Garmin 530 vs 130

[2ky]

The battery in my Garmin edge 520 barely lasts a couple of hours at best with the brightness set to 0 and no navigation so its time for a replacement.

I started using an Elemnt bolt on my road bike years ago and the Garmin 520 was relegated to my MTB as I wouldn't be too gutted if I broke it! I've noticed the Garmin 530 has recently been reduced to £159 but I've seen a few negative comments about the elevation accuracy which concern me a little.

If I got the 530 I would probably use it on the road bike as well as I have the varia front light and rear light/radar.

If the 530 is a no go then I would be tempted to go for the Garmin 130 as a basic computer for the MTB.

Does anyone have any views on either of these or any other GPS computers up to £160?

[tertius]

I have an Edge 130 and it’s a great little device. It’s the only proper bike computer I’ve used so can’t properly compare, but it does everything I need, including connecting to a chest strap HR monitor. The battery lasts for ages, it provides all the data I want or need and even the navigation is fine if rudimentary.

I got mine on eBay including the HR monitor for under £100.

[ZetecTDCI]

My wife has a 530, and its really nice. Colours good, loads of info when following a route (tells you number of climbs, gradients etc, it makes navigation almost idiot proof). I have an old 520. If we go off-route, mine picks up the route again before the 530, it feels a bit slow, saying off-course for quite a bit longer than my 520. Its not an issue for us, but maybe for you.
If I have 1 reservation, I don't like the confirm prompts all the time, it makes it saving a run a bit more of a faff.

[2ky]

ZetecTDCI said:

My wife has a 530, and its really nice. Colours good, loads of info when following a route (tells you number of climbs, gradients etc, it makes navigation almost idiot proof). I have an old 520. If we go off-route, mine picks up the route again before the 530, it feels a bit slow, saying off-course for quite a bit longer than my 520. Its not an issue for us, but maybe for you.
If I have 1 reservation, I don't like the confirm prompts all the time, it makes it saving a run a bit more of a faff.

I did see a couple of reviews saying the 530 can be a bit slow occasionly, have you noticed a difference in elevation between the 520/530 when riding with your wife?

[2ky]

tertius said:

I have an Edge 130 and it’s a great little device. It’s the only proper bike computer I’ve used so can’t properly compare, but it does everything I need, including connecting to a chest strap HR monitor. The battery lasts for ages, it provides all the data I want or need and even the navigation is fine if rudimentary.

I got mine on eBay including the HR monitor for under £100.

My first GPS computer was an Edge 200 and the 130 reminds me of it! It was built like a tank and I only replaced it as I eventually smashed the screen on it by accident. The 130 does everything I need it to do but the 530 seems like good value for £30 more

[mie1972]

Got the 530. Previously had the 520, but like you battery is now a couple of hours.

It’s great, climb pro is really useful, navigation is miles better. It’s basically an 800 without the touchscreen. Nothing compares at the new £159 price.

[ZetecTDCI]

2ky said:

I did see a couple of reviews saying the 530 can be a bit slow occasionly, have you noticed a difference in elevation between the 520/530 when riding with your wife?

No, not noticed any significant difference in elevation at all. (You can always do "correct elevation" on strava)
On my 520 if its raining, the elevation goes to crap. Not noticed that on the 530, but we don't ride much in the wet at all haha,

[emicen]

Elevation accuracy data (I too think it’s nonsense) for the cycle from my house to my work.

Google maps: 107m ascent
Garmin course planner: 116m ascent
Garmin log of the actual ride: 137m ascent

Exact same route for all 3

[2ky]

I went for the Garmin 530 in the end, I found a few discount codes on Amazon and got it for £148 which seems like a bargain.

Going to see if I can offload my old Garmin 520 to CEX, even if they give me peanuts I won't use it again.

[Pulse]

How did you get it for £148?

[mikey P 500]

I had the 130 for about a year or so and it's pretty good for most functions and easy to use, small and light weight. Only downside is mapping is very basic just a line to follow with no road names, so upgraded to the 530 for this reason. Overall happy with the 530 too and at £30 extra would pick this if buying again. (But at full prices the 130 is excellent value being so much cheaper and nearly as good).

[2ky]

Pulse said:

How did you get it for £148?

It's on Amazon for £160, if you collect it from a collection point you get £7 off and if you top up your Amazon account with £60 they add an extra £5 to your balance

You need to access your Amazon account and activate the promotions for them to work.

[upsidedownmark]

emicen said:

Elevation accuracy data (I too think it’s nonsense) for the cycle from my house to my work.

Google maps: 107m ascent
Garmin course planner: 116m ascent
Garmin log of the actual ride: 137m ascent

Exact same route for all 3

Elevation accuracy is a cr*pshoot at the best of times:
GPS accuracy for elevation is bad, far worse than horizontal accuracy.
Barometric is better, but it's subject to drift etc. The base pressure is not constant - think about a barometer in a wether station that monitors atmospheric pressure.
Altitude against a map is wildly inaccurate, especially in steep areas - the base data has a set of spot heights with some granularity; the planner is looking at the nearest spot height for each point, and if the terrain is steep, you could be going flat along the side of the mountain, but oscilating between low points on the left and high points on the right, giving a lot of elevation change.

Haven't noticed my 530 being any better/worse than any other device.

[yellowjack]

Watching this thread with interest. I'm still (occasionally) using an Edge 500 but the battery life is an unpredictable pile of poo at best, and the quarter turn "butterfly" mount on the back is broken too. Bought second-hand from ebay in 2013 I think. Hardly worth the investment to fix those issues if an edge 530 can be had for £160 and has a (hopefully real-world) 20 hour battery duration. I think my longest ride so far has had an elapsed time of nearly 15 hours which my Forerunner 910XT watch just about managed to record in it's entirety. But obviously a running watch isn't much use for following a GPS route on a ride, so I'd like to update my handlebar mounted GPS unit at some point. I've only ever had Garmin units up to now, and low price and long battery life are my biggest priorities...