Simple vs techy—-Wahoo Element Bolt vs Garmin Edge 530

Paul H said:
Oh... ok... so this is just a Garmin hate thread? Gotcha.
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It wasn’t intended to but has migrated that way. The original issues have occurred over and over now. I guess need simple.God bless anyone willing to put up with this on a $300 device.
 
Dave Taylor said:
It wasn’t intended to but has migrated that way. The original issues have occurred over and over now. I guess need simple.God bless anyone willing to put up with this on a $300 device.
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It always sucks when you get a defective unit.
Sometimes, not worth the headache and just go with what works for you.
 
Dave Taylor said:
It wasn’t intended to but has migrated that way. The original issues have occurred over and over now. I guess need simple.God bless anyone willing to put up with this on a $300 device.
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I get it. I had the same experience with the 820 and sold it after 2 months for $100. I wanted to smash it with a hammer.

But the Strava & Trailforks integrations with the 530 are priceless to me now since we travel a bunch and do planned routes. It can be a bit much trying to navigate everything on the unit some days.
 
jShort said:
Macbooks use usb type C. Which is what all new android phones and iPad pros use. You can get a type C to micro usb cable for less than 10 from Amazon.
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When I got my S20, I didn't know about that adapter and my life was a disaster without my Skullcandy Sport Earbuds. The stock Samsung earbuds are poop.
 
Dave Taylor said:
Not worth it. I’m a blue collar guy that doesn’t want to spend a day setting the unit up. The bolt is so simple it’s awesome. Wish the nav issue didn’t work me up. Everyone I know says “yea, the garmin takes sone time to set yp and it can be frustrating”. Not for me.
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i mean my garmin took me all of 5 minutes to setup, i still think you either got a defective unit, or the problem is you. . . . . but to each their own.

it would certainly be nice if garmin would save your screen setups/settings and give you the option to copy them to a new device, but not a huge deal.
 
shrpshtr325 said:
i mean my garmin took me all of 5 minutes to setup, i still think you either got a defective unit, or the problem is you. . . . . but to each their own.

it would certainly be nice if garmin would save your screen setups/settings and give you the option to copy them to a new device, but not a huge deal.
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The Bolt is much easier to set up with your phone.... like stupid easy.
But it cant do shit without your phone while the Garmin can stand alone w/o a phone.
Pros and cons....
 
Dave - send it up to me, i'll mess with it.
If i can get it to record cleanly, you can sell it knowing it is working.

also lets me see if i want it, and can compare it to the elemnt....

I don't mind initiating the warranty replacement, if that is an option.
 
Patrick said:
Dave - send it up to me, i'll mess with it.
If i can get it to record cleanly, you can sell it knowing it is working.

also lets me see if i want it, and can compare it to the elemnt....

I don't mind initiating the warranty replacement, if that is an option.
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Yibambe!
 
shrpshtr325 said:
i mean my garmin took me all of 5 minutes to setup, i still think you either got a defective unit, or the problem is you. . . . . but to each their own.

it would certainly be nice if garmin would save your screen setups/settings and give you the option to copy them to a new device, but not a huge deal.
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The screen setups thing is a bummer for sure, and it really shouldn't be an issue - Garmin Connect does save other profile information, like your age, weight, gender, and your bikes. Seems like it should be pretty easy to map your screen setup info as well, right?

@Dave Taylor - what you are going through does sound like a warranty issue. I've had Garmins freeze before, but it was after having them for a long time and beating them up pretty bad. (You can usually unfreeze them by doing a hard reset, BTW.) If yours is freezing this soon, it's a defective unit. I'd take @Patrick up on his offer to take on the warranty replacement slog if you're that sick of it, though, because even if it is a warranty and Garmin agrees to replace it, who knows how long it could take these days to turn that around (as I'm learning at the moment with *other* equipment ...)
 
1speed said:
The screen setups thing is a bummer for sure, and it really shouldn't be an issue - Garmin Connect does save other profile information, like your age, weight, gender, and your bikes. Seems like it should be pretty easy to map your screen setup info as well, right?
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you would think it would be simple, but they dont do it, i mean once you pair it with your phone and sync the screens are the only real setup steps that i remember doing when i got my garmin :/ would have made a 5 min job into a 30sec job.
 
Close to 1 year ago, I went through the same debate on what to get Garmin v Wahoo. I had a Garmin 705 that worked pretty much as it should, with minimal issues. Yea it was old and I had to upload from a computer, but NBD. Fast forward and now I have an 830. Took a while to sync to my phone due to an iPhone 11 glitch, other than that its been great no issues.
 
Dave Taylor said:
6 of 8 rides the garmin has froze on me..
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Freezes on 6 of 8 rides? That's insane... I mean if you told me 3 out of 4, I might believe you.


I've had two Garmin Edges, going back to 2011. The 500 and the 820. Number for freezes...
1600089310216.png
 
ekuhn said:
Close to 1 year ago, I went through the same debate on what to get Garmin v Wahoo. I had a Garmin 705 that worked pretty much as it should, with minimal issues. Yea it was old and I had to upload from a computer, but NBD. Fast forward and now I have an 830. Took a while to sync to my phone due to an iPhone 11 glitch, other than that its been great no issues.
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You didn't trash garmin - please take this tripe elsewhere! 😃
 
I also have an 820 and its defintely buggy. The sheer number of firmware updates pushed since i bought it is evidence alone. Seems like every week there's a bug fix! I get the freezes, crashes, shitty battery life, awful touch screen lag and the most laughable is i cannot shut it off at the end of the ride! You hit the power off button and it only just reboots--you have to then do it a second time to shut if off properly. The first unit i bought woulnd't even pair with blutooth. Sent it back, replacement was the same! Turns out it was that stock firmware revision had a blutooth bug--had to do an update before it was even usable out of the box. *facepalm*
 
JonF said:
I also have an 820 and its defintely buggy. The sheer number of firmware updates pushed since i bought it is evidence alone. Seems like every week there's a bug fix! I get the freezes, crashes, shitty battery life, awful touch screen lag and the most laughable is i cannot shut it off at the end of the ride! You hit the power off button and it only just reboots--you have to then do it a second time to shut if off properly. The first unit i bought woulnd't even pair with blutooth. Sent it back, replacement was the same! Turns out it was that stock firmware revision had a blutooth bug--had to do an update before it was even usable out of the box. *facepalm*
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This is more like it!
 
Slightly off topic, but does anyone have tips for using TrailForks routes on the 530? I've been using the TrailForks "app" on the 530 and it's really useful but also confusing. Current issues:

-Seems to randomly change zoom levels as I'm riding
-Sometimes I have no idea what the map is centered on
-Seems to always have some kind of "virtual partner" type thing where I get confused about where I am vs where this imaginary person is (I've been loading courses from other people's TrailForks rides primarily)
-Colors of trails (corresponding to difficulty) vs my historical track vs the track that I'm trying to follow
-Direction...doesn't seem to be any arrow indicating which direction the route actually goes
-Constant "U Turn" directions popping up

Probably just need to use it more. Zero reliability issues/freezes with mine so far FWIW.
 
you are using a route, the 'virtual partner' is where the original route should be located if you were matching his pace exactly. thats all. the arrow for the partner is grey and yours is blue (iirc). (this is the garmins built in settings anyway, any route you follow on it should function very similarly)

i dont use the trailforks app on mine so im not sure about the rest of it.

u turn means it thinks you are off course and wants you to back track till your back on course
 
Yup. Feels like the TF app is a little different than the built in Garmin nav application. If there's the ability to do a TF or other trail routing through the native Garmin app that seems like it would be cleaner. Haven't been able to determine if that's the case.
 
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