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.
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.
You will want this product if you have the Di2 system. Easy to setup and view your gearing and if you have the auto mode on a tri bike it will beep when you reach the last gear before a front ring change. Battery status and copious amounts of data fields to display.
Terrific GPS cycling computer. This is an exponential improvement over my prevous Garmin Edge 500. Highly customizable color screens, all the cycling metrics you could want, fast GPS signal acquiring, and great large screen. Pre-loaded mapscourses and live strava segments are also a nice feature.
Replaced my very old Garmin 500 with the 520 Plus. Got it on sale and I couldn't pass it up. Huge improvement over the 500. Finds the satellite very quickly, the 500 took for ever. Ton more features and I love that your able to load in route and it provide directions with visual and audio alters. I ride 3000 miles per year but not competitively. I was also able to use my old upfront mount from the 500 with the 520 Plus. Just purchased the Garmin tail light with radar which will Bluetooth to the 520 Plus. Got that on sales too and saved $. Love doing business with BTD.
As in every new product there are always kinks to work out. There were several bugs in the software which were fixed in a beta release that tech support provided. A newer release was issued which I am sure corrected other problems and did not reintroduce my previous issues.
There are so many features and menu pages that requires a fairly steep learning curve. My primary interest is in downloading routes that I create in RideWithGPS which works very smoothly. Only missing feature is the ability to set the Odometer to a specific value but can be done with a ConnectIQ app that allows you to add a new field and supply a starting value.
Ive wanted to move from a basic computer to something more advance for a while. Really glad this was my choice (well researched). Does everything I want. Works perfectly. Good size. No problems. BTD is awesome.
Was looking for a bike computer with gps capability and mapping. So far I am happy with the 520plus and glad I purchased. Seems very accurate, like the ability to see txt's as I'm riding and my phone is in my pack. Would like to see a easier user friendly software but overall happy with it so far.
Coming from a 4 year old Edge, this is easy to read. It finds the satellites quickly, and you can program on the display what you want to see. Trailforks is not as easy to read as on a phone, but if you don't want to ride with your phone on your bars off road, this will save you from pulling it out at every stop.
This device opened up a while new world for me, the information generated together with my Garmin Vector 3 has made me more aware of my baseline and identified areas where I can improve thus making my cycling experience more enjoyable
I got this unit as a replacement for an Edge 820. The 820 had an almost unusable touch screen and I always wondered why they didnt have a 520 with mapping. Overall , the usability of the unit is great. The buttons positively move from one screen to the next in a deterministic way unlike fumbling with the touch screen. The mapping function is pretty good , I am able to upload routes from my iPhone or computer and it works pretty well. The only thing I wish it had was to navigate to a map point without actually physically being at the point and saving it. There is a work around which involves creating a route on a smartphone and uploading it to the unit. But you need a smartphone to do this.
Upgraded from the Edge 25 to the Edge 250 Plus I like the longer battery life and being able to see more info on the first screen that is completely modifiable to your liking would recommend this over the Edge25 any-day it's nice to have the maps even if you can not set destination on the fly best to set some points of interest in advance
This has some nice updates, but I miss the specific bike profiles of the 510. The only way for it to read a different bike is if you have a different ANTBluetooth sensor on that bike.