Stupid Garmin

[trailrunner]

The 510 had an early problem of losing rides. Garmin came out with a software update to fix this. The update was noticeable, because it would take a lot longer to save the ride (maybe 20 seconds, instead of the usual 5 seconds). I’m not a computer guy so I don’t know exactly what it did, but I imagined it throttled the data so that it could double and triple checking every byte or trackpoint or whatever as it saved it. I’ve never lost a ride with my 510, although it’s not my primary computer now.

[huskerdont]

Slightly OT, but my Android phone is crap at this as well. Every now and then it will just not upload a ride. I’ve lost 30 #BAFS2018 miles this year. Following Strava’s online instructions simply resulted in one 25-mile ride just disappearing altogether so I couldn’t even export it manually. We have these little annoying technological miracles, and I never can decide if I should be grateful or annoyed.

Threads like this are why I have not bothered to get a Garmin. I mean, I can lose my miles for free just using my phone.

[creadinger]

Not that it helps you now, but FWIW, there was a lively discussion the DC Randonneurs e-mail list several months ago with a LOT of positive reviews for the Wahoo ELEMNT and ELEMNT Bolt. All have their pros and cons, but there seem to be far less software issues with the Wahoo for now.

No idea why this is such an issue for Garmin.

[LhasaCM]

@creadinger 175402 wrote:

Not that it helps you now, but FWIW, there was a lively discussion the DC Randonneurs e-mail list several months ago with a LOT of positive reviews for the Wahoo ELEMNT and ELEMNT Bolt. All have their pros and cons, but there seem to be far less software issues with the Wahoo for now.

No idea why this is such an issue for Garmin.

Never having had a Garmin (so I can’t speak to it): I have not had any significant software issues with either my Lezyne Super GPS (used for ~9 months) nor my Wahoo ELEMNT (used for ~6 months or so by now). After some initial growing pains with frequent firmware updates from Lezyne (mostly just connectivity issues for me at first that may also have been phone-related; I never lost a ride). The only reason I switched to the ELEMNT was for the improved mapping capabilities and the built-in WiFi (automatically uploads when I get home…or I can upload away from home through the phone app/Bluetooth connection).

[Vicegrip]

@creadinger 175402 wrote:

Not that it helps you now, but FWIW, there was a lively discussion the DC Randonneurs e-mail list several months ago with a LOT of positive reviews for the Wahoo ELEMNT and ELEMNT Bolt. All have their pros and cons, but there seem to be far less software issues with the Wahoo for now.

No idea why this is such an issue for Garmin.

I don’t as well. Mine have all been bulletproof. From what I have been reading it is often but not always the owner not clearing out 2 years of old rides in storage and /or turning off automatic updates.

Making and tracking Looooong bike rides seem to be hard for most gps devices.

[hozn]

@creadinger 175402 wrote:

Not that it helps you now, but FWIW, there was a lively discussion the DC Randonneurs e-mail list several months ago with a LOT of positive reviews for the Wahoo ELEMNT and ELEMNT Bolt. All have their pros and cons, but there seem to be far less software issues with the Wahoo for now.

No idea why this is such an issue for Garmin.

Yeah, the 510 was a pretty terrible device. (That is my backup device. I lent it to Steve O once and I think it completely failed him.)

I chatted with two ELEMNT owners on my ride this AM. It sounds like a much better product both in terms of features (at least the ones I care about — I don’t care much about Garmin’s fancy workouts) and general reliability. My Garmin 1000 is infuriating at times (it needs at least one hard reset a week), but it works well enough to get by. As soon as it’s dead, though, I am getting an ELEMNT Bolt.

[jrenaut]

For my next GPS I would really like decent mapping. I want turn by turn directions. Beyond that as long as it shows how fast I’m going and how far I’ve gone and syncs to Strava without me doing anything non-trivial, I’m happy.

[hozn]

@jrenaut 175454 wrote:

For my next GPS I would really like decent mapping. I want turn by turn directions. Beyond that as long as it shows how fast I’m going and how far I’ve gone and syncs to Strava without me doing anything non-trivial, I’m happy.

I think other than being B&W (instead of color) the ELEMNT (and ELEMNT Bolt) has good mapping and turn-by-turn nav. I like that they also flash a led on side/direction of upcoming turn (in addition to beeping).

The maps on the Garmin are nice, I will say that. And the turn-by-turn, when it is working (bit mood-dependent there), works well.

[LhasaCM]

@hozn 175456 wrote:

I think other than being B&W (instead of color) the ELEMNT (and ELEMNT Bolt) has good mapping and turn-by-turn nav. I like that they also flash a led on side/direction of upcoming turn (in addition to beeping).

The maps on the Garmin are nice, I will say that. And the turn-by-turn, when it is working (bit mood-dependent there), works well.

Not sure I mentioned this in the hijacked “longer gravel ride” thread or not, but I’ll say it here anyway: I think the ELEMNT does a great job with turn-by-turn navigation as well as giving you a graphical depiction of how far off course you are if you miss a turn/decide to check something out “over there”/etc. It isn’t the prettiest, and doesn’t re-route on the fly, since the stored maps lack street names but is just the grid layer (i.e., it has the street grid saved on the unit for basically the entire globe pre-loaded, but only knows street names for the purpose of giving you directions in a given route), but for the price point and (knock on wood) stability, I’ve been thrilled with it.

And the automatic upload/sync to Strava via WiFi is great; my rides usually are uploaded before I get in the house.

[Sunyata]

I recently purchased an Elemnt Bolt and got to use the turn by turn directions this past weekend on the brew tour. It worked almost flawlessly. The only issue was when I turned the device off at a stop and then turned it back on, it took a minute to get the chevron arrows back. The route was shaded slightly darker grey, so I could still figure out where I needed to go, but I was a bit disappointed that it took a minute or so to get back to the turn by turn. My Garmin 520 never lost the visual “line”, but it also never really gave turn by turn directions, so…

I also love how the Elemnt interfaces with Ride with GPS. I went into the app, picked the route I wanted, and boom… There it was on the GPS. Amazing. And WAY simpler than trying to push a route to the Garmin 520 through the Connect IQ app.

If you are in the market for a new GPS, I highly recommend the Elemnt Bolt.

[Birru]

I’d like to think my bitter complaining helped sway you. It’s bananas that the Edge 820, which has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, needs 3rd party apps and services just to make it behave more like a modern device.

[jrenaut]

@Birru 175511 wrote:

It’s bananas that the Edge 820, which has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, needs 3rd party apps and services just to make it behave more like a modern device.

Garmin is a TERRIBLE software company. I’d love it if they’d open source their firmware so people could fix the software.

[hozn]

@jrenaut 175514 wrote:

Garmin is a TERRIBLE software company. I’d love it if they’d open source their firmware so people could fix the software.

Well, if they can’t even open their IQ API up to third-party developers without requiring a huge fee, I rather doubt they’ll open up their OS. I’d be interested to learn how their firmware works; I wonder it it’s a real-time OS, for example.

[jrenaut]

Yeah, I don’t expect them to actually do it, but it would be cool.

[jctonett]

I have a Garmin 820, and have had relatively few problems with it. I update the software regularly, and I think that helps. I probably don’t use all the functionality it’s capable of… I don’t really need it. It pairs with my HRM, PM, speed sensor (which you don’t really need, but I think it more reliable than GPS). Nav works well, but shortens the lifespan of the battery charge. So too does putting anything on your main page that causes it to “report” often (for a while, I had a D-Fly function on it, but I got rid of it due to its impact on how long the device stayed charged).

I was an early ELEMENT adopter, but it was not ready for prime time when it was introduced. Navigation was poor. One of my buds has it, and he says it’s much improved, but not as robust as Garmin. I’m waiting for Karoo… should be coming “any time now”. My buddy will be working for them. They have some software issues, but the hw is awesome, and sw is fixable. It is a BIG device. You could watch a football game on it…

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