I can’t decide between these two. What’s the “real-life” wahoo elemnt bolt battery life like? I’m undecided if the garmin edge 520 plus mapping capabilities are enough to sway me. I previously had a garmin edge 520 until I lost it. I liked it but had some battery issues. Some of that was me not know to turn off some of the things to maximize battery life. some of the connect iq apps seems useful. mainly trailforks for if I ever get back to mountain biking but I’m not sure that should be a dealbreaker for me. Can strava routes be loaded onto the wahoo elemnt bolt from your phone or do you need to use your computer? any feedback would be much appreciated.
Bolt hands down. I’ve had both.
Bolt battery life is long. I’ve gone on 8 hour rides with screen full brightness, no issues.
Garmin mapping is better, but I generally ride familiar loops, so this isn’t a big issue. Bolt just made some updates to the mapping functionality through a firmware update which I haven’t really tried out yet, but it seemed to be quite a bit better.
The biggest issue is the Bolt is SOOO much easier to work with due to the smartphone driven interface. Loading routes, loading ERG-mode trainer workouts, changing screen layout, etc – all can be done in seconds and is very intuitive. I never had to consult any kind of manual to do anything. Garmin has a horrendous bloat of confusing menus and I had a hard time getting it setup right and never really got ERG mode workouts to work right. The only downside is you have to have you phone with you to make any changes to Bolt.
I also find Bolt legibility significantly better when outdoors on brighter days.
I wanted the Garmin to work since I use a Garmin watch – would have been nice to get everything in one ecosystem. But at the end of 30 days of futzing with it, I returned it to the store for a credit and eagerly await Wahoo to make a watch that competes with Forerunner.
I have the Bolt and love it. 16 hours real battery life with maps, BT and ANT sensors on and back light set to 15 seconds on button presses or auto pause/resume. About 6-7 hours with full back light on.
The only downside I can see for the bolt is that it doesn’t sync to lights or cameras (Virb only I think). There should be a way for Wahoo to update their firmware to do this, but I think someone (Slowman or Ray) said they talked to them at Interbike and that feature isn’t on their immediate to do list.
There was a problem with the Wahoo app randomly double posting workouts to Training Peaks…but I haven’t seen that in the last couple of months so it’s possible they fixed it.
I never cared for a color screen and actually prefer the non color contrast that the Bolt provides. The ability to configure pages and fields with the phone app as well as zooming in on fields is a feature that I have come to really appreciate and use.
I was an early adopter of the Bolt, back in March 2017, so I’ve been using it for a full 18 months now. Works just as well now as it did on day one and the firmware updates have seemed to only make it work better as compared to the Garmin updates that everyone seemed to be hesitant of back when I owned a 510.
The mounts that come with the bolt, do they rotate in a way to work sideways off of a TT bar, or do you have to buy a separate tt mount? TT bar as in the extensions.
Thx!
The standard mounts that comes in the box is the out in front mount that is meant for round handlebars (not aero extensions) to put the computer in front of the stem as well as one that can be zip tied to any bar (maybe it will work on an aero extension, but narrow ones may not work as well) so that the computer rests directly on top of it. It’s really no different that the mounts that come standard with a Garmin except that Garmin provides rubber bands instead of zip ties that Wahoo uses. While Garmin provides tons of rubber bands in different sizes, zip ties actually ensure you get the optimal snug fit if you have a funky bar size. If you have standard bar sizes…I feel like the rubber bands work better if you’re trying to swap that mount between bikes.
You can get a BarFly TT bar mount so that the computer sits directly between the bars (sideways as you mention). I believe all BarFly mounts now come with Garmin and Wahoo adapters (as well as a few others) for all of their mounts.
I just don’t know if the maps and connect iq stuff is really important to me to go with the garmin. I don’t think it is. I have a lezyne super gps which is okay and works but is a bit clunky and not the most intuitive.
I have the Elemnt, which has the same functionality as the Bolt. Battery life seems pretty good. My wife has the Edge 520 plus.
The one really big advantage for the Bolt is that initial setup is much easier than on the Garmin due to the phone app. Also, the interface is simpler and a bit cleaner. However, part of the reason that it’s simpler is that the device is simply less powerful.
Once the device is set up, the Edge has some definite advantages. The maps are simply better, no comparison. On the Edge, you can configure the level of detail at different zoom levels, color gives you more information, and you see the street names. On the Wahoo, no street names and when you zoom out the map becomes pretty much useless. The maps are just graphics, unlike the Garmin, which has actual map data. Navigation of loaded courses works pretty well on both, but Edge has the advantage here as well. It can actually navigate back on course if you go off it, whereas on the Wahoo you’ll need to pull out your phone. We recently downloaded the same route for an organized ride. It turned out there were no cues in the file, so I was out of luck, whereas the 520+ figured out the cues itself on the fly. We haven’t loaded any Garmin IQ apps yet but some of them look interesting and Wahoo has nothing to compete with them.
The Edge has activity profiles, which gives it some power that the Wahoo lacks, but they are a mixed blessing. I think the profiles are the source of a lot of frustration with the Garmin since essentially every single attribute can be changed for each profile so if something’s not what you want it can be frustrating to get the profiles properly dialed in. They definitely increase the complexity of the device. The Wahoo doesn’t need profiles as much since configuration is easier with the phone app, but I frequently find myself riding with the wrong screen configuration since I can’t be bothered once I’m ready for a ride to pull out the phone and fiddle with the settings for the kind of riding I’m doing (MTB/road training/road navigation/racing).
The Wahoo has been very reliable and I’ve never lost a file. It had some bugs early on that got fixed. The main problem I have now is with the live tracking which never seems to work for me. We have less miles on the Garmin but it’s also been very reliable. Only glitch so far was one course stopped navigating in the middle of it.
If you don’t mind fiddling with a device that’s more complicated but more powerful, navigating courses and maps are important to you, and the IQ apps provide functionality you want, the Garmin wins. If you prefer a simple, clean interface and your needs aren’t too advanced, you may prefer the Wahoo.
Functionality is basically the same, Bolt seems to have better usability
However the Bolt does not support the Varia Radar which for me makes it a non-starter. I feel it is as important as wearing a helmet.
I wonder with the route for your group ride that didn’t have cue sheets if you had imported it into ridewithgps then exported it as .tcx if that adds the cue sheets
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I wonder with the route for your group ride that didn’t have cue sheets if you had imported it into ridewithgps then exported it as .tcx if that adds the cue sheets
I believe you need to trace over the route in RWGPS if it doesn’t have the cues, there’s a tool to do that reasonably quickly.
One problem with the Bolt is that it doesn’t have ConnectIQ (obviously). That can be a problem is you want to use 3rd party apps or data fieds such as Xert.
One problem with the Bolt is that it doesn’t have ConnectIQ (obviously). That can be a problem is you want to use 3rd party apps or data fieds such as Xert.
That’s one of my holdups. There are a couple of connectiq apps I like.
would you happen to know of any issues with connection dropouts with power meters? I never really had this issue with my old garmin edge 520 but I know others did with dropouts with stages power meters. I wonder if with wahoo connecting via bluetooth would be betters since garmin edge 520 only can connect with ant+
FWIW I’ve recently moved from a Garmin 520 to a Bolt and have had far fewer dropouts using ANT+ when riding indoors with the Bolt than I ever did with the 520. That’s connecting either to a P2M or an Elite Direto, everything else in my setup has stayed the same.
Battery life is hugely better which is the main reason I bought it, recently I was barely making 4 hours on the 520.
I will caveat this by saying I haven’t owned a 520. But I’ve had a ton of other Garmin products (Edge 130, Edge 500, 910, 920, 205).
When I was looking for a new bike computer I was in same boat as you. Ultimately I decided on the Wahoo as at the time it had better athlete tracking, which was main reason I was upgrading so my wife could track me and feel better knowing where I was and when I’d be home.
Hands down it’s the best GPS athletic device I’ve owned. It’s just worked. Set up is so easy with the app. Acquire satellites easily, mapping is good enough. I actually like the B&W screen more than the color, especially in bright sun.
I hope the rumored Wahoo tri watch becomes reality, and I’ll probably abandon the Garmin ecosphere for good.
FWIW I’ve recently moved from a Garmin 520 to a Bolt and have had far fewer dropouts using ANT+ when riding indoors with the Bolt than I ever did with the 520. That’s connecting either to a P2M or an Elite Direto, everything else in my setup has stayed the same.
Battery life is hugely better which is the main reason I bought it, recently I was barely making 4 hours on the 520.
Only 4 hours? My 520 was able to do 5 hour rides with strava segments and the radar enabled with no issues. Sounds like it was a bad battery. Good to hear the Wahoo is working out better though.
It started off ok… I rode a 12hr TT with the light on 20%, PM and HR when I first got the 520 and got the 20% battery warning around an hour before then end when it was new. I got the unit when they first came out so a couple of years ago I guess?
This year I got the same warning after 3 hours of an IM bike leg (I turned it on before heading to swim so it was on for maybe 90 mins without actually recording anything) and after 3 hours of a 100 mile TT with maybe 30-40 mins of warm up and the ride to the start. Both of these were with the backlight turned off unlike before.
I guess the battery has degraded over time and from what I read recent firmware updates may not have helped matters.
Only 4 hours? My 520 was able to do 5 hour rides with strava segments and the radar enabled with no issues.
I too only got around 4 hours with the back light at 60% even when the battery was brand new.
I hope the rumored Wahoo tri watch becomes reality, and I’ll probably abandon the Garmin ecosphere for good.
It’s happening:
https://gpsrumors.com/monthly-wahoo-roundup-october-2018
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FWIW I’ve recently moved from a Garmin 520 to a Bolt and have had far fewer dropouts using ANT+ when riding indoors with the Bolt than I ever did with the 520. That’s connecting either to a P2M or an Elite Direto, everything else in my setup has stayed the same.
Battery life is hugely better which is the main reason I bought it, recently I was barely making 4 hours on the 520.
I’m definitely leaning towards the Bolt. I’m not sure the maps on the 520 plus and the 3rd party apps are enough to sway me.