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Garmin: Control ANT+ lights via Dura-Ace Di2 top buttons plus Strava Beacon integrationGarmin Edge 1000 unboxing - mounted on ride screen.jpg

Garmin: Control ANT+ lights via Dura-Ace Di2 top buttons plus Strava Beacon integration

Control ANT+ lights from the Dura-Ace Di2 top buttons, Stava Beacon and LiveTrack Auto Start features added to Edge 520, 820 and 1000 computers
by David Arthur @davearthur
Wed, Sep 21, 2016 15:23
8

Garmin has today announced a raft of updates for its Edge 520, 820 and 1000 cycle computers, chief of which is the ability to control certain ANT+ lights by pressing the button on the top of a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 hood. 

garmin updates.jpg

We’ve long wondered what the hidden button in the top of the Di2 hood could be used for, and now Garmin has come up with a use for it. Using a compatible Edge, you can control an ANT+ light, turning it on and off and switching modes. 

- Review: Garmin Edge 820 computer

At the moment only Garmin’s own Varia smart lights and Bontrager’s Transmitr range are supported, but we’d imagine this list will grow with time. With the Bontrager lights, you can set them to turn on automatically with the Edge computer or use the ambient light sensor on the Edge 820 and 1000 to set the light output for the time of day. 

- Best cheap GPS cycling computers

Another update of interest is the support for Strava’s recently introduced Beacon safety feature, showing even further integration with the social training app. Beacon is a safety feature only available to premium members that can notify up to three people of your location if you stop for longer than expected or are back later than planned. 

The LiveTrack feature that lets family and friends follow your ride now has an auto start option so there’s no need to dig out your smartphone at the beginning of every ride to start it. 

Garmin
edge computer
Edge
Strava
David Arthur @davearthur

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes. 

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8 comments

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simonb | 8 years ago
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You should look at the Wahoo Elemnt- I had loads of isues with the 510 and decided to go left field and get an Elemnt- So far its beeen brillant - easy to set up via my iphone5s and having the zoom feature to see your data fields is great for a myopic cyclist like me

 

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earth | 8 years ago
0 likes

It's a good feature.  I would like to be able to turn the lughts on and off just from the head unit.  Problem is, after having an 800 I am resolute that I will not reward Garmin again.  Mio and Polar both catch my eye but neither have adaquate weather seals.  Someone needs to be brave and seperate the software from the hardware and then someone needs to make entirely sealed hardware that is charged by induction and communicates via wifi.

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kamoshika | 8 years ago
0 likes

Nice feature. It would nice to see this compatible with something like the Cycliq Fly lights with built in cameras. I guess you might want two buttons for that though - one for the lights and one for the cameras.

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ianbak | 8 years ago
0 likes

As a new user this annoyance caught me out a few times, but under Navigation > Routing > Recalculation you can select 'Off' and then it doesn't do it anymore.

 

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crazy-legs | 8 years ago
2 likes

Perhaps an update whereby if you go off your pre-programmed route (to visit a cafe or something), it doesn't immediately start frantically recalculating the route before giving up in disgust and trying to re-direct you to the start via either the nearest motorway or a selection of random footpaths.

The Garmin hardware is actually very good. Shame that all the software is bug-ridden crap that isn't even up to basic car sat-nav capabilities.

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A2thaJ | 8 years ago
1 like

Maybe they could do an update for the 810 so it doesnt turn itself off and lose your tracked ride when 80 miles into a mountainous ride following turn by turn directions?

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bohrhead | 8 years ago
0 likes

I guess the vast differences in the hardware in the 510 and 520 mean that they couldn't possibly provide such updates for the ancient of the two. 

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Zebulebu replied to bohrhead | 8 years ago
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bohrhead wrote:

I guess the vast differences in the hardware in the 510 and 520 mean that they couldn't possibly provide such updates for the ancient of the two. 

Actually, you aren't far wrong here (despite the obvious sarcasm )

The 510/810 were horrendous pieces of shit, largely because they weren't powerful enough to deal with the stuff that ended up in the 520/820. It's a known trick in the consumer electronics industry to take a product line as far as it can go, whilst simultaneously delivering the next iteration of hardware and software. You then release the software you're putting on the new hardware on a slightly updated version of original hardware because the marketing pillocks demand it. The poor saps who buy the 'stop-gap' hardware become, in effect, early adopter/beta testers without realising it - on hardware that hasn't a hope in hell of being considered 'reliable'

I experienced this first hand last year with my 810 - bought after three years of sterling service from my 800. WIthin two months it had lost service in the middle of the ride countless times, randomly stopped mapping turn by turn and, most memorably, lost a 150 mile ride through the night from Calais to the Paris suburbs on my L2P24, which almost saw me chuck it into the Seine. Took it back and paid the extra to upgrade to an Edge 1000 - not a single problem since

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