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Incident Detection Overly Sensitive

Reports of over-sensitivity have percolated through these forums for a long time. I'm on the most current firmware and, unfortunately, any time it rains and I brake even reasonably hard with my front brake, the vibration sets off the incident detection alert. I have disc brakes on a Trek road bike -- and the rotor does not appear to be out of true. Dangerous situation because I end up relying solely on my back brake in the rain more than is ideal.

Anyone else experience this?

  • I came here to share the same experience: a wet front disc brake will without fail sets off incident detection on my Edge 520. It tends to happen in traffic, at stop signs and red lights, when there are cars all around me expecting me to proceed through the intersection, which is about the worst time I can think of to be distracted by a whooping alert and forced to pull to the side and fumble with tiny buttons through wet gloves, trying to avoid having my wife get a false alarm when she's already worried about me because of the bad weather I'm riding in.

    So because this potentially lifesaving feature ends up actually increasing my risk level by demanding attention at the most inopportune times, and increasing my wife's risk of panic attack, I've had no choice but to turn it off.

    Seems like the vibration profile of a crash would be very different than the hum of a wet brake, and it wouldn't be that hard for a sensor to tell them apart.

  • Yep. I think the new GPS update has made it worse - seems to be going off every time I come to halt at traffic lights, but amusingly didn't go off this morning when I did crash going over the bars avoiding a pedestrian that stepped out in front of me...

    I've turned it off now, as it appears to be completely non-functional.

  • I've found the same thing, and came here looking to see if anyone had posted a solution (besides turning it off).

    Commuting to work via a Fat Bike this winter, and if my front disc brake is slightly damp and chatters, it sets it off every time. Currently using organic resin type pads and waiting for sintered to arrive as I've found way less chatter when wet with sintered disc pads ... if your rotors will allow them to be used.

  • Same, riding in the rain it goes off almost every time I stop. 

  • And as I was reminded this morning (in the rain), you can turn it off, but it doesn't stay that way for long. When I got to work I tried something new: using the Connect app to remove the emergency contact. That produces a warning that claims Incident Detection will be disabled... we can only hope! Worst case the siren goes off and annoys me, but it won't be able to scare my wife or anyone else with a message saying I'm dead in a ditch.

    But hey Garmin, here's an idea: what if the unit would take starting to move again within the 30 second window as a sign that this was a false alarm, so the alert should be cancelled without the rider having to take their hands off the handlebars to fiddle with buttons? That would make sense, because a rider that starts riding again is probably not hurt at all, and the bike is OK enough to ride, and if they are hurt they are still OK enough to ride, meaning that if they do need some help they are OK enough to call for help themselves. I can't think of a realistic situation where I've been incapacitated but I'm still moving.

    (OK, maybe I'm stuck to the front grille of a semi that plows right through me and keeps on truckin'. I guess that could happen... but would the incident detection even detect that? From what I can tell there has to be a vibration AND a stopping of motion.)

  • For me it doesn't even require rain.  I started out from a light, clicked in smoothly, turned left, got a warning before I finished crossing the (rather small) intersection.  Navigating the cancellation process wasn't hard, but doing it while riding uphill in traffic wasn't great.  It doesn't trigger on rough road or when I lay the bike on the ground, so why then?

  • It is also my case. I suffered this problem with the 820 as well, and never had a solution. Thus I guess it is too difficult for Garmin.

  • It's the most useless feature. 

    The Edge830 is connected to the bike... so logic would say if the bike is moving uphill, going round corners changing speed... it's not likely to be doing that by itself. So why make me take my hand off the controls to silence the thing?!

  • I have multiple stoplights at beginning and end of my ride, and it seems the incident detection is tripped at one or another of them virtually every ride. No weather issues - this is SoCal. What a pain. 

  • It is also my case and it don't seems to be due to weather conditions. Each time I have a vigorous stop the incident detection is activated

    I'm using firmware 7.0