Badger6

About once a year (over the last 6 years) with an 810 and then a 1000 and now a 1030, I've had a few issues, most I chalk up as minor. Considering I ride almost daily, to include when traveling, I've either been really lucky or I just use my devices as they were intended, so they simply don't have the freak outs many people describe. I wouldn't suggest that peoples' experiences are fake, I'm just saying, I don't have them.

The issues I have had over several thousand rides:
1) An 810 that refused to operate properly when the temp hit 0°C...warranty replacement by Garmin out of warranty.
2) 810 random shut down. Exactly 2 times in the same ride, total lost mileage was less than 1000m, occurred while following a course (which at that time I rarely did), after a firmware update never happened again.
3) 1000 random shutdown. While following a Strava segment. Called Garmin, sent a log, they informed me that this was a known issue, told me to try the then current beta firmware which addressed it. No further issues.
4) 1030 random shutdown. Honestly, I do not recall what was happening. I noticed it and restarted the device, I lost about 400m of recording. Firmware upgrade pushed out short time after, I've never given it a second thought.
5) In total across the 810 and 1000, I've had maybe 5 rides out of a couple thousand where the time stamps went wonky and the ride wouldn't sync. Used .fitfiletools to fix.
6) The 1000 on two different occasions full-dropped GPS lock, while following a course, and pausing...upon restart codlin;t find the satellites or stay locked for several minutes, losing a total of less than 30 minutes total recording.

What irritates me more is an issue unrelated to Garmin...position drift in cities (tall buildings), in forests, and next to large terrain features with steep sides. But, this is not something cheaply rectified, so it's just a feature at this point.

Badger6

True, best coverage is in Russia, and even then it doesn't resolve position as reliably as the USG based GPS. Since Galileo was made available via firmware (my Fenix 5 and 1030 can use both), I use that with GPS and no issues. But, it makes sense that the GPS and GLONASS combination might be weird.

bbbean 

Weather, battery life, theft, vibration, cost of replacing a bike computer vs replacing an iPhone, etc. My phone lives safely in a jersey pocket or in a zip lock if there's weather. If my Garmin dies, I just lose ride data. If my phone dies, I could be stranded.

sdmc530

I have the same thoughts! AND if my phone dies I am out $800, if my Garmin dies I can replace it for WAY cheaper.

Steve B.

The kind of crap you deal with, with Garmin, is you never know what function they’ll break next.

I’m not 100% certain this is Garmin’s fault, but my 1000 and the Garmin Connect connection suddenly stopped today, sending an upload to RWGPS. It’s worked fine for 3 years. A few weeks ago the BlueTooth BT_Edge connection stoped making its automatic connection to my iPhone 8. I chalked that up to an iOS update that Garmin will not check the functions of on their assorted devices. They want a whole lot of files off the device and I needed to jump thru a lot of hoops to get this function back and I could always just manually make a connection. So I skipped thenGarmin tech. support help.

Then today I get no file sent from Connect to RWGPS. I e-mail RWGPS, they reply (on a Sunday) but have no actual useful advise other then to say it can take a few hours, even though it was always like 10 minutes. No amount of resetting and checking connections, logging out/in, removing devices from iPhone, Connect Mobile, etc.... seems to work.

I’m going to be really pissed if I don’t get this back as I use RWGPS as my activity log. Maybe buying a Wahoo soon.

delbiker1 

I have no problem with Garmin units, or any other GPS unit or smart phone. I do not have any.

bbbean 

Thank you so much for your valuable post. Not only have you provided critical and useful information, but your virtue signaling has let us know we are in the presence of our true superior. Thank you again.

Hiro11

I have an Edge 520 Plus. I use it on several bikes, usually on my main road bike which has a double-sided power meter, a heart rate monitor and a Galaxy S10 phone. I don't have a speed sensor on any bike and get cadence off of the power meter. I use a variety of in front of the stem mounts.

Everything worked the first time I used it and I've had zero problems with it since. The data I get off of it seem dead on. I don't use it for navigation often, I have used the turn-by-turn functionality using a pre-loaded course on occasion and that worked fine.

One small thing, which I'm not sure is even an issue: I find it doesn't connect to my phone reliably unless I start the Connect app before the ride. If I do start the app, it stays connected to my phone with no issue. Garmin forums are a bit cagey on how this is supposed to work. Also, updating the maps on this thing took, no joke, three hours.

The display is just about the right size and easy to read. The mounting system is solid. The buttons are just hard enough to push. The battery life is damned good. Overall, it seems like a solid little device to me.

Trsnrtr

I got a new replacement iPhone and loaded it with a backup of my old iPhone. I’ve spent a day or so trying to pair my new iPhone with my 1030. When the 1030 says it’s connected, Garmin Connect says it’s not and vice versa. I keep deleting connections and rebooting both my iPhone and my 1030 but they both want to ignore th3 other.

It’s almost comical.

ksryder

But... not owning a smart phone is 2019 is completely realistic and practical! We should all aspire to such greatness!

redlude97

So is wahoo finally experiencing growing pains with the roam delays and mount failures and now the bolt android app update bricking the units?

TimothyH

I’d love to be at the point in life where I don’t regularly carry or need a smartphone. Unfortunately I need it for work.

-Tim-

CarloM

This is a bit of a bummer to read. I was all set to get an 830 bundle with HRM. May stick with the iPhone in the seatbag until Garmin (or Wahoo, or someone else) figures it out...

jimincalif

My Garmin 520+ LiveTrack failed again, it has not functioned properly since June 29. Worked fine from December until mid-May, when a Garmin Connect app update killed it. They fixed the app, it started working. Early June it quit again, I found another app update and installed it, started working again, for a couple weeks, then died again. No amount of re-pairing or other fiddling helped.

went back and forth with Garmin support last week, found that LiveTrack will work if I manually start it on the phone first. It’s a PITA, since the LT start is buried 4 levels down in the app. The LT Autostart doesn’t work. Garmin says it’s a known issue and they are working on it.

njkayaker

Hmm.

I did the same thing, twice, and had no difficulties pairing the 1030 with two different new iPhones (an X and XS Max). I also paired it with a Samsung S8 without issue.

I paired the same 1030 with an ancient iPhone 5 and an ancient Android tablet. It worked in both of these cases but doing so was "balky".

Trsnrtr

Yep. I’ve had two replacement I7 phones in the last 6 months (thus the new XS) and was able to pair them with no problem. I finally got the XS paired and it worked great for 3-4 rides and then wouldn’t upload for 3 rides and now it’s uploaded fine the last few days. You never know.