Forums » Quarq Discussion » Best bike computer to use with the Quarq power meter?? (12 posts)

Best bike computer to use with the Quarq power meter??
392649
6 months, 1 week ago

Hi, I recently purchased the Quarq power meter and need to get a bike computer.. can someone please give me a run down of my options and perhaps which is the best regarded option?

I've heard the Garmin Edge 500 is preferable over the Edge 705 which although has more functions is just simply too big for the handle bars of a road bike.. Are there any other good computers worth considering ??

Thanks in advance, Robbie
lathamjohnp
6 months ago

Saris Joule, although expensive and no GPS.

One (hopefully temporary) problem with the 500 is that Garmin have moved away from (human readable) .TCX files and are now using binary .FIT files. There isn't universal support for these files across all the third party software you might want to use, e.g. GoldenCheetah, RideWithGps. For these software you'd have to export from Garmin Training Center (probably).

Additionally, since you can edit the files in a text editor, it will be impossible to correct any data issues. I haven't got my Cinqo yet, but my Powertap hub often reports huge power spikes which I have to manually edit out (massive PITA). I have also written bits of software to do things like ride splitting/merging and removal of stopped time, and this will be more difficult with .FIT files.

That said, I'll probably sell my 705 and buy a 500 in a couple of months. The 705 has not been without reliability problems - broken mounts, the button ripping off the front. The 500 looks to be better designed, and I don't ever use the navigation capabilities of the 705 since it has no re-routing capabilities.

There's a great review of the 500 here:

http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com/2009/11/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

John
lathamjohnp
6 months ago

typo: "since you can edit the files in a text editor" should have read "since you cannot edit the FIT files in a text editor"
dartingd
6 months ago

I honestly feel like the 500 is a great computer. I've noticed a spike or two in my cadence (running a powertap 2.4+ till my 975 Quarq comes), but never a spike in my power. I HAVE, however, had it lock up on me once in the past week while doing intervals on my TT bike. I hit the lap button and the computer froze. I had to back off my interval and reset the computer to get it to reset, and it had lost 7.5 minutes(wierd) somehow...
showdown
6 months ago

I own an EDGE 500 and LOVE it.

For what it's worth, GoldenCheetah does support the direct import of .fit files from the EDGE 500. Currently that code is being debugged and cleaned up and will be implimented in the next proper release. For those interested in the the latest check out http://goldencheetah.org/developers-guide.html for more on obtaining the latest code.

-Julian And I have to say, it works flawlessly!
tonski
5 months, 3 weeks ago

iBike is okay although expensive. It will give you slope, wind, and Crr data too. The only thing I haven't heard of the Garmin computers doing, and the major reason I haven't switched yet, is that they won't do average power for the LAP. That is one of my biggest "wants" in a computer and something the iBike does.
dartingd
5 months, 3 weeks ago

My 500 does avg lap power. It doesn't do normalized, but big whoop there, as for intervals you should only need avg anyways.
dartingd
5 months, 3 weeks ago

500 does average lap power.
tonski
5 months, 3 weeks ago

I'm getting the 500. Thank you for the correction!

I loved my iBike but it's time to move on.
dartingd
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Sorry for the double-post. One thing I REALLY like about the 500 is the ability to plot a course and ride it. I'm pretty sure you can do that training companion thing with the 500, but just having a little dot move along an elevational map helps in a TT! BTW, MY QUARQ SHIPPED YESTERDAY!!!
andrello
5 months, 2 weeks ago

Does "future" ANT+ computer compatibility for the Saris Joule 2.0 mean when the Joule starts shipping? Or that they are not yet compatible at all?
Jim@Quarq
5 months, 2 weeks ago

The Joule is compatible with the CinQo now. - Jim

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