Garmin have announced the Edge 520, a GPS bike computer featuring advanced navigation, performance monitoring capabilities and connected features built for use both on or off the road.
“The Edge 520 is one of our best-selling cycling computers, so we wanted to take something our customers know and love and improve upon it,” said Adam Howarth, General Manager Garmin Australasia.
“Therefore, some of the navigational and safety features once available only on our higher-end models – like the Garmin Cycle Map, rider-to-rider messaging, Incident Detection and more – are now integrated into the Edge 520 Plus.”
Preloaded on the Edge 520 Plus, the Garmin Cycle Map includes turn-by-turn navigation and new alerts that notify riders of sharp curves ahead. It will even guide cyclists back to the route – or back to start – if they stray away or decide to head home early. Before heading out, riders can plan and download their routes on the improved and revamped Course Creator in Garmin Connect, which uses Trendline popularity routing to provide riders with the best road, mountain or gravel routes that are aggregated from those most traveled by fellow cyclists.
Garmin say the Edge 520 Plus gives cyclists the freedom to put their phone away and still feel connected with rider-to-rider messaging. This feature lets cyclists send prewritten messages directly from their Edge 520 Plus to other riders using a compatible device.
Meanwhile, built-in Incident Detection will also automatically send a cyclist’s location to emergency contacts if they run into trouble, while GroupTrack and LiveTrack let friends, family and other cyclists keep track of a rider’s location in real time.
The Edge 520 Plus also comes with the latest version of Strava Live Segments. Cyclists can star their favourite Strava segments, and while riding, will receive an upcoming segment alert as they approach a start. Riders will then receive second-by-second, real-time comparisons of their performance against their most relevant competitor and will race against their actual speeds – not just their average. Preloaded with the Strava Routes Connect IQ app, starred routes can now be wirelessly synced to the Edge 520 Plus so cyclists can navigate and compete on their favourite Strava segments at the same time.
Featuring up to 15 hours of battery, the Edge 520 Plus is available for $449.
A bundle option, which includes a heart rate monitor as well as cadence and speed sensors, is available for $499.
Additionally, a mountain bike bundle option, which includes a mountain bike mount, Edge remote control and silicone case is available for $499.
