As a biking tech journalist, I’m lucky to be loaned the greatest biking computer systems from manufacturers similar to Garmin, Wahoo and Coros. Nevertheless, the diminutive Garmin Edge 530 nonetheless holds a particular place in my coronary heart. It was the very first biking laptop I purchased with my very own cash – on the time, I didn’t have the funds to spend extra, and admittedly, I didn’t see the necessity to. I nonetheless don’t.
It has been round for just a few years now, however I preserve that the Edge 530 boasts 85 per cent of the options of its newer, bigger, dearer rivals. In reality, I’d go so far as to say it boasts 99 per cent of the options you’ll really use on 99 per cent of your rides.
Identical to its trendy counterparts, it has a full-colour display that’s as straightforward on the attention as it’s on battery life. I sometimes get about 20 hours of runtime from my Edge 530 whereas utilizing GPS.
It data, reviews and predicts all my must-have metrics: VO2 max, restoration time, coaching load, coaching load focus, coaching standing, warmth acclimation, altitude acclimation and extra. Once I hook up an influence meter, it then provides left/proper bias, offset, energy section, time seated, time standing and so forth. It’s not a characteristic I take advantage of, however if you’re seeking to combine these metrics with a coaching plan, then the Edge 530 can information you thru Garmin’s complete library of exercises.
Navigation is a spotlight. This little magnificence has steered me safely by means of every part from brief native rides to epic journeys throughout international locations similar to Spain and Croatia. It has by no means missed a beat. For accuracy, it calls on GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO, similar to its pricier rivals. Like them, it options detailed mapping, turn-by-turn instructions, re-routing and route calculation. It additionally shows Garmin’s glorious ClimbPro characteristic, which exhibits real-time ascent and grade profiles once I’m tackling a hilly course.
Who wants a touchscreen? Arguably, buttons are a lot simpler to make use of, particularly when sporting gloves.
(Picture credit score: Future)
I usually journey alone, so I’ve come to understand the Edge 530 for its security options too. LiveTrack allows my household to comply with my progress, whereas incident detection will mechanically ship my exact location to my emergency contacts ought to the worst occur. Hook up a Garmin Varia Radar product (or a Wahoo one, for that matter) and the Edge 530 clearly warns of site visitors approaching from behind.
It took me some time to put money into a motorcycle laptop. I used to be rocking an historic Suunto Core look ahead to years, which, in hindsight, was woefully insufficient for recording my biking metrics. If you happen to’re sitting on the fence, belief me: at $199.99, the Edge 530 is an absolute steal.
Certainly, at this value, there have to be one thing the Edge 530 is missing? In fact, it doesn’t have a touchscreen, however that’s not the downside it might appear to be. In my expertise, having ridden plenty of miles with varied computer systems, I’ve discovered that buttons are simply as efficient for navigating a head unit’s person interface, maybe extra so.
The Garmin Edge 530 boasts glorious GPS and navigation options, together with turn-by-turn instructions and re-routing.
(Picture credit score: Garmin)
As you possibly can most likely inform, I actually charge the Garmin Edge 530, however don’t simply take my phrase for it. When James Bracey reviewed it for Biking Weekly, he described it as “fairly presumably the very best Garmin cycle laptop ever produced”. Including extra weight to this endorsement, in line with Strava, it stays the world’s hottest biking laptop bar none. If you happen to’ve been fascinated about shopping for a biking laptop, there’s no higher time to select up a Garmin Edge 530.
