One and a half months ago, I decided to get myself a specialized bike computer.

Until then, I had ridden more than 14,000 kilometers in Beautiful Bulgaria using only the navigation on my phone. Actually, for cycling navigation and GPS tracking, I used a second phone, a Motorola G7 Power, and the Android app OruxMaps.

I can speak for days and months about OruxMaps, an extremely valuable application with a full set of features necessary for complete offline navigation in any part of the world.

Paired with the super durable 5,000 mAh battery of the Motorola G7 Power, it is a super strong and reliable tandem and a faithful ally to a cyclist - a randonneur.

However, with a friend, we started dreaming of the wonder called Everesting 10K ROAM since the summer, which requires the GPS track to be recorded through a bike computer with a built-in barometer - altimeter.

To be honest, the only thing that personally was missing for me from the Motorola G7 Power + OruxMaps tandem was the lack of a temperature sensor.

And one day, I plan to try the Everesting 10K ROAM, for which I will definitely need a barometer - altimeter.

So, I started looking for some bike computer with a built-in altimeter and a built-in temperature sensor. I read hundreds of articles on the Internet, watched dozens of reviews of different models on YouTube. But I still couldn't decide exactly what model to get.

What did I have in mind?

It bothered me a lot that today's bike computers are sold at unrealistically high prices from almost all manufacturers.

What do I mean?

I was annoyed by the fact that for 300-400 BGN, today you can buy Android phones with the power and capabilities of a full-fledged desktop computer + a good camera + a very good battery + a 6.5-inch display, but those 300-400 BGN are not considered as money by the standards of bike computer manufacturers such as Garmin, Wahoo, Lezyne, Polar, Bryton, Sigma...

Well, later I realized where the difference comes from. Buying a Garmin bike computer, you are not just buying a device, but also some additional unique features.

Some of these features are actually quite valuable and I will describe them in detail below in this review.

I have no observations and impressions regarding the additional valuable things you get when buying a bike computer from other bike computer manufacturers other than Garmin.

Except perhaps from Bryton, as a cycling friend of mine from Defileto, who is desperately addicted to the adrenaline of high speeds, has a Bryton Rider 420.

:) :) :)

For example, with him I have seen that the Bryton Android application has quite interesting breakdowns and analyses of the rides.

Later on, it turned out that the Garmin Android application does not have similar valuable analyses, statistics and breakdowns for each ride.

But for Garmin, there are many other unique and very valuable functions!

After much consideration of the problem with high prices of bike computers, I initially decided to get myself some kind of second-hand Garmin.

I looked at the ads and stopped at the ad of a guy from Pernik, who buys second-hand Garmin bike computers from ebay.co.uk and probably gets them in Bulgaria with the help of a cheap shipping company from England like shopper.bg.

And so, I took a Garmin 500 from an ad on Facebook. A very compact bike computer, actually quite old, but with enough features for my needs.

Unfortunately, after my test, it turned out that the battery of this Garmin 500 lasts very little time, totally insufficient even for a 200km brevet! :(

The seller from the Facebook ad turned out to be a very honest, understanding guy and didn't make a problem to take the Garmin back the next day.

This first purchase of a bike computer, this first experience was a valuable experience!

This old small and compact Garmin 500 actually appealed to me a lot and I decided that I will get another bike computer, most likely again from the same manufacturer, but definitely a newer model.

I started digging through the auctions on ebay.co.uk, interesting applications periodically appeared, but I pondered on the following fact, if I get a bike computer that is several years old, the probability of its battery being much weaker than when it was new is quite high. And for brevets, battery life is important!

In general, when I tested that old Garmin 500 model, its limited navigation function appealed to me. The model does not support maps, but when a GPS track is entered, it follows it and leads very well where to turn left, right, etc.

On this basis, I already had clarity that map support is not particularly important to me, and on my phone, I have OruxMaps installed with all kinds of detailed offline maps! :)

I looked and looked at auctions on ebay.co.uk, but I didn't like anything that was currently being offered.

Fortunately! :)

And so I accidentally came across this detailed review on the Garmin Edge 130 in YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGe3_MxFXpg

- Look at you! - I said to myself - A small, extremely compact Garmin, only 30 g, but new, has all the features of that old Garmin 500, plus it has many other functions!

In Bulgaria, Garmin products are generally sold expensive by their official importer. They are available at the same prices in several other Bulgarian online stores.

However, it turned out that the bike computer Garmin Edge 130 can be purchased most favorably from the online store of Decathlon: 

https://www.decathlon.bg/velokompjutr-garmin-edge-130-id_8535829.html

The price difference between the official distributor of Garmin GeoTrade Ivanov Ltd. (garmin.bg) and Decathlon for the Garmin Edge 130 is 50 BGN ...

The same, but to an even greater extent, applies to the next more powerful model - Garmin Edge 530!

For the Garmin Edge 530, the price difference is now 140 BGN ... you can see that garmin.bg is not joking with prices! :)

Well, there are passengers for every train!

Perhaps the distributor for Bulgaria has decided that 140 BGN may not be significant for Bulgarian cycling enthusiasts, I don't know?

And if you get the bike computer from garmin.bg, it's probably even more high-end? Oh yeah! - and it gives some watt bonuses!

... :)

So, on a late winter evening, I placed an order from the Decathlon website and prepared to wait a long time, as usual when ordering from them.

To my huge surprise, however, my package arrived after just 2 days!

Initial configuration and additional settings

I received a very small/compact bike computer, which turned out to be, despite its small size, full of all kinds of valuable features for the cyclist - randonneur capabilities.

A true little Jedi. Just like Grogu - the little Jedi, Baby Yoda from the Star Wars series - The Mandalorian.

And so my new small, but quite powerful for its size friend, Garmin Edge 130 got its name: Grogu

... :)

I immediately registered on Garmin Connect, downloaded their application for my Android phone and started to study and test it.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/

It turned out that Garmin has developed the Connect IQ store with additional applications for devices with their operating system. The store operates on a principle similar to Google Play.

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/

The next thing I did was to browse the Garmin forum for the Garmin Edge 130:

https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/cycling/f/edge-130

From a post on the Garmin forum, I learned that the data fields on Grogu did not include a field to display data from his temperature sensor. Really? This information was one of the reasons why I bought the bike computer... :)

The solution to the problem turned out to be easy and quick. You download this "Data Field" application for an additional data field from their store: Temperature by mwimmer

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/a9c39b4a-55f5-42c3-999f-f4c543654e1a

It was quite strange, even absurd, for Garmin engineers to hide the temperature indicators in Garmin Edge 130 - Grogu...

The second extremely valuable application that I downloaded and installed on Grogu was the free application from Connect IQ: My EDGE by Stanislav.Bur:

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/4262c271-a0b7-4e7b-abc6-b9527668b027

The free My Edge application developed by programmer Stanislav.Bur is super, super cool!

It provides real information on a single display for much more than the Grogu's maximum 8 data fields.

I recommend downloading and testing both free apps above because they add a lot of valuable and default missing information to the Grogu's display.

The next important step I took was to import all my GPX tracks from my previous rides into Garmin Connect. Previously, the GPX tracks recorded by OruxMaps on my rides were on my phone, and OruxMaps uploaded them to Strava's website. Now I had a full backup of my rides on Garmin Connect.

This proved important later when I wanted to test the Segments feature on the Garmin Edge 130 Grogu without having a paid subscription to Strava.

But more on that later in my review and tests of my new friend Grogu! :)

The next important thing I learned from the Grogu forum is that although Garmin claims that its battery lasts for 15 hours, this is NOT true in practice. Of course, the durability of the battery depends on many additional factors and settings. One of the most important factors turned out to be the ambient temperature.

In cold weather, the battery life of the Garmin Edge 130 Grogu was found to be much less than the manufacturer's claimed 15 hours!!!

And for this problem, as well as for the missing temperature, there are various hacks and solutions! But more on that later! :)

My next step was to set up the necessary data fields on the display. The settings interface is intuitive, and everything is set up quickly and easily.

A valuable advantage for me personally was that everything is done with the buttons on the Grogu's body, not with a touch screen, because when working with gloves in the cold, I'm not sure how well it would work in practice...

So, everything was already set up, the display showed the information fields (Data Fields) that I needed.

Hooray! It was finally time for my first real test ride with Grogu! :)

And in a few days, it would also be Grogu's first test as a randonneur during the Ivan Hadjiyski - Troyan 200 km Permanent Brevet

Continued in the Second Part of my Garmin Edge 130 Review here: "Garmin Edge 130 - Grogu. Review from a Randonneur - Part 2"