Fenix and Edge Integration

One technological hurdle is the fact that many of the features you want to use in your F5 rely on R-R intervals which are not even recorded/preserved by your 820.

Firstbeat indicates it IS possible to record R-R intervals on many devices, although it is not the default for any product before F5/935: https://support.firstbeat.com/en/support/solutions/articles/9000061051-how-to-upload-measurements-from-selected-garmin-devices

There is a clear disconnect here. Some people are saying "There is a solution, you just have to work for it." (workaround of running two devices at the same time) and others are saying "It's technically possible, and I've given Garmin a lot of money, so they should make it JUST WORK!". I think both are valid responses, but I am very much in the second camp.

So, Garmin, if you are listening, I am an F3 owner, and I am waiting to buy my F5X until it will take into account the workouts I have done on my Edge 820!

Shep

Okay, here is a question about a different workaround, which despite my comment on the last post, WOULD make me satisfied.

If I do log my HRV R-R data on the Edge 820, can I copy the fit file from the 820 over to the F5 and somehow get it to refresh the Firstbeat Analytics?

Again, reference from Firstbeat on how to capture R-R: https://support.firstbeat.com/en/support/solutions/articles/9000061051-how-to-upload-measurements-from-selected-garmin-devices

I've occasionally run two devices as well, but how annoying it is really depends on how much you're biking. Commuting back and forth to work, it's just not worth it to manage both batteries and start and stop both devices. And yeah as you pointed out, trashing the bike computer data likely means trashing manual lap data, which for me is important since part of my ride is slower than the rest.

More importantly I'd still argue that, while it's obviously possible to use a watch and a computer together, it's still a workaround. A workaround for the fact that Garmin Connect is not actually connecting Garmins.

Garmin Connect is a hub and spoke model and in that regard now TrueUp is implemented for some data it is starting to work.

A possible way for Garmin to achieve the synchronisation is to broadcast events such button presses over ANT+, and allow devices to receive these as events in the way that HR can be broadcast from devices with optical HR.

However, I think this problem is already solved in another way, and that is with the remote display ANT+ protocol e.g. Varia Vision.

So maybe the answer is to have a mode in Edge devices that allows them to act as a remote display and allow button pushes and gestures on the Edge to be sent back to the host device (Fenix 5), which would be a useful feature for triathletes in particular.

If I do log my HRV R-R data on the Edge 820, can I copy the fit file from the 820 over to the F5 and somehow get it to refresh the Firstbeat Analytics?

If you want your Fenix to know about a bike ride, you have to record the ride with your Fenix. Full stop.

Garmin might change that tomorrow, or they might change that never. A few people freaked out about this when the Fenix 3 was released, too; two years have gone by and nothing has changed. Garmin has never hinted that they would make this possible. Nobody in this forum knows for sure what the future holds, but I wouldn't count on a new feature being introduced that hasn't been advertised, especially when it would require great effort to implement and few people care.

On the other hand, you can get the Firstbeat analytics today by using your Fenix the way it was intended to be used.

On the other hand, you can get the Firstbeat analytics today by using your Fenix the way it was intended to be used.

Hi NorthCascades, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you... I'm just pointing out that we have different perspectives on what value Garmin ought to provide for our money. I bought an F2 one month before the F3 came out. I immediately sold it for a big loss and bought an F3 and was very happy for a while. As I started to build out my Garmin-manufactured bike gear (Vector 2S, Varia tail light, remote control), I realized that the Fenix series isn't actually a very good bike computer for several reasons. 1) it does not support many of the cycling specific accessories. 2) It doesn't show as much data. 3) until the 5X it did not offer turn-by-turn navigation. 4) The 5X is actually more expensive by a fair bit, and I don't want to trash a $700 device in a mountain bike crash. The 820 makes me slightly less nervous.

So, I suggest that the F5 is not designed to be a bike computer, but to fill in for one if you don't want to do all of the things that the Edge series does well. I'm not telling you that your use case is wrong, but please don't tell those of us who value the features of the Edge series are wrong either.

Thanks,
Shep

So maybe the answer is to have a mode in Edge devices that allows them to act as a remote display and allow button pushes and gestures on the Edge to be sent back to the host device (Fenix 5), which would be a useful feature for triathletes in particular.

This is a cool idea, and definitely appealing if a more comprehensive solution is not in the cards. Assuming the Fenix 5 can maintain a strong enough signal to the Edge...

but I wouldn't count on a new feature being introduced that hasn't been advertised, especially when it would require great effort to implement and few people care.

You bring up good points but unless you have access to data that others don't, I question the statement that "few people care" about their Fenix and Edge talking to each other. Anecdotally I've seen this come up fair amount in DC Rainmaker comments, and as you pointed out, this was discussed a lot when the Fenix 3 came out. I would suggest that in the past this didn't matter so much, but now maybe people are like, "wow the Fenix has all these cool new features that help me train; why doesn't my $400 bike computer work with this?"

The more Garmin introduces cool new features like Training Status that give you a picture of your overall training, the more these questions will naturally be asked, because syncing multiple devices suddenly becomes more valuable.

definitely appealing if a more comprehensive solution is not in the cards.

Most of the functionality on the e.g. 820 is on the Fenix . If you want navigation then you would still do that on the Edge natively. Otherwise you would use the Fenix for everything else, and if you have the 5X then maybe you just use the Fenix for everything.

Not sure what a more comprehensive solution would really give you. What did you have in mind?

Not sure what a more comprehensive solution would really give you. What did you have in mind?

Display mode is a cool idea. My ideal "comprehensive" solution is just the original post about having the devices just pull each other's workouts from Garmin Connect. But if that never happens some sort of display mode could be a good option. The drawback is just that you have to deal with and think about two devices instead of one, and the inherent complexity that comes with syncing them in real time.