Garmin Edge 510 Bike Computer With Live Tracking

Monday, January 7th, 2013

Today, Garmin announced two new GPS-enabled bike computers. The Edge 810 (“touring” version) and Edge 510 (“performance” version). Normally, I’m not a big training tech geek and keep my training tools pretty minimal. I have ignored the pressure to invest in a power meter, GPS device or high-end heart rate monitor but this announcement definitely caught my eye. On the bike, I’ve been happy knowing my speed, distance and current heart rate – manually imputing them into my training log in Google Docs.

At a certain point more technology and more data is no longer useful and distracts from simple and fun bike ride. Tracking my location, elevation and other data always seemed like it was more work, or more expensive, than it was actually worth to me. Garmin may have finally convinced me otherwise. Or at least created a new way to share that data that makes it all worth collecting in the first place.

You can read the full product announcement here or check out the YouTube video below.

Why? Well it has a ton of awesome features, but the biggest one has to be live tracking. It used to be only available through a $.99 iPhone or Android app, but this is the first Garmin cycling computer that lets you selectively share your location and other ride data. I’ll let them explain it.

Live Tracking: The LiveTrack feature allows cyclists’ friends and family to follow their races and training rides in real-time. Invite followers using email or social media, so they can view live data on a Garmin Connect tracking page on a smartphone, desktop or tablet. Once they receive an email invite, they can click to follow and see cyclists’ stats like speed and distance, heart rate (optional), cadence and power (optional), and location on the map. If riders go out for a solo early morning ride, why not give loved ones the peace of mind by using Garmin’s LiveTrack feature. The Garmin- Sharp professional cycling team, for which we have been a title sponsor since 2008, will be using this Livetrack feature during its training rides—giving team management and coaches a real-time look at their efforts.

Think about it:

You are at mile 110 of an ironman bike course and your cheering squad knows that you are on your way so they can prepare to cheer you on as you come back to transition.
Or, you are feeling good and decide to turn your 2 hour training ride into a 4 hour training ride, and your wife has the piece of mind knowing where you are and doesn’t have to keep texting you to make sure you are still alive.
Or, you share your location with your training buddies, so they can still join you for a spin in the middle of the route, despite being lazy bums and sleeping in.

In May 2012, Garmin’s FitApp included the live tracking feature, but this is their fist cycling computer that has the feature. While other features like wireless data uploads, course downloads and power meter connectivity are really cool but also functional, I think it is the live tracking that really sticks out and makes me reconsider my minimal training tool ways and adding this to my gear list for the 2013 season.

The Garmin Edge 510 will be available in Q1 2013 for $329.