Hehe remembered that I had to push it as an outside workout after I posted my initial comment.
Was thinking that you could push the indoor to the indoor profile, but that’s not how it works
So the 520 will connect to it as a smart trainer, you not only get all the metrics back from the trainer but you can control the resistance from the Garmin. You could also load a workout with intervals a run the trainer on egr mode so you can just get on with the workout.
The 530 will only connect to the trainer as a power meter so you can’t control it, can’t record workouts properly etc.
This is part of the transcript of the support chat with Garmin
[13:14:37] Tim Davies Are you telling me it’s not compatible with a smart trainer
[13:14:41] Tim Davies ?
[13:16:20] Connor not at the moment yes i can pass along feedback to look into getting the feature added
[13:16:39] Tim Davies is this some kind of joke?
[13:18:19] Connor no
[13:19:44] Tim Davies that’s not a small omission
[13:21:33] Tim Davies so how can I record my workouts on the smart trainer and how do i control it?
[13:23:50] Connor at the moment i would recommend your 520 like i said i am happy to pass along the feedback to our internal team
I also agree a trainer road app for the Garmin would be great but it’d would need to be able to control it like the 520 can first.
Well, that’s just stupid. Looks like it’s time to start complaining far and wide.
Even their own site makes the claim that it will work (as shown above).
It does work… I’ve done a few workouts via the 530, and even today I did Mills, with the trainer controlling my KICKR.
Like others have posted rather than adding the trainer via the Sensor settings menu you add it under the Training menu. Once paired you can press the upper right button to set resistance, follow the workout, etc just as you could/would on previous models.
Edit: I should note that the ERG mode is a bit lax, just as it has been in the past, in that it’s more of a ‘scale’ rather than strictly holding you to a set wattage. That said, I still think it works quite well… Or well enough. It’s almost the best of both worlds (erg vs resistance).
Thanks, I’d read through this thread and didn’t find this. It’s works and is paired now - very frustrating that Garmin told me it didn’t!
So I have to say the battery life is really impressive, I just finished a 15.5hr ride with 61% remaining. This was with 1s recording, back light only on for 15s after button press, GPS only, full route navigation, and 3 ANT+ sensors. It wasn’t connected to my phone, because there seems to be an issue that you need to launch the app after you power on the 530 for that connection to be made. But still very impressive, at that rate I would have exceeded the quoted 20hrs by nearly double.
Is anyone else having problems with the livetrack option?
According to the settings it should send an email when I press start, but that doesn’t always seem to work.
First time I tried it, my phone wasn’t connected to the device, my bad.
Second time, my phone was connected and I had the Garmin connect app on the livetrack menu and it seemed to work.
This evening I did the same as the second attempt but it didn’t work.
Use it regularly with no problems. Open Connect first, make sure device is connected , then START your activity.
Just to be sure I fully understand, do you mean press start in connect or press start on the Garmin edge?
START on your Garmin to start ride/workout
The general consensus on various forums and reviewers, such as dcrainmaker, is that Livetrack is highly unreliable- sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Most people seem to have given up on it. I use RoadID’a free eCrumb tracker - runs on the phone and I’ve never had it fail in years of use.
Works for me everytime I have used it over the past 2 weeks of having the 530
Had a bolt, went to wahoo after many issues with Garmin, I was gifted a 530.
I freaking love it, so far so good. IMO The best bike computer ever.
How’s the crash detection on it? To be honest, I’m less bothered about Live Track flakiness if the crash detection worked in terms of trying to justify the upgrade to the 530 or 830 from the Bolt.
I have been browsing the web and finding pretty discouraging posts about the 530. reddit, garmin site, etc. Lots of users reporting crashes… anyone happy with the device here?
Love mine and no problems at all
I left the Garmin space 3 years ago after having gone through 4 Garmin 510s for various failures and have been quite happy with my Wahoo ELEMNT. However, I begrudgingly purchased a Garmin Edge 530 just for the chance to run the Varia radar unit. While it was announced for the Wahoo Fitness line of head units earlier this year I anticipated a lengthy wait until it was released. However, at this point, indications from Wahoo are that it is coming soon.
I had a little bit of trouble during setup with a complete lockup of the 530 during shutdown and then another lockup during my second ride with it. Since then, I’ve updated the firmware and have not had any issues. I run the unit with sensors paired from multiple bikes:
- D-fly, Quarq Dzero, TICKR*, Varia Radar*
- Favero BePro dual-sided pm pedals, TICKR*, Varia Radar*
- Stages Gen 1, TICKR*
- Quarq for Cannondale, TICKR*, Varia Radar*
(* same sensor used with different bikes)
I have successfully completed TrainerRoad Outside workouts on it. I have multiple ride types configured: Road, Workout, Race, Indoor, Etc
Things I like about it:
lap by location
radar support
notifications from all apps not just text and email
display clarity and color
huge amount of configurable data field options (including more from Connect IQ)
tons of features (some of which I’ll probably never use)
price
Things I don’t like:
flakey Live Tracking (works less than 50% of rides)
no configuration from a phone app
confusing menu navigation on device, a result of my liked “tons of features” (deep and sometimes items feel like they are in the wrong place)
still using micro USB for charging
After 5 weeks of use, I’m still liking it and would buy it again.
Does anyone know if the sensor drop out issues on the 530 are better than on the 520?