Garmin
I have now used my Garmin 1030 plus for several months and love it. I mostly use it for my individual rides on the tri bike and group rides on the road. I enjoy the bigger screen (previously used a Garmin 130) as it is much easier to read. Battery life has been excellent. Connection to all my other gadgets has been flawless. My Garmin Varia shows up and keeps me informed of any traffic. Overall very happy so far with its performance. I have used it on one 70.3 IM so far and it was simple to use and navigate. I have not used in depth maps on it yet and working towards it. Overall I highly recommend. Thank you to BikeTiresDirect for providing amazing customer service with the purchase of this bundle.
I ride about 150 miles per week on mixed city and country roads. The varia really helps prevent surprises when you can't hear cars behind you. A friend of mine is looking to replace his old RTL 500 with the new 515, just because the light is so much better.
The only negatives have to do with battery life. By default it is set up in daylight-always-on mode which only gets you 5-6 hours of runtime. The configuration setting are more complex than they should be, but you can eventually get it to a flashing mode where it is only active when the ride timer is running. That should get 10-12 hours.
It synced to my 1030 plus immediately. It adjusts brightness according to speed. It turns on during the day without me needing to think about it. The 1030 tells me when the battery gets low. It mounts well to the underside of my out front mount.
I haven't had enough time with it to really judge battery life but it seems okay. Remember that because it turns itself on when you start an activity that you have be ready to charge it even if you're only riding during the day. I've only been commuting with it and haven't had it out on a multi hour ride yet. I don't usually do more than an hour in darkness on either side of a ride anyway so as long as it lasts an hour I'm okay.
I owned a 510 for years and didn't buy a case for it and only dropped it once and it didn't scratch it and it still works as of this posting. I decided a few months ago to upgrade to the 1030plus and figured I would be as careful or even more careful with it so I didn't get a case. The second month I had it I dropped it twice and it works fine but I did get a small dent on the edge. I ordered the case the next day and I had read other reviews but to me it fits well and is easier to keep a hold of when handling off the bike. If I had bought the case in the first place I am sure it would have prevented the drop and definitely the dent.
