at getting the Garmin refurb thing done in the New Year. Part of the reason for posting the various options was to have them all in one place for when I decide on how to repair it, and to share them with others who might not have been aware of them.
The reason for doing nothing about repairing it for now was all to do with my wife nudging me to renew the tax on the car before the end of the month. Unusually for me, I'd forgotten about that little nugget...
Edited by yellowjack on Friday 30th November 10:35
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