Garmin 500 Virtual Partner or 510 Virtual Racer?

[DoubleJ]

Morning Hubbers

 

I understand that this has been covered so many times on the internet it's not even funny and I apologize for posting again if it has been covered here. Though I am having difficulty getting my question answered before I send my letter off to Santa for my pressie this year (from me ....to me)

 

I would like to get some clarity on the Virtual Partner on the 500 vs the Virtual Racer on the 510. I have read that the 500 only does average speed on courses in the Virtual Partner and that the Virtual Racer in the 510 does variable speed (like slowing down on uphills and speeding up on downhills). Now some blogs state that this is possible with the 500 as well through the Raceshape website, setting up courses in TCX format, maybe you guys can clear this up for me please.....or something like that. It seems that most guys are bummed about the "Distance to go" which is not in the Virtual Racer on the 510, but found on the 500's VP.

 

I'm not certain that I want to pay R2000 more for the 510 just because it has bluetooth. Most guys say they will rather stick to their 500 anyways. Let me say that I have never owned a Garmin Edge, but I am close to pulling the trigger now in getting one....just not certain which one, I am leaning towards the 500 though.

 

I mostly ride alone and it would be great to have some sort of a "partner" that rides variant speeds to push me a bit....maybe crush a Strava segment pb or 2.

 

One last question.....do I have to start the virtual partner manually or does it start automatically once I ride into the course? I'm just thinking that if you start it manually and you start it a couple of seconds out, will your time be out with the virtual partner/racer?

 

Thanks anyways 

[ScottCM]

Welcome to the hub

 

i have the 500 which you can pick up for round R2900 on takealot / Kalahari / EasyGIS. there prices changes and depending on colour requirements you should come right with one of those three.

 

When you are about to start your ride, you go to "Courses" and you chose which course you want to do, once you are ready to start you push the "Start " button and this then automatically starts you course and your "Virtual Partner"

 

Yes the 500's VP is based on average speed but that you can take care of with careful planning and this avg speed is usually a lot faster than your acceding speed which "can" motivate you to increase your own speed.

 

If you create a "Course" through mapmyride, although the route is there you are unable to modify the "Course" ie: VP's avg speed etc. the only way you can edit a course is if its created in Garmin Connect. This being said though, i have not used nor tried Raceshape before.

 

The differences between the 500 & 510 are minimal for the amount of extra cash. Like you said bluetooth being one of them. Live tracking being another, but this can be worked around via a live tracking app on your cell phone such as mapmyride. Most of the differences between them can be overcome in some way or another.

 

below are two links i found extremely useful when i was making my choice between the two.

 

 

 

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/12/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

 

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/01/garmin-edge-510-in-depth-review.html

[DoubleJ]

Thanks ScottC-M

 

Very thorough explanation and I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

 

Your comment did make a few things clearer and certainly did answer my question.

 

Much appreciated.

[venom1]

I have a Garmin 510. 

The connectivity, touch screen, larger screen and usability just makes life a little earlier for me. 

I did check the review on the 500 as well and have to agree it's not worth the upgrade. 

See it was going to my first purchase for a Garmin Edge i thought why not have the latest and greatest features. I don't intend to upgrade in years to come. So i waited on a bargain and jumped at the opportunity. In all honesty it costs me a few hundred rand more than the Edge 500. 

[DoubleJ]

Do you guys know how ligit Autostyle (advertising a lot on The Hub) is? Prices seem very good, but I'm always a bit skeptic about buying bargains on the internet.

[ScottCM]

Autostyle are legit. sometimes they have very good prices too. but check for specials elsewhere first and then go to them last as you will either have to collect or pay additional for delivery, whereas the other i mentioned this morning deliver door to door within 4 days for free

[DoubleJ]

Thanks for the advise guys. Looks like Santa's bringing me an Edge this Christmas.

 

Just thought I'd drop this in there. Seeing that I mostly train alone (I work long hours)I have been looking for some sort of training tool to help push me a bit. I use Strava and ride most of the segments my mates do, but they are lucky enough to sit in one another's slip-stream.

 

So I came across "Ghostracer" (only on Android). It's free and you can load up to 2 ghostriders. So it connects to your Strava account and pulls all your ride info and segments through. you select a segment you want to train on and then you can race against 2 Ghost riders on that specific segment. I select my PB and the KOM for that segment. The app actually speaks to you how far behind or in front you are and it's realtime, so if the KOM slowed down on the uphill, that ghost will actually slow down on the app according to the speed he/she moved.

 

It's great fun and a great training tool. You can select the segment, add the ghosts and start the ride when you start your Strava (you dont have to have Strava running) and it will run in the backgroud, as soon as you hit the segment the ghosts will load and the voice will tell you it's game on!

 

Anyways, just thought I'd drop this in there if anyone would like to try it.

 

Thanks for the comments and advise.

[DoubleJ]

Thanks for the advise guys. Looks like Santa's bringing me an Edge this Christmas.

 

Just thought I'd drop this in there. Seeing that I mostly train alone (I work long hours)I have been looking for some sort of training tool to help push me a bit. I use Strava and ride most of the segments my mates do, but they are lucky enough to sit in one another's slip-stream.

 

So I came across "Ghostracer" (only on Android). It's free and you can load up to 2 ghostriders. So it connects to your Strava account and pulls all your ride info and segments through. you select a segment you want to train on and then you can race against 2 Ghost riders on that specific segment. I select my PB and the KOM for that segment. The app actually speaks to you how far behind or in front you are and it's realtime, so if the KOM slowed down on the uphill, that ghost will actually slow down on the app according to the speed he/she moved.

 

It's great fun and a great training tool. You can select the segment, add the ghosts and start the ride when you start your Strava (you dont have to have Strava running) and it will run in the backgroud, as soon as you hit the segment the ghosts will load and the voice will tell you it's game on!

 

Anyways, just thought I'd drop this in there if anyone would like to try it.

 

Thanks for the comments and advise.

http://fs04.androidpit.info/a/49/ca/ghostracer-real-time-segments-49ca5e-h900.jpg

[Harryn]

Sorry to hijack your thread - I got my Garmin 510 today after years of being a loyal Polar 725x devotee.

 

I have some newbie questions -

 

1. Is it possible to link Garmin connect or the unit or the Iphone app to auto upload to Strava, and if so how?

 

2. Will the polar magnet I have on my crank work with the Garmin cadence sensor, or do I need to fit the Garmin one - is there magic in it or just a magnet?

 

3. Why do i need to fit the speed sensor magnet on my rear wheel spoke if speed is picked up from the GPS functionality of the 510 ?

 

Thanks in advance for your help - am sure I will be back with more stupid questions.

[Tankman]

Sorry to hijack your thread - I got my Garmin 510 today after years of being a loyal Polar 725x devotee.

 

I have some newbie questions -

 

1. Is it possible to link Garmin connect or the unit or the Iphone app to auto upload to Strava, and if so how?

 

2. Will the polar magnet I have on my crank work with the Garmin cadence sensor, or do I need to fit the Garmin one - is there magic in it or just a magnet?

 

3. Why do i need to fit the speed sensor magnet on my rear wheel spoke if speed is picked up from the GPS functionality of the 510 ?

 

Thanks in advance for your help - am sure I will be back with more stupid questions.

 

1.  Yes ... you need the Garmin app on your phone, it can auto upload to Garmin Connect.  You can at the moment upload to Strava and Strava will auto share to Connect but not the other way around.  This will change with the new platform Garmin is releasing soon. Link your phone on the device in settings.

 

2.  Yup, just a magnet nothing special, any magnet will do.

 

3.  You do not need to install the speed magnet, I would not and do not use it.

     (It is only useful on the indoor trainer when you have no gps signal, rest of the time it just confuses everything)

[Harryn]

1. Yes ... you need the Garmin app on your phone, it can auto upload to Garmin Connect. You can at the moment upload to Strava and Strava will auto share to Connect but not the other way around. This will change with the new platform Garmin is releasing soon. Link your phone on the device in settings.

 

2. Yup, just a magnet nothing special, any magnet will do.

 

3. You do not need to install the speed magnet, I would not and do not use it.

(It is only useful on the indoor trainer when you have no gps signal, rest of the time it just confuses everything)

Thanks Tankman. So with ref to point 1, the bottom line is that I still need to run the Strava app on my phone to get rides uploaded to Strava?

[Tankman]

Thanks Tankman. So with ref to point 1, the bottom line is that I still need to run the Strava app on my phone to get rides uploaded to Strava?

Nope, just use your Garmin, connect to pc and upload from there ... (for now)

 

Garmin is way more accurate than any phone app.

[Tankman]

Nope, just use your Garmin, connect to pc and upload from there ... (for now)

 

Garmin is way more accurate than any phone app.

Or you can upload to Connect from your Garmin, export file to gxp and then upload that file to Strava ... all via your phone

[DoubleJ]

Or you can upload to Connect from your Garmin, export file to gxp and then upload that file to Strava ... all via your phone

 

There are a couple of other options as well:

 

• Uploader for Garmin works greats if you dont want to involve a PC - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carlopescio.uploader&hl=en
• CopyMySports automatically syncs to Strava - http://www.copymysports.com/
• https://tapiriik.com/ - basically does everything for you.

510 connectivity options makes it easy though.

[Blue Monster]

You are actually able to upload directly from garmin connect automatically.  I was using a third party site to do it.

Garmin connect now does it to strava and Training Peaks automatically.

I use a Garmin 510, linked via Bluetooth, and when I end my ride I save it, it get uploaded directly to GC, and a few minutes later the ride is on strava.

In GC, use the drop down menu at your name, select Settings.

Go to account information, and it will show who you have given permission to connect to.

Don't remember how to set up a new connection, but I think it came from Strava & TP, and then you allow in GC.

[Harryn]

You are actually able to upload directly from garmin connect automatically. I was using a third party site to do it.

Garmin connect now does it to strava and Training Peaks automatically.

I use a Garmin 510, linked via Bluetooth, and when I end my ride I save it, it get uploaded directly to GC, and a few minutes later the ride is on strava.

In GC, use the drop down menu at your name, select Settings.

Go to account information, and it will show who you have given permission to connect to.

Don't remember how to set up a new connection, but I think it came from Strava & TP, and then you allow in GC.

Thanks! Will give this a shot!