Thinking of the Garmin Edge 130 Plus

Lounge/Off Topic
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I’ve never had a cycling computer – I’ve just used my phone to record rides. Lately, I’ve been having issues when recording rides and sharing my location with my wife, which is making me consider a computer. Plus, on a couple of recent gravel rides, I’ve been in the lead and had no idea where the route went, relying on people behind me to yet “LEFT!”. So, turn-by-turn routing might be nice to have :slight_smile:

So, I’m looking for something basic that can ‘talk’ to sensors (I have a Wahoo speed and cadence sensor from when I was doing indoor training with a ‘dumb’ trainers, as well as an HR strap). I’d also love to be able to download routes and have some sense on when the next turn is. On top of that, I’m fairly cheap (erg, frugal).

The Garmin Edge 130 Plus caught my eye in terms of having the features I’m looking for and being cheaper than some of the other available options. Does anybody have one – with opinions positive or negative? Are there other options in this price range (~$290)? The one knock I think might be it doesn’t seem to support muliple ‘profiles’ which I assume means that it might be a pain to switch between bikes, especially bikes with different sized tires (which I have). Is this a big deal?

Thanks!

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I’m not the expert on the 130 plus but my understanding is the navigation is limited compared to the 530 or above. It will tell you “left” but it won’t give you a road name or show you the map. Not sure if that matters to you. Also the screen is fairly small compared to the more expensive models.

DC Raimaker as always has an amazing write up: Garmin Edge 130 Plus In-Depth Review | DC Rainmaker

The 30 series of Garmin edges have been out for a while, and the 1040 just came out. Likely the new 540 and 840 will be out soonish so if you can wait might be able to score a deal on an end of the line 530 or 830. Or maybe get a gently used unit from someone upgrading.

I have zero navigation skills (see me get lost twice on the same lap during the Dusty Nostril yesterday!) and I love my 830. I’m actually considering the 1040 for the bigger screen. I tend to only ride with a single profile anyway (Road) and I want the same screens for all my rides. Others differ there. It will pickup whatever sensors are on no mater what profile you use so don’t worry about that part e.g. if you ride you gravel bike and that cadence sensor is on it will just use that.

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