Wahoo Bolt or Garmin Edge 520 Plus ?

[Lauris]

Which unit is better?
I know they both offer the same thing pretty much... so perhaps looking for an answer who owns both.

The main thing is the performance... lag-free and doesn't crash or corrupt files.

 

[cyberknight]

DC rainmaker did a review of the Garmin basically Garmin better at maps and nav wahoo more data centric if I remember rightly

 

[cyberknight]

I have a 520 plus and it's never had any issues

 

[steveindenmark]

Wahoo Bolt in my opinion. I havd had mine for 2 years and have not touched my Garmins since I bought it.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I’m another who chucked Garmin in favour of Wahoo. In my experience Garmin’s software is a huge let down. Wahoo has been faultless.

 

[Nebulous]

It's been a game of leapfrog as far as I can make out. I have a garmin 1000, which was an expensive bit of kit but it has been problematic all along, including leaking in wet weather. Wahoo came along and stole Garmin's lunch, a lot of people I talk to on long-distance rides use them and really like them. How they handle mapping and routing isn't as good apparently, but they are more reliable.

That was a wakeup call for Garmin and apparently the new 830 / 530 are a big improvement and better than Wahoo - which doesn't seem to have moved on much since the Bolt was introduced.

So - without having tried either, but having read a lot and spoken to a lot of people, I'd say the Bolt is better than the 520, but the 530 betters them both.

 

[Joffey]

If you decide on a Garmin go for the 530, not the 520+ - far more features and mine hasn't crashed once. It's been flawless and I'm super impressed with it. Having had 4 Garmin Edges the 530 is a remarkable improvement to what went before and appears to leave Wahoo behind somewhat.

 

[tom73]

Bolt love mine never had an issue. If you want something that just works out the box then whaoo wins hands down.

 

[Broadside]

I had a Garmin 800 for 5 years, I never had any problem with it until the battery finally gave up.
I went for a Wahoo after being told the simplicity of it made it far easier to use and the maps while not as pretty are actually good enough

After having it for a year I would not go back to Garmin. I find the Wahoo navigation much easier to follow and never get lost with it. I often used to take a wrong turn with the Garmin in built up areas but the simplicity of the Wahoo navigation means that is now a thing of the past.

 

[derrick]

Wahoo. Most people i know have ditched there Garmins for a Wahoo. love mine.

 

[Milkfloat]

Plenty of people seem to be comparing an old garmin device with a new wahoo, that is not exactly a fair comparison. Functionality has improved significantly in even just the last 3 years.

 

[derrick]

Plenty of people seem to be comparing an old garmin device with a new wahoo, that is not exactly a fair comparison. Functionality has improved significantly in even just the last 3 years.

My wife just got rid of here Garmin 1000. Thats pretty new, she bought it new about a year ago. Had a few problems with it.

 

[vickster]

My wife just got rid of here Garmin 1000. Thats pretty new, she bought it new about a year ago. Had a few problems with it.

The 1000 was however launched around 5 years ago so it’s now ‘old’ tech in the tech world. Superseded now by the 1030

 

[Broadside]

Plenty of people seem to be comparing an old garmin device with a new wahoo, that is not exactly a fair comparison. Functionality has improved significantly in even just the last 3 years.

Fair comment. I would however point out that the people who convinced me to go to Wahoo had all recently got rid of Garmin 820 devices. I did use to love my Garmin but I think the Garmin user interface got left badly behind when Wahoo appeared on the scene.

 

[derrick]

The 1000 was however launched around 5 years ago so it’s now ‘old’ tech in the tech world. Superseded now by the 1030

The Wahoo is not exactly new tech, Garmin have been at it a lot longer so they should have got it right a long time ago.