How reliable are Garmin computers?

StillGoing

Slowbike wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

The OPs question isn't about how long the battery life of a device is. It's whether the device retains ride data when the battery goes flat. The battery life isn't an issue as the OP simply forgot to ensure it had adequate charge before setting off. Be thankful they don't use Di2.

RTFP - there were two questions ...

Zest28 wrote:

Do Garmin computers have an auto-save in case it runs out of battery?

Which has already been answered ...

Zest28 wrote:

And is it worth switching to Garmin?

Which is a bit more open ended and inviting opinion on bike computers ..

Then in response to question 2; NO!

Garmin 705 - Brilliant and worked perfectly.
Garmin 810 - Great until the 520 was released piggybacked onto the same firmware and buggered it up.
Garmin 820 - Woeful, worst device I've ever owned. Touch screen that can't decide whether to work or not. Signal loss repeatedly. Failing to connect to the phone and linked devices.
Wahoo ELEMNT - great and has never let me down.

slowbike

philthy3 wrote:

Then in response to question 2; NO!

Garmin 705 - Brilliant and worked perfectly.
Garmin 810 - Great until the 520 was released piggybacked onto the same firmware and buggered it up.
Garmin 820 - Woeful, worst device I've ever owned. Touch screen that can't decide whether to work or not. Signal loss repeatedly. Failing to connect to the phone and linked devices.
Wahoo ELEMNT - great and has never let me down.

yup - the 705 was great
Wife has the 810 - didn't like it, still don't like the way you hit "Stop" and it asks you to save or discard the ride - I prefer the method on the 800 of holding the lap button for 5 seconds - unfortunately that seems to be their way forward with all the later devices now.

I've got the 820 - perhaps because it's a later unit/later firmware - I have no issue with touch screen...

StillGoing

If Garmin would just go back to the simplicity of the 705, things would be much better. When Garmin Edge units work, I wouldn't argue that there is anything better, even from Wahoo. Trouble is, Garmin have so many unit failures and firmware issues, probably from continually releasing devices before they've been tested properly, that owners have grown tired of it. Set up is no longer a simple process with many owners having to make multiple attempts and that is where Wahoo have Garmin cornered. A quick scan of the QR code and bingo, you're connected. The Wahoo devices might not do quite everything the Garmin top end units do, but they're close, if a bit overpriced. Even then, some of the features the new 530 and 830 claim to have, aren't as usable as they make out according to reviews.

I was set to give the 530 a try in the hope that Garmin had sorted their act out with TACX coming on board, but in the end I've upgraded to a ROAM. My experience with Garmin and knowledge that the Wahoo ELEMNT hasn't let me down swung it.

slowbike

I don't recall my 820 taking long to setup - make some profiles so I can have different screens for different rides, configure the different screens, dick about with custom fields/apps then forget them and oh ... connect it to my phone.

I'd agree with the "releasing before they're ready" - it's an issue software engineers have had for a long time - not just those at Garmin - commercial pressures and lack of budget for testing are probably the two biggest reasons for this.

Don't forget though - Garmin have a much larger userbase (at the moment) so it's understandable that there will be more reported issues ..

homers_double

From deciding not to comment and jinx my Garmin I've now found an issue.

I had an 800 Edge and an offer from a mate to take his 1000 edge for cheaps came up so I sold the 800 and bought it.

Full factory reset and loaded my stats etc. All worked fine and connected to my phone etc, uploaded a few rides here, uploaded a few rides abroad and then when I got home it struggled to connect to my phone.

Uploaded from the unit and it recorded the ride on my mates strava. Turned it off and on again and it connected to my phone and then uploaded my ride saying I had ridden with said mate.

Same again last night as I uploaded directly from the unit, then it connected to my phone and uploaded again.

The obvious option is not to upload directly but it seems odd after a full factory reset?

slowbike

Hmm - perhaps a full factory reset didn't do a ... full factory reset ...

homers_double

But I wonder why it's only just stared doing it? If it's still registered to his express account that may account for it???

pilot_pete

Presumably that would easily be sorted by asking him to remove it from his account?

PP

homers_double

It isn't linked to his Garmin Account anymore.

Honestly we've thought of everything. I don't profess to be a tech geek but he is and is a bit stumped.

handful

Had (and still have) an 800 which the OH uses now. I found it an incredibly frustrating device until I found a website called Forgot.co.uk and that turned it into a brilliant device which I grew to absolutely love.

Upgraded to an 820 during the bargain offer already mentioned and have been very impressed with it so far. It does sometimes struggle to pair with my phone but apart from that it's been excellent. I haven't run out of battery on a ride yet although the London 100 may force putting it into saver mode. The touchscreen is at least as good as the 800s, probably better. The only thing I preferred with the 800 was being able to save the sensors to a specific bike profile because the device keeps synching with 3 bikes at once as I'm going in or out of the garage!

darrell1967

I’ve got a 520 that I received as a Christmas gift 18 months ago.
It’s a bit fiddly but then again I’m a 52 year old ham-fisted plumber but apart from that it’s been faultless, pairs up with my iPhone XS immediately and uploads to my Strava app perfectly. I’ve used 3 different mounts for it, 1 Garmin and 2 fakie, all which have been trouble free.
Battery power has been fine on every ride and it doesn’t mind being chucked in my bag or back pocket.

Darius_Jedburgh

Darrell1967 wrote:

I’ve got a 520 that I received as a Christmas gift 18 months ago.
It’s a bit fiddly but then again I’m a 52 year old ham-fisted plumber but apart from that it’s been faultless, pairs up with my iPhone XS immediately and uploads to my Strava app perfectly. I’ve used 3 different mounts for it, 1 Garmin and 2 fakie, all which have been trouble free.
Battery power has been fine on every ride and it doesn’t mind being chucked in my bag or back pocket.

+1, except I'm not a plumber!!!

PhilipPirrip

I don't know how bad the rain-on-touchscreen issue was with previous models but I had an issue a couple of weeks ago with the touchscreen on my 1030 behaving erractically to touch in the rain and doing its own thing.

Mind you, it had been raining heavily for 90 minutes and was working fine again once the rain eased off.

jameses

homers double wrote:

Uploaded from the unit and it recorded the ride on my mates strava. Turned it off and on again and it connected to my phone and then uploaded my ride saying I had ridden with said mate.

I had a similar issue last year with my Elemnt Bolt, but slightly more odd in that I had owned the Bolt from new and it was only ever linked to my Strava. One day it just started uploading to both my account and that of someone who rides in a different group in my local CC. Never really got to the bottom of why it was happening, but de-registering the unit from my Strava and then re-connecting sorted the problem out.

jameses

Also, my £0.02 on the reliability of Garmins - they're fine if you get a good one, but of the people I know that use them it's about 70/30 good experiences to bad.

The only problem I've had with the Bolt in almost 2 years is the side buttons can lift and allow water ingress, which did kill the unit; it was replaced (for free) within a week by Wahoo. Everyone I know that's made the switch from Garmin wouldn't go back.
The battery has seen several 200+ mile rides without fully draining (and that's using navigation, HRM, speed sensor and power meter), so you really only have yourself to blame if you set off on a long ride with less than 40% charge on the unit!

redvee

PhilipPirrip wrote:

I don't know how bad the rain-on-touchscreen issue was with previous models but I had an issue a couple of weeks ago with the touchscreen on my 1030 behaving erractically to touch in the rain and doing its own thing.

Mind you, it had been raining heavily for 90 minutes and was working fine again once the rain eased off.

Suffered badly with that on one ride with the rain hitting the screen and effecting a swipe to change the screen or data field but changed the screen sensitivity to medium and never had the same since.

davep1

Captain Fagor wrote:

I really do wonder about some of the data given out by my Garmin 1030. Historically, my older Garmins (500 & 800) always over-estimated metres climbed compared to my Suunto, but I accepted that knowing one was based on GPS (Garmin) and one was barometric (Suunto).

However, now both my 1030 and Suunto Ambit2 Sapphire are accepting data from my power meter, yet return widly different calories spent. That seems odd. The Garmin TSS scores are differ from those in TrainerRoad when the Garmin data migrates across.

I'd also put the Garmin stress test results into the unconvincing category. The first test returned a score of 92/100, yet reduced to 0 less than 4 hours later! The condition factors and recovery data also looks decidedly shakey to me.

With the exception of altitude, aren't all of those a bit of a guess-timate though? As far as I understand it, calories cannot be worked out accurately by a bike computer, I think you have to be plumbed into to all kinds of lab apparatus to get a close measurement and even then it won't be exact. TSS, stress condition and recovery data are all similarly unscientific, depending on what factors they take into consideration.

I used to use a Garmin Forerunner, which used the GPS data for height gained, and all my mates had barometric measuring machines. Typically I would register about 30-40% of the height gained that they all logged on a ride we all did together.

davep1

ibr17xvii wrote:

Bolt is fantastic piece of kit, never had an issue with it.

Literally the only thing that would make me go back to Garmin would be the varia radar rear light. Had a play with one a few weeks back & it blew me away.

If Wahoo / Garmin added support for the rear light on the Bolt (or any Wahoo head unit for that matter) it would be pretty much unbeatable in my eyes.

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

StillGoing

DaveP1 wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Bolt is fantastic piece of kit, never had an issue with it.

Literally the only thing that would make me go back to Garmin would be the varia radar rear light. Had a play with one a few weeks back & it blew me away.

If Wahoo / Garmin added support for the rear light on the Bolt (or any Wahoo head unit for that matter) it would be pretty much unbeatable in my eyes.

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Strange as I find my ears alert me to a vehicle approaching from behind. From the revs of the engine I can tell if it's going to be a close pass or not. Never needed a device to tell me something is coming from behind.

Darius_Jedburgh

How do Garmin/Strava work out my wattage on a ride when I don't have any gizmos that can report that? Is it just a guestimate based on my recorded height/weight cross referenced to average speed and height climbed?

I've absolutely no idea if its accurate or not. Given that recovery times quoted on my 520 after a ride when I wear a chest strap seem to belong to the Hit or Miss fraternity can we believe any of the performance data? And not just from Garmin!!!!

pblakeney

DaveP1 wrote:

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Must be clever. I'd have thought it would be doing it's nut in, what with someone so close to the back wheel.

davep1

philthy3 wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Bolt is fantastic piece of kit, never had an issue with it.

Literally the only thing that would make me go back to Garmin would be the varia radar rear light. Had a play with one a few weeks back & it blew me away.

If Wahoo / Garmin added support for the rear light on the Bolt (or any Wahoo head unit for that matter) it would be pretty much unbeatable in my eyes.

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Strange as I find my ears alert me to a vehicle approaching from behind. From the revs of the engine I can tell if it's going to be a close pass or not. Never needed a device to tell me something is coming from behind.

Same here, and I look round more than my mate in front. But it doesn't hurt to have something extra, does it? And I disagree about being able to tell from the revs of the engine if it is a close pass or not. If that was the case I would be more ready than I am to signal my displeasure! I tend not to know it is a close pass until the car is alongside, and at the relative speeds of me and most cars, they are passed before they can get their windows slapped.

davep1

PBlakeney wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Must be clever. I'd have thought it would be doing it's nut in, what with someone so close to the back wheel.

The device must be able to tell the difference between one (or two or three) bikes and a car...

keef66

philthy3 wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Bolt is fantastic piece of kit, never had an issue with it.

Literally the only thing that would make me go back to Garmin would be the varia radar rear light. Had a play with one a few weeks back & it blew me away.

If Wahoo / Garmin added support for the rear light on the Bolt (or any Wahoo head unit for that matter) it would be pretty much unbeatable in my eyes.

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Strange as I find my ears alert me to a vehicle approaching from behind. From the revs of the engine I can tell if it's going to be a close pass or not. Never needed a device to tell me something is coming from behind.

I often find my ears and the wind noise let me down. Sometimes I'm convinced something's behind me but there isn't, and sometimes I'm scared sh1tless by a vehicle suddenly overtaking me when I thought I was alone on the road. I certainly never find myself thinking that sounds like a 12 plate 3 series at about 4500 rpm in third.

slowbike

keef66 wrote:

I often find my ears and the wind noise let me down. Sometimes I'm convinced something's behind me but there isn't, and sometimes I'm scared sh1tless by a vehicle suddenly overtaking me when I thought I was alone on the road. I certainly never find myself thinking that sounds like a 12 plate 3 series at about 4500 rpm in third.

Sounds like you need to slow down a bit - and upgrade the hearing aid ...

StillGoing

DaveP1 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Bolt is fantastic piece of kit, never had an issue with it.

Literally the only thing that would make me go back to Garmin would be the varia radar rear light. Had a play with one a few weeks back & it blew me away.

If Wahoo / Garmin added support for the rear light on the Bolt (or any Wahoo head unit for that matter) it would be pretty much unbeatable in my eyes.

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Strange as I find my ears alert me to a vehicle approaching from behind. From the revs of the engine I can tell if it's going to be a close pass or not. Never needed a device to tell me something is coming from behind.

Same here, and I look round more than my mate in front. But it doesn't hurt to have something extra, does it? And I disagree about being able to tell from the revs of the engine if it is a close pass or not. If that was the case I would be more ready than I am to signal my displeasure! I tend not to know it is a close pass until the car is alongside, and at the relative speeds of me and most cars, they are passed before they can get their windows slapped.

That's you. Years of experience as an IRV driver tells me how a car is being driven by the revs.

davep1

philthy3 wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

DaveP1 wrote:

ibr17xvii wrote:

Bolt is fantastic piece of kit, never had an issue with it.

Literally the only thing that would make me go back to Garmin would be the varia radar rear light. Had a play with one a few weeks back & it blew me away.

If Wahoo / Garmin added support for the rear light on the Bolt (or any Wahoo head unit for that matter) it would be pretty much unbeatable in my eyes.

I haven't got the light, but a friend does who I ride with a lot. It's amazing how quickly I have become used to checking it when he is ahead of me for what is approaching behind us. He's not the most situationally aware rider, and I don't know how much attention he pays to what it is saying on screen, but I find it very comforting to be able to keep my eyes on his wheel and not have to keep checking over my shoulder every few minutes.

Strange as I find my ears alert me to a vehicle approaching from behind. From the revs of the engine I can tell if it's going to be a close pass or not. Never needed a device to tell me something is coming from behind.

Same here, and I look round more than my mate in front. But it doesn't hurt to have something extra, does it? And I disagree about being able to tell from the revs of the engine if it is a close pass or not. If that was the case I would be more ready than I am to signal my displeasure! I tend not to know it is a close pass until the car is alongside, and at the relative speeds of me and most cars, they are passed before they can get their windows slapped.

That's you. Years of experience as an IRV driver tells me how a car is being driven by the revs.

What's an IRV?
In my 35 years of riding, I've learned you often don't hear vehicles approaching. Yes, if they rev the engine, or the volume changes, there's a good chance of something bad about to happen, but there is NO definite connection between engine volume and a close pass.
I'm lucky to live in the country now, I don't have to have a mirror or spend every minute of every ride checking over my shoulder. When I'm out with my mate with the Varia, there's something else keeping an eye on what's happening behind, and I can stay focused on the wheel and road ahead

StillGoing

DaveP1 wrote:

What's an IRV?
In my 35 years of riding, I've learned you often don't hear vehicles approaching. Yes, if they rev the engine, or the volume changes, there's a good chance of something bad about to happen, but there is NO definite connection between engine volume and a close pass.
I'm lucky to live in the country now, I don't have to have a mirror or spend every minute of every ride checking over my shoulder. When I'm out with my mate with the Varia, there's something else keeping an eye on what's happening behind, and I can stay focused on the wheel and road ahead

Instant Response Vehicle (Police Advanced Driver). My experience with engine revs is entirely different to yours evidently. The only vehicles I may not hear are Hybrids within built up areas if running on battery only and no stereo music or tyre noise is present.

I don't check over my shoulders unless changing course. I don't have a mirror (seriously, on a road bike?) and have never been caught out by a vehicle passing that I wasn't aware was approaching from behind. I live within spitting distance of the rural environment so ride mainly B and unclassified roads avoiding A roads as much as possible.

redvision

Zest28 wrote:

My Wahoo element bolt ran out of battery today and my 140km ride was not registered. Very nice.

Do Garmin computers have an auto-save in case it runs out of battery? And is it worth switching to Garmin?

Going back to the OP's original problem, I deliberately let my wahoo bolt run out of juice today. Hadn't charged it and started the ride with just 12%.

I'm curious what you did to not save the ride. When the battery ran out today the wahoo switched off. I charged it when I got home and upon restarting it, it went through a quick 'recovering previous ride' process and about a minute later the ride data was displayed and resumed. I actually had to pause and stop the ride (as obviously I had finished and was home).
It then uploaded normally to wahoo app and my training peaks.

So curious why yours did not.

pblakeney

An assumption.
People go into panic mode and in an effort to recover things they actually mess it up.