Should I treat myself to a new bike computer?

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So, 2021 has started off better than I expected exercise-wise and I have done way more than I ever thought I would. Being motivated by vast amounts of fitness data I cannot possibly make sense of but enjoy collecting and analysing nonetheless I bought a Garmin Fenix 6 to replace the Apple Watch and am thoroughly enjoying it.

So, now I have bought back into the Garmin ecosystem should I just use my Fenix 6 as a bike computer as well and sell my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt (anyone interested?), buy an Edge 530 and sell the Bolt (anyone interested?) or just stick with the Bolt and be mildly annoyed that, whilst I can get all the data together on Strava and SportTracks I can’t get it all together in Garmin Connect and thus miss out on certain badges and comparisons against past rides?

What would I gain with an Edge over using just my Fenix other than a screen I can actually read whilst riding?!

I just use a tablet on a music stand next to mine.

Hang on, you’re not going outside are you?

I’ve got a bolt and a forerunner 245 and if I want stuff on the bike computer, and stuff in garmin that adds to my overall training, I have to record on BOTH devices. If/When I replace my bolt it’ll be with a garmin.

@ta11pau1 – that is exactly my quandary. The Fenix 6 is actually hugely capable and at its core has just about all the functionality of the Edge 530 but there is something about a proper bike computer that just makes them easier to use when out riding.

I like the Bolt, no particular issues with it other than the fact I am back in the Garmin ecosystem and it’s annoying to faff between Wahoo and Garmin. First world problem for sure but hey…

if you really need to see the data in front of you while riding, bar mount for the fenix and an ANT+ chest strap & speed&cadence sensor.

@jam-bo – yep have the bar mount for the Fenix, cadence, HRM and power. Just the screen is a bit small and the buttons a bit fiddly. May try it a bit longer before deciding but do like something a bit bigger :)

Interesting to see folk considering moving from Wahoo to Garmin – the majority of users on forums seem to heading the other way.

I am a long term Garmin user but am considering moving from my Edge 820 to the Hammerhead Karoo 2.

I went away from having a bar mounted garmin because I would often come in from a ride and put it down somewhere and then have to spend at least 10 minutes looking for it before the next ride only to find it was nearly dead anyway.
I sold my edge 520 and bought a fenix and I’ve now just gone from the 5X to the 6 pro and have found that I’ve never missed having the bar/stem mounted Garmin even when navigating as I only really looked at the info when stopped or on the flat/climbs and it’s just as easy to take your hand off the bar and do that. I should add that my eyesight isn’t the best so looking down at the screen when it’s being shaken about meant I couldn’t see the info on my edge 520 that well anyway.
I’ve also cracked a couple of screens on an edge 500 and a 520 when I’d crashed. I guess you could just as easily do that with a watch but the fenix range are pretty robust units.

I gave up on Garmin as the software seemed pants and now it is just Komoot—Wahoo—Strava. I used to be able to update Garmin though using tapiriik. Seems not to work anymore.

what @Jam-bo said is what I do.
I guess it depends how important navigation is to you really.

dannybgoode… you’re smashing the Chub Club so you deserve a reward :-)

I upgraded my ancient “tech” last year. Bought a Forerunner 245M and an Edge 530. Really happy with how both units work independently, and how they integrate together with Garmin Connect (added the Smart Scale too).
I use the Forerunner all the time, and add the Edge for longer rides where I might need the mapping or fancy the extra information that’s displayed. The Forerunner transmits HR info to the Edge, so no need for a chest strap.
Can only imagine that a Fenix 6 + Edge would be even better!

You deserve it!

If you don’t have a power meter then the Edge Explore is excellent. Large easy to read screen.

I am a long term Garmin user but am considering moving from my Edge 820 to the Hammerhead Karoo 2.

My Karoo 2 arrived a few days ago, after suffering the last few years with the hateful Edge 820.

Initial impressions are very good: finally something with a display and touchscreen that’s comparable to a smartphone.

My biggest gripe so far is that you can’t mix and match units: it’s imperial or metric. So if you want your distances in miles, you get temperature in Fahrenheit. I may be weird in liking distance in miles and elevation in metres, but I know I’m not alone in wanting miles + Celsius.

The map and display in general are worlds apart from the Garmin. I’ve only tried the navigation briefly, but it seems to work well, although you only get one bleep per turn, rather then the two stage, “turn soon… turn now!” bleeps that I’m used to with Garmin.

It made disappointingly little fuss when I missed a turn. It simply plotted a new route that rejoined my original route a few miles ahead. Crucially, it was plotted in a different colour and the original route was still visible so it was clear what was going on, but a warning beep would have been nice.

One of my favourite features is that you’re not totally reliant on the touchscreen when riding. The UI makes good use of the four hardware buttons to allow you to do most of the things that you might want to when riding without needing to use the touchscreen which, although a massive step up from the Garmin, doesn’t work reliably with thick gloves.

I’ve not tried any big rides yet, but the battery life look like it’ll be reasonable.

Mine came with an adapter to make it work with Garmin mounts, although it allows the unit to rotate rather too easily so you have to be careful to not knock it out of the mount when pressing the lower buttons.

One of the few things I do like about Garmins is that you can get data on and off them with any computer and a USB cable, so you’re not hostage to the availability any cloud services. This doesn’t seem to be possible on the Karoo, so if they get taken to the cleaners by ransomware, or go bust, or whatever, the device starts to look quite like a brick (although it looks like you can get the device into Android USB debugging mode so something may be possible…)

Another very nice feature is that you can sort routes on the device by proximity or recentness, as well as alphabetical. This is much better than the Edge which has a fixed setting of alphabetical, which combined with a slow, unresponsive scroll makes getting to a route in the second half of the alphabet really tedious (this is actually a regression compared to the Edge 800 which used proximity, and is typical of Garmin’s total lack of attention to usability).

The notifications functionality is OK: the messages are clear and easy to read, but they disappear after a few seconds and once they’re gone they’re gone. Having time pressure in a UI that you’re supposed to use when riding is a really bad idea. The notifications also rely on a companion app, which is annoying. I don’t understand why my car can pair natively with my phone, but bike computers all seem to need companion app which you have to fight Android to keep running or you lose notifications. My only hope is that they’re planning to add live tracking which at the moment requires a sim card in the Karoo 2.

Overall, I’m very pleased with it, and hopefully the software will continue to improve. I rely pretty heavily on my GPS for navigation in unfamiliar places, but we’ve been treated to some pretty underwhelming products so far. I must confess I’ve never looked seriously at the Edge 1000/1020/1030 because I’m not going to spend that kind of money on Garmin.

Interesting to see folk considering moving from Wahoo to Garmin – the majority of users on forums seem to heading the other way.

I tried a Bolt briefly, and disliked it even more than the Garmin, which is saying something.

I got my first Garmin a couple of months ago. Went the whole hog and plumped for an Edge 1030 for £300 – that was only £50 more than an edge530 and I wanted the touch screen. 830’s were both more expensive and out of stock at the time.

Edge Explore looked good too but read some comments about the battery only lasting 6hrs in real life (12hrs claimed). As I wanted this purchase to last a good many years I planned for the battery life shortening in that time, 1030 has claimed 20-something hours. I got ~14 hrs with screen on full brightness, navigation on, HR monitor & phone paired out of my first charge of the 1030, that was over ~6 rides mostly in 0-5 degree weather.

Was a little reluctant to buy Garmin due to the myriad tales of woe on the internet, but it seems like all the edge X30 devices are all pretty reliable compared to their predecessors. I’ve not had any issues with mine at all.

I’ve driven myself mad reading reviews, watching YouTube vids, comparing prices and specs etc and in the end I have treated myself to the 530. The Karoo was tempting and I did look seriously at the Elemnt Roam too but given I have the Fenix 6X now (which I am more in love with than I should be just for a watch!) it made sense just to stick with Garmin.

I could have muscled everything in to SportTracks etc for workout logging and analysis but I tried that a while ago and have just spent half my evening removing duplicate, triplicate and even quadruplicate records etc as Wahoo logged it and Strava and something else. This way I just have one lot of data going in and out.

it also pulls my Garmin coaching plans straight out and displays them well and it talks very nicely with the Fenix so all the data is up to date on both devices, something which Garmin have only just nailed.

Didn’t fancy a touchscreen on a bike computer, I like buttons, although for scrolling around the map buttons are cumbersome. Have planned a 50k ride for the weekend so will see how the navigation etc holds up :).

@t3ap0t – yes there are some very vocal Garmin haters but I think much of that is down to just how many people use them and the fact that Garmin really do try and please everyone so there will be lumps and bumps and bits people don’t like.

By all accounts the 520/820 were problematic though but the 530/830 seems to have ironed out the main issues. Will see how I get on with it :).

And don’t get me wrong – there is a lot to like about the Elemnt Bolt as well – very simple to use and I love the fact you can ‘zoom’ in and out of each screen to display more or fewer data fields but it’s just the issue of being invested in Garmin’s ecosystem for me otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered swapping.

I just put a brand new, unused 1030 Plus on the classifieds. Box fresh and miles under RRP.

Just sayin