Editors Note: This is not a review of the Garmin Edge 500,
just some bitching about the super-erroneous heart rate function. If anyone has a fix, please email
webers53@yahoo.com or leave a comment.
I have using the Garmin Edge 500 since November 2011, and I
have been very happy with the unit and its associated sensors – For the most
part. The unit has a lot of positives,
and a few quirks that one has to be prepared to live with (It is, in short, a
lot like owning an Italian motorcycle in these respects – Ask me, I know). Three initial quirks I had discovered were
inaccurate speed, altitude and temperature readings.
However, quirks aside, the unit worked fine until about two
months ago when I noticed Hear Rate (HR) numbers way above and below my targets. See, I have my “Hill Screen,” whereby I have HR,
cadence, grade and elevation featured, and I have come to train by the HR and
cadence numbers. Well, I began to see HR
lows of 60 Beats Per Minute (BPM), to highs of 260, no matter the terrain or
physical exertion level. With these
kinds of numbers I immediately called my doctor so see if I should be dead.
So, I turned to the net, and from on-line searches, it
appears I am not the only user with HR monitor issues. There were a lot of people with the same problem,
a lot of suggestions, a lot of guesses, and a lot of unhappiness with something
we all paid good money for. Here is what
I have tried.
To date, I have replaced the battery in the chest strap,
tried water, saliva, and soon, I will be trying some kind of conductivity gel
on the contacts. I am not very happy
with this, and from the on-line forums, Garmin knows they have an issue. If you pay for something, you should receive
it. If none of the ‘Fixes” work, I will
be contacting the manufacturer.
Look at it another way – You buy a fully loaded car, and the
air conditioning is horribly unreliable.
Should we just have to deal with it?
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