New computer - Garmin 520 vs Wahoo Elemnt?

luv2ride

Thinking about changing out my trusty old Bryton Rider 50 unit for something that'll sync up easier with Strava and show progress on segments, etc, as a bit of a motivational tool. Did have my trigger finger poised over a Wahoo Elemnt from Wiggle (£231 today) but no sensor bundle. Then started reading up on Garmin 520 which looks great and is quite a bit cheaper than the Wahoo (£189 on Wiggle) but still no sensors bundled.

I already have Ant+ combined speed and cadence sensors for my Bryton (in fact might be labelled as Bontrager, or Motorola). Would these work on either new unit?

Any recommendations for either the Elemnt or 520? The Wahoo does still seem a little buggy, but their support sounds good. Garmin also seem to have their haters, but wondered if they'd "got it right" with the 520?

cheers

bendertherobot

The 520 is very good and, for me, virtually bug free.

https://roubaixcycling.cc/2016/03/29/ga ... -everyday/

I do have one though. After it finds a satellite and I set off it loses it again, then finds it about 10 seconds later. This means nothing as it recalculates the missing distance and adds it all in. No idea if others do that. Otherwise it's been flawless including using it for almost 7 hours on the Velothon (waiting for others!) and then all the next week on a single charge.

My mate has the Wahoo and loves it. The ability to customise the screen easily is a major boon in my view.

Both should take your sensors. Not sure which one you have but if you can find it here you can check compatibility.

https://www.thisisant.com/directory/spe ... ed-sensor/

luv2ride

Cheers BTR. I also have a mate with the Elemnt who really rates it, but did point me to their Google user forum so I was aware of their bugs, though realise the Garmin also isn't immune. TBF, ease of use and seamless interaction with Strava are the key points for me. Also noticed some offers which finish today. Decisions, decisions....

bendertherobot

The 520 isn't flash. It's pretty workmanlike really, does the job.

You could save a few quid and just get the 25 mind! Nothing instant on screen as far as things like cadence etc but will all be there when you upload (automatically).

Vslowpace

For anything tech related I tend to defer to DC Rainmaker. I know he has in depth reviews of both of those units on his site.

bendertherobot

Vslowpace wrote:

For anything tech related I tend to defer to DC Rainmaker. I know he has in depth reviews of both of those units on his site.

Mine's quite in depth

Vslowpace

Of both units ?

bendertherobot

Vslowpace wrote:

Of both units ?

No. Hence my initial post. 8)

philbar72

the 520 is solid and the best garmin head unit I have used in the 3 years since returning to cycling. the software should be updated to the latest release, and always switch off Bluetooth, when riding. there were issues where riders were getting faulty readings from ant+ devices whist Bluetooth was on, but it seems its likely been eradicated by the latest software. I've seen a skipout once with a bit of older software.

I've used it for big rides, Liege Bastogne Liege and a long London to Brighton and back and it hasn't skipped a beat. also feels and works a fair bit better than the outgoing 500/510.

bendertherobot

Mine seems ok with leaving bluetooth on and instantly uploads the ride as soon as I press save ride.

Had one weird anomaly last week, 43mph on a 10 mph stretch. Took about 2 miles to average down to 20 mph after that!

Vslowpace

bendertherobot wrote:

Vslowpace wrote:

Of both units ?

No. Hence my initial post. 8)

When I grow up i'll learn to read 8)

redhanded

I've had a Wahoo Elemnt for a couple of months now and have had no problems with it.

From the Elemnt user forums, the biggest problem being reported with the Elemnt is with sensors dropping out periodically (heart monitors, cadence sensors, power meters and so on...) however I don't use any sensors.

Wahoo have posted a detailed explanation and are working to roll out a fix but it hasn't arrived yet.

There were a couple of things that swung me towards the Elemnt rather than the 520 but these won't apply to everyone.

- screen legibility : my eyesight isn't great and I sometimes struggled to make out a Garmin colour screen in bright sunlight. The Elemnt screen is bigger and while it is black and white, it is very high contrast so I find it more readable.

- detailed maps : you can load detailed open street maps onto the Garmin but it has limited memory. This may or may not be an issue depending on where you want to cycle. So, for example, the Garmin has enough memory to fit maps of all of Wales. However I live in London where the road network is more dense and I'd only be able to fit maps of an area within about a 60-80 mile radius. I regularly cycle beyond this radius and think juggling different maps would be a bit of a faff. The Elemnt has maps of almost the entire world.

luv2ride

Thanks for the replies. The Wahoo deal - £231 instead of £279 - has now finished on Wiggle (I just missed it due to half term childcare commitments )

So, given the Garmin is cheaper at the moment, plus 5.5% cashback is available via Evans, I may go down that route now. Shame the base maps are so basic, but good to hear you can download open source maps as well, albeit for a limited area.

redhanded

Luv2ride wrote:

Shame the base maps are so basic, but good to hear you can download open source maps as well, albeit for a limited area.

The maps on the Garmin may actually cover a very wide area - it depends on the number of roads there are!

Maps can be downloaded from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl (check out DCRainmaker's site for how to info)

The maps are divided into "tiles" and you can select the tiles for the areas you want. The openstreetmap website will tell you the size of the map so you know it will fit onto the Garmin which has around 100M of memory for maps.

neilr4

https://www.mantel.com/garmin-edge-520-bundel

The garmin 520 can`t be beaten

luv2ride

I opted for the 520 in the end, bundled with the new style speed, cadence and HR monitors. Halfords, after BC 10% discount, were the cheapest so collected yesterday. One ride in and I'm very impressed. Also managed to remove the base maps and replace with several counties worth of Open Street maps (after following instructions on DC Rainmaker website), so mapping also seems to be sorted. Played around with the data fields last night to the point I'm happy with those. Was intrigued by the Strava Live Segments feature, and really enjoyed using this on the road. Legs aching this morning though 8)