Garmin Data Fields

Colinthecop

I'm liking my new (purchased here) Garmin 500 and a bit overwhelmed by what it does compared to my cateye speedo. :shock:

I'm kinda curious as to what data fields people are displaying. I appreciate it's subjective as different people want different things from their ride but I was just wondering.

I've currently got Speed at the top, distance in the middle and the bottom is split with time and average speed.

jordan_217

I split the data up into two screens. So they are displayed in bigger squares. My primary requirements are speed, distance, cadence, HR, gradient and ride time. Then on the second screen I have time, ave spd, calories and temp. The things that are handy to know but not essential.

sloppyschleckonds

Watts, Gradient & Speed

me-109

Three screens.

1 has speed, ride time, time of day, distance, temp, HR (not that order).
2 and 3 have just speed, distance, ride time and HR in different orders to prioritise HR or time (I think, working off memory). Useful for the turbo, climbing, TTs etc.

wishitwasallflat

On-going through a ride I primarily want to know my cadence so I use all five screens and set them to auto change;

1 Two fields - current cadence on top - average cadence below,
2 Two fields - current cadence on top - current heart rate below,
3 Two fields - current cadence on top - average speed below,
4 Two fields - current cadence on top - distance travelled below,
5 Three fields - current cadence on top - elapsed time and time of day below

Since I got varifocals though I could probably cope with more fields on a screen but that's the info I want and don't find myself wondering about other things during a ride.

alex222

Cadence, Speed, Average Speed, Distance, Gradient, Time of Day

chris_bass

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Watts, Gradient & Speed

gradient is how steep a hill is and speed is distance over time. hope that helps

StillGoing

Several screens in use and flip between them depending on what info I want to know. I'm long sighted so need as little as possible on the screens so it's in large fonts. 8)

Screen 1 - Speed, cadence, distance
Screen 2 - HR zone & bpm, speed, time duration
Screen 3 - Cadence, gradient, distance, temperature
Screen 4 - Map
Screen 5 - Cadence, HR bpm, distance, speed, time of day

Sprool

I use all 5 data screens on mine:
1) Main info - 6 data sets; speed, elapsed time, distance, grade%, HR % of max, cadence
2) summary screen, 8 fields: avg speed, max speed, distance, total ascent, avg cadence, avg HR, calories and clock
3) environment, 6 fields: distance, clock, temperature, total ascent, heading, elevation
4) Speed screen, 3 fields: speed, distance, time
5) Climbing screen, 4 fields: cadence, speed, HR % max, grade %
When you put it on training mode or course mode you get an additional 2 screens to flick through as well as the above 5. Helps keep your mind off the hills and the tired legs

Mikey23

Riding time, actual time, current speed, average speed, distance, current gradient on screen 1. That's probably all I need to know till I download

sparklehedgehog

I have these all on my first screen so don't need anything else:

Average speed
Current speed
Distance travelled
Time
Direction
HR
Cadence

FatTed

I have many screens, the only one I really use has 3 second Average power, Gradient and Cadence.

marcusjb

3s average power, heart rate (don't start Stalin!), cadence

I have some other screens setup for longer rides with distance, distance to next course point, time etc.

cougie

Chris Bass wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Watts, Gradient & Speed

gradient is how steep a hill is and speed is distance over time. hope that helps

Oh very well done ! I like it !!

gethinceri

Screen 1: Speed, Distance, Avg Speed, Grade, Time of Day
Screen 2: Temp, Total Ascent, Heading

BrandonA

I keep the number of screens to a minimum so it is easy to navigate between them. I therefore have:

Stats screen: current speed; average speed; current heart rate; current cadence; ride duration; gradient and distance

On the map screen: speed and heart rate

supermurph09

Screen 1 - Cadence (largest widget), HR, Speed, Distance and Time.
Screen 2 - Cadence,HR and Time of Day

Very rarely go to screen 2.

chris_bass

cougie wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Watts, Gradient & Speed

gradient is how steep a hill is and speed is distance over time. hope that helps

Oh very well done ! I like it !!

I thank you!

Vslowpace

I have my screens set up in line with what i'm doing.

If it's a general ride it's duration, speed, avg speed, distance, HR & time of day
chain gang - duration, speed and avg speed
turbo - HR, HR zone, cadence, speed & distance

Colinthecop

Cadence seems very popular, something i've never really thought about using...

wandsworth

Screen 1 (general commuting): speed, HR, elapsed time
Screen 2 (Richmond Park laps): speed, HR, distance, lap time

slowbike

Colinthecop wrote:

Cadence seems very popular, something i've never really thought about using...

Cadence is quite handy - I use it to get the bike to go forwards ....

Colinthecop

Ah, here in the Highlands we use the wind and the hills. 8)

slowbike

bit of an arse if the wind is blowing down the hill then ....

rpherts

HR, Cadence, Average speed, current speed, distance, time, total elevation, current elevation, gradient, estimated time until bonk.

The last one isn't true.

BrandonA

I'm surprised people have time of day. This always seemed pointless to me. I know when I start my ride and I know how long I've been riding. I also plan my routes before hand so know how long I will be ouT and therefore roughly when I will get home. This stat therefore seems surplus to requirement.

slowbike

But if you're just cruising ?

wavefront

Primary screen for training

Power (30s)
Power (3s)
Power zone
Heart zone
Np
Current lap time

Second screen for overall stats in case I want to know during a ride.

Elapsed time
Distance
Ascent

Have up wanting to know my av speed ages ago!

whitestar1

sparklehedgehog wrote:

I have these all on my first screen so don't need anything else:

Average speed
Current speed
Distance travelled
Time
Direction
HR
Cadence

Me too, for a moment I thought I was strange when I read the thread, all those screens other riders are using. I just don't want to spend too much time looking down on the screen for information when my eyes should be on the road.

ManOfKent

I have three screens:
1. Current speed (at the top), distance travelled, elapsed time, cadence, heart rate.
2. Current speed, time, average speed.
3. Heart rate, current speed, gradient, cadence, elevation.

As you can guess, the first one is on display most of the time. I flip to the second one when I'm trying not to obsess about the numbers or want to know the time (useful when I ride in the evenings and adjust my route to be home by a certain time). The third one is for climbing of course, although sometimes the elevation offers false hope that I'm near the top.

chris_bass

BrandonA wrote:

I'm surprised people have time of day. This always seemed pointless to me. I know when I start my ride and I know how long I've been riding. I also plan my routes before hand so know how long I will be ouT and therefore roughly when I will get home. This stat therefore seems surplus to requirement.

I have time of day on mine so I know how late for work I am!!

also with 5 screens of 8 fields that gives 40 different bits of data possible so why not? the more numbers the better