Anyone switch away from a Garmin? (Bike Computer)

[wasfast]

Yet another Wahoo Elemnt Bolt convert. It replaces a Garmin 500 from 2010. I was torn between the 520 and the Elemnt Bolt but totally happy with it now that I've had it a couple months.

My main priority was display readability and while not color, the e-ink is really great in full sun. I don't use much of the other features like mapping, turn by turn, workouts etc. More of a fancy data logger really.

Recommended.

[lukeheller]

+1 for ELEMNT BOLT. Tossed my Garmin 810 to the curb and haven't looked back.


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[supercharger]

I tried the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt after using a Garmin 820.

First impression is it looks cool. Initial setup of the actual unit was straight forward but trying connect to my home network was time consuming and frustrating; ultimately it never connected. I was only able to complete an update when connected to a different network. I couldn’t use my smartphone as a hotspot because I needed the phone to access the Bolt.

I’m disappointed that the Garmin and Barfly mounts don’t work with the Bolt. Also am disappointed that the extra Bolt mount uses tie wraps and not reusable rubber bands. I would like to have a mount that can be moved from bike to bike.

I prefer having dedicated screens. I thought I would like the ‘zoom’ feature of the Bolt but found it to be cumbersome.

The mapping feature of the Bolt is very basic.

I don’t like being locked into using Strava (which I don’t use) or RWGPS. I find using the Garmin Connect easy and straight forward. Uploading routes into the Garmin 820 is easy compared to my experience with the Bolt.

The Bolt would be a good upgrade from a simple cycling computer such as a CatEye or similar but IMHO the Garmin 820 is superior to the Bolt.

I couldn't rid myself of the Bolt fast enough.

[shoota]

I'm going to have to seriously look at the Bolt, I have been way less than thrilled with both of my Garmins.

[jruhlen1980]

Originally Posted by supercharger

I’m disappointed that the Garmin and Barfly mounts don’t work with the Bolt.

Not sure I understand -- I have a barfly 4 and it came with adapters for the Bolt?

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by jruhlen1980

Not sure I understand -- I have a barfly 4 and it came with adapters for the Bolt?

My barfly mount works with wahoo.

[dem]

Barfly 1.0 (and maybe 1.5, there seemed to be a weird half iteration) were Garmin only, Barfly 2.0+ with the removable pucks has a Wahoo puck available (if you bought your Barfly before they came out) and the new ones come with a whole bag of different adapters.

And yeah, I'm in the "no more grage inducing Garmin" club too - 1+ year with the ELEMNT, not a single rage incident where it did something annoying or insane. It just works.

[madsciencenow]

My garmin 1000 has worked pretty well but always been a bit glitchy with BT and WiFi.

More recently I have had an infinite amount of problems with my stages and the 1000. I initially thought it was the stages and I did end up having a gen 1 stages rebuilt as part of the trouble shooting process but have concluded that the garmin is the real problem. One reason I haven’t switched to a wahoo element is that I have so much invested in garmin. I have a varia headlight, radar light, multiple speed and cadence sensors, mounts, and a couple HR monitors. I recognize the lights are a bust if I switch but will the sensors or the HR monitors work with Wahoo?

Any first hand experience with someone switching from a 1000 to an element plus stages PMs would be of interest.


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[dbnm]

I just bought the Elemnt and I am very happy with it after a couple of rides.

Perfect size for me and the set up was incredibly easy.

[bentaco]

It's good to hear that Wahoo has put out a viable competitor to Garmin computers. The user interface on the 520 is nice, but I've always felt like it could be improved (specifically with regards to configuring data screens). I'll be looking closely at Wahoo's offerings if my 520 ever dies.

[Likes2ridefar]

I went from a bolt to a 1000 and prefer the 1000. the bolt navigation was unreliable and difficult at times to follow. The 1000, while not as easy to use on the fly, like seeing the route on my phone and sending it to the computer, works better for me when navigating.

If the bolt used google maps in its app I probably would not be switching, it just didn’t find the nice cycling routes all over the area I live in and liked to try shortcuts through parking lots that were difficult to follow then when off route it was a hassle to adjust...

I don’t use the bike computer for anything but navigation so take that for what it’s worth. If I don’t need nav I leave it at home and record the ride with my Apple Watch instead.