Garmin Night

I was able to attend a Garmin Night at Landry's last week. Dave from Garmin was there, giving insights into products as well as updates. My big interest was in the Vector, the Edge 800, the Forerunner 910 and Garmin Connect.

Vector - I love the idea of a pedal-based power meter - a lot easier to swap between road and trainer bikes. I'm curious about how power will equate between hub systems and pedal systems - will my 150 watts measure out the same (that is, will I get an immediate bump in my power output as it is measured directly - didn't get a chance to ask this)? Also, downside is I'm a big Speedplay fan, and it's Look compatible. Still looking at a January ship date. Guess they didn't want any benefit from launching over the holidays...

Edge 800 - I use this and love it. Found some new functionality I didn't even know I had. Also had a chance to look at someone's 705. Glad I didn't purchase that...

Forerunner 910xt - as my 405cx is giving me issues, and only has 8 hours of battery time (good for Challenge Roth, bad for Kona), I am interested. Plus, I like the better swim tracking, as my current tracks are rather comical. The ship date keeps slipping due to one component supplier stuffing up. The most I could pin Dave down was 'Spring' - which makes it a great birthday gift for me.

I admit, when it comes to Garmin Connect (their free, web-based product), I have not taken the time to really explore. Dave spent a few minutes on some of the new functionality, and it's nice. Maybe not as multi-functional as Strava, and (as best I could tell) it doesn't give you what category your local hill is, but it works and is easy to use. I now can also check out local routes to get me out of my 'all right turns' ride.

Best part? My buddy Vinnie was there.




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