I’ve Had It With Garmin
#26
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At 52, I'm curious about power output, but not so much that I want to switch pedals based on the reviews or pay for the Pioneer crank based system.
That said my unsophisticated setup with a Fenix 5plus, newest gen Varia, cadence & speed sensors has been excellent. Then again I also don't use turn by turn.
It really doesn't matter who's making these things, the more we connect & pair to it the more complexity WE are introducing. Should it all work? Yep, but interop is a tough beast. Toss in the awesome updates that we get in Android & iOS, I'm amazed things work as often as they do.
The best we can do is find something that doesn't drive us completely insane and go from there. Good luck on your quest.
That said my unsophisticated setup with a Fenix 5plus, newest gen Varia, cadence & speed sensors has been excellent. Then again I also don't use turn by turn.
It really doesn't matter who's making these things, the more we connect & pair to it the more complexity WE are introducing. Should it all work? Yep, but interop is a tough beast. Toss in the awesome updates that we get in Android & iOS, I'm amazed things work as often as they do.
The best we can do is find something that doesn't drive us completely insane and go from there. Good luck on your quest.
#27
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Use chocolate ink to write your cue sheets on fruit roll ups. That'll avoid the environmental impact of paper, get you away from Garmin, and you can eat part of your navigation system after every turn, giving you the desperately needed energy to get up the next hill!
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#28
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At 52, I'm curious about power output, but not so much that I want to switch pedals based on the reviews or pay for the Pioneer crank based system.
That said my unsophisticated setup with a Fenix 5plus, newest gen Varia, cadence & speed sensors has been excellent. Then again I also don't use turn by turn.
It really doesn't matter who's making these things, the more we connect & pair to it the more complexity WE are introducing. Should it all work? Yep, but interop is a tough beast. Toss in the awesome updates that we get in Android & iOS, I'm amazed things work as often as they do.
The best we can do is find something that doesn't drive us completely insane and go from there. Good luck on your quest.
That said my unsophisticated setup with a Fenix 5plus, newest gen Varia, cadence & speed sensors has been excellent. Then again I also don't use turn by turn.
It really doesn't matter who's making these things, the more we connect & pair to it the more complexity WE are introducing. Should it all work? Yep, but interop is a tough beast. Toss in the awesome updates that we get in Android & iOS, I'm amazed things work as often as they do.
The best we can do is find something that doesn't drive us completely insane and go from there. Good luck on your quest.
Wahoo manages to not put out broken firmware/updates, and when they do (only really happens with powermeters) they fix it quick.
#29
Senior Member
I have been very happy with my Bolt/Asssioma combo. If you get the latest version of the Assioma pedals you might find the release tension has been lessened. I have not done a face plant yet, but mine are considerably harder to release from than my old Look pedals. Also be aware they need to be charged frequently.
#30
Junior Member
I've had the Edge 530 for 4 months and it's been nothing but a problem. Gonna get a Wahoo and be done with it.
#31
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I have been very happy with my Bolt/Asssioma combo. If you get the latest version of the Assioma pedals you might find the release tension has been lessened. I have not done a face plant yet, but mine are considerably harder to release from than my old Look pedals. Also be aware they need to be charged frequently.
The Assiomas are supposed to allow for 15hr/week before having to be recharged every 3 weeks. I train about 10 hr/week, so we shall see.
The Bolt battery indicator doesn’t appear to be linear; looks like it is discharging faster at first and then the discharge rate slows down. I haven’t done a long ride yet but hopefully I’ll try this weekend.
Last edited by GreenAnvil; 11-27-19 at 01:23 PM.
#32
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Edit: actually, now that I think about it... one of my club mates has a Garmin and he paired up to my Varia, too, but on one of our longer rides, he said that his battery was draining really fast. Assuming that the Varia was somehow to blame, he unpaired and was fine thereafter. Crazy to think that, in this respect, the Garmin accessory works better with a third party.
Last edited by WhyFi; 11-27-19 at 01:58 PM.
#33
Senior Member
Thread Starter
With the backlight off, which is my default, I've gotten an easy 8 hours on a full charge with my HRM, PM, Varia.
Edit: actually, now that I think about it... one of my club mates has a Garmin and he paired up to my Varia, too, but on one of our longer rides, he said that his battery was draining really fast. Assuming that the Varia was somehow to blame, he unpaired and was fine thereafter. Crazy to think that, in this respect, the Garmin accessory works better with a third party.
Edit: actually, now that I think about it... one of my club mates has a Garmin and he paired up to my Varia, too, but on one of our longer rides, he said that his battery was draining really fast. Assuming that the Varia was somehow to blame, he unpaired and was fine thereafter. Crazy to think that, in this respect, the Garmin accessory works better with a third party.
If I can squeeze 8 hrs out my current setup I’ll be happy, although I’m already smiling seeing how seamless the initial configuration was.
#34
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The only thing that I don't like about the Bolt/Varia combo is that the Bolt doesn't support ANT+ lights. I'm not bothered by having to cycle through lighting modes on the light itself, but the light off/radar on mode (which I'd like for group rides) is not accessible other than via ANT+ control.
#35
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The only thing that I don't like about the Bolt/Varia combo is that the Bolt doesn't support ANT+ lights. I'm not bothered by having to cycle through lighting modes on the light itself, but the light off/radar on mode (which I'd like for group rides) is not accessible other than via ANT+ control.
#36
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Status report on my Bolt/Assioma combo.
Went out for an easy 77km ride with the missus; took us 2hr 40min, after which the Bolt battery was at 70%, this with the Varia and navigation on. So that looks promising.
Also, after a 13hr training week the Assiomas are at about 75%, which aligns with Favero’s claim of a charge after approximately 3 15-hr weeks.
The pedals are indeed a bit harder to clip/unclip, but I’ll chalk it up to just needing to get used to them. The additional float is ok for my knees, as well as the extra bit larger Q-factor.
All is good so far.
Went out for an easy 77km ride with the missus; took us 2hr 40min, after which the Bolt battery was at 70%, this with the Varia and navigation on. So that looks promising.
Also, after a 13hr training week the Assiomas are at about 75%, which aligns with Favero’s claim of a charge after approximately 3 15-hr weeks.
The pedals are indeed a bit harder to clip/unclip, but I’ll chalk it up to just needing to get used to them. The additional float is ok for my knees, as well as the extra bit larger Q-factor.
All is good so far.
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#37
Destroyer of Worlds
Just here to +1 the Assioma pedals. Love them. I use them with my Garmin 530 head unit, garmin speed sensor (when outside) and wahoo kickr snap (when indoors). That said, I've had no issues with Garmin products, so I'm sorry to hear that you had so many problems. I probably just don't use my stuff enough to run into the issues you mentioned.
I hope you've been having fun with your Bolt/Assioma combo. Based on your last post, it seems things are going well, and based on your profile pic, it seems you do a bit of Zwift riding yourself. Do you use the trainer as your cadence sensor, or the pedals?
I hope you've been having fun with your Bolt/Assioma combo. Based on your last post, it seems things are going well, and based on your profile pic, it seems you do a bit of Zwift riding yourself. Do you use the trainer as your cadence sensor, or the pedals?
#38
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Just here to +1 the Assioma pedals. Love them. I use them with my Garmin 530 head unit, garmin speed sensor (when outside) and wahoo kickr snap (when indoors). That said, I've had no issues with Garmin products, so I'm sorry to hear that you had so many problems. I probably just don't use my stuff enough to run into the issues you mentioned.
I hope you've been having fun with your Bolt/Assioma combo. Based on your last post, it seems things are going well, and based on your profile pic, it seems you do a bit of Zwift riding yourself. Do you use the trainer as your cadence sensor, or the pedals?
I hope you've been having fun with your Bolt/Assioma combo. Based on your last post, it seems things are going well, and based on your profile pic, it seems you do a bit of Zwift riding yourself. Do you use the trainer as your cadence sensor, or the pedals?
On Zwift I use the pedals for cadence. I have the Kinetic Rock-n-Roll so my pedals are my source of power. I came very close this weekend from ordering a Kickr/Climb combo, but then I also had to buy or build a rocker plate (CAN’T/WON’T ride a trainer w/o the side-to-side motion). Looked at the Saris MP1 platform but that adds an additional $950. So I’m on the sidelines about upgrading my setup.
Last edited by GreenAnvil; 12-02-19 at 05:51 AM.