GarminEdge 530 Bundle GPS Computer(Return to Product Page)

This bike computer was an upgrade for me from a Garmin Edge 130 Plus. The technology isn't the latest, i.e., no touch screen, no solar power. However, the upgrade has provided many advantages over the 130 Plus.

Here's what I like: 1) More data and fields per screen. E.g., the 530 records fluid and calorie consumption, derailleur and gear status of Di2, and up to 10 data fields per screen. 2) More available screens. 3) Longer battery life by a wide margin. After 3-hour ride in 45F weather with screen brightness at 60%, battery is between 75 - 85%. 4) Faster processing and syncing. Syncing routes from RideWithGPS now takes seconds, not minutes. 5) I like the summary screen and data that are available after a ride.

Here's what I don't like: 1) It takes some time to learn the function of the 6 control buttons. They're very different from the 130 Plus. 2) While the 530 offers color maps that can be browsed, the navigation process is very antiquated. Moving about on the maps is very slow.

The 4-star value rating comes from the retail price remaining around $300, which I believe is high compared to other computers and newer technology that's available. Overall, I like the computer, feel it's a good improvement over the 130 Plus, and would recommend it to anyone who wants solid function and capabilities at a moderate price.

I have been using Garmin GPS computers for a long time. I started with a Garmin Edge 305. I then got an Edge 800 and 810. Although there were a few design flaws in the models, after fixing it permanently or temporarily, I was happy using them. So far I haven't read about nor discovered any flaws with the 830.

After setting up, the screen data looks similar to the 800 and 810. The unit comes with the map of the country which is a big savings, although I still use the Open Street Map. Setting it up is a little more complicated but not too hard. You'll need to put Garmin Connect on you smart phone to quicken setting up the computer.

I have a Stages Power meter and it's completely compatible, as well as the Garmin heart rate monitor. The touch screen works very well, even with an anti glare sticker on it. So far the battery life seems very good.

So while the computer is equal and better than the 800 and 810 there is one big change. The lap and time buttons are on the front edge of the computer instead of the top. I like to hit the lap button at the bottom and top of climbs. After many years of hitting the button on the top of the computer I must think and remind myself to put a fingertip between the handlebar and the edge of my computer (computer sits on a k edge computer mount). This isn't a design flaw just a change to what I'm used to. I bet with time I should get used to it.

This is a good computer. I think it's the right size, not as large as the other models. I'm sure you'll like it if you buy it.

I bought the 830 when the Garmin sale was happening a while back. I had never owned one of these navigation computers before. I only had a simple CatEye. I decided to take the plunge into these modern times so that I could actually download and follow routes for our bike club rides instead of using a cue sheet. Boy, am I glad I did. Things are so much easier when you just have to follow the screen. The 830 has definitely impressed me so far. The navigation has always been accurate and has never led me astray. I use the 830 pretty much as a bike computer with navigation and it has performed admirably. With the speed sensor, it has been perfectly accurate for my speed and distance since I manually set it up with the actual tire circumference. It definitely has functions that I don't use: Strava, heartrate monitor, power meter, etc. but that's okay. That fact that all of those extras are built in for the folks that use them makes it a great bang for the buck.

The are a couple of things that I dislike. The first is the fact that the Garmin website manual isn't always clear on how to do things. I found several helpful hints by doing internet and forum searches and just figured some things out on my own. The second is the seemingly universal cry that the notification sounds on the 830 are virtually impossible to hear. I have hearing loss and use hearing aids but I still can't hear the sounds when riding. To make matters worse, I also bought the Varia radar unit and I couldn't hear the notifications for that either, meaning I had to look down all the time which defeats the purpose. The fix for that was that my hearing aids are paired with my phone so I downloaded the Varia app and I run that on my phone while I ride. This allows me to receive the radar notifications through my hearing aids which is what I need the most. Garmin would do well to at least add a good volume control on the unit. An even better option would be to allow the unit to pair with the hearing aids so that the phone would be unnecessary.

Aside from those two things, the unit has been a great upgrade to my riding and I don't know why I held back for so long.

I cross-shopped the 830 with the new Hammerhead Karoo 2, which is lauded for its super bright, high resolution display. As gorgeous as the K2 screen is, however, I felt it had too many flaws in the everyday functionality to make it worth the investment. The Garmin 830, by comparison, has proven performance that just works. It's smaller, lighter and has an incredibly long last battery. Strava integration is seamless, and you can dial in and customize all of your data screens for different bikes and riding styles.

Many reviewers felt the 830s screen is pixelated and feels dated. While it's no iPhone, I was pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the screen. It's plenty crisp and clear to read, especially for something I'm only glancing at during a ride. It's bright, too. In full sun I have no problem seeing the display. Virtually no glare. The touch screen is very responsive, even with my gloves on and with some light rain. And the battery is fantastic! I rode a century last weekend. The effort took around 8 hours, and the screen was on the entire time. At the end of the ride, I had more than 50% battery left. Not bad!

Gripes? Well, the menu system is a little confusing. I'm still learning all the functions, many of which are buried in sub-menus or tied to the iPhone apps in hard-to-understand ways. So don't expect to figure it out for the first time during a ride, and don't expect to fiddle with it 15 minutes before a big ride or you'll be frustrated. Be patient with it when you're not rushed and it'll start to make sense.

Overall, I'm very happy with this unit. The bundle is an excellent value. The speed, cadence and heart rate senors sync up flawlessly. And the bundle comes with three mounts (inlcuding the awesome "out front" mount), so I can use this on any of my three bikes. Garmin packed a lot into this featherweight unit.

I went from an edge 510 to this and couldn't be happier with it. I haven't ridden on the road with it yet so I can't speak for how the road mapping works, but on the trails, it is awesome. It has the trails preloaded on the device so it tells you what trails are coming up at as you approach splits in the trail. That means no more stopping to use the trailforks app on my phone to make sure I am going on the right path for new trails I haven't ridden. One thing my 510 has that I haven't figured out on the 530 is the ability to label specific bikes. I'm not saying it doesn't have it for sure, I just haven't figured out how to do it or not does have it. I ride MTB, road, fat, tt, and cross and have sensors on all my bikes. On the 510 I would select which bike it was and the sensors would sink up as long as I didn't forget to do it before I started the ride. Speed was always recorded at least by GPS, and by the sensor if I had one on that specific bike, if I forgot to select the bike it would recognize the cadence or power sensors for example and wouldn't record that data. So far what I have noticed on the 530 is the bike choices are set up more like genres like road, MTB, gravel, etc. I am hoping that since I have paired all the various sensors to the unit that it will automatically connect to the sensors once I get going. It is winter now so I am only riding my fat bike so I haven't been able to determine if that is the case. I will admit that I haven't invested much time into playing around with it because I just assumed it would work like the 510, well it doesn't so I need to put some time into learning more about it. The Bluetooth seems to have better functionality than the 510 especially with call and text notifications.

The Garmin Edge 520 Plus has been the most important item I have purchased for my bicycle. I ride around 16 miles a day, and I has improved my skill and speed on the bike. I love that it keeps a record of every ride so that I can track my progress. I also like that I can read incoming texts while riding.

Unfortunately I had an accident one dark morning on a isolated bike trail, where I dropped a chain, cracked my carbon fiber frame, and injured my right knee. When I came to a stop the Garmin sent an emergency text to my contacts, alerting them I had an accident, and before I could get up from the ground I received a phone call from one of them. It was really reassuring that I could get help if I was total disabled in a crash. I'm riding again and will always have my Garmin with me.

I highly recommend other bicyclist get a Garmin Edge 520 Plus, because it could save your life.

First of all I'm a tough rater. I don't give five stars unless something is nearly perfect, so don't take 4 stars as a bad sign. This is a great computer overall.

First, some positives. This computer does everything I could ask for. Strava live segments work well, though sometimes segment starts appear when I'm just passing on an adjacent road or trail. Pairing power meters and other devices is seamless. and the data quality is very good. I have the system set to upload rides automatically when I hit the stop button, and they uploads are done faster than my garage door can open. The screen may not be like a top-of-the line phone, but it's a huge upgrade from any bike computer I have had before. The customizable data screens are old news, but really useful, and easy to configure once you get through the first time.

On the negative side, Garmin's software has a few weak spots. At first the computer battery totally drained several times. This wasn't exactly a battery life problem. The computer was getting into a state where it looked off but was actually using full power. Getting the beta firmware solved this. Oddly, the improved firmware hasn't been rolled out to production, though months have passed.

Another one-time problem was updates to the GPS software. It auto-updated during a ride, causing about half of the ride to lose data. Not the end of the world, but it was disconcerting since it was only my 2nd ride or so.

Smaller issues crash detection is a nice idea, but I have triggered it falsely a couple of times, once while simply accelerating from a stop light. I'm not THAT fast. Sorry, everyone, I'm not going to crash myself intentionally to see if it works in that case. The sharp turn warnings have never been useful. The tone either comes after you have already passed the apex, or just before when it would be unsafe to look down to read the message.

This is not really a pro or con, but just be aware that some functions are several levels deep in the menu system. The touch feature is generally very good, but some things may be nearly impossible when flying down a rough road or trail.

Excellent product

The one caveat I had with my 520 Plus was a horrible time pairing and synch-ing when I first got it. I almost returned it to BTD, but then, mysteriously, I got a half dozen updates from Android and Garmin and Garmin Connect started talking properly to Strava & RWGPS and I was in LOVE.

My wife paid for half of the cost as she wanted to know where I was if I needed rescue and LiveTrack does just that. (so do free phone apps, but I don't like relying on my phone for everything, I like a backup) I haven't used GroupTrack, but my local bike group does, and it's great if riding with another rider who has different skills or a different fitness level.

I went back to my Edge 305 last week because my 520 Plus was doing an hour map update, and it felt like I was going back to the stone ages. I love the way the new Garmins works flawlessly with my cell, but doesn't depend on it working for anything critical. I also wanted a color screen, so, in the end, I decided against the Wahoo. I seldom use the mapping of the Plus, but when I need it I'm extremely thankful I have it. We have a lot of roads that curve back around on themselves here, as well as paved roads that suddenly turn into dirt. Good maps are a god-sent.

I got mine here at BTD, but with a bunch of discounts, so about $50 less after watching prices on the Wahoo for over 6 months that wouldn't budge. In the end the mapping features of the Plus, and color screen, were exactly what I was holding out for and am very happy with my purchase.

This is my fourth Garmin Edge and by far my favorite. I love it's size, it's touch screen and all it's advanced features.

This is a great upgrade to the edge 130 plus. The only reason I took one star off is because the route recalculation is a little slow when you get off the route and back on. But other than that, I love it so far. Probably have a couple hundred miles with it so far.

Im new to Garmin GPS units and reading the history on them the new 520 Puls seemed to be a good place to jump in. Pretty decent tech for the rapidly falling price. The data and screen are great, more than I know what to do with. The Garmin Connect App is pretty basic, seems you need Strava and other third party apps to get more value out of the GPS data. Uploading routes is still clunky having to plug your device into a laptop but its pretty solid once you get it in the device. All and all its a cool toy, we arent totally there yet with GPS cycling computers but its cheaper than ever to try it out.

Product gives an outstanding result of your ride, giving a good estimate of how your training is going which results in creating a goal for success to stay on track. The Edge 530 can be frustrating in learning to use compared to the Edge 510 since there are no on-screen buttons but mechanical buttons to work through programs of adding bikes and any changes that have to be made, sometimes feeling illogical but worth it once you learn how the buttons work.

I loved the 500 units and they lasted probably ten years. The 520 was okay but lasted less than 2 years and then I was told that Garmin no longer supported the unit, though the only thing ailing was the port for recharging. The 530 has this same terrible port which is delicate at best. It has a secondary charging system, for which you can purchase the charger. Weak, very weak. It is the same as on the 520, so I don't know why they can't repair the 520. Anyway, the 530 is overly complicated, shuts down any time it wants to or sends error messages about the HR strap or Varia radar unit. I have never even heard of some of the workout parameters that it has. The choices for screens is limited, in comparison to the older models and worst of all, don't even think of trying to push any button with gloves on. They are ridiculous trying to push with the bare fingers. Truly, never again.

Bought a 530 to replace a well used 520 which I lost in a gravel race last year. Just set it up and am ready to go for the new season. Lots of competition and for sure devices and sensors can be mixed and matched but Im used to and generally like the Garmin ecosystem of products. Use the Garmin rear light/radar and headlight not all the time but regularly. Use a Garmin heart rate monitor all the time. Also works well with my Stages crank based power meter.

This is my second 530 and given the good and not so good, I still chose to buy this again. I like that it is simple to use and I get enough data to keep me happy with what it records. I mostly use it to track miles and other statistics of my daily commute. That said, it still does a nice job on century rides where you might upload a course. There are a few things that could be better. I think the integration with my Apple phone could be better. For instance, you can't reply to a simply text message with an iPhone. It also seems to struggle with uploading data through the interface. Earlier models would just work when you pushed the save button. Now I have to try a few times before it uploads. Sometimes the 530 doesn't pick up the GPS satellites without rebooting the 530. Fortunately this only happens about 1 in every 10 times I want to start a ride.

I've had older GPS units, this one captures satellite data quickly, and never errors. It is very easy to navigate through, has many functions I love. I have it connected to Power crankset (SRAM), wheel speed sensor, and with those I get cadence as well. I love all the data through Garmin Connect using heart rate and power, such as fitness level, freshness, estimated FTP, etc. Also easy to look at a glance. I have used the map to get me home when in areas I'm unsure of and it chose great cycling routes vs. major streets/difficult areas.

The Garmin 830 was a last minute purchase before a gravel race which required on board navigation. I am not a techie. But the 830 set up and mounted easily, was very easy to interface with my computer to download the course map, and performed flawlessly the day of the race. Conditions were snowy and right at freazing which caused no issues at all. Glad I bought the 830 and looking forward to using it next spring.

I've been using my Garmin Edge head unit since it was first released, and I recommend it to anyone that will listen. The battery life is exceptional (especially if you decide to use the battery saver mode and turn off your screen). The features are extensive, maps and navigation work great, and it easily pairs with loads of accessories and sensors. Of all the Garmin head units, I truly believe this is the best one for the money.

Sure, computers from Wahoo and Hammerhead offer some compelling competition (thats a great thing), but you can't go wrong with the Edge 530.

I've owned several Garmin EDGE models and this is the best one I've had so far. What sets this apart from others is the shear amount of available features. Some would argue that one would never use all of the features but at this price point you get a lot of bang for your buck. One feature in particular that I love is the Climb Pro. I find it very useful to know when I am approaching a climb and how much is remaining until I get to the top. Super helpful. The live Strava Segments are cool as well. The processor speed on the 530 is incredibly fast. A notable improvement over others I've had. This makes the user experience so much better overall. If you are trying to decide between an 830 and a 530 they are essentially the same except that the 830 has a touch screen. My previous Garmin was a touch screen and I find that I am missing it's ease of use. While the buttons on the 530 function fine its just a little bit tedious to navigate the system using buttons. You will have to decide if the extra $100 is worth it to enjoy the ease of use that the touch screen on the 830 provides.