Cygolite Metro 500 Test

I was never a fan of those big front lights. They looked big, heavy, and I thought the reason they were so bright was because they were alkaline battery powered. I never but battery powered lights, since they aren't USB rechargeable, and don't last as long. 

That was until I discovered the Cygolite Metro 500: 

It sure looked like it could knock someone unconscious. However, I did see that it was rechargeable. Assuming it had the same brightness as the alkaline battery operated lights, it should be somewhat useful. It was better than useful. It was perfect. 

Before I started using the Metro 500, I used the compact lights. Lightweight, and bright enough to see where you're riding most of the time, these lights had one major issue. The rubber straps could break easily. That's were the Metro 500 comes into it. My front light could no longer attach to my handlebars, and I was riding blind. I wanted something stronger, something like a clamp. But I thought it would be heavy. It was worth the gamble, and boy was I mistaken. Weighing in at 110g, this light will barely make you realise it's there. The clamp is a little bit difficult to attach around the cables, but once it's there, it's not going anywhere. Cygolite includes non-slip padding with the mounts, however these didn't fit around my handle bar with the clamp, and quite frankly weren't needed. Once the screw was attached, and the clamp was on, the light wasn't going anywhere. The only way the light has ever moved unusually for me, is the screw holding the swivel plate attachment coming loose. Nothing a screwdriver can't fix.

Moving onto the light, it is USB rechargeable, and will last anywhere from 1.5 hours, right through to 30 hours. The only reason why you would use the brightest setting, as Cygolite claims is possible, is for daylight riding. Yes, a light designed to make you move visible in the daylight. As this it is not a requirement, I use it on SteadyPulse setting when riding at night, which gives the brightness of a fixed beam of light, and the obscurity of a flashing light. Cars will not miss the brightness, and the light wont blend into the scenery by staying on. 
The design of the light itself is very nifty. It has side illumination points, to increase the angle of the light, as well as custom optics which further maximise the beam angle, and distance. The shape is streamlined, and rather inconspicuous. Next to a Garmin, or other cycling computer, you will hardly be able to notice it. 
 

The other features that I love about this light, are the Li-Ion battery, allowing extra run time by being rechargeable. Unlike other lights that use the Li-Ion battery for recharging, Cygolite have managed to up the brightness, even on such a battery. This is mostly due to the Cree XM-L LED, which allow 1040lm at 10W. These LED's are getting stronger and stronger. I also love the on/off button. It is large, and actually works unlike others that I have tried. It can easily be turned on by a gentle touch. As a matter of fact, press it too hard like other lights, and it will have already started its cycle through the functions. As for the functions, if you press and hold the light, it turns off. Most other lights automatically turn back onto the first function, however the Metro 500 remembers your last used function. 

Verdict
In summary, standard assembly is a little tricky; the light is very bright, but not over weighted; the battery is rechargeable; and the on/off button is very easy to use. Ticks all my boxes.

My rating: 9.5/10 

Written by Kieren Barnett

Read more: http://www.cyclingtipsonline.com/news/cygolite-metro-500-review/

Garmin Edge 500 Test

Introduction

This is a long term review of the Garmin Edge 500. I bought it in January 2010 and I have ridden around 35000km with it. The Edge 500 has most of the features of the Edge 800 but without the map and it is much smaller. Installation is just as easy. For more details see the Garmin Edge 800 Review. I bought the bundle version with a heart rate monitor and a speed/cadence sensor, which was installed on my time trial bike but I never used the speed sensor.

The Test

After you turn the Edge 500 on you have to wait a bit before it has connected with the satellites. This may take up to a few minutes. I experienced some problems after around three years of riding with it. It took longer time to connect to the satellites and even after it had connected it did not record any distance when I started riding. The problem was solved by deleting old rides from it. Deleting the rides also made uploading much faster.

It has up to 5 pages where you can choose up to 8 different data fields. Even with 8 data fields on one page you can easily read the numbers. The data fields can easily be set to show anything you like. There are a wide range of data to put in these fields like distance, speed, gradient, altitude, and temperature. If you buy the bundle version you will also get a heart rate monitor and a speed/cadence sensor. The Edge 500 is also equipped with ANT+ which means you can connect a power meter.

On open roads the GPS signal is pretty stable, but if you ride through a tunnel or a dense forest it might get a bit unstable. Therefore the speed might jump a bit. This could probably be solved by using the speed sensor. It does not seem like a big problem to me. It is normally over after a few seconds and it does not seem to affect the distance.

The big question after so many hours of riding is: Does the battery still work? The answer is yes. Even after a 200km ride where it was turned on for 8 hours it was still half full. René experienced some problems with the heart rate monitor for his Edge 800. I have not had any problems with the heart rate monitor that a battery change could not fix.

When you get home you want to analyze your ride. With a Garmin Edge 500 it is easy to upload your ride to a site like Endomondo or Garmin Connect. If you use Linux you have to be aware that Garmin does not provide an official communicator plugin. In linux Mint 15 there is a plugin available from the ”Software Manager” which can also be found here: Garmin plugin for Linux. This plugin works just like the official windows plugin.

The Verdict

If you do not need a map while riding but want a lot of data, the Edge 500 is perfect for you. It is cheaper than the 800 but has almost the same features. The 200 is even cheaper but it lacks a heart rate monitor. Is it worth the money? I would say definitely. It is very durable and stable. It is also easy to change from bike to bike if you have more than one bike and it does not require any settings to be change if you do not use the speed sensor. It is also pretty cool to say that your bike computer uses The Theory of Relativity.

Written by Andreas

Read more: http://www.cyclingtipsonline.com/news/garmin-edge-500-review/

Garmin Edge 800 Test

Many riders who wants to get a new bikecomputer with inbuild GPS, so they can track their own route and plan new routes before their rides, will be looking at a Garmin Edge. They come in three different series. The 200 series, the 500 series, and the 800 series. The 800 series is the Rolls Royce of the bike GPS’s out there, coming in at the price of around 400 euro’s, including speed/cadencesensor, heartbeatsensor and a map of the area you live in (continent, etc.). The Garmin Edge 800 is probably the best you can get, and many buys the 800 when they are switching their standard bikecomputer out with a GPS-based bikecomputer.

Installation

The installation is easy. The holder for the Edge 800 unit is installed within a minute, just needs 2 rubberbands (not the normal ones, but some much stronger). It’s really functional. If you want to take the Edge 800 off it, you just turn it 90 degrees to the side, and it can be released. Same thing then you want to put it back on. The speed/cadencesensor just need two strips before it’s on place. Remember to use a bit of tape so the strips will not damage the paint of your bike, when tightened and in use. Of course remember to make sure it’s tight. Once that is done, it will sit perfectly. Also there will follow a bit of tape that will be used for the magnet to sit on the crank to measure your cadence. There will also be a magnet to measure the speed, if the GPS will fail, like under a bridge, can sit on a single spoke on the wheel, like a normal magnet for any other bikecomputer.

On the road

It works just as expected. You start it up, wait for the GPS-signal, and then it is ready to go. That can take everything from 15 seconds to 3-4 minutes on a bad day. I guess it depends on where you live, as well as the placements of the satellites. You can always just turn it on, put your bike outside, and then get your helmet and such things on, and it will probably be ready to go then you are. However, once it has a signal, it really holds that signal until the end. I have been riding under small bridges (100-200 meters), and it would still keep the signal. I can also get a signal with it, if I take it into my house, after training. The weight of it is about the same as a normal smartphone.

Many people will probably be asking about the battery of the Edge 800. But it won’t be a problem in your everyday training or normal races. I have used it for a race that lasted about 8-9 hours, and there was still 43% capacity left on the battery. Therefore, unless you are doing the Race Across America, or some 24 hour race, it will be just fine.

It tracks the speed just fine. There is the standard lag in acceleration as any other bikecomputer, but the GPS along with the speedsensor on the spokes, will calibrate to make your distance and speed more realistic than a normal speedsensor (probably only like 30 meters over 100 km difference). The size of it is acceptable. It can fit on the stem, but do not go on buying very short stems, because that can maybe give you an issue. There are alternatives of course, so you can place it on other parts than the stem.

The cadence- and heartbeatsensor

The cadencesensor, which is the same unit as the speedsensor, works just fine. I cant seem to make it give a weird result. It just always shows values that are believeable. And the connection from the sensor to the Edge 800 isn’t a problem neither.

The heartbeatsensor seemed nice in the start too. It was more comfortable than I expected, and just as importantly, it was really useful for optimizing your training. It will also help you get to know your body better for races, so you know how much you can push throughout a race. With it, you can also train after your pulse, and the different pulsezones there is, which will make your training much more effective. For me, it needed to be soaked a little with ordinary water, before it worked. Else, it would start working about 8-10 minutes into my training, due to sweat.
After 2 months though, it began giving me problems. It suddenly told me I had a pulse of 40 when having something that would be more like 170 bpm. I tried switching batteries in the sensor, but did not help anything. I have searched a little, and it does seem that I’m not the only one having this problem. Many has bought a Polar pulsebelt and then used the Garmin sensor along with it, and for them, that combination works just fine. I have not had the money to do that, so I have been riding without that the past 11 months now.

Endless possibilities

The software of the Edge 800 works great. It is simple but still gives a lot of information. You can make many different pages on it, which you can switch between. You can also make the pages just as you want it them be. Everything from map, altitude, map, and a page where you can get up to 8 different information’s shown on the same time. So you will always be sure to have the information’s you want to have, at the same time.

After your trip, you can upload the file your Edge created from your training to different sites, where you can see how the race/training went. You can read about some of the different sites tested by me, if you click here.

The verdict

Is it worth the price? Well, that depends on what you want your bikecomputer to do. If you want to add and see routes, and be able to get more out of your training, I will certainly say that this is a great buy then. But if you just need to see your speed and distance, then go for a standard 30 euro bikecomputer. If you do not have 400 euro’s or wants to put 400 euro’s after a bikecomputer, the Edge 200 and 500 will be cheaper but also good solutions for that then. The 200 does not have a map inserted in it, so if you want to see routes while on your bike, the 500 is the cheapest you can get. There are other alternatives than Garmin too though, like Bryton.

But as a package, you get a much funnier training with the Garmin Edge 800. At least if you are an analytic freak, it will be very fun to see how you perform in different aspects. The heartbeatsensor did not work for me, but for 9 out of 10, it does, and for those, it can help optimizing the training quite a bit.

One thing I am sure of, is, that I never regretted buying it. I absolutely love it, and all the functions it comes with. So if you want the best, and/or wants to get more out of your training, the Garmin Edge 800 is a sure thing on the “to buy”-list. 

Written by René

Read more: http://cyclingtipsonline.com/news/garmin-edge-800-review/