Garmin Vivoactive 3 review

Work-in-progress! Check back regularly for updates.

It looks like 2020 is the year I've let loose on my acquisition program. Yes, I finally got myself a smart watch and it isn't an Apple Watch.

Why a Garmin instead of an Apple?

• Cost. No, I don't have infinite amounts of dough. At about half the price of an Apple Watch, this seemed to be a reasonable purchase. You do have to give up features like a high resolution OLED display, Apple Pay, a ton of iOS apps and the jewel like build of an Apple device. But I can live with that.
• Battery life. With a published best case battery life of 7 days in watch mode and 13 hours in GPS mode, it seemed to fit my needs better. I don't normally wear a watch and only do so for activity tracking. My plan is to use this as a heartrate sensor (broadcasting to an Edge 1030) while cycling and to track my runs with GPS.
• Sweet spot. The Garmin Forerunner 35 would be cheaper at SGD130 (for versions with brightly coloured bands, black costs more...) instead of SGD200 (could have gotten the silver bezel version for SGD175, but I really prefer a less conspicuous look). But it is black and white only, has half the display resolution, no touch screen, and doesn't look quite as good as the Vivoactive 3. Admittedly, it lasts 2 days longer in watch mode and has the same heartrate sensor and GPS features.

Initial impressions

When I received the box from the delivery guy, I thought he had handed me an empty box. The watch is light for its size. Noticeable lighter than the wife's Apple Watch. It looks well made, but workman-like, not in any way flashy. Other than the metal bezel, everything else is a matt black plastic. There's a heartrate sensor on the rear with 3 green LEDs, encircled by a metal ring. There is a charge/sync connector above the heartrate sensor.

Heading out for a slow run

Hmm... why isn't it registering my stair climbing?

Just last night, I came back from another slow run and cooled off by walking up and down the stairs. And for some reason, the stair counter would not increment. Tried a few more times. Still no dice. Took off the watch, wiped it down. No dice. Sync'd with phone, wiped again, gave it a few gentle taps. And viola! Stair count reactivated! No idea what happened there. When it does increment, it is accurate. One floor counted for every climb up the single flight of stairs. About 3m worth of altitude gain.

Battery weirdness and charging

Charging the watch is simple. Just plug one end of the supplied cable into a USB-A port and the other end into the receptable on the back of the watch (that thing with 4 silvery dots you see in the picture). It went from 50% to 100% in less than an hour.

Here's the funny thing. I switched off the watch. The next morning, when I turn it on, it says 90% battery. Weird. So I give it another charge and leave the watch on and now after almost 8 hours, it's down to 96%. Does that mean it uses less power when it is switched on? How could that be? Unless it didn't really shut down but went into some strange mode.

2021-01-27: Update on the battery issue. Googling revealed that some folks have had good success avoiding high battery drain when the watch is switched off. Before switching off the watch, disable the phone connectivity. Press and hold the button to get to the controls menu, press on the icon with a phone/Bluetooth symbol so that it's grayed out. Then press on the power icon to switch off the watch. I've tried this and it appears to work. Another method is to powerdown the watch by pressing and holding down the button for 10 seconds.

Watch faces

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A Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 1 (2021) Review

Check back regularly for updates. This is a work in progress...

After about 19 years, I've finally decided to spoil myself with a new bicycle.

But why a gravel bike?

• Fat tyres. I've toyed with the idea of buying a road bike with wider tyres for a long time. Wider tyres mean lower pressures and greater comfort. Also, it means you can roll over metal gratings with wild abandon, without having to steer at a 45-degree angle to avoid dropping your wheels into the gaps. And the occasional excursion over rough terrain can be undertaken without the slightest hesitation.
• Drop bars. More hand positions on long rides is always a good thing. Straight bars begin to hurt after a while and need bar ends. But then you can't go aero with straight bars without clamping on a pair of TT bars. And that just looks like a mess. Not to mention the weight.
• Lots of mounts. Bosses for 3 water bottle cages! Mount points for mudguards and racks. Unfortunately, this iteration does not have bosses for anything cages.
• One bike to rule them all. I can only buy and maintain one bicycle. Singapore is not exactly overrun by singletrack, although there is some. I dream of bikepacking someday.

So why the Giant Revolt?

Well, because I ruled out the following bikes:

• BMC URS 01 Two. The URS 01 One is way out of my budget. Even this one at USD6499. It is configured with a single chainring and I wanted a two ring setup for versatility and closer ratios.
• Cannondale Topstone Carbon. Nice. But expensive and heavy because of the rear suspension. For long term reliability, I thought it best to keep it simple.
• Canyon Grail. Finally great value for money. Decent weight. But just can't get over that double-decker hoverbar...
• Specialized Diverge. Really nice and really expensive. Threaded bottom is a really good idea. But the thought of maintaining a shock in the headset and the additional weight that brings is not so appealing.



I had been thinking of turning my 19 year old Principia MAC SL into a gravel bike with some drop bars. But the STI levers from Gevenalle needed for this conversion aren't exactly cheap. Normal STI levers wouldn't work because MTB v-brakes have different pull ratios. However, after conducting extensive thought experiments, I decided to get a gravel bike instead. I definitely wanted a bike with drop bars and fatter-than-normal tyres so I wouldn't have to scrutinize the road ahead with laser focus and so that the fillings wouldn't get rattle out of my teeth. Plus the idea of going bikepacking some day really appealed to me. After looking around for a bit and eliminating the options on a very short shortlist, the Giant Revolt Advanced 0 came up as the eventual winner. A Giant TCR would have been at least a kilogram lighter at the same price point, but not quite as fun or as versatile.

Seeing that it wasn't a cheap bicycle, I thought it would be wise to test one out at an LBS instead of ordering one sight unseen. It probably was a good idea since, according to the sizing charts, I could go for a size M or M/L. The M/L would be taller at the front, but quite a bit more stretched out, especially with the 100mm stem instead of the 90mm on the M. The only way to know for sure was to ride both M and M/L sizes. So I headed to the LBS (Tay Junction) to check out the sizing. It turned out that M was a much better fit. Size M/L was definitely too stretched out. And the lower frontend was easily made up for by flipping the stem. There was just one problem -- they didn't have the Advanced 0, only the Advanced 2 and the Advanced Pro 1. Since I wanted a double chainring set up, I had to upgrade. So that's my excuse for ending up with a higher end model. And it would have been poor form to test ride at the LBS but purchase the bicycle from another retailer.

First impressions

After a couple of rides I was thinking: this is nice! Smooth, plush ride, yet eager to accelerate. Responsive, yet stable. Seemingly opposing qualities in one and the same bicycle. The price to pay is weight. About 8.5kg stock with MKS style generic pedals. What does one get by moving up to the Advanced Pro 1? Shimano Di2 GRX, fully composite seatpost with micro-adjust tilt, composite handlebars and Praxis Zayante 48/32 carbon cranks instead of GRX 48/31. You do lose a little range on the low-end, but the Praxis is lighter and still shifts well. Basically more carbon bits and electronic shifting. And the frame comes in a different colour - a sort of copperish, purplish metallic chameleon look depending on the ambient lighting. Not really my thing, but friends and family seem to like it.

A little more depth

Frame and fork

I remember thinking how weird a Giant compact road frame looked when they first released it way back. It seemed to lack the elegance of a classic road frame with a horizontal top tube. The look has somehow grown on me over the years and it is now widely copied by many other companies. The Revolt takes the compact frame design to the extreme with an almost XC mountain bike slope to the top tube and dropped seat stays. About the limit of what I would still consider to be a fairly good looking design. Looks aside, it does allow for more clearance when you dismount from the bike. The downside is having less space in the triangle for a backpacking frame bag. No problem fitting two water bottles in the frame.

The downtube has a rectangularish cross section. Tapering from a width of 60mm at the bottom bracket to 50mm at the headtube and about 50mm deep throughout -- although the shaping of the tubes, how the curves and flat surfaces are placed, gives the impression that it is more rectangular. Not quite as wide as the 2021 TCR. There's a third set of water bottle bosses on the underside of the downtube. The lower third of the underside is also covered with a glued on black rubber shield to protect against rock strikes.

The downtube and toptube flare into the headtube creating a really beefy junction. I wonder if this was motivated by aesthetics or structural considerations? The crown of the fork is sculpted to match the headtube when steering straight ahead. The fork is colour matched on the inside surfaces that face the wheel and a black on the outside. There are two threaded holes in the fork. One next to the thru axle and the other midway up the fork. I am guessing one or both are for mudguards and/or some sort of low-rider rack.

Seatpost

Several components of the build helped convince me to decide on the Advanced Pro 1 over the Advanced 0 (other than the fact that the latter was only available through a parallel importer). The seatpost on the Advanced Pro 1 is the Contact SLR D-fuse. This is a full carbon construction that weighs in at 185g. The Advanced 0 is furnished with the Contact D-fuse composite that has a carbon tube but an alloy seatclamp. And from what I have read somewhere, is not only heavier, but does not offer continuously adjustable saddle angle adjustment. I could be wrong on the second point. The SLR seatpost is also compatible with oval rails. You may want to keep this in mind if you intend to upgrade your saddle to one with composite rails.

Shifting

Oh that annoying creak...

On the fourth or fifth ride, the Revolt starting to make faint clicking or creaking noises occasionally when putting down torque on the pedals. It would disappear when coasting and did seem to be less detectable when peddling off the seat. Brought it back to the shop. At first I thought it might be me not torquing down the seatpost clamp bolt sufficiently after fitting the new saddle. The shop guy fixed that, but the clicks/creaks were still there. And I was really hoping it wasn't the bottom bracket. They seemed quite confident that it wasn't. So the pedals got tightened and finally the through-axles. It turned out to be the rear through axle that was the culprit. Who would have thought? Hopefully, I will continue to ride in blissful silence from this point on.

Tubeless tyres!

Upgrade



Gave in and replaced the stock Giant Approach saddle weighing 310g with a 130g Selle Italia SLR Carbonio Flow S2 saddle. The Selle Italia has far less padding but a narrower shape that fits better. It has actually been quite comfortable. Plus, they were on sale at Wiggle for SGD118. Amazing deal. The bonus is that Shadowfax is now 8.3kg with generic pedals. Or about 8.0kg sans pedals. Quite a good weight if you compare with offerings from Canyon and Specialized.

At some point, I should probably give clipless pedals a go. Maybe a pair of Xpedo SPD's to go with Shimano cycling sandals. No it's not the greatest look, but I like sandals. But for now, I'm happy with old school pedals.

If you look carefully at the photo on the right, you'll notice that installing the saddle requires a 10mm wrench and a 5mm hex key. You can still make do without the 10mm wrench if you first loosen the hex bolt and then you can rotate the other bolt with your bare fingers before re-tightening the hex bolt. But that takes a little more guess work to adjust your saddle. But at least it is still possible. You may encounter an issue where you do not have sufficient clearance to use a 10mm spanner and have to resort to this method. The advantage though, it that the saddle clamps clamp from top and bottom so that it is compatible with oval carbon rails which tend to be ovalised vertically (i.e. the rails are narrower but taller).

The Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 1.

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Garmin Edge 1030 Plus review

Work-in-progress! Check back regularly for updates.

Finally pulled the trigger and bought this on Cyber Monday. Hope to make the most of an expensive toy. This mid-life crisis is really kicking in. Thought I'd start putting down a few thoughts while waiting for this to arrive.

Why get a cycling computer when a smartphone will do?

• Rugged. Not that iPhones are flimsy, but I like my phones to last a long time and having them bounce around on the handlebars under the blazing sun with the display brightness cranked up all the way probably doesn't do any favours for longevity. Turning off the display would help, but you won't get realtime metrics. I've also read some reports describing a degradation of camera autofocus after prolonged use on a bicycle mount.
• Battery life. With display always on, the Garmin should out last any phone in the daytime -- thanks to its transflective display. The ability to track for 24 hours or more should have most epic rides covered. And if that isn't enough, you can spring for the Garmin Charge Power Pack.
• Uninterrupted tracks. My pocket has a habit of triggering unwanted key-presses that can prematurely terminate a Runkeeper session. This has happened more than once to the disappointment of fellow riders who were hoping for a record of their adventures. I keep the phone in my pocket because I don't like it bouncing around on the handlebars. The other thing that happens is I pause tracking at a tea stop and forget to resume the track after the break. If battery life isn't an issue, one can just leave the device to track continuously.
• Subscription free. Most cycling apps on the iPhone are now subscription based. And the subscription costs can amount to several hundred dollars over the lifetime of a Garmin cycling computer. Sure, you can use most apps without subscribing to the advanced features, but that can be fairly limiting. As with all Garmin devices, you get to sync with Garmin Connect. This is both a phone app and a backend somewhat like most fitness apps except maybe not as strong in the social aspect. Interestingly, this savings from having to pay subscriptions is something most reviewers don't talk about.
• Worldwide maps with Garmin heatmap. The Edge 1030 Plus comes with access to worldwide maps (except for Asia). Previously, you had to roll your own maps from Openstreemaps if you needed maps outside the area from which you purchased the device. These are now included. Plus you get Garmin's cycling heatmaps which are an overlay of popular cycling routes gathered from Garmin's Connect backend. Only the Edge 1030 Plus has access to worldwide maps. Which is one of the reasons I got this model rather than the Edge 830, which would have been lighter and smaller. Well, that and the fact that the Edge 830 was sold out at the time I placed my order.

Where to get one

Prices on Amazon barely budged after a couple of months. No deals appeared over the Black Friday weekend. So I decided to go local and ordered from Parisilk via Lazada for 7% off the usual list price. The unit was delivered 48 hours after I ordered. Good service!

Setting up the new toy

This section isn't meant to be a comprehensive how-to, but more of a diary recording some of the stuff you need to do to get things up and running with the Garmin Edge 1030 Plus. I use an iPhone, so if you're in the Android camp, this may not work for you.

The zeroth thing (before you even unbox your shiny new toy) you should do is to install the Garmin Connect app on your phone, register for an account if you don't already have one and sign in. Sort of like what you need to do when setting up your Apple products.

If you're an Edge noob like I am, we'll need to configure everything from scratch rather than migrating settings from an older unit. Fire up the Garmin Connect app, unbox your toy and power it up by pressing on the button at the left edge of the device. If I remember correctly, it will then prompt you to configure your wifi and pair with your Garmin Connect app. Just make sure you have your wifi password handy and also Bluetooth enabled on your phone. Just remember to follow on-screen instructions and keep an eye on both your Edge and your phone because prompts and notifications can pop up on either device as you complete the setup process.

Oh, and my unit powered on with 92% battery capacity right out of the box. A nice touch. You can start doing stuff without first needing to plug it into the charger.

Taking the Edge for a walk

Took the Edge out for an after dinner stroll. Didn't feel like taking the bike out on the rain soaked streets. And thought I should take my time getting to know this one.

So I powered up the unit, waited about 10-20 seconds for the GPS to acquire lock and pushed on the start/stop button. This starts a track with your default activity profile. The track looked spot on and followed me around 90-degree corners without cutting corners on any of them.

One thing I soon discovered was that the screen kept shutting off. It turned out to be the Power Save mode. If you want your screen to stay on, go to Menu (the soft button at the bottom left of the activity screen marked with three stripes) --> Battery Save Mode and toggle Enable off. I would like to be able to glance down while cycling to read off data without having to touch the screen to wake it up.

Initial impressions

The last time I owned a cycling computer was more than a decade ago. It was a basic Cateye wired model. So this Garmin is a big step up.

Look and feel

The Edge 1030 Plus is a great example of understated design. It has a pleasant, clean outline, just like a phone on the front. There are no buttons on the front, just a screen. The power button lies on the left edge and a lap button and a start/stop button on the bottom edge. It is smaller in length and breadth than the first generation iPhone SE, but 2.5 times as thick (in part thanks to the mount that protrudes from the back by a couple of millimetres. I think it looks a lot nicer than a Wahoo. Maybe I'm biased. The whole thing feels solid in your hands and has some heft when you pick it up. Even though the entire case is made from plastic, it doesn't feel creaky or flimsy at all.

Mounting

Display

Here is where you need to set your expectations correctly. It has no where near the colour fidelity nor the resolution of a modern smart phone. What it does have is good visibility in bright sunlight without needing the backlight and good visibility at night with the backlight enabled. Data fields display very crisply. The maps on the other hand, are passable but not great. There isn't enough resolution or display area to do maps any justice. But they are there in case you really need them and it is good enough for you to follow routes or figure a way out in an emergency, but not very useful for planning routes. That is best left to a proper laptop or desktop or tablet.

Maps

More settings

First ride

Battery

Dropped 1% from 88% to 87% over the duration of a ride that lasted 45 minutes. Let's be conservative and say maybe it was actually from 88.49% to 86.50% drop which would mean 1.99%. I guess that's not too bad. Note that I only had GPS, no Galileo and no Glonass, no backlight on, display always on and only a Vivoactive 3 heart rate sensor connected. Data recording interval was set to "Smart" and battery save mode was disabled since I wanted to have the display always on. The backlight was set to time out after 15 seconds.

Garmin Edge 1030 Plus with box and out-front mount.

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