Garmin or Elemnt?

[MichaelO]

Switched from Garmin to Elemnt Bolt over a year ago - would never go back. The biggest issue with Garmin (mid ride crashes) is a thing of the past! I now have a GPS unit I can trust and which has a far superior battery life.

 

[rb58]

Thanks Vickster. Thats another thing, the mounts. I have 6 mounts on different bikes. having to change the one mount from bike to bike would be a pain so that would mean buying more. Don't like the idea of cutting the unit to fit the mount.
Hmm decisions, decisions.

I didn’t need to buy any additional mounts. The out front Garmin ones I had were the sort where the fitting can be rotated 90 degrees, so the Wahoo went straight in. Only on a couple did I have to ‘adjust’ the mount for the Elemnt to fit. And that was less than a 1mm trim and took about 10 seconds.

 

[Milzy]

The bolt is the dogs b*##*@**. It really is the best thing since sliced bread. You can be sure of it.

 

[vickster]

I didn’t need to buy any additional mounts. The out front Garmin ones I had were the sort where the fitting can be rotated 90 degrees, so the Wahoo went straight in. Only on a couple did I have to ‘adjust’ the mount for the Elemnt to fit. And that was less than a 1mm trim and took about 10 seconds.

Yes it’s not difficult but it does have to be done. @jayonabike says his mounts are metal though?

 

[jayonabike]

Apart from this lifeline one where the middle can be rotated

They are all k-edge machined out front mounts

 

[rb58]

Apart from this lifeline one where the middle can be rotated
View attachment 408254
They are all k-edge machined out front mounts
View attachment 408252
View attachment 408253

These are what I have.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CTJOGAM/jobsworth-garmin-mount
Cheap and cheerful, but the inside rotates, so works with both Garmin and Wahoo. Not had issues with them at all.

 

[r04DiE]

@r04DiE hasn't been on here for a while (probably recovering from LWL) but he recently lost his Wahoo onto the road where it got run over. Not sure if it was a mount problem.

Hi there,

No, that was a me problem - I have never had a problem with the Wahoo mount at all.

 

[derrick]

Wahoo for me, had the garmin 800 for a few years, then rode with someone who had the wahoo, i bought one a week later, was a bit fiddly to start with, but i soon got to grips with it, using ride with gps is best for mapping, the phone app is really good, so easy to find where you want to go. i still have the garmin and will keep it for a backup, But the Wahoo is well in front of the Garmin.
The Garmin 1000 is also good, my other half uses one, apart from a couple of glitches,( could have been operator problems,) it does work well.

 

[jonnysnorocket]

My Garmin is currently on Ebay, IMO the wahoo elemnt is a totally superior product, it just works as it should, easy to use & totally reliable.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/222994609187

 

[Heltor Chasca]

+1 for Elemnt. Had it for over a year now. Faultless for touring and Audax.

I had Garmin for over 3 years. Everyone gets stuck in a rut at some stage in their life.

 

[Mvm1]

I had no problem whatsoever with Garmin (til now), probably would be nice to test the Elemnt.

 

[PaulSB]

I’m thinking hard about the Elemnt. Three questions:

1. The Elemnt is the top of the range unit with the largest screen? I know it’s a basic question but so many sites are intent on selling benefits rather than accurate description.

2. I’m having difficulty establishing how the turn by turn shows onscreen. Different reviews seem to suggest different things.

What I want/would like is a view which shows, as the Garmin 810 does, road name, countdown on distance to turn and large arrow indicating direction.

3. Most of my navigation is with club groups. I’ve read turns are not indicated until right on top of a junction. Having to make last minute decisions on a turn with 8-10 riders behind sounds tricky.

Is it correct the turn is indicated when very close to the turn point?

Personally I find my current** Garmin 810 navigates very well. The issue is appalling battery life - 5.5 hours at most and is my only reason to consider change.

** yes I’ve had a really bad one as well which Garmin replaced!!

 

[Milzy]

I’m thinking hard about the Elemnt. Three questions:

1. The Elemnt is the top of the range unit with the largest screen? I know it’s a basic question but so many sites are intent on selling benefits rather than accurate description.

2. I’m having difficulty establishing how the turn by turn shows onscreen. Different reviews seem to suggest different things.

What I want/would like is a view which shows, as the Garmin 810 does, road name, countdown on distance to turn and large arrow indicating direction.

3. Most of my navigation is with club groups. I’ve read turns are not indicated until right on top of a junction. Having to make last minute decisions on a turn with 8-10 riders behind sounds tricky.

Is it correct the turn is indicated when very close to the turn point?

Personally I find my current** Garmin 810 navigates very well. The issue is appalling battery life - 5.5 hours at most and is my only reason to consider change.

** yes I’ve had a really bad one as well which Garmin replaced!!

5.5 hours LOL. I’ve had navigation on my wahoo for 8.5 hours and still had 48% life.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I’m thinking hard about the Elemnt. Three questions:

1. The Elemnt is the top of the range unit with the largest screen? I know it’s a basic question but so many sites are intent on selling benefits rather than accurate description.

What is the question?

2. I’m having difficulty establishing how the turn by turn shows onscreen. Different reviews seem to suggest different things.

What I want/would like is a view which shows, as the Garmin 810 does, road name, countdown on distance to turn and large arrow indicating direction.

If you have loaded a TCX file, you get exactly the above.

3. Most of my navigation is with club groups. I’ve read turns are not indicated until right on top of a junction. Having to make last minute decisions on a turn with 8-10 riders behind sounds tricky.

Is it correct the turn is indicated when very close to the turn point?

You can set this up to your preference. I think default is 30m

Personally I find my current** Garmin 810 navigates very well. The issue is appalling battery life - 5.5 hours at most and is my only reason to consider change.

About 12 hours is my best.

** yes I’ve had a really bad one as well which Garmin replaced!!

My bold. HTH

 

[vickster]

If you like the garmin but not the battery life, get a large capacity battery pack, a tri bag and run a charging cable between when required