I've been using my Garmin plenty lately, and as promised, here's more on how it performs spinning. Not that it makes much of a difference, but for this "test", I went for an hour rather than the 20-30 minutes I have been.
Pros
I'm really liking the fact that I can set up what data shows in the main screen. Even better, I can set up Bike 1, Bike 2, Bike 3, etc., with different screen profiles. I especially like the HR Zone. For me though, like with the running features, the ability to easily track and store my workouts on Garmin Connect is by far my favorite feature.
Cons
Sometimes I'm a little forgetful. I forgot to turn off the GPS, and ended up somehow gaining 300m in elevation and almost a kilometer in distance. Not really the end of the world, since I just need to remember to turn it off, but kind of funny, and it does make me wonder if that's right?
My Setup
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The Garmin is just strapped to my handlebars with the wrist strap; it tends to fall down a little, as does the iPod that's just in an armband-- but hey, it's not like it has to be aero!
The third little gadget is my cadence/speed computer. Got it at mec for a few dollars, and it's got both sensors (cadence and speed) on the rear chainstay so it works when I'm spinning as well as on the road. Like I mentioned in Part 1, I don't have the Garmin cadence meter.
You can't really see what's on the screen in the above photos, but I've set up the "Bike 1" with elapsed time, time of day, heart rate and HR zone. There's a lot of different data fields available - especially if you also have the cadence sensor and a wireless power meter. (I haven't dropped the coin on that yet... need to get the tri bike first!)
For this ride, the plan was to warm up for about 10 minutes, then go for 80-85 rpm cadence. About twenty minutes in, the plan changed to include going for 20+ km/h - normally not too difficult on the highway, but tough on the one-setting magnetic trainer. I think I did pretty good, but it doesn't track on the Garmin! I think I'm convincing myself I need that cadence sensor...
Cooldown was about 5 minutes on the bike, another 5 on the treadmill, and about 10 minutes of stretching and ab work.
Check out the "map" of this workout. Kind of comical.
