Wahoo Element Bolt or Some Garmin Device?

bergsnj

Well-Known Member
Which do you prefer? Do any of these devices show you the trail map as you are riding? I think it would be cool to use it as turn by turn directions in the woods when in a new place. Does this even exist?
 
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rick81721

Lothar
Which do you prefer? Do any of these devices show you the trail map as you are riding? I think it would be cool to use it as turn by turn directions in the woods when in a place. Does this even exist?

I've had both, now just wahoo elemnt. Seems less buggy for me. Both give turn-by-turn directions if you download a course to follow.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Which do you prefer? Do any of these devices show you the trail map as you are riding? I think it would be cool to use it as turn by turn directions in the woods when in a new place. Does this even exist?

I'm literally testing both of them directly against each other as we speak. I've come up with a pretty good list of the pluses and minuses of each in identical situations.

20181205_082622.jpg
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
I haven't had one hiccup with my garmin 520, not sure what all the hate is about. if i was starting from scratch, i have no idea what direction i'd go in though, wahoo just sounds like such a stupid company name doe
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Here's the basic list.

Wahoo.

The Elemnt is a lot easier to set-up. The App is great and actually works. The screen is black and white but there's no glare so it's easier to read. Downsides are that it is not a stand alone unit and needs the phone to change anything route related. It's easy, but requires 2 devices, a phone and the Elemnt. Also, there's no multi-stop ride resume, each section has to be saved as it's own file.

Garmin.

Mapping is a ton better as you'd expect. The color screen allows you to see which roads are busy. It's standalone. It has a re-route function. It has multi-stop ride resume. Downsides are that they frequently glitch out and stop for no reason. Customer service sucks donkey balls. But, another huge plus is that it will mount when plugged into a computer so you can fix a corrupted file. And, the biggest plus in my book is the ability to run 3rd party maps which include off-road trails.

Overall, for the $30 extra, the Garmin 520+ is a much nicer unit.

Also, I have a week old Elemnt for sale. $200. HMU
 

rick81721

Lothar
Here's the basic list.

Wahoo.

The Elemnt is a lot easier to set-up. The App is great and actually works. The screen is black and white but there's no glare so it's easier to read. Downsides are that it is not a stand alone unit and needs the phone to change anything route related. It's easy, but requires 2 devices, a phone and the Elemnt. Also, there's no multi-stop ride resume, each section has to be saved as it's own file.

Garmin.

Mapping is a ton better as you'd expect. The color screen allows you to see which roads are busy. It's standalone. It has a re-route function. It has multi-stop ride resume. Downsides are that they frequently glitch out and stop for no reason. Customer service sucks donkey balls. But, another huge plus is that it will mount when plugged into a computer so you can fix a corrupted file. And, the biggest plus in my book is the ability to run 3rd party maps which include off-road trails.

Overall, for the $30 extra, the Garmin 520+ is a much nicer unit.

Also, I have a week old Elemnt for sale. $200. HMU

I never do multi-stop rides so not an issue for me. Agree about the mapping but rarely use that feature either. What do you mean by: "huge plus is it will mount when plugged into a computer"?
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
I never do multi-stop rides so not an issue for me. Agree about the mapping but rarely use that feature either. What do you mean by: "huge plus is it will mount when plugged into a computer"?

If the Wahoo has a corrupt file, that's it, gone. There's no way to get it out of the unit. The Garmin can be plugged into a computer and you can look through the files and upload into Strava manually. That's also how you upload 3rd party maps onto the Garmin.

Being that you need to plug either in to charge them anyway, I see less value in the Wahoo App and just upload my rides in one shot while charging.

Also not listed, but over the same route the Wahoo will continually beep that I'm off-course. For 3+ hours on Sunday I listened to that fucking thing beep.
 

rick81721

Lothar
If the Wahoo has a corrupt file, that's it, gone. There's no way to get it out of the unit. The Garmin can be plugged into a computer and you can look through the files and upload into Strava manually.

Don't think that one is true. When you plug the wahoo into the computer you can get out any of the ride files. I had a corrupt one a few months ago and did exactly that. Fixed it and good to go.
 

Steve Vai

Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
Don't think that one is true. When you plug the wahoo into the computer you can get out any of the ride files. I had a corrupt one a few months ago and did exactly that. Fixed it and good to go.

Mac or PC? Mine won't mount on my iMac.
 

goldsbar

Well-Known Member
Don't think that one is true. When you plug the wahoo into the computer you can get out any of the ride files. I had a corrupt one a few months ago and did exactly that. Fixed it and good to go.

Correct - you can find websites that show you how to fix a corrupt file. Only had the issue twice in many rides. Once was when the battery ran out - user error!

The Wahoo's greatness is in the customization of the screens - create whatever you want - and rock solid dependability. It's also very easy to read and theoretically has enough battery life for a double century for many people.

The mapping is OK. It's fine for the road. You can setup a route in ridewithgps and download via Wifi with no problems. The downside is the usability off-road. The map contains a fair amount of trails, but you can't upgrade yourself. In addition, they disappear if you zoom out to far, which is not very far. I'd love something with color and Trailforks phone app type quality. If the 520 is actually at that level, I'd consider it. Beware the frustration of glitches, though...
 

rick81721

Lothar
Correct - you can find websites that show you how to fix a corrupt file. Only had the issue twice in many rides. Once was when the battery ran out - user error!

The Wahoo's greatness is in the customization of the screens - create whatever you want - and rock solid dependability. It's also very easy to read and theoretically has enough battery life for a double century for many people.

The mapping is OK. It's fine for the road. You can setup a route in ridewithgps and download via Wifi with no problems. The downside is the usability off-road. The map contains a fair amount of trails, but you can't upgrade yourself. In addition, they disappear if you zoom out to far, which is not very far. I'd love something with color and Trailforks phone app type quality. If the 520 is actually at that level, I'd consider it. Beware the frustration of glitches, though...

Yeah my biggest wahoo complaint is the trail mapping. Many are on there but if you are lost and zoom out to see where you are, they disappear. But not a big deal for me as I rarely use it.
 
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