Garmin 520 or Wahoo Element?

jollygiant

I'm in the market to upgrade my Wahoo RFLKT to either a Garmin 520 or Wahoo Element?

I've read the reviews of both and really can't decide between them.

From what I can work out as long as you upgrade the maps on the Garmin it's ok but some people say it can't 'find' the Wahoo H/R monitor or speed and cadence sensors, which I have already and don't want to buy more.

Can both download maps from Strava onto both?

Which actually has better navigation?

Is the Element worth the extra £20? I've found the 520 for £180 and Element for £200.

I know the Garmin if more popular but is it really better?

frisbee

I bought an Elemnt recently. Completely painless to set up, it just works.

Strava routes are just a breadcrumb trail, you don't get turn by turn directions with them.

Ride With GPS routes are turn by turn but I haven't tried one yet.

You can also use the app on your phone to set a destination and that gives you turn by turn directions I think.

The LEDs on the side are brilliant if you have a power meter.

I'm really pleased with it.

stevie63

I have had both. I'm actually going to do a comparison review when I get a chance. The navigation on the elemnt is much better than the 520 when you use ridewithgps as the source of your routes. One thing I would say is be careful if you are thinking about getting the elemnt from eBay as they won't support them if there is a problem. Rather get one from wahoo or wiggle. The extra few quid will give you peace of mind.

noodleman

Elemnt is fantastic. Easy to set up in a few minutes and using ridewithgps for route planning is great for tbt. As another poster said, the LED'S are really useful and on top of this the firmware is updated and improved on a regular basis.

feisty

I had a 520 but got an Elemnt because I wanted to do rides like London to Leicester where the 520 would struggle to hold all the tiles I needed for maps (element has worldwide maps). I liked the Elemnt so much I gave the 520 to a friend of mine on permanent loan.

Don't get me wrong, the 520 is a fine bike computer (albeit I kept it on firmware 3.0 given bugs in later firmware). I also liked its small size. I got 10 hours battery life out of it with the screen at 60% brightness constantly

I prefer the Elemnt user interface. You can set up pages just like you can for the 520. But you can also set up the order in which you want the fields to appear on each screen and then you can add or remove fields at a touch of a button during the ride. e.g. you can have 4 fields showing nice and large and then just add an extra 2 by hitting the down key twice if you want to quickly check something else. Similarly you can alter map zoom at a touch of a button where as with the 520 I had to stop the bike due to the number of key presses, press enter, select zoom level, change it, press enter etc.

The Elemnt screens are not colourful (but no less visible) and if you like your computer to look pretty then go for a Garmin. But if you want it to be effective than the Elemnt is great. Personally I turn off all the LEDS but they are useful if you use turn by turn and want a visual indicator of when it's time to turn left, right etc

In short, I like both computers. If getting a 520 I'd strongly consider rolling it back to a reliable firmware version (you can google how to do this) but if you do that it will be great.

The Element is bigger, less pretty, but in my view a lot more straightforward to use (PS. You need to have an Android or Apple smartphone to set your elemnt up. You don't need the smartphone on during the ride though. Indeed, I purposefully disable all in ride notifications from my smartphone as I don't want to be interrupted when riding)

P.S. If you have a lot of routes on your strava or ridewithgps account you may want to create a little more space on the Elemnt. This is easy to do. I just unchecked Amercian and Australian maps in the app and got about a gigabyte of space free'd up. If you want to re-add those maps later it is as simple as adding them back in the app.

jollygiant

I liked the way I could pages up on my RFLKT as I just had actual speed, cadence and HR on one page and then average on another etc
So far I'm going to go for the Element as I like the ease of use of my RFLKT and really want to upgrade for the maps and Strava live sectors.

stevie63

One thing I would say is that the 520 does strava segments slightly better as it gives you a virtual partner for the kom based on where they were in the segment whereas the elemnt just does it by average speed for the segment.

Can I also just ask are you the jollygiant from Thetford?

jollygiant

stevie63 wrote:

Can I also just ask are you the jollygiant from Thetford?

I maybe, why?

Ascot17

in the same sort of price range [maybe not new but certainly lightly used] have a look at the Mio Cyclo 505.
Much better navigation than either of the above.
Only downside is that it won't connect to the new magnet-less Garmin speed or cadence sensors (it WILL connect to the old-style combined speed/cadence sensor).

stevie63

jollygiant wrote:

stevie63 wrote:

Can I also just ask are you the jollygiant from Thetford?

I maybe, why?

Oh, I just see your name a lot on Strava segments round here, though you are in no danger of losing any KOM's to me. I am very slow. Other than a couple of top 10's I don't normally crack the top 100.

jollygiant

stevie63 wrote:

jollygiant wrote:

stevie63 wrote:

Can I also just ask are you the jollygiant from Thetford?

I maybe, why?

Oh, I just see your name a lot on Strava segments round here, though you are in no danger of losing any KOM's to me. I am very slow. Other than a couple of top 10's I don't normally crack the top 100.

Yeah that is me and I'm a bit of Strava whore, but I'm giving 100% for the whole of a ride and not just 2 mins in one sector like some people.

We'll have to go out for a ride sometime. Are you on the Thetford Cycling Group on Facebook?

Calpol

YOu can get the Elemnt for under £200 atm - http://uk.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-computers

hsiaolc

jollygiant wrote:

I'm in the market to upgrade my Wahoo RFLKT to either a Garmin 520 or Wahoo Element?

I've read the reviews of both and really can't decide between them.

From what I can work out as long as you upgrade the maps on the Garmin it's ok but some people say it can't 'find' the Wahoo H/R monitor or speed and cadence sensors, which I have already and don't want to buy more.

Can both download maps from Strava onto both?

Which actually has better navigation?

Is the Element worth the extra £20? I've found the 520 for £180 and Element for £200.

I know the Garmin if more popular but is it really better?

I would say use a good phone. But if I have to choose between the two then Whaoo Element without doubt.

Just read garmin forums and you will see how crap they are for the amount of money you are paying.

I had 800 and then I thought to give the small edge 25 a try. Returned it after a week. The speed sensor doesn't work properly at all and it was known to Garmin for half a year. They kinda fixed it 8 months later. Acceptable to you? Not to me.
Now I use my phone. I can't be happier. I can switch on google maps on at any time and text at my convenience. Not to mention I have a huge beautiful screen that everyone stops and looks at with envy.

noodleman

hsiaolc wrote:

jollygiant wrote:

I'm in the market to upgrade my Wahoo RFLKT to either a Garmin 520 or Wahoo Element?

I've read the reviews of both and really can't decide between them.

From what I can work out as long as you upgrade the maps on the Garmin it's ok but some people say it can't 'find' the Wahoo H/R monitor or speed and cadence sensors, which I have already and don't want to buy more.

Can both download maps from Strava onto both?

Which actually has better navigation?

Is the Element worth the extra £20? I've found the 520 for £180 and Element for £200.

I know the Garmin if more popular but is it really better?

I would say use a good phone. But if I have to choose between the two then Whaoo Element without doubt.

Just read garmin forums and you will see how crap they are for the amount of money you are paying.

I had 800 and then I thought to give the small edge 25 a try. Returned it after a week. The speed sensor doesn't work properly at all and it was known to Garmin for half a year. They kinda fixed it 8 months later. Acceptable to you? Not to me.
Now I use my phone. I can't be happier. I can switch on google maps on at any time and text at my convenience. Not to mention I have a huge beautiful screen that everyone stops and looks at with envy.

Not convinced about this as an option. Poor battery life, lacking in many cycle specific features, easily damaged in a crash and very expensive to replace. Maybe OK for short rides but the phone battery would be flat in a couple of hours leaving you unable to call anyone if needed.

jollygiant

You need data to use google maps and here in Norfolk getting a phone signal is hard let alone 3 or 4G.

I want to be advising in tech not going backwards.

chris_bass

you can download areas in google maps to use offline on your phone

StillGoing

noodleman wrote:

hsiaolc wrote:

jollygiant wrote:

I'm in the market to upgrade my Wahoo RFLKT to either a Garmin 520 or Wahoo Element?

I've read the reviews of both and really can't decide between them.

From what I can work out as long as you upgrade the maps on the Garmin it's ok but some people say it can't 'find' the Wahoo H/R monitor or speed and cadence sensors, which I have already and don't want to buy more.

Can both download maps from Strava onto both?

Which actually has better navigation?

Is the Element worth the extra £20? I've found the 520 for £180 and Element for £200.

I know the Garmin if more popular but is it really better?

I would say use a good phone. But if I have to choose between the two then Whaoo Element without doubt.

Just read garmin forums and you will see how crap they are for the amount of money you are paying.

I had 800 and then I thought to give the small edge 25 a try. Returned it after a week. The speed sensor doesn't work properly at all and it was known to Garmin for half a year. They kinda fixed it 8 months later. Acceptable to you? Not to me.
Now I use my phone. I can't be happier. I can switch on google maps on at any time and text at my convenience. Not to mention I have a huge beautiful screen that everyone stops and looks at with envy.

Not convinced about this as an option. Poor battery life, lacking in many cycle specific features, easily damaged in a crash and very expensive to replace. Maybe OK for short rides but the phone battery would be flat in a couple of hours leaving you unable to call anyone if needed.

Don't waste your time, you'll never convince him/her. :roll:

stevie63

jollygiant wrote:

stevie63 wrote:

jollygiant wrote:

stevie63 wrote:

Can I also just ask are you the jollygiant from Thetford?

I maybe, why?

Oh, I just see your name a lot on Strava segments round here, though you are in no danger of losing any KOM's to me. I am very slow. Other than a couple of top 10's I don't normally crack the top 100.

We'll have to go out for a ride sometime. Are you on the Thetford Cycling Group on Facebook?

I'm not on Facebook, but I have just joined the Thetford cycling group on Strava. As above I am very slow particularly at this time of year.

pan280

i also have both and the Wahoo Elemnt is much, much better.
It is as if the Elemnt was designed by a cyclists and the garmin 520 by a team of designers using a focus group.

markhewitt1978

I too have had both and the ELEMNT wins by a country mile. Even on the nagivation front alone the turn by turn directions work really well (From ridewithgps) and being able to set up things on your phone is great, as is zooming in on your data as are the side LEDs for HR zones.

It's an obvious choice.

fat daddy

I switched from Garmin to wahoo about 6 months ago ..... best gadget decision I made .. I haven't once been p1553d off with the elemnt, so easy to set up and customise, and you can see the screen in full on sun and no touchscreen-rain-glove issues that I always seemed to get with the garmin.

loved it so much, bought a tickr-x and a kickr snap off the back of it and the company

jollygiant

Thanks all.
Since I have the Wahoo H/R monitor, speed and cadence sensor and RFLKT. I Iove the ease of use/ set up etc for the RFLKT, So I will be going for the Elemnt and look forward to using it finding new routes this summer.

jollygiant

So it's taken me bit longer to get one than I first thought.

It arrived on Monday and set up and went out for a ride and is seems really good. Then Tuesday the news broke about the Bolt, typical!! But I do like the screen size on the Elemnt and the software is the same, so I'm not to bothered now.

My only question is do I have to have the app open and bluetoothed to my phone for the live segments to work and for it to save the ride to my phone. Or can I just use the Elemnt without my phone and it will upload the ride even if I stop it before I get home and then connect it to the wifi.

darkhairedlord

Save your money and printout a map.

frisbee

darkhairedlord wrote:

Save your money and printout a map.

Which is what I used to do. And with hindsight after finally getting a GPS (as I also got a power meter) I should have got one years ago.

Makes the ride much nicer when you aren't faffing around getting a map out of your pocket or wondering if you've just missed a turn.

jollygiant

darkhairedlord wrote:

Save your money and printout a map.

I used to study junctions on google maps and write some directions and this could take unto 40 mins of preparation after choosing the route but now I can just drop some points on a maps hit sync and go out and probably get lost!

darkhairedlord

jollygiant wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

Save your money and printout a map.

I used to study junctions on google maps and write some directions and this could take unto 40 mins of preparation after choosing the route but now I can just drop some points on a maps hit sync and go out and probably get lost!

you plan your routes?
bloody anarchists

benjamess

darkhairedlord wrote:

you plan your routes?
bloody anarchists

my thoughts exactly! i normally just head into the wind for 50% of my ride time getting myself as lost as possible then stop google map it and enjoy the tailwind home!