Cycling computers
Since it seems we have a few other cyclists on here, I thought I would ask for a recommendation. I'm looking at bike computers, and I've been going back and forth between Wahoo and Garmin. I don't need anything super fancy, so I've been looking at the Bolt or the 530. I really want it for making a route on the computer, and then getting directions at turns (along with the basics like speed, distance, time, etc.).
My biggest priority is stability and battery life. I've read some reviews of the Wahoo saying it crashed or froze on them, which would be a huge turn off to me. My current "computer" is just a simple magnet on the wheel that runs a sensor - it never crashes or freezes or anything like that, and I change the battery about once or twice a year.
So, I'm curious if anyone has suggestions or experience with these.
And also I just wanted to get more cycling content on here... :-)
Haven't used a Wahoo, but I've been using a Garmin 530 for about a year now and it's been a pretty good experience. The interface is simple to use and it's nice having all of my stats right in front during a ride. Initially I was using Strava and Komoot to build routes to sync to the 530 and that worked out well, but I quickly got annoyed by the computer complaining any time I went off-route due to road closures or just wanting to go down an interesting path. Nowadays I just kind of ride with a vague route in mind and use the map view to help out when I inevitably forget how to make it back home.
The biggest value that I've gotten out of it though is pairing to a Varia radar to get alerts whenever anything approaches me from behind. While I've always ridden with a bar-end mirror, it was a bit of a hassle constantly looking down to see if a car or another cyclist was coming up. Now with the Varia, I get a bit more peace of mind knowing I'll get an audible and visual warning that something's behind me. The radar does occasionally miss out on some traffic though, so riding with a mirror is definitely still preferred.
I love my Wahoo ELement Roam. Uploads automatically to Strava and Trail forks and I can use those to build routes and import the rides into my wahoo. Wahoo also has nice devices for tracking heart rate, pedal cadence and speedometer.
I have three bikes and just move my Wahoo over to whichever bike I'm riding that day.
I've ridden many days 100+ miles and have ever had it crash on me or run out of battery.
I use the original Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT which works fine for me — the newer ELEMNT BOLT 2 has a colour screen and is at the same price point, though.
I really like the Wahoo ecosystem and its integrations, so I'm all in.
I've been riding with a Garmin 530 for about a year and am a really big fan of their ecosystem. Especially the garmin varia. I live in a pretty hostile area with a ton of lifted trucks and SUVs purposely trying to swipe me and throwing beer bottles at me or rolling coal on me. The radar give me a heads up on the Garmin 530 and more time to react. I honestly consider it as important safety equipment as my helmet. The other thing that's really nice about Garmin is it's super customizable. I have several data pages with the various stats I want displayed how I want it. Not sure if wahoo has it but Garmin has a live tracking feature that sends out any emails you want with a link to a little map that shows where you are as well as speed and heart rate and such. My wife loves ti cause she can check in on me when she gets worried about me. The only negative I have is that there is currently a glitch in some of the varia firmware that causes it to occasionally pop up with a message saying it's disconnected when it really hasn't. From what I tried with the wahoo bolt I borrowed once it seems like wahoo is more "plug in and play". They're both good systems and you can't really go wrong with either.
Personally I use a Garmin Vivoactive 3 on my wrist with a couple of no-name sensors, one for Cadence and one for speed. Both use Bluetooth ant+ to interact with my watch and then with the Garmin software
If it is only for casual use I would recommend a similar set up, total cost $35 using Ebay (Im UK based)
However if you want something more detailed I would recommend the 530. Nice bit of kit
I can't say if it's better than others as I haven't used others or even looked at the market for the 3 years since I bought my Garmin Edge 530.
Very happy with it, would have no qualms about buying another garmin and I'm considering replacing my Samsung watch with a garmin one when it needs it.
I plot routes on my phone and send them so can't say what it's like to try and plot on the device itself and find the navigation a lot better than using my phone, though most my riding atm is on routes I know, which requires me to just turn it on and press the start button.
It just works, it's never crashed or frozen on me, it uploads to strava automatically when I save the ride, batteries last far longer than I need (it's rare i do rides over 50 miles and realistically most my rides are under 5 because I use the bike to commute more than I do longer rides, it's rare I ever get below 50% charging it every week or two). The rare time I use a hrm (>10 year old polar strap one) it just connects. It automatically sends a tracking link to my partner which also 'just works' (I ride alone most of the time so it gives me peace of mind that someone knows where I am if I don't make it home).