Originally Posted by
zacster
If you haven't already, check the DCRainmaker website. There is a very thorough side by side review of the two. I doubt anyone on BF has any more input. I myself have the Bolt and I'm very happy with it. Setup was a breeze and it attached to my sensors without any problem, Wahoo speed and cadence, an old Garmin HRM, and then my Assioma pedals. Home wifi setup was a snap, it paired with a phone easily. RidewithGPS routes just appeared on my Bolt after I signed in through the phone app. It all happens so seamlessly. Text messages and phone calls appear on it, although you can't reply through it. If something doesn't seem right to you as you use it, there is always a setup screen to change it. All this, and I don't really use the GPS features because every cycling route in the NYC area is etched in my brain already.
One feature it doesn't have that I'd use is auto lap, where you press a button and it automatically sets the lap when the GPS detects you are back to the same point. I would use that in Prospect and Central Parks on the loops. RidewithGPS and Strava will show the results after the fact but it would be good to know while riding.
I think Shane Miller does a youtube video of the two side by side (and various other Bolt and Garmin comparisons). At this point, though if I were looking at a 520, I'd skip that and go for the 520 Plus. I'd still prefer the Bolt though.
If you star routes in Strava (or make them favorites or whatever you do there too), they will also automatically sync to the Bolt. Both Strava and RWGPS both sync to the bike computer if you set it up in the smartphone app so that the computer is configured. Note that you only need the smartphone to set it up, from that point on, the bike computer can sync on it's own if it can get on the wifi. Very cool
My wife and I both have Elemnts. I created a RideWithGPS account for her as well as mine. I can then "share with friends" the routes we're going to ride. They then show up in her RWGPS account and when she syncs her Elemnt, they go down automatically. If I change the route in RWGPS, it is then changed automatically on both of our bike computers. Then I just have to tell her which route when we start, and she has all the navigation stuff ready to go. Very cool. You can't do that to my knowledge with any of the Garmin units.
J.