Garmin 510 vs Garmin 500 – review

by
garmin-510-500

After two years with a Garmin 500, I upgraded to a Garmin 510 – is it any better? Is it worth the extra money?

The main selling point of the Garmin 510 over the Garmin 500 are that:

  • You can upload to the web wirelessly via a bluetooth 2.1 phone connection. After my Garmin 500 had problems connecting to the computer via USB cable, this seemed attractive.
  • With phone pairing, you can have live tracking – so people can watch you on a computer screen (in the old days, people used to go and watch people do time trials).
  • The Garmin 510 has a better battery life – up to 20 hours compared to 18 hours for a Garmin 500. To me the Garmin 510 lasts significantly longer than 500.
  • Bigger screen, more functions and updated quality.
  • Garmin 500 (released 2009). Garmin 510 (released 2013)

I didn’t want to pay the money RRP £249, but I didn’t really want to buy another Garmin 500 because I was annoyed it stopped working. Here is how I’ve been getting on.

Comparison of size and weight Garmin 500 vs Garmin 510

  • Garmin 500 weight 80g –  85 x 52 x 24mm
  • Garmin 510 weight 58g – 69 x 48 x 22mm

510-vs-500-flat

As a self-confessed weight-weenie and aero-weenie. This is a bad start. The Garmin 500 is generally well proportioned for a bike computer. The Garmin 510 starts to feel a bit like a brick. It’s not that far off the Garmin 800.

22g of weight doesn’t really matter (don’t quote me on that in the hill climb season). But, I worry that the extra depth is going to cost seconds on the time trial bike. I don’t like the bulky size of the Garmin 510.
500-vs-510

510 bigger screen than Garmin 500.

Read more

Delayed muscle fatigue

by

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), also called delayed muscle fatigue – the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours and days after unaccustomed exercises caused by the microtrauma in the untrained muscles

Recently I wrote a post on cycling vs running. I was boasting how I always tried to avoid running because if I do go running, my muscles are sore the next day, due to being completely untrained.

Instead I went out yesterday on the time trial bike. It was only the second outing of the year. In the New Year, I always look to start training on my time trial bike, so I can get used to the position for upcoming races. The problem is that with a new bike, I don’t want to go out, if the roads are wet and salty. Every day since 1 Dec,  I’ve looked at the state of the roads, and they are never dry, and – invariably salty too. The only use the TT bike has had is the odd hour on the rollers – and so far this year, I’ve never had any motivation to spend more than an hour on the rollers.

Read more

Garmin 500 – long term review

by
garmin-edge-500-500

garmin-edge-500-500

I’ve had the Garmin 500 for two and a half years. It has many good features and represents a huge step up in terms of cycle computer technology and possibilities. The ubiquity of the Garmin 500 within the cycling community is generally well deserved. However, it is not without its faults, which I will come to later.

This includes parts of the initial review from 2012, but more of the faults which have become apparent in using it.

Read more

Bike parking and bike racks

by
abandoned-rusty-bike

One of the (relatively minor) problems of cycling in Oxford is the lack of parking for bicycles. Popular spots tend to be busy, and this can lead to un-organised chaos as you try to find yourself somewhere to park.

There is some good bike parking provision. For example on Broad Street.

racks-of-bicycles

I used to want to get right outside the shop I was visiting. But, now I’ve decided I shouldn’t be so lazy. So I park my bicycle here and make use of the good parking facilities, and walk the 50m into Waterstones.

Abandoned bicycles taking up space

The problem of bike parking is exacerbated by the number of bikes that get abandoned. Students buy a £100 Ammaco from Cycle King, then don’t worry about abandoning it for eternity.

abandoned-rusty-bike

The council do have a policy of removing abandoned bicycles, but it is painfully slow. You can see the same rusty bikes for 12 months in a bike rack you want to use. Then finally a ticket is placed on them saying the owner needs to collect it, but then the council don’t come back for another 2-3 months. Often the ‘bike is abandoned ticket falls’ off, in the meantime! So you have to wait another 12 months to hope it will get retagged and retaken. I appreciate the council not wanting to take genuine bikes, but in this case, they are being a bit too generous to bikes obviously abandoned.

Useless Bike Parking racks

another-empty-rack

This is quite near y home in Temple Cowley. There is a big shopping centre, and big car-park. Very recently some brand new bike parking racks have been built. But, I’ve never seen a single bike locked in them. The reason is that the shops (and car park is 200m in the distance). No one is going to cycle 200m away from the shops to park and then walk back. It feels like the owners of the shopping mall had to meet criteria to build bike parking racks so they put it in the least unobtrusive (and therefore most useless place). They meet their criteria to build parking racks, but it is useless to anybody. When I shop I lean the bike against the windows of Sainsburys and lock the bike to itself.

Read more

Cycling v Running

by
cyclist-santa

During my teenage years I was a ‘runner’. I would like to claim this was due to a tremendous enthusiasm for running. But my main motivation was to get out of playing rugby. At Bradford Grammar – it was either cross country or rugby union. (football was not played.) I actually like watching rugby, but when you have a frame more suited to cycling uphill, rugby is not so much fun to play. Anyway I became a member of the school cross country team run by two teachers who were super-enthusiastic about cross country; (an enthusiasm which was rarely shared by anyone else), but nevertheless it meant that Bradford Grammar was invariably the best in the north of England at cross country.

Our training strategy was what you could easily call ‘Old School’ – make people run a lot and you would get good results. There was no scientific approach, just try to get us to train on Tues, Wed, Thurs and race on Sat. I never excelled at cross country. I can’t really remember, but I was generally good ‘pack fodder’ As the teenage years wore on, running around muddy fields became less appealing, and I started to look for a way out. I distinctly remember coming last in a particular race – which became a good excuse to slip away from the cross country scene. It was an interesting experience coming last. I have come last in a cycling time trial. It was a 25 mile TT organised by Bicester. I got lost on a roundabout and turned a 25 mile TT into a 34 mile TT. so I officially came last.

At the time, I felt I didn’t have good enough genes to ever become a good runner, so I left my running ambitions on the muddy cross country fields.

cyclist-santa

Several year later, I temporarily got back into running. But it lead to quite a bad knee injury which lasted for quite a few years. When the knee finally cleared up, I was cycling and I’ve never really run since. In fact I’ve developed an aversion to running. Even, running for the train can leave me with delayed muscle fatigue the next day. I know you should be able to combine running and cycling (as triathletes display with great aclarity) but it doesn’t appeal.

Cycling v Running

Injury

Many people say running is harder on the knees, due to the great impact. Many people switch to cycling after being frustrated with some running injury. Running has a higher impact on joints and a greater tendency to cause injury. Apart from swimming, cycling is often the one form of exercise people can still manage when they are carrying injury niggles.

Cycling can still cause knee and other knee injury problems. (especially, if you have wrong saddle height, bike position). But, overall, it is easier on the knees. Less impact on the joints.

Read more

Ammaco Dresden Review

by
ammaco-2

Ammaco Dresden. A hybrid bike for under £170. It looks good and seems to offer tremendous value. But, as soon as you start riding it you know why it is so cheap. Yet, these cheap hybrid bikes do sell tremendously well. Many buyers just want a bike under £200, no matter what the components are like. Bicycle lovers will instinctively turn their nose up at any bike under £200. So what is it really like?

People think that a big fat saddle is going to be more comfortable to sit on. I guess the size of this saddle spreads the weight. But, it isn’t really any more comfortable to ride.

The thing with this bike is I really didn’t feel comfortable to ride more than 15mph. In fact as I was cycling along, I spent a considerable time waiting for gears to index. The back wheel was also buckled, not overly reassuring since I was testing a brand new from shop. I assume this was just very bad luck to pick the bike with a buckle in back wheel.

The brakes are fine at stopping, though you do have to squeeze pretty confidently. I guess you won’t be tearing around corners on this. However, they do look fairly flimsy and will need careful maintenance over time.

I have to say, I really quite like how it looks, at least from a distance. When you get closer, it starts to look a little cheaper, like the plastic mudguards are not going to win any prizes for style.
ammaco-1

Extensive Chain guard protection

Handlebars are adjustable in height, quite a nice touch, though I doubt the actualy buyers would be too fussy about finding optimal handlebar height. It’s the kind of bike you buy and hope to ride it straight from shop. Tyres are cheap and will offer no extra puncture protection, so be prepared for quite a few irritating punctures.

Extras.

For the price, it’s very good to see it come equipped with mudguards and panniers.

ammaco-5

Pretty good mudguards.

ammaco-5

Shimano Turney gears – I found pretty rattly. Takes time for indexing to work. May not have been set up to optimal indexing, but the front changer was pretty slow and hard work to move. Rear mech was better.

ammaco-4Looks nice. A good simple paint job

ammaco-2

To be honest some of the extras on this bike would get pretty close to £165 alone.

If I was a Car?

If the Ammaco Dresden was a car, I’d be tempted to say a Lada with a really nice paint job and roof rack attached at no extra cost.

Who would it Suit?

It would suit a student on a tight budget, absolutely unable to pay more than £200 for a bike. It might also suit someone who wanted to buy a bike for a few months when visiting a new city.

Is it Good Value?

I know this level of bike components will need more maintenance. There will be more punctures, the brakes will need careful attention and it is more likely to rust. It’s good value if you are a student buying a bike for a year or so. If you’re looking for a bike to last a decade, don’t bother.

Would I buy the Bike?

Would Ian Paisley buy a Celtic flag? I’m too much of a bike snob to buy something so cheap. Also the experience of cheap MTB has put me off spending a £150 hoping to get a good deal. What made me want to test this bike is my lodger wants a bike, but has no money. I see 100s of these Ammaco’s around Oxford and to be fair they seem to last pretty well. I guess if I was an impoverished student only wanting to cycle 2 miles a day, I might be happy to ride this. But, then I might be happy to to get a free can of Tesco Value Baked Beans.

Go on get out that student loan and blow it on a nice Pashley! – who needs beer and curry? spend all your grant on a bicycle. “You’ll never regret buying a bicycle”

Related

Steve Abraham and record monthly mileage

by
two-cyclists-touring

I somehow managed to cycle 1200 miles in January. I don’t ever remember doing a long ride – but a lot of 60 mile rides seem to add up. It’s a personal record for January and nearly an all time monthly record ever. So, secretly, I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself. Winter miles in the bank is always a good thing for a long distance cyclist.

two-cyclists-touring

But, there’s always someone better than you, and in terms of January monthly mileage, Steven Abraham isn’t so much as a little bit better, but in another league of his own. Steve has managed well over 5,000 miles for January and is currently averaging 185 miles a day, roughly at an average speed of 16mph. Riding from 5.30am to 6-7pm later in the day, Abraham is managing 13 hour days on freezing British roads. When the temperature gets down to -8 degrees, my philosophy is to do an hour on the rollers. Steve Abraham will be riding along, frozen water bottles and all. A Tweet from Steve’s site says succinctly:

“Down to minus 8 this morning. Turning at Cirencester Ice finally starting to melt at midday both bottles still frozen,”

Read more

How often to change the chain / cassette on a bike?

by

Different methods for knowing when you need to change the chain, cassette and chainring on your bike.

Changing Chain

A worn chain gives risk of lost power transfer and also wearing your rear cassette more quickly. With a commuting bike I don’t worry so much. I usually just ‘ride it into the ground’ i.e. ride until the chain starts slipping. But, for racing bikes with more expensive cassettes and groupsets, it is worth checking and changing the chain more frequently. Optimal changes of chain can:

  • Save money (in particular prolong life of cassettes)
  • Protect power transfer of drivetrain – lose less power to stretched chains and bigger gaps in cassette teeth.

How to check whether chain needs changing.

1. Finger test

worn-chain

  • A simple test  is to use your finger and try to lift the chain away from the chainring. If the chain can be pushed quite a bit away from the chainring (like above), this is a sign that the chain needs changing.
  • For this test, I put it biggest gear (biggest front chain ring, smallest rear cassette, e.g. 53*13)

If the chain is badly worn, you will probably need to change the cassette block at the same time. (and possibly front chain ring)

Read more

A birds eye view of traffic

by

Last year I was teaching in a building from St Clements – it gave a birds eye view of traffic down below. The funny thing is that everything seemed so calm and relaxed viewed from above. A very different perspective to ground level!

advanced-stop-9

The amazing thing about this set of photos is that in nearly every case, cars, taxis and buses were respecting the advanced stop boxes. I’m sure this never happens when I’m at ground level.

advanced-stop-5

Advanced stop signs make it easier for cyclists turning in different directions.

Read more