I’m currently using a Elemnt Bolt V1, which is ok but I’m thinking of replacing it soonish (battery life isn’t what it once was; altimeter doesn’t work, I think I would appreciate a slightly better screen for navigation).
I had been holding out for the Edge 850 but now it’s out I’m underwhelmed, particularly by the battery life. I dabble in audaxes and other long rides, so if I can go for 12+ hours without worrying about the battery, I would be happier. Although I guess there’s always battery saver mode. It’s also expensive (£470).
Other options:
Edge 840: as far as I can tell, still a very good device with a lot of features I don’t have at the moment. Better battery life and much cheaper than the 850 (£265 with discounts). Main downside is I like to keep things for a long time, and starting with a device that is already previous generation seems like it will be obsolete sooner.
Wahoo Bolt/Roam V3: Current gen device but cheaper than the 850. But initial reviews are underwhelming, suggesting software is still a bit buggy. Also I’m thinking being fully in the Garmin ecosystem might be nice (have a Garmin watch that I use for running/swimming, Garmin HR sensor; if I get round to buying a radar it will almost certainly be a Varia).
Or any other options (Karoo 3? Although all my bikes are Shimano so seems odd to buy a SRAM computer!)
Bonus point: is it worth waiting until Black Friday or after Christmas for better deals? I’m in no particular rush to upgrade, especially over the off season.
You may want to wait and see what the outcome is of the current lawsuit between Strava and Garmin. It may factor into your selection process. A couple of other notes.
As far as battery life, I don’t think you can beat Wahoo on that front.
Hammerhead may be owned by SRAM, but I don’t think anyone would see using a Karoo as clashing with your Shimano drivetrains.
Love my Varia, and it works with both Karoos and Bolts just fine.
Buggy software may be resolved with an upcoming update
Definitely worth waiting for Black Friday, especially if you end up getting an 840. With the 850 out, they will be unloading these.
I’ve been on a Bolt V2 for 3 years and had zero issues. I wasn’t aware of V3 software issues. Battery life on the V2 is excellent (15 hours no problem). Maybe look for a V2 on clearance sale?
I’ve got an 840 and love it. I don’t see Strava’s lawsuit having any impact on current Garmin computers. At worst, Garmin would just have to disable a couple of software features, but the chances of Strava winning are likely very small. I’m guessing Strava really doesn’t want Garmin to call their bluff.
I left the Garmin head unit world and bought the Karoo 3 - got sick of Garmin navigation re-routes never working correctly and route downloads from RidewithGPS only possible by plugging into a computer and transferring files. I also wanted something with a nicer screen than my 530 (which I still use on the MTB). Karoo screen is great but battery life would be marginal for an all day event. And if you have any Di2 shifting, it won’t display on the Karoo like it would on anything else (because Shimano won’t let Karoo display it). Second that Varia is fine on Karoo.
Karoo 3 user here. It is the perfect computer for me. Great screen, great navigation, great features and more battery life than I ever need, which was my only real beef with the Karoo 2, which was only good for 6-7 hours. If you’re a Shimano user and want connectivity to Di2, you have to sideload Ki2 software, but that is a point and click operation now (Karoo 2 required connecting to a windows computer and use of the command line). I’ve had 0 crashes or loss of data, which I’ve never experienced before with previous computers. One other quirk that may be unique to my unit is that it usually gives 10-15% less elevation climbed than other computers on my rides, but Strava correction fixes that.
I have moved from Edge 520 to Bolt V2 and now have a Karoo 3. Easy to setup, great navigation, excellent screen and additional apps are slowly appearing. The battery life is shorter than the Bolt V2 that had and I wonder what the long term impact of deeper battery cycles will have on the useful life of the unit. The new Edge x50s have user replaceable batteries. Don’t forget the EC 20% discount on the Karoo!
Which model Garmin were you using? All you do is star/pin the route in RWGPS after you’ve connected your garmin account and RWGPS account and then do a sync with Garmin connect and it shows up on the home page of your head unit. Been doing this for years now…
But apparently the third-party workaround (Ki2) is excellent, so that shouldn’t really be much of a consideration when it comes to choosing your head unit.
I recently switched from OG Wahoo ELMNT, which was great until the battery finally died, to Coros Dura, which is also great for how I use a bike GPS computer. (There’s another recent thread on this in the forum, where I’ve elaborated.)
Great battery life, great readibility, great price (relatively speaking), easy enough to use, works with all my sensors (HRM, power, radar) except Specialized Angi, audible speaker, pairs with Bluetooth earpiece. If people need automatic rerouting, Dura is not the best option, but I don’t use that anyway.
I love my Karoo 3. The touch screen, battery life, and fast navigation/ reroutes/ “nav to start,”/ “drop a pin and go there” features make it incredibly easy to use on the fly.
I haven’t had any problems really running it with Di2.
I went from a Garmin 840 to Garmin 850. The 840 is a solid unit and firmware will be updated for some time. I do appreciate the Garmin 850’s bell activated with a SRAM bonus button(s), speaker, bright screen & crisp colors especially when using a Vaira radar, and reportedly -a user replaceable battery although it does require some skill to replace (see DC Rainmaker), and solid syncing with a Mac laptop without beach balling as the Garmin 840 did.
I am saving some battery by disabling Auto Screen Brightness and setting screen brightness to 50%. 50% is visible in sunlight as is very crisp in the shade.
Another vote for the Hammerhead Karoo. I like that it gets upgrades every month or so. In the 10 months I’ve had it updates have extended the battery life, added third-party extensions (the windsock one is nifty), added topographic lines to the maps, updated the radar sounds, and added a media player.
)