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I'm sorry Garmin I'm leaving you for a Bolt!

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

I'm sorry Garmin I'm leaving you for a Bolt!

Old 04-25-17, 01:55 PM
  #1  
buddy
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I'm sorry Garmin I'm leaving you for a Bolt!

Over the past ten years I have been a big fan of the Garmin Edges. I have had about 3 or 4 different Edges.

I currently have the Garmin Edge 510. I have always hated this Edge. It was hard to operate and the bluetooth never really worked the way it should.

This year I made the decision to get a new Garmin Edge 1000. I started looking around and then it caught my eye the Wahoo Element Bolt.

It was love at first site with its sleek aerodynamics body and the price!

I ordered one and it came in last week. Setup was a breeze, it paired with all of my components really easy. It synced with my phone and third party apps so easy.

I love riding with it. It does everything I want it to do and more.

I will never go back to Garmin.
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Old 04-25-17, 02:21 PM
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Hey @buddy thanks for the note. I'm looking at an Edge 510 right now on my desk charging for a late afternoon ride. I too find the touchscreen unresponsive and the user interface hard to use on a the small screen. About a third of my rides the 510 drops the Bluetooth connection to my phone at some point while I'm out.

I've looked pretty hard at the bolt and like the idea of using a phone app to configure the device, and the price seems right too. This may be the last season for my 510 as well.
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Old 04-25-17, 02:26 PM
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Got to admit, I'm really tempted. My Garmin 510 crashed half-way through a century and I haven't been able to merge the files back together.

Garmin's site is a trainwreck at the moment. Live Track doesn't work, and I get weird errors trying to view old activities.
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Old 04-25-17, 02:27 PM
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I don't get why the touchscreen on the 510 gets so much hate. I've had one since it came out and have never had issues with it. Bluetooth wasn't always perfect (works much better with my android than it did with my iphone), but the screen was pretty flawless for me.

Either way, more competition can only be good. I hope more people buy the Bolt and get Garmin to wake up a little bit.
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Old 04-25-17, 02:28 PM
  #5  
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Originally Posted by gsa103
Got to admit, I'm really tempted. My Garmin 510 crashed half-way through a century and I haven't been able to merge the files back together.

Garmin's site is a trainwreck at the moment. Live Track doesn't work, and I get weird errors trying to view old activities.
Their website has always been a train wreck. It's a data dump to feed Strava.
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Old 04-25-17, 02:38 PM
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Looking closely at this one... same price as the Garmin Edge 520 bundle that I was looking at...

Only concern that I have is the handlebar that I ordered and its compatibility with the mount. Need to see if there is enough space to mount it next to the stem. Or if they will come out with a mount for an aero bar... let me send them an email and ask...

EDIT: Comes with two mounts

Cool looking aero integrated etc mount... that I hope I can install next to the stem bar clamp...



And it mentions a second mount... stem mount... but I can't find a photo of it. But from the instructions, it is nothing like the cool integrated mount...

Installing the Aero Mount: The Aero Out-Front Mount was designed to be used specifically with the ELEMNT BOLT to generate the most aerodynamic advantage. The Aero Out-Front Mount consists of a single mount, secured with an allen key bolt (3mm). NOTE: Allen key not supplied.

Begin by removing/loosening the allen key bolt so the Aero Out-Front Mount can slide over one side of your handlebars.
When seated in your preferred location, replace/tighten the allen key bolt until the Aero Out-Front Mount is securely fastened. The Wahoo logo should be facing upwards (and facing toward you if you were seated on the bike). Your mount is ready to use.

Installing the Stem Mount: The Stem Mount consists of the following items:
4 x zip-ties
Plastic Stem Mount
Rubber Mount insert

Ensure that the Rubber Mount insert is sitting flush with the Plastic Stem Mount. The bike mount is now ready to be installed. Place the bike mount in alignment on the stem of your bicycle, ensuring that the rubber insert side is facing down and the Wahoo logo is on top and facing towards you (if you were seated on the bike).

NOTE: This mount can also be installed on your handlebars if required.

Thread two of the zip-ties through the holes provided in the bike mount and tighten securely around the bicycle stem.
When tightened to your satisfaction, trim any excess zip-tie cables. Your mount is ready to use.

Last edited by wachuko; 04-25-17 at 03:01 PM.
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Old 04-25-17, 03:00 PM
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It comes with a mount that can be mounted on the stem using those black rubber bands.
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Old 04-25-17, 03:05 PM
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I got a Garmin Fenix 5X three weeks ago. Can't see any real reason to use a bike computer anymore.
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Old 04-25-17, 03:13 PM
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My edge 510 used to lose rides til I did a factory reset and it has worked perfectly ever since.
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Old 04-25-17, 03:19 PM
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I just got my first garmin Edge 820 and am really liking it.
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Old 04-25-17, 03:26 PM
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Originally Posted by evan326
I just got my first garmin Edge 820 and am really liking it.
I was going between the 520, 820 and now this comes into the game...

I have nothing, so this would be my first bike computer... for 349.00 for the bundle, looks like a great option for me...

Now on my list... I still have a few months to go before I even have a bike... so I got time to continue to read the reviews of the folks that are getting it now.
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Old 04-25-17, 03:40 PM
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I already had a garmin watch, HRM, speed, and cadence sensor. So I just found a lightly used one on ebay.
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Old 04-26-17, 05:49 AM
  #13  
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Never heard good things about the 510, and always assumed it was short lived for a reason. My 520 has been great for 5+ years, and I recently picked up a 520 and love it. But, I already have a Garmin running watch, so I prefer to keep things in the family.
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Old 04-26-17, 06:03 AM
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Originally Posted by evan326
I already had a garmin watch, HRM, speed, and cadence sensor. So I just found a lightly used one on ebay.
You found a lightly used wahoo bolt? I've been looking on Amazon bike computers. Need to check Ebay. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on something. I've been using my phone. I thought about getting a watch but just seems risky.
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Old 04-26-17, 06:04 AM
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Don't be sorry.

Garmin and their paying-customer-beta program makes them completely deserving of being dropped like last year's news at the first opportunity.
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Old 04-26-17, 06:41 AM
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Originally Posted by edawg55
You found a lightly used wahoo bolt? I've been looking on Amazon bike computers. Need to check Ebay. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on something. I've been using my phone. I thought about getting a watch but just seems risky.
Nope... he found a used Garmin 820

Originally Posted by evan326
I just got my first garmin Edge 820 and am really liking it.
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Old 04-26-17, 10:19 AM
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I ride a mountain bike almost as much as my road bike, and the mount for the Bolt, which juts a long way in front of the handlebars, looks like a really bad idea.

Does anyone here have experience with the sturdiness of the mount? How does it survive jarring big drops and a sport where falls are part of the game?
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Old 04-26-17, 01:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Lanterne Rogue
I ride a mountain bike almost as much as my road bike, and the mount for the Bolt, which juts a long way in front of the handlebars, looks like a really bad idea.

Does anyone here have experience with the sturdiness of the mount? How does it survive jarring big drops and a sport where falls are part of the game?
K-edge makes all sorts of stem and steer tube cap mounts that fit Wahoo or Garmin.

Both K-edge and Barfly both introduced a whole slew of new mounts that support Wahoo and Garmin. Read this post for more information.

I've gone from Garmin to Wahoo too and like it better.

J.

Last edited by JohnJ80; 04-26-17 at 01:49 PM.
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Old 04-26-17, 05:37 PM
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I dumped an Edge 25 for one reason: I was never able to upload routes. Garmin acknowledged the issue but never offered a time period for a fix, or even if a fix was in the works. The Bolt, while more expensive, is clearly a better value. It works. Routes are insanely easy, and it does much more than I need. It just works.
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Old 04-26-17, 06:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Lanterne Rogue
I ride a mountain bike almost as much as my road bike, and the mount for the Bolt, which juts a long way in front of the handlebars, looks like a really bad idea.

Does anyone here have experience with the sturdiness of the mount? How does it survive jarring big drops and a sport where falls are part of the game?
Not sure about the Wahoo, but on my Garmin, I turned the out-front mount 180 degrees so it sits above the stem.
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Old 04-26-17, 09:02 PM
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Keep the out front mount for the roadie, and use the included bar mount for the MTB on the handle bars or stem where it is more out of harm's way.
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Old 04-27-17, 02:23 PM
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I've had a few garmins over the years a 500, 1000 and now a 820.

First I hated the 1000, the battery is garbage, I was in and out of finishing a 100 mile gravel race with it more than one occasion. The 500 was a solid performer but was looking for more features as my cycling improved. Enter the 820, this device is a beta test program as said before. The firmware up until now has been crap, the screen is unresponsive most of the time and has major delays. This will probably be my last garmin, the part that hurts is I have a lot of garmin accessories.

I am waiting for one more Wahoo to come out than I think I will switch for good.
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Old 04-27-17, 02:27 PM
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maybe I lucked out, but I seem to have chosen the best garmins. Going from my trusty 500 still going strong ~5 years to a 520 last year, and both do everything i want them to perfectly.
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Old 04-27-17, 02:28 PM
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The good news is that for any of the sensor accessories - HRM, speed and cadence sensors - they will all work with a Wahoo computer with no issues.

J.
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Old 04-27-17, 07:19 PM
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I wanna get the bolt but two issues for me, I have way too many bikes with Garmin mounts to start over. Plus I have learned I can't live without the varia radar and that is the sole reason Garmin now has me stuck with them. I feel like its a life saver that I get a heads up when a car is coming and an idea of speed with the light changing, then I give a quick glance to make sure I don get run over on these county roads. But the wahoo looks way more how I want my Garmin to operate. Plus Garmins website does suck, I only use strava any more to track stuff. Garmin ruined it when they tried to make it compete with Fitbit
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