Garmin or Elemnt?

[PaulSB]

@ColinJ thanks for this one but I’d already been there several hours earlier

 

[Milzy]

I didn't say I hate Apple - I said their products are GOOD because they always, in my experience, work straight from the box. I'm not an Apple groupie, I have an iPhone that's all.

Now the Wahoo I have purchased doesn't work as described. The key to using a Wahoo is to download the app, use this to scan the bar code on the Wahoo and make the connection. The big issue here is that if one can't make a connection via Bluetooth then there is no alternative. I've spent the evening reading various bits of advice, trawled through the rather poor Help pages provided by Wahoo, searched for the non-existent manual - surely there should be a manual?? Deleted all the existing Bluetooth connections on my iPhone, switched off, switched on again, etc. done a factory reset on the Wahoo, downloaded three different QR readers in case this is the problem.

It boils down to this. Wahoo is selling an expensive product, which I fully understand many people find excellent, but when issues arise the company falls a long way short of the standard I would expect for a product of this value. If there is only a single connection method and that connection method fails there is absolutely nothing one can do to resolve the problem. A quality company would provide online support for this type of issue, what Wahoo offers is woeful.

For me this is a fundamentally flawed product in that it only makes the initial connection via Bluetooth. If a cable alternative was provided my issue would probably have been solved inside ten minutes.

I didn’t say you hated apple. Apple are great been using them for 10 years. I meant that people still won’t get on with good stuff like the bolt. You must be the only person this has happened to. Find a young geeky boy or girl to sort it out for you.

 

[Milzy]

A very simple google shows this not to be the case. It appears to be a recognised issue.

Well in that case, it’s worth swapping it for one which does work. It’s a game changer when they’re working. Shame that, hope things are resolved soon.

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

Persevere with Element, it is worth it. Both of us had various Garmin devices, from simple 200, 500, 810 and all were pigs to operate, had almost impenetrable menu options to get to setup that worked for us. We both now hav3 Elements (K bought hers first). Once you get them paired, they are simple to use, have customisable displays, great battery life, decent mapping and clear displays.
When settle new one up, be patient, they take a few minutes to boot up and find the location, wait a while before trying to pair (QR scan), then let it do its thing.
The only annoying bugs are if your profile is set to ‘mixed’ units, it frequently defaults back to metric and you think your going very quickly, and a minor irritant, the screens don’t scroll through as the Garmin can.

 

[Crankarm]

I have a Garmin Edge 1000. It is ok apart from the map being painfully slow to navigate around and not being able to get it to show North up. Maybe this bit is just me. I use it with OS 1:50k mapping. It is painfully slow. Also it won't pair to my smart phone or Mac Book Pro through BlueTooth. With my Mac I have to use the USB cable which is a pain. As a standalone GPS cycle computer it is massively over priced, especially when smart phones are so good now with Google Maps, OSM, Bikemap.net and Talkytoaster. It is generally my smart phone that I default to with navigation, as providing it can get a signal, it has never let me down. The Garmin 1000 touch screen on the other hand takes an age to zoom in or out on maps, has a mind of it's own which way it orientates and often freezes. If truth be told I think it is a bit of a cheek Garmin charging so much for their devices. Their mapping certainly isn't worth it. If the Wahoo Element Bolt is any better I can't i imagine it is massively better. I am sure it would come with it's own bundle of problems and frustrations. I think smart phones are so much better than the dross that Garmin et al are giving us and massively over priced. All you need for a smartphone is a waterproof case to keep it dry such as from UltimateAddOns which is what I use to protect my phone on my motorbike and I shall soon adapt for my bike.

Also on my Garmin 1000 the temp reading is massively inaccurate 2-3C out and the data screens change at will when the screen gets so much as a rain drop on it. Also it refuses to switch off when I have finished a ride and saved it. It can take many attempts hitting the power off button before the thing actually turns off which is really annoying. Battery life isn't great at about 8 hours so if riding for longer or touring for a full day you are going to need to carry a battery pack to recharge it at some point which means more weight and a small top tube bag adjacent to it. I got it for pretty much half price when CRC had a sale end of last year just before Christmas. I already have the performance bundle - speed sensor, cadence sensor and HRM as previously I was using my Fenix 3 which was surprisingly good although no mapping but still GPS. The Fenix 3 won't charge from mains power though.

Garmin customer service is awful as I emailed them about all this and all they could tell me was to restart the device and to make sure I had the most recent software update. I do. I shall not be buying another Garmin product.

 

[Crankarm]

Step by step instructions... works fine for me. You do have to change the setting in each profile though.




Step by step instructions... works fine for me - both to my iPhone and my iPad. Some Android devices do seem to struggle - and forget it if you have a Windoze phone.

Thanks for this Reg. Have activated the North Up view for the mapping. With respect to the others no such luck. I have an Android phone Sony.

 

[PeteXXX]

My Elemnt paired with my 5s ‘straight out of the box’
Couldn’t have been easier...
I have contacted Wahoo support several times with queries and have had prompt and decent answers to my questions.

I, too, am no lover of Apple. My 5s might as well be a landline the amount of time it spends plugged into a charger. (but that’s a whole new thread!!)

 

[PaulSB]

I did “mark forums read” and missed much of this.

@Milzy - apologies I read your initial response differently.

By chance I’ve discovered the near field focus on my camera is nackered. I needed to photograph a document last night and it simply wouldn’t focus.

In fairness to Wahoo I felt I have to hold my hand up on that. I’ll be trying again but it looks as though if I want to use Wahoo I have to buy a new phone.

I’d like a new phone but it’s not desperate. I do still feel though Wahoo should provide an alternative connection method. Straightforward Bluetooth or cable would surely work? I don’t say this because I feel Wahoo should anticipate the needs of customers with broken cameras but because all the other tech I own offers alternatives, presumably because manufacturers realise such issues do arise.

The Wahoo purchase was almost self-funding via Evans cash back, selling a couple of shirts and expecting a fair price when I sell my 810. If I have to buy a phone it won’t be the end of the world.

 

[Milzy]

I did “mark forums read” and missed much of this.

@Milzy - apologies I read your initial response differently.

By chance I’ve discovered the near field focus on my camera is nackered. I needed to photograph a document last night and it simply wouldn’t focus.

In fairness to Wahoo I felt I have to hold my hand up on that. I’ll be trying again but it looks as though if I want to use Wahoo I have to buy a new phone.

I’d like a new phone but it’s not desperate. I do still feel though Wahoo should provide an alternative connection method. Straightforward Bluetooth or cable would surely work? I don’t say this because I feel Wahoo should anticipate the needs of customers with broken cameras but because all the other tech I own offers alternatives, presumably because manufacturers realise such issues do arise.

The Wahoo purchase was almost self-funding via Evans cash back, selling a couple of shirts and expecting a fair price when I sell my 810. If I have to buy a phone it won’t be the end of the world.

I knew it would be something along the lines of a phone problem. Hopefully you can have a phone upgrade too & enjoy the bolt.