Wahoo bolt vs Garmin 810

spasypaddy

Anyone moved from the 810 to the bolt?

Thoughts?

burnthesheep

I've a Bolt and love it. I wouldn't say an 810 is a fair comparison though. The 820 is the current model and is far more expensive.

The main difference will probably be how nice the routing/directions aspect is. The Bolt gets by ok with that, but it's strong suit is a training computer on a good price. It works fine for directions, but it won't redirect you if you make a wrong turn. And the turn notifications for me are a little too last minute.

sniper68

I've just sold my Edge 820 and the Elemnt Bolt is currently in transit so I'll let you know once I've used it!

meesterbond

I've moved from an 800 to a 520 to a Bolt and won't be going back to the Garmin in the near future... really impressed with the Wahoo, the interface is a big improvement on the Garmin, just doing stuff on it is much easier.

handful

I must be one of the few people that love the Garmin 800 but would seriously consider the Bolt if/when it finally packs up!

sniper68

handful wrote:

I must be one of the few people that love the Garmin 800 but would seriously consider the Bolt if/when it finally packs up!

I "upgraded" from the 800 to 820 and it was a mistake!
There was absolutely no issues with the 800 but I just wanted something newer!

StillGoing

ibbo68 wrote:

handful wrote:

I must be one of the few people that love the Garmin 800 but would seriously consider the Bolt if/when it finally packs up!

I "upgraded" from the 800 to 820 and it was a mistake!
There was absolutely no issues with the 800 but I just wanted something newer!

The 820 is woeful. I sold mine within a month or so after a long list of Garmins, the 810 being the best of the lot. Finally bit the bullet and moved to the Wahoo Elemnt series, which is a revelation compared to the 820. The 520 and it latching onto the firmware for other Edge devices, has a lot to answer for. It has screwed up so many Garmins.

sniper68

philthy3 wrote:

The 820 is woeful. I sold mine within a month or so after a long list of Garmins, the 810 being the best of the lot. Finally bit the bullet and moved to the Wahoo Elemnt series, which is a revelation compared to the 820. The 520 and it latching onto the firmware for other Edge devices, has a lot to answer for. It has screwed up so many Garmins.

I persevered with the 820 for about 8 months.The touchscreen was the biggest bug-bear,battery life a close 2nd.Garmin need to get their act together and make sure a device is actually ready for release before releasing it :roll: Garmin CS is crap and 99% of info I got was off the Garmin Forum.

jig

I have a 800 and got a 820 which I sold - just wasn't struck on it at all. The screen was overly sensitive even when i changed the settings.

Inevested in a bolt which I found to be much more user friendly and easier to use on the bike. Uploads much more quickly as well.

I still have my garmin 800 as I have full OS mapping on it so useful for routing new rides and off road etc, but for more serious training the bolt is leaps and bounds ahead.

paulwood

I've got an 800 and will be hanging onto it till it stops working. If i was buying new now then probably a Bolt. I think the success of the Bolt is great for Garmin lovers in the future though, Garmin did not achieve dominance in several sectors by being stupid company. Hopefully the appearance of a credible competitor will cause them to divert a large chunk their R&D budget to their cycling division, roll on the 1200 Edge series perhaps.

bobones

Can the Bolt use Garmin workout files that have been created on Garmin Connect? I like doing intervals when I am out on the bike so this is one feature I make a lot of use of.

Maglia_Rosa

I may have a Garmin Edge 800 for sale if anyone is interested

jig

As a side issue if its any use to anybody, I had a number of garmin mounts that I didn't want to get rid of.

There is a hack on youtube to fit the bolt to garmin mounts but wasn't struck on the idea so opted for an adapter instead- came within a couple of days from
Holland so no tax or anything. Got updated throughout and its pretty decent.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/D9X7G ... d=63219816

cgfw201

Switched from 520 to Bolt and have absolutely no regrets. Not sure on specifics of the 810, but given the Bolt has worldwide mapping, enormous battery life and a spectacularly intuitive interface with excellent accompanying app, id be astonished if there’s any way which the 810 would be anything other than vastly inferior.

grenw

Wife has an 810 and I have a Bolt.

If you want proper mapping go for the 810. The Bolt mapping is fine as longs as you don't go off course of change things on route.

The Bolt is probably better much of the rest of what it does although the GPS reception is poor under any sort of cover. It takes ages to register any slope and I already have to use blu-tak in the out front mount to stop it rattling. Far from perfect but better than the 510 in replaced in most ways

shamrock134

My 800 has served me well but is demoted to commuting duties as it struggles to hold battery on longer rides when you use GPX routing even with the backlight off.

I thought I'd go for an 820 and I'm incredibly disappointed. The touchscreen is useless, especially with gloves and the claimed battery life seems false based on extrapolation. 25% drained after 4 hours = 10 hours not 15.

I wish I could find a cheap NOS 810 as I prefer the screen size and touch sensitivity.

sniper68

shamrock134 wrote:

I thought I'd go for an 820 and I'm incredibly disappointed. The touchscreen is useless, especially with gloves and the claimed battery life seems false based on extrapolation. 25% drained after 4 hours = 10 hours not 15.

The absolute best I got from my 820 battery was just over 8 hrs.That was just using it as a cycle computer/data recorder!
One of the few times i tried it to navigate a route(that I ride regularly) it crashed twice,lost the route numerous times and in the end froze....35% power drained in less than 2 hours!

kingstongraham

Think I must be lucky with my 820. It is hopeless with full finger gloves, but battery life hasn't been anywhere near an issue for me. Nor has having a wet screen.

gimpl

Not really relevant but I will be seriously upset if/when my 500 gives up the ghost.

sloppyschleckonds

Gimpl wrote:

Not really relevant but I will be seriously upset if/when my 500 gives up the ghost.

Does it still sync ok with Windows XP?

wotnoshoeseh

jig wrote:

As a side issue if its any use to anybody, I had a number of garmin mounts that I didn't want to get rid of.

There is a hack on youtube to fit the bolt to garmin mounts but wasn't struck on the idea so opted for an adapter instead- came within a couple of days from
Holland so no tax or anything. Got updated throughout and its pretty decent.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/D9X7G ... d=63219816

For that price I think I'd rather spend a few quid extra and buy a new Bolt mount, especially as I have the ELEMNT version, so can get the "aero" mount for ~£4 extra......

noodleman

Not knocking the bolt as it has all the features of the elemnt but for less cash. I saw my first bolt on a ride out to the TOB and was struck by how small it is.
Everyone goes on about the size of the elemnt but most people seem to exaggerate by saying it's the size of a mobile phone. It's nothing like as big as most phone's and in my experience if you're going to use mapping or you're moving away from an 800 series Garmin you'd be better off with the elemnt.

grenw

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

jig wrote:

As a side issue if its any use to anybody, I had a number of garmin mounts that I didn't want to get rid of.

There is a hack on youtube to fit the bolt to garmin mounts but wasn't struck on the idea so opted for an adapter instead- came within a couple of days from
Holland so no tax or anything. Got updated throughout and its pretty decent.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/D9X7G ... d=63219816

For that price I think I'd rather spend a few quid extra and buy a new Bolt mount, especially as I have the ELEMNT version, so can get the "aero" mount for ~£4 extra......

Quite handy though as Wahoo don't make a mount that fits integrated aero bars. A bit of an omission based on the marketing. I had to buy a whole new 3d printed mount for mine at the cost of over £30 which was still a few quid cheaper than the k-edge option.

jig

GrenW wrote:

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

jig wrote:

As a side issue if its any use to anybody, I had a number of garmin mounts that I didn't want to get rid of.

There is a hack on youtube to fit the bolt to garmin mounts but wasn't struck on the idea so opted for an adapter instead- came within a couple of days from
Holland so no tax or anything. Got updated throughout and its pretty decent.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/D9X7G ... d=63219816

For that price I think I'd rather spend a few quid extra and buy a new Bolt mount, especially as I have the ELEMNT version, so can get the "aero" mount for ~£4 extra......

Quite handy though as Wahoo don't make a mount that fits integrated aero bars. A bit of an omission based on the marketing. I had to buy a whole new 3d printed mount for mine at the cost of over £30 which was still a few quid cheaper than the k-edge option.

Part of the reason I opted for it to be honest as the xlab set up I use on my TT is for garmin. For £12 the adapter just sits permanently on my bolt so i can move it around bikes no problem. I wasn't too fussed ablut the aero mount as any benefit that would give is lost with my xlab bottle anyway!

skoot44

Went from 510 to the Bolt and absolutely no regrets, the interface with phone App is just brilliant. As others have said turn by turn directions not up there with Garmin but everything else great. Not sure the comparison with 820 is like for like though.

gimpl

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Gimpl wrote:

Not really relevant but I will be seriously upset if/when my 500 gives up the ghost.

Does it still sync ok with Windows XP?

No idea - haven't used XP in a long, long time.

If however you're being facetious you need to make it more obvious.

sloppyschleckonds

Gimpl wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Gimpl wrote:

Not really relevant but I will be seriously upset if/when my 500 gives up the ghost.

Does it still sync ok with Windows XP?

No idea - haven't used XP in a long, long time.

If however you're being facetious you need to make it more obvious.

My mistake, it required at least Windows 2000

StillGoing

skoot44 wrote:

Went from 510 to the Bolt and absolutely no regrets, the interface with phone App is just brilliant. As others have said turn by turn directions not up there with Garmin but everything else great. Not sure the comparison with 820 is like for like though.

Well, similar screen size to the 820 and does everything other than the silly iConnect widgets that the 820 does. The 520 doesn't do true mapping, despite the protestations of some 520 owners that it does. The 520 was meant as a training aid rather than a navigation and training aid like the 820. The touch screen of the 820 is useless, accepting that there may be one or two out there that have an 820 screen that actually works as intended.

Personally, I have the Elemnt preferring it to the Elemnt Bolt simply because of the screen size and additional LED indicators.. As someone else has posted, the Elemnt isn't mobile phone size at all and similar in size to the 810.