What's new

Bike Computers

Chuck said:
I'll be interested to know if you experience any problems with the Wahoo as it gets a bit older.
Click to expand...
I'll let you know if I do.

Personally, I find it easier to live with a piece of hardware that works well until it wears out (and can then be replaced) than something that lasts longer but is flakey, though something that works well AND lasts for a long time would of course be ideal.

In between the Garmin Edge 500 and the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt I had several o_synce Navi2coach, which worked well but had to be replaced within 2 years because the USB port would wear out. I could live with that as the USB port issues would worsen gradually, leaving enough time to order another unit. Hopefully that won't be necessary with the Wahoo.
 
Chuck said:
I've had trouble with both Garmin and Wahoo. Garmin problems seem to be software related, Wahoo was build quality. (My first unit fried the screen after a few months and the rubber waterproofing gaskets covering the side buttons came off. The replacement unit also lost the gaskets on the side and eventually lost the ability to connect to bluetooth.) I'll be interested to know if you experience any problems with the Wahoo as it gets a bit older.
Click to expand...
FWIW, my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt isn't old, but so far it works perfectly.
 
So three more things that went against the Wahoo Roam for me today.
  1. The unit just crashed while riding. Literally just went "bork" and crashed. I almost lost a record of my ride, but it took about 4kms / 12 mins for the unit to reboot and catch up again.
  2. GPS issues when not on main roads meant I was doing about 25kph, but the unit was telling me I was not moving, or moving <5kph. Very weird to see that.
  3. Towards the end of the run, I got a bit lost and couldn't find a known road. I put the unit into "get me home" mode, but I was unable to scroll the map around to see the route, or get any road names.
Minor niggles I know but annoying enough that I had to use Google Maps in my back pocket with the voice on loud - which even then took me on some weird routes around the place.
 

Attachments

  • 20210327_153449.jpg
    20210327_153449.jpg
    79.6 KB · Views: 1
baribari said:
You might want to look into a Leomo Type S, which is basically just an Android smartphone. Karoo Hammerhead is similar, I think?
Stages also makes a bike computer, but I'm not sure how the functions compare to other high-end options.
Click to expand...
Well someone threw a spanner in the plans for the Hammerhead:
"
Karoo orders are only available to the below-mentioned countries:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States of America

We will expand to more countries in time, though barriers in certification, logistics, and other regulations make this a slower process than we would like.

The only other suggestions, I can recommend is, you can have the unit delivered to a friend or family member who resides in our available regions and has the unit shipped across to you "

Never mind.
 
In the end, I went for the Garmin Edge 830 - for the following reasons:
  1. On recent rides, I found myself going off course a lot and trying to use maps to navigate around. For the phone, it was fine but the battery died quickly. On the Wahoo, I was limited and couldn't go back. The Edge 830 allowed me to navigate around using the touchscreen.
  2. Battery life is also important as the last few rides I have done have been between 5 - 8 hours so not needing to charge up has been great on both the Wahoo and Edge.
  3. Mounts were important as it meant I could swap devices over - both the Wahoo and Edge were perfect for this.
  4. The Hammerhead was not available in Japan and there was no idea on if / when it would come on sale at all. Shipping was not cheap and the staff were not very helpful.
  5. The Wahoo crashed on two of my rides, which meant a long reboot was needed so I had to slow down and use my phone, or carry on regardless. I've heard that this isn't for all models, but the one I got was unlucky.
When it comes down to it, I want to be able to see a map around the area, either on my phone or device, and see what is in the area. The Garmin allows me to do that, while the Wahoo doesn't. Simple as that really.
 
@BeerTengoku
Would be nice if you could return to this thread in 6 months or so and share how's your experience with the device.
Most of people I know have a Wahoo (including myself), so I'm curious about an honest review of the Garmin.
 
First impressions after a 60km ride today:
Starting with the good. And this could just be being lucky.
  • Build quality is solid. Got a case for it just in case but this thing feels weighty and well built.
  • The touchscreen works. It's simple and intuitive and definitely helps during riding to flick between screens when stopped at lights, or when it's beeping for a turn.
  • Being able to search on the device, if connected to a phone, for places was fantastic. Felt like going to a brewery to pick up some beers, knew the name, typed it in, boom. Route found.
  • The colours are vibrant and stand out with different ones for each kind of road. That helped me to decide which route to take when thinking about going somewhere.
  • Being connected to social media was helpful. Had some messages come through that I was expecting and needed. Seeing them pop up on the device and then being able to stop somewhere to reply was useful.
  • Battery life was great. Went from 88% to 60% on the ride, which was about 6 hours with some stops for lunch and beer and shopping.
  • The bundle included lots of sensors that connected straight away on the ride.
Now with bad. And this could just be me.
  • I wanted the device to record one long ride, but for some reason, it automatically turned off the ride and saved it without me doing anything. Not a problem but felt it was annoying for others on Strava et al to see itty bitty routes.
  • The zoom function and spinning the map need to be sorted. When I tried to spin the map to see the route, the map zoomed in/out and then got a bit confusing.
  • Routing was a bit weird. I knew the direct route from the brewery to my house, but the Garmin wanted me to take a route that was longer and flatter.
  • Rerouting was temperamental. At times it was ludicrously fast, others caused problems as I had gone offroad.
Overall, a positive first run with the device and I look forward to using it more.
 
Automatic routing for cycling is indeed weird, in a lot of devices. I have experienced similar situation with Google Maps (when selecting the "cycling mode"), Ride with GPS and etc.
I don't know what criteria they use, but if often takes you to longer routes, just to save a bit of elevation of a little less traffic. Especially around Shonan area, it will take you to narrow local streets that at the end will make you slower.
 
You've options on how it should route. They are per profile, so you can have multiple profiles with different routing. I usually set mine for shortest distance and I enable popularity routing and lock on roads. So far it was ok. My biggest issue is the UI and touch screen. With iPhones etc being out for 10+ years they can poach some engineers from apple to sort it out.

The long route should have recorded as one. I usually pause a ride and switch it off when I'm having a break. Then continue after, unless I fat finger it and click ok on a ride.

Edge 830 Owners Manual - Route Settings

www8.garmin.com www8.garmin.com
 
Routing with cycling apps can often produce weird results. When I'm using Wahoo's apps, it often plots a route that cuts through some settlement rather than take the big roads. The result is that I might get lost and I can't really go fast. Other times it wanted me to take farm roads parallel to a proper road — and the farm goad is gravel. Very annoying, because it was constantly complaining that I should take turns onto that gravel road. IMHO routing is solved much better by my iPhone and my favorite mapping app. Sounds like you encounter similar problems with Garmin head units.
 
Nuff said:
You've options on how it should route. They are per profile, so you can have multiple profiles with different routing. I usually set mine for shortest distance and I enable popularity routing and lock on roads. So far it was ok. My biggest issue is the UI and touch screen. With iPhones etc being out for 10+ years they can poach some engineers from apple to sort it out.

The long route should have recorded as one. I usually pause a ride and switch it off when I'm having a break. Then continue after, unless I fat finger it and click ok on a ride.

Edge 830 Owners Manual - Route Settings

www8.garmin.com www8.garmin.com
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for that! Didn't get an English manual so yesterday just went out and rode.
Had a play with some of the settings just now and made it a bit more like how I wanted it to be - auto-pause, rerouting options, etc.
Now I have to get out and cycle again, don't I?
 
I didn't connect my Wahoo to my phone for a while, but last week I noticed there was a firmware update available.
It seems that Wahoo bike computers can now receive notifications from iOS 3rd party apps (i.e. LINE, etc.).

With this issue being solved, I'm quite happy with my device.
 
OneForTheRoad said:
@BeerTengoku
Would be nice if you could return to this thread in 6 months or so and share how's your experience with the device.
Most of people I know have a Wahoo (including myself), so I'm curious about an honest review of the Garmin.
Click to expand...
So it's been six months - completely flown by if I am honest...
And I really do like the Garmin though I doubt that I needed one of the top end specs ones.
It's great that there are lots of options to play around with and set up to how you like it - though if I am honest, I haven't really gotten around to sorting through them. It's helpful to have some visual reminders about eating and drinking, as I tend to forget about these things when I'm out and about.
The device has stood up to wind, rain, sun, and dirt with little complaints at all about the battery life.
The only major gripe I have with it is its connectivity to sensors on the bike - temperamental at times and I don't know why. Sometimes, it will connect as quick as a flash as it turns on to the sensors I have, while at other times, it will take some distance before it does connect. I've checked the batteries in all the sensors and they are fine.
I've found it very useful in plotting routes on the fly as well, as that happened to me on a recent ride around Boso when I wanted to find a quicker way to get home than the one I had planned.
It's a long term investment that I am, on the whole, very happy with it and will have no gripes if it lasts me for a decade or so.
 
I currently have a Garmin 800 that I purchased back in 2012, it's lasted forever and still works great (having to connect with a cable to the computer isn't ideal, but that's what things were like in 2012.

I've been contemplating upgrading my device, what are the perks of newer devices (beyond connectivity)
 
paullb said:
what are the perks of newer devices (beyond connectivity)
Click to expand...
Depends what you use it for. If just to gather data from GPS or bike sensors, there's not a lot of difference. For navigating, however, processing time for screen redraws and route finding are vastly improved. I follow maps and routes a lot in new territory, and responsive maps really make a difference.

Another handy new feature is ClimbPro. Although initially skeptical, I now find it enjoyable and helpful. Much more informative than a simple elevation profile.
 
I will add that the latest firmware improves navigation by a lot, especially if you are doing a loop and the paths cross multiple times and have no idea which way you should turn. I'm tried it out yesterday and I got lost exactly zero times yesterday.

The only annoying thing about it is, if you use navigation, strava segments don't work. I usually plan out my ride and then I select few hills to do intervals on, I find segments a lot more informative than climbpro.
 
paullb said:
What device are you on these days?
Click to expand...
I now have Edge 1030 plus. (The replacement screen I needed for my frazzled 1000J took so long to arrive that I bit the bullet.)

1030+ came with Japanese map and corresponding price premium. I could have saved money by buying a US/Euro version, but didn't want to wait. Still I generally prefer the UpUpDown map of Japan, with its 10-metre contour line intervals, to the official Garmin map.

There are some new roads that aren't on the 2012 UUD map, but these are rarely a problem IRL and it's kinda charming in a way to be riding a road that the GPS doesn't believe in. I can switch between maps with a few clicks so no harm done. Can't see UUD updating again now, as OpenStreetMap is so much more detailed and easier to get hold of than it was 9 years ago.

Battery life on the Edge 1030+ hasn't dipped below 50% on a day ride yet. I like this; even after replacing the battery I found that 160 km was about the limit for 1000J.

A key Garmin feature for me that prevents me jumping to another platform is the ability to display multiple routes on the map in different colours at the same time. Definitely an edge case (ho ho!) but it's important to me.

271-jpg.28469
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom