Garmin edge 500 is it worth upgrading

sextoke1

Hi All, I have a 500 since December 2012 and in fairness it has been very good. I was thinking about upgrading but I would like to hear some of your thoughts. What I like about the 500, is at the tea stop I leave it on the bike, because I find if I bring it in doors it seems to reduce my km/h when I am stopped, I think in the past I put it to stop but it seemed to still count things a bit funny. It has been grand keeping on the bike, I have it on auto pause as well. I don't seem to mind leaving it on the bike, I dont think I would like to leave a 1000 or 1030 on the bike. When I have been to Italy and Spain, I then to go onto my phone to see where I am when I get lost. Just wondering if I get a 1000 or 1030 is it easy to plan my route the evening before and can I divert from that on the day if some thing takes my fancy. One think is the temperature reading seems high, but I dont seem to view it much when on the road, just a bit better for the records. I have a Di2 bike as well so just wondering if most DI2 users get the interface for viewing the gears/battery life. I have bi focal glasses for my normal life but not for my Bollie cycling glasses, at €500 for my non bifocal glasses, I was slow to get them added to the cycling ones. So do most fellows go for 520, 1000 or 1030 or even look at Wahoo ?

supermurph09

I’ve been a huge advocate of the 500 having also had one since 2012. It’s worked great, it’s done exactly what I needed it to do. But having read the Wahoo BOLT reviews I took the plunge and have been using it for the last 3 weeks.

I have to say, it’s BRILLIANT! I’d highly recommend buying one. It does everything better and a whole lot more besides.

sextoke1

Supermurph09 wrote:

I’ve been a huge advocate of the 500 having also had one since 2012. It’s worked great, it’s done exactly what I needed it to do. But having read the Wahoo BOLT reviews I took the plunge and have been using it for the last 3 weeks.

I have to say, it’s BRILLIANT! I’d highly recommend buying one. It does everything better and a whole lot more besides.

I will have a look at that. Does it have buttons, I have a load of good gloves due to always having cold hands. I only have one page of gloves with the metal strip that works with the touch screen. I think this would rule out the Garmin 1030?

sniper68

Wahoo Bolt.
Buttons easy to use with gloves and the zoom in is a doddle.

supermurph09

ibbo68 wrote:

Wahoo Bolt.
Buttons easy to use with gloves and the zoom in is a doddle.

^^^ THIS

grenw

I moved from a 510 to a Bolt. Definitely an upgrade - all set up via the app rather than the unit itself - so much easier. No need to carry the phone with you if you don't want. Seamless transfers of routes and rides

Buttons on the front of the unit. No touchscreen

cgfw201

+1 just get a Bolt. Massive upgrade.

kettrinboy

Ive had my Garmin 800 since Jan 2011 and done around 2300 hrs of use , it still does everything i need cycling and running , if it does expire i would probably go for an 820 but it shows no sign of giving up yet so i,ll stick with it.

sloppyschleckonds

kettrinboy wrote:

Ive had my Garmin 800 since Jan 2011 and done around 2300 hrs of use , it still does everything i need cycling and running , if it does expire i would probably go for an 820 but it shows no sign of giving up yet so i,ll stick with it.

So the majority of people recommend the Bolt over the Garmin and you ignore it?

robertpb

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

kettrinboy wrote:

Ive had my Garmin 800 since Jan 2011 and done around 2300 hrs of use , it still does everything i need cycling and running , if it does expire i would probably go for an 820 but it shows no sign of giving up yet so i,ll stick with it.

So the majority of people recommend the Bolt over the Garmin and you ignore it?

Don't seem to have read the post clearly.

LiamW

Does the Bolt come with it's own speed sensor?

cgfw201

LiamW wrote:

Does the Bolt come with it's own speed sensor?

only if you buy the bundle with a speed sensor included (it will pair with a garmin speed sensor in case that's a concern.)

LiamW

cgfw201 wrote:

LiamW wrote:

Does the Bolt come with it's own speed sensor?

only if you buy the bundle with a speed sensor included

I take it that it works with other ANT+ sensors though? Garmin and the like?

cgfw201

LiamW wrote:

cgfw201 wrote:

LiamW wrote:

Does the Bolt come with it's own speed sensor?

only if you buy the bundle with a speed sensor included

I take it that it works with other ANT+ sensors though? Garmin and the like?

yep, any ANT+/Bluetooth sensor.

Mikey23

500 is a robust bit of kit. 520 brings it up to date. I suspect there will be a 530 out soon. No thoughts on the bolt. Most people seem to like it but some have identified shortcomings. Nice to have competition...

proto

Mikey23 wrote:

500 is a robust bit of kit. 520 brings it up to date. I suspect there will be a 530 out soon. No thoughts on the bolt. Most people seem to like it but some have identified shortcomings. Nice to have competition...

Garmin Edge 500 is it worth upgrading?

No

My 500 was faultless, lasted years, nothing wrong it at all, loved it, but in a moment of madness I 'upgraded' to a 520 and gave the 500 to a friend. Serious mistake, I hate the bloody thing. Menu structure is cumbersome, BT connectivity flakey, buttons awkward.

Next week I'll be a Wahoo Bolt owner and my 520 will be for sale.

trivial_poursuivant

I only upgraded from my 500 to a 510 then a 520 (cos my 510 was nicked - and cos it was shite anyway) because of the lack of Bluetooth. I hardly use my laptop these days so to connect to my phone was a big plus. We’re it not for that one single thing I would still be using my old 500 today. It was revolutionary and a true icon in recent times of all cycling tech.

Rigga

Do the strava live segments work on the wahoo bolt? Do they work the same as on the Garmin? I.e.does it tell you when starred segments are upcoming?
Sorry to thread hijack.

davebradswmb

At risk of sounding like a broken record I also recommend the Elemnt Bolt. I also was a long term user of a Garmin Edge 500 and was pretty happy with it. I even managed to get used to it for setting up and following routes but I wanted something that would be easier to use for this purpose. So far the Bolt has more than lived up to my expectations. Getting routes onto the Bolt is simplicity itself, battery life is great and the zoom function was a really useful surprise for someone whose eyes aren't what they used to be. The only thing I miss is the cue sheet screen which I used quite a lot on the 500, but I guess I just need to get more used to using the map screen.

cgfw201

Rigga wrote:

Do the strava live segments work on the wahoo bolt? Do they work the same as on the Garmin? I.e.does it tell you when starred segments are upcoming?
Sorry to thread hijack.

yep, works much better on Wahoo actually, more functionality and analysis of the segments whilst still on the ride.

Pituophis

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

kettrinboy wrote:

Ive had my Garmin 800 since Jan 2011 and done around 2300 hrs of use , it still does everything i need cycling and running , if it does expire i would probably go for an 820 but it shows no sign of giving up yet so i,ll stick with it.

So the majority of people recommend the Bolt over the Garmin and you ignore it?

He already has a Garmin 800 though, not a Bolt, and he thinks it might be a good upgrade from a 500.
He wasn't the one asking for advice after all. Just giving an opinion.
Not allowed? :roll:

triggersbroom

Just adding my oar into the debate. I got a Wahoo Elemnt bundle during the Black Friday sales and couldn't be happier with it. Buttons so can be used with gloves no problems, slightly larger screen than the Bolt, easy zoom, connects to phone and wifi like a dream, easliy read b&w screen, picks up Strava segments as you ride them and routes can be synced with Ridewithgps to allow turn by turn navigation. A strong recommendation from me.

noodleman

TriggersBroom wrote:

Just adding my oar into the debate. I got a Wahoo Elemnt bundle during the Black Friday sales and couldn't be happier with it. Buttons so can be used with gloves no problems, slightly larger screen than the Bolt, easy zoom, connects to phone and wifi like a dream, easliy read b&w screen, picks up Strava segments as you ride them and routes can be synced with Ridewithgps to allow turn by turn navigation. A strong recommendation from me.

I've had my elemnt for over a year and it's been faultless. I agree with the above comments and although the bolt is undoubtedly a nice piece of kit, I can't really understand why people are going for that rather than the elemnt. Maybe it's my eyesight or just the fact that I'm used to the larger screen but to me the bolt just seems too small.