Advanced GPS cycling computer with button controls combines superior navigation, planning and performance tracking, cycling awareness and smart connectivity
Battery life: up to 26 hours in demanding use cases; up to 42 hours in battery saver mode
View daily suggested workouts and training prompts on screen; based on your event, get personalized coaching that adapts to your current training load and recovery when riding with a compatible power meter and heart rate monitor
Find your way in the most challenging environments with multi-band GNSS technology that provides enhanced positioning accuracy
See remaining ascent and grade when climbing so you can gauge your effort with the ClimbPro ascent planner, now available on every ride — no course required; view on your Edge device and in the Garmin Connect app on your smartphone for ride planning
Classify your strengths as a cyclist, and compare your cycling ability to the demands of a specific course, so you can focus your training and improvement in the right areas, when paired with your compatible power meter and heart rate monitor
Manage your efforts with the power guide feature, which recommends power targets throughout a course, when paired with your compatible power meter
Our research indicates that this offer is $100 lower (28% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $349.99
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Advanced GPS cycling computer with button controls combines superior navigation, planning and performance tracking, cycling awareness and smart connectivity
Battery life: up to 26 hours in demanding use cases; up to 42 hours in battery saver mode
View daily suggested workouts and training prompts on screen; based on your event, get personalized coaching that adapts to your current training load and recovery when riding with a compatible power meter and heart rate monitor
Find your way in the most challenging environments with multi-band GNSS technology that provides enhanced positioning accuracy
See remaining ascent and grade when climbing so you can gauge your effort with the ClimbPro ascent planner, now available on every ride — no course required; view on your Edge device and in the Garmin Connect app on your smartphone for ride planning
Classify your strengths as a cyclist, and compare your cycling ability to the demands of a specific course, so you can focus your training and improvement in the right areas, when paired with your compatible power meter and heart rate monitor
Manage your efforts with the power guide feature, which recommends power targets throughout a course, when paired with your compatible power meter
Our research indicates that this offer is $100 lower (28% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $349.99
About this store:
Don't have Amazon Prime? Students can get a free 6-Month Amazon Prime trial with free 2-day shipping, unlimited video streaming & more.
I got one of these when I started getting more into road biking, and I returned it within a week for an 840 because I liked the touch screen interaction much better than the buttons. Which was weird for me since I normally strongly prefer buttons for fitness stuff (like my Forerunner).
But nowadays, I now just choose my course at the beginning of each ride and hit the Start/End button at the end, so if I would have just dealt with the buttons during configuration, I probably would have been fine with the 540 and saved myself some money.
Worth mentioning: if you don't need niceties like advanced metrics or dynamic routing, the Explore 2 is $300 MSRP (less during sales) and has a significantly larger screen with touch. Its battery life is about half the 540's, but unless you're in the saddle for 16+ hours at a time, you can still charge between rides. Seems like a solid option for more casual riders.
I got one of these when I started getting more into road biking, and I returned it within a week for an 840 because I liked the touch screen interaction much better than the buttons. Which was weird for me since I normally strongly prefer buttons for fitness stuff (like my Forerunner).
But nowadays, I now just choose my course at the beginning of each ride and hit the Start/End button at the end, so if I would have just dealt with the buttons during configuration, I probably would have been fine with the 540 and saved myself some money.
Worth mentioning: if you don't need niceties like advanced metrics or dynamic routing, the Explore 2 is $300 MSRP (less during sales) and has a significantly larger screen with touch. Its battery life is about half the 540's, but unless you're in the saddle for 16+ hours at a time, you can still charge between rides. Seems like a solid option for more casual riders.
I've been contemplating getting an 840 for the touchscreen. Some of the options on the 540 are hard to get to without the touchscreen and require like a long press. It's annoying enough. I will sometimes try to get to more options during a ride, like ending a course, etc.
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from Gerpax
:
Get the 850 display if you want to see the screen in the sunlight with sunglasses on. These TFT displays are worthless in that regard.
I've not had issues seeing the display on my 540 in sunlight.
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For the "why would I get this when I have a phone/watch/whatever" crowd - you absolutely don't need one - but they're nice to have because:
Any data on the unit, you can see without pulling up your wrist, pulling out your phone, etc.
It's really nice for navigation - for the aforementioned reasons. Espeically if you upload your route ahead of time.
It does good bike-specifc metrics, that are more relevant on your ride than what most exercise trackers display.
If you're serious about training, it'll integrate with cadence sensors, power sensors, and obviously HR monitors and display all that data intuitively.
If you care about strava, it can tell you how far ahead/behind you are on your personal best, or your friend's time, or the overall best times on any segments you choose. Nobody would be impressed by my Strava times, but it's pretty motivating to see "if I go just a bit faster I can beat Bob's time!"
I have a Garmin bike computer and use it on probably about half my rides. It's most useful if you're on a training plan, or doing longer rides (and especially events/races) in unfamiliar places.
Get the 850 display if you want to see the screen in the sunlight with sunglasses on. These TFT displays are worthless in that regard.
I've never had a problem, but I mostly use lightly tinted non-polarized polycarbonate lenses, so I figured other types might have issues. To test, I just went outside in bright/direct sunlight and could also see my 840 completely fine with my pair that has dark reflective polarized true glass lenses.
I've been contemplating getting an 840 for the touchscreen. Some of the options on the 540 are hard to get to without the touchscreen and require like a long press. It's annoying enough. I will sometimes try to get to more options during a ride, like ending a course, etc.
I upgraded from the 530 to the 840. The touch screen is great if you're a meanderer, as it's much easier to pan and zoom the map. It's also easier to mark road hazards, jump to some of the other screens, etc.
I upgraded from the 530 to the 840. The touch screen is great if you're a meanderer, as it's much easier to pan and zoom the map. It's also easier to mark road hazards, jump to some of the other screens, etc.
Yes, zooming in/out from maps is too cumbersome with just the buttons, sometimes I need to see ahead on my route and it requires a long press of the upper right button to get to the lower left buttons to change to zoom.
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Was a lot quicker on my Wahoo devices.
But nowadays, I now just choose my course at the beginning of each ride and hit the Start/End button at the end, so if I would have just dealt with the buttons during configuration, I probably would have been fine with the 540 and saved myself some money.
Worth mentioning: if you don't need niceties like advanced metrics or dynamic routing, the Explore 2 is $300 MSRP (less during sales) and has a significantly larger screen with touch. Its battery life is about half the 540's, but unless you're in the saddle for 16+ hours at a time, you can still charge between rides. Seems like a solid option for more casual riders.
But nowadays, I now just choose my course at the beginning of each ride and hit the Start/End button at the end, so if I would have just dealt with the buttons during configuration, I probably would have been fine with the 540 and saved myself some money.
Worth mentioning: if you don't need niceties like advanced metrics or dynamic routing, the Explore 2 is $300 MSRP (less during sales) and has a significantly larger screen with touch. Its battery life is about half the 540's, but unless you're in the saddle for 16+ hours at a time, you can still charge between rides. Seems like a solid option for more casual riders.
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- Any data on the unit, you can see without pulling up your wrist, pulling out your phone, etc.
- It's really nice for navigation - for the aforementioned reasons. Espeically if you upload your route ahead of time.
- It does good bike-specifc metrics, that are more relevant on your ride than what most exercise trackers display.
- If you're serious about training, it'll integrate with cadence sensors, power sensors, and obviously HR monitors and display all that data intuitively.
- If you care about strava, it can tell you how far ahead/behind you are on your personal best, or your friend's time, or the overall best times on any segments you choose. Nobody would be impressed by my Strava times, but it's pretty motivating to see "if I go just a bit faster I can beat Bob's time!"
I have a Garmin bike computer and use it on probably about half my rides. It's most useful if you're on a training plan, or doing longer rides (and especially events/races) in unfamiliar places.It's best attribute for me is battery life, something that got worse with the 850's screen, so I will not be "upgrading" anytime soon.
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