As the title reads. I’m looking at the garmin edge 530 specifically, but I assume the 830 and 1030 have identical offerings. Have people found the remote useful? How do you have it set up? Which mount is best, normal, or mtb? Is the speed sensor necessary to get better speed estimates in the trees? The silicon case seems like a nice touch in case of falls.
Thanks!
a few folks who know way more than me about MTB GPS have said that a wheel speed sensor is critical if you want accurate distance readings from your rides. The twisting nature of mtb trails (at least in some areas, combined with the way GPS just takes points at a time interval means that they have a tendency to “straighten the curves”. Depending on recording rate, signal strength, and twistiness of the trail, that can easily lead to 10-15% distance under estimation. I’ve seen similar results and a wheel speed sensor pretty much cured it.
I don’t have it but I would agree. I do the same with a footpod while running in tough gps conditions.
My thoughts:
- You can get a silicon case for a few bucks on ebay if you want one.
- I prefer not to have an out front mount on the mountain bike, just mount it on the bars with the standard o-ring thing. I figure it’s more likely to just pop off in a crash rather than get broken that way.
- Haven’t tried the remote, but I’m not fiddling with my Garmin when mountain biking so not sure why I’d use it?
- Yes, the speed sensor will give you more accurate total distance. How important that is is up to you, I have a sensor and haven’t bothered putting it on my mountain bike, although I run one on the road. They are also available pretty cheaply on ebay if you do want one.
I’d be inclined to just get the garmin, then grab a case and speed sensor off ebay if that worked out cheaper.