Garmin Edge 530 vs. Wahoo Bolt 2

hunty1980

Looking to replace my current bike computer and think I've narrowed the selection down to either the Garmin Edge 530, or the Wahoo Element Bolt v2.

Just wondering what others recommendations and views are on these two.

Route planning and following is not important to me. Realtime and post ride stats around performance and fitness are important, as is Strava integration and segment analysis etc.

I also have Zwift for structured workouts, so probably unlikely to use this type of function in the real world.

Any advice from others would be hugely appreciated.

molteni_man

I have the Garmin 530. There are a few of my cycling friends who have one too as well as other friends who are in the Wahoo ‘ camp’!
Tbh I think both work really well and you won’t go wrong with either.
Re the 530 - I have been really pleased with the battery life - it will do loads before needing a charge. Garmin have really got their act together on this model as has been really reliable. Uploads rides and tracks instantly when I set off. Strava segments come up very quickly when riding. Alongside Strava analysis, Garmin Connect is a really good tool too. There’s a useful alarm facility on the 530 for cafe stops.
Re the Wahoo - friends are also pleased with it too. I think the mapping on the Garmin is better.
I’ve used the route stuff on the 530. Hadn’t bothered previously but it’s been really useful particularly in the New Forest when gravel biking… a maze of tracks and it follows the downloaded route really well. Definitely worth trying.
Not sure re current prices at the moment so that might come into the mix in any final decision!
Out of interest, I bought a first model Garmin Solar Instinct watch very cheaply when the new model came out. I’ve just hiked in the Alps and the solar charging was brilliant in keeping it going without needing a manual charge. Certainly the way to go but Garmin prices for bike units with this look prohibitive currently. Hopefully the prices will drop as the technology becomes more common !
Happy looking !
I

hunty1980

Brilliant feedback - thank you @molteni_man

I like the look of the Wahoo vs. the Garmin (Looks are everything in cycling, right!? ) - although the £50 difference in price is swaying me towards the Garmin.

pblakeney

Quite frankly, which ever is cheapest.

redvision

As above, I'd probably go with the cheapest. Both have strengths and weaknesses but are better than other options on the market (in the same price range).

Instead of the bolt 2 it might be worth considering the roam as that's available cheaper at the moment.

super_davo

I'm a long time Garmin user, and changed my Edge 1000 for a 530 earlier this year due to a great Amazon prime deal (ie old top of the range for the "everyman" version).

And it is a very good device, they have eliminated most of the annoyances and built on their strengths.

The difference in battery life is night and day; before it was charge every ride,now it is charge every other week. Quick to start, quick to calculate routes. Stuff that was a bit flaky like prompting for turns when navigating now just works.
I miss the touchscreen but that's about it, and post initial set up the buttons are relatively intuitive.

I had intended to change for a Bolt because of the general Garmin "great idea for a feature but too flaky to be of use" nature, but they have killed that stone dead with this generation, it is very very good.

wongataa

To be honest it really comes down to personal preference on the user interface. Garmin will have the edge if you are interested in fitness metrics because of the built in Firstbeat features but other than that both units will do what you want.

davebradswmb

I have an original Wahoo Bolt and when I bought it it was a choice between this and a Garmin 520 which was notoriously flaky with a battery life that was too short for full day rides so the decision was easy. In my opinion Garmin had been taking the mickey out of cyclists for years producing weak products that were deliberately hobbled in order to provide an upgrade path. The Wahoo Bolt was the kick up the ass that Garmin needed and to their credit they have responded with the latest generation of devices. I have a sentimental loyalty to Wahoo but to be honest the 530 is at least as good as the Bolt V2, it has some extra features that you might decide to use, and with it being cheaper I would say it is a no-brainer.

My only worry is that if Garmin once again dominate the market they will become cynical and lazy again.

mikes-brother

I've got a Wahoo Bolt2. I bought it primarily for the purposes of navigation so haven't connected it to any physiological or bike sensors, but have linked with strava, kommoot, ridewithgps.

I've no experience of the Garmin devices other than one in my car which I was pretty unimpressed with (hence I got a different brand)

Overall the Bolt is reasonably good. Battery life is good, screen clear and lots of options to set it up how you like it. a couple of small issues that are a bit annoying but I can live with...

Anyway with regards to the original question -- one of my main gripes with linking the Bolt2 to strava is that it will only do it on WiFi and it seems a bit 'flaky' with regards to connections. Wifi doesn't always automatically connect, and often there's quite a bit of switching on and off and pressing synch buttons. gets there in the end.

The other gripe is that both the Bolt2 and your phone/ipad/computer need to be on the same wifi network to synchronise, and if you are out and about you can't connect it to the hotspot on your phone/tablet/computer.

davebradswmb

mikes-brother said:

I've got a Wahoo Bolt2.Anyway with regards to the original question -- one of my main gripes with linking the Bolt2 to strava is that it will only do it on WiFi and it seems a bit 'flaky' with regards to connections. Wifi doesn't always automatically connect, and often there's quite a bit of switching on and off and pressing synch buttons. gets there in the end.

The other gripe is that both the Bolt2 and your phone/ipad/computer need to be on the same wifi network to synchronise, and if you are out and about you can't connect it to the hotspot on your phone/tablet/computer.

Have you installed the Elemnt app on your phone? That should take care of synching when you are out and about. You do have to manually start the app though or nothing happens. The synching over wifi I agree can be a bit variable, but since it kind of happens in the background I don't worry about it, I just leave the device switched on for a few minutes when I get home, or switch it on for a few minutes before leaving the house. I have my Bolt linked to Strava, Ride with GPS, Komoot and Dropbox and it just happens pretty seamlessly.

me-109

I umm-ed and argh-ed over this last year. I plumped for the 530 as the Bolt seemed to have more reports of routing issues and slow redirection. Immediately I wondered I it was the wrong choice because set up through the buttons was a pain. It really needs the ability to do this through Garmin Connect. In use though, the unit is great. I still find the buttons awkwardly placed. You can't hit the start/stop by accident as it is partly obscured by the stem or bars on an out front mount.
I've used this with pre-planned courses. Easy to sync and get onto the device. I like the ClimbPro feature showing current and coming climbs. Must look at one of the widgets for more data files in map view.
Battery life great so far.

pblakeney

Just an opinion but I much prefer buttons to touch screen once you know what they do it just works. Touch screen can be hit and miss in the wet or with the wrong full finger gloves.

Bikeauthority.cc

I don't think Garmin are the only ones with a flaky product. I've followed this product quite closely from launch and if you research the Bolt V2 you will see Wahoo took the Garmin approach and released a product with some serious bugs.

I'm pretty sure updates have fixed most things but there are still users out there suffering issues. On the plus side the Wahoo CS is amazing so you know you will get looked after if you do a get a bad unit.

For the record I'm a huge Wahoo fan so not trying to bash them as a company. I'd still have one over a Garmin.

grenw

I went from a 510 to a Wahoo Bolt to an 830.

The 510 had the usual crappy Garmin firmware issues. Every time I updated I always made sure I had the link ready to 'downgrade'. It used to drop connection with my phone quite often and uploading rides was always hit and miss. This was my 3rd Edge and it was time for a change.

When I was looking for a new one I went straight for the Bolt. The unit is not as good, it feels flimsy but the software and the method of controlling everything through the app was a revelation. Uploads to Strava etc were instant - before I'd even stepped through the door. Only one thing was ever a problem and that was a flaky backlight. Trouble is the mapping was no good and cycling holidays made that a problem.

So I looked around again. Saw the poor reviews of the Bolt 2 and ended up with an 830. I already have a Forerunner watch and use the Connect app heavily so it was a natural switch back. The 830 (and I'm sure the same is true of the 530) is a big step up from both the Bolt and the old Edge. Uploads are slick as is any connection with my phone

So for me I was swung by wanting to commit more to the Garmin ecosystem and a Wahoo unit that had problems at launch - just why I had moved from Garmin in the first place. I think without the Forerunner it might have been a closer call but Garmin have put right everything I hated about the old unit... although I still worry when an update comes along