Garmin Edge 305 - need to upgrade

My Garmin Edge 305 has been a great tool for about 10 years but I have come to realization it needs to be retired soon. I am trying to see if Garmin is offering anything for a trade-in but they have not responded.
The Edge 520 looks like an equivalent unit; if anyone in the forum has one can you tell me:
- will it only upload courses/maps from Garmin Connect?
- it looks like it would be compatible with my existing HRM
The only significant difference between the 520 and 810 seems to be the touchscreen and maybe some syncing abilities that I can tell. Oh, and $100.
I really like the upload feature so we can explore new trails with some guidance and then just the basic statistics.
Suggestions?

 

Just bought my Wife a refurbished 500 for about $125. She loves it for pre loading her route and using it for navigation. I am on my third refurbished 305 from garmin warranty over the last 10 years. The 520 looks like a real nice unit but the only big difference I could see from the older 500 is the blue tooth sync. If it does not bother you to go home, plug in to synce maybe save the money and get s refurb.

 

I bought a factory refurb Edge 800 with 2 year warranty through Garmin from GPS nation for $200. Its the same thing as the 810 but doesnt have the bluetooth so you cant upload the ride through your phone, so its obviously cheaper. It should be compatible with your existing HRM as well as uploading courses.

I didnt care about the instant upload as I was used to uploading it when I got home with my 305.
Its been working flawlessly for almost a year.

 

@Cougar - Cougar has the 520... and can probably shed some light on your questions.

I have the 510, and can upload courses with the unit connected to the computer by cable. You don't need to use the Garmin Connect software. Just add the file to the appropriate folder on the device (I think it's "new"), power it on, and it's there...

 

I have the 810. The other big difference between the 800 and 500 series is that the 800 series has the ability to load maps. The 500 series just have the base map I believe. On my 800 I can route on the fly just like a car navigation system. I use mine for roadie work as well, so the full map was a must have for me.

 

I have been using Garmin edge for the last few years. I started with a 705, and my wife switched me over to the 810 (she wanted to follow me with live tracker).
Everybody uses their Garmin differently, and for me the 810 is an over kill (I don't use the navigation feature for example).

If I had to start over, I would look at a phone based system (like wahoo fitness - RFLKT Bike Computer). I ride with my phone on me anyway, so why not put it to use.

 

I do indeed have the 520, upgraded from a 510 when I broke it in a crash last summer.

520 doesn't have a touch screen, which I actually like. When I crashed, I just impacted part of the screen on my 510, and it was otherwise 100% functional. It just couldn't register touches any longer!

You can upload any gpx route to the 520; I've created routes in both Strava Route Builder and the Garmin Connect version. That being said, you only get proper mapping/elevation when you do it natively via Garmin's site. If you load a Strava route, you just get the route w/o the elevation (on the device screen). It'll show you your planned route and where you are in relation to it, but it won't show you the maps of everything around you (like mentioned above). If you go off route, it'll chirp or otherwise alert you, and it'll show you where you've been on that ride.

I used my HRM from the 510 with the 520 flawlessly, and I suspect if it is using the industry standard communication protocol (ANT+), it'll connect just fine.

The 520 connects to Garmin Connect on my phone via Bluetooth and uploads the ride there, and then I've connected Strava to Garmin and it usually shows up on Strava within 3-5min of finishing a ride.

I do really like the gimmick of Strava Live Segments. If you star a segment in Strava, then sync with your Garmin, you'll get notifications when you approach one of those starred segments. Once you are on one of those segments it'll start a timer against a ghost rider; if none of your Strava friends have ridden that segment, it'll give you a ghost of your PR. If you have a friend above you on the leaderboard for that segment, it'll give you their PR Ghost. While I don't use this a bunch, and I don't ride to break PR's as a rule of thumb, I do occasionally dip my toe into those waters and it's pretty neat. Especially on some of the more laborious climbs. Even if you don't use it as a Strava Dick Measuring contest, if you have a starred segment it'll immediately tell you your time on that segment when you finish one of those starred segments.

When I was out with Herz and Danimal two weekends ago, I had the Willow climb starred; it told me it knew I was about to hit that segment (duh), and gave me a ghost, but I paged off of that screen back to my main data screen and forgot about it. It chirped at me approaching the top telling me my ghost ride had finished (oh no I didn't set a PR), and then once I finished the segment it had a celebratory audio output and Herz asked what the hell that was. I looked down and it told me that we did Willow in X minutes.

Data for the Data Gods.

 

I started using just the basic Strava app on the phone, and aside from it being in my pocket and not giving me real time info, it drained my battery something fierce. I started carrying a power brick on me and a cable to recharge my phone on the ride. If I did any rides over 4 hours (of which I did quite a few last year), I couldn't count on my phone having enough battery. So now my bike computer is for my bike, and my phone is for music and emergencies

 

I never used the RFLKT Bike Computer, but it is designed to keep you phone in sleep mode.
They claim that a fully charge I phone would last for up to 9 hours.
Additionally, you can use Bluetooth sensors for speed, cadence, power meter, and HRM.

I'm not endorsing the product (It might be a POS for all I know), just pointing out another (less expensive) option.

 

Thanks everyone for all the feedback!
So if you get a "bells and whistles" audio when you PR does it also give you a similar response if you boffo a climb? Kind of like the Price is Wrong tune?
And I know that I will never dip my toe into the SDM (Strava Dick Measuring) contest simply because I'm not equipped. (but wouldn't that be a funny emoji to pop up when you PR)
I like that @singlespeedrider won't give up on the 305 and is on his 3rd one!
If Garmin does not have anything to offer I'll probably buy from REI because of their return policy.
And yes Cougar, I love me the data ... and directions.

 

This was my issue before I got the iphone 6+... I could get 4 hours or so out of the iphone 5 using Strava. The 6+ can easily track all day rides and then some... I don't use it that way often, as I have the Garmin. Just throwing it out there...

 

I set my phone on airplane mode when running strava. My battery can last up to 8 hrs.

 

I've only heard two; your ghost beat you, and segment complete. It never actively makes fun of you via audio cues.

 

Mrs. Procrastination here ... every time I was about to pull the trigger and buy the new Garmin mine would miraculously work. Until this weekend when it decided to only upload 1/2 of my ride. I believe I added several words to George Carlin's list.
And Greg's Garmin also fully retired last week. Two dead GPS units on the kitchen counter.
Called Garmin today to see if the Edge 520 was available for the upgrade program and YES. Full price, free shipping and 20% credit back after the old units are returned.
The other option was REI with 10% rebate -
Thanks for all the input and help - looking forward to logging many miles and smiles with the new GPS.

 

I picked up my 520 for 226 shipped from Evans Cycles in the UK. Gave my 510 to my GF and picked up the 520.

The 520 comes with a basic base map. What you can do is save the stock base map on your computer and upload a more detailed BM of your local area from a third party site. There are detailed instructions on YouTube. Software updates are also automatically uploaded without having to plug it in to a computer.