GPS Cycling Computer with Heart Rate Monitor

Jun 27, 2010

Nick Hortovanyi is a friend of 602nds from Adelaide, Australia who has kindly provided his first impression of the new Garmin Edge 500.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I’d worn out another rear tire. Its a habit I seem to have. Luckily I had a new tire ready and quickly replaced it. I thought I’d change the front as well (was looking rather cut up), as a few long rides were approaching, and it had been on since just after the 2010 Tour Down Under Challenge Ride.

I toke the front wheel off, was struggling a little and then it came free. I heard something bouncing on the floor. It was the front speed sensor. I’d somehow managed to collect it in the wheel and it just snapped off… Was not happy at all.

The front sensor was for the VDO X2DW that I’d had since I purchased the bike late 2009. I’d had a little bit of trouble with the actual mount for the main unit and had that replaced. I tried to see if I could reafix the speed sensor but it wasn’t going to happen.

I spent the rest of that long weekend not using a trip computer. There is something about cycling and knowing how far you’ve gone, what your current speed is and current cadence. Its just one of those things I guess – everyone knows they should just be out enjoying the cycling but…

I had a decision to make early the following week. Was I going to fix the VDO X2DW setup or go for a GPS setup. I had used my iPhone 3GS, in the past with MapMyRide but it drains the battery on a Lobethal loop. The Garmins did look interesting. I did some research on the Internet.

I decided I was going to purchase a Garmin Edge 500 with the Speed/Cadence and Heart Rate monitor options. I researched pricing and the Tuesday after the long weekend I started ringing around the bike shops in Adelaide to see who had stock and what they were charging. There were some rather large discrepancies in price. But I found one, in stock and at a good price. The only catch was I had to wait till 1:30 in the afternoon.

Time passed slowly, I got myself a little distracted with lunch and tweeting. I cycled up and picked it up. I was now a proud owner of a nice Garmin Edge 500. I’d finally done it.

Now was it going to meet my expectations.

As soon as I got home, I unpacked it, charged up the main unit, removed the old gear and installed the one speed/cadence sensor (there is nothing now on the front wheel). I played around with the configuration a little and then went for a spin around the block. I adjusted some of the settings and then went around the block again (well It was a few blocks). I connected to Garmin Connect and uploaded some data. You can see one of those early laps here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36946199 . Its fairly impressive the information that you now have. Needless to say, I was occupied for the rest of that evening with investigating everything on the new toy.

I was very interested in what it meant to be able to train with a Heart Rate Monitor, as I’d never had one before. There were two items I needed to work out what was my resting heart rate and what was my maximum heart rate. There were also five heart rate zones that could be more accurately calculated that could be used to improve your riding. This was an excellent article that I read on the subject http://www.cycling-inform.com/articles/60/1/How-to-use-heart-rate-m…

I worked out an indicative resting heart rate the following morning. Mine was somewhere between 56 and 58 (sitting on the couch I make it get down there) but to get an accurate reading you are supposed to take a reading before you arise in the morning from bed. So I wore the Heart Rate Monitor on me to bed that night and toke a reading first thing.

How was I going to work out my Max Heart Rate? A good hill climb was in order. I proceeded to Thirkell Av, to climb up to Mt Osmond. One thing I had done, was to set an alert to sound if I reached the current max heart rate in the device, which was set to 185 BPM (Beats Per Minute). I started the climb, and the heart rate grew steadily, the Garmin device started beeping. I wasn’t at the first 25 KM/H corner yet. It started again, my current heart rate was 188 BPM. Well the thing kept beeping at me until I got to the top. The maximum I reached was 191 BPM. You can see that ride here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37241153.

After playing around a little I’ve now got the Heart Rate Zones setup for myself. I’ve still not quiet happy with how I’ve configured the data pages on the Garmin Edge 500. You have three pages, where you can assign whatever data elements (e.g. Speed, Heart Rate, Cadence, Temperature etc.) you like. Fingers crossed I’ll get there soon.

I’ve spent this afternoon after my ride playing with a number of different tools and websites like MapMyRide, TrailRunner, EveryTrail.com GPSies.com and of course Garmin Connect. Its amazing what you can do with your ride data (lots of formats to exchange it in). One thing I did do, which I hope cyclists here will enjoy is through TrailRunner, I’m publishing a blog of my cycling data here: http://web.me.com/hortovanyi/trailrunner/weblog.html. A summary of it appears now on my Adelaide Cyclist profile page.

Has it been worth upgrading to the Garmin Edge 500? Yes. I believe, it will allow me to concentrate on improving my performance. Besides sharing the more detailed cycling routes, will always be of interest I believe to other fellow cyclists. So hope you enjoy!

If you have some routes to share around Adelaide through GPSies.com, EveryTrail.com, I’d like to hear about them and see if I can transfer them electronically into some of these tools to upload into the Garmin device as a course.

Nick also works in the IT technology industry and has a great blog that you can follow.