Sort of, the app dev cost is amortised into the Garmin units, which is partly why they cost more. So it you don't use the app much, you're not getting the total value of what you're paying.
Confirms my Wahoo choice 😅. I only care about maps when it’s a loaded route and I just want to record my rides without the phone… Makes total sense why you would prefer the Garman though for your style or riding.
This is my vote for Wahoo in 2024. I recently updated to the Elemnt Roam v2 from the original Elemnt and am really happy with it. I finally wore out my original Elemnt after 7 years and asked around about whether I should switch. Some users of the "other brand" complained about reliability or that they were a bit complicated (however , as a programmer I didn't let this issue guide me) . Here is my experience so far with the Element Roam v2: It allows me to have different screens, eg for MTB, Velodrome, Lap work and Path riding. The addition of colours makes it easier to see what power and heart rate bands I am riding in. And it is still super easy to program. I am happy I stuck with Wahoo. Whatever you choose, have a great ride!
I’m glad I never bothered leaving Garmin. Having no customizable profile by ride type would drive me nuts. I use the same head unit across four different bikes: MTN, fat, gravel, and road. Plus integration with Trailforks is great when visiting unfamiliar MTB trail systems. Last time I was in Pisgah I was picking a recommend routes on Trailforks, star it as a favorite, and it would automatically be saved to my Garmin as a MTB course. Down there cell service is non existent so it was my only means of navigation.
Garmin has its quirks, but if you’re used to it, like we are… it becomes second nature. Forgot about trail forks… was using that often on the 530 but must not have it setup correctly on the 540. Shows you how little I’ve ridden the MTB in the last couple of months since picking it up.
My choice: Garmin Forerunner/Epix/Fenix on the wrist for all the stats (Garmin Re-Routing still sucks big time, even on a 1040) and Wahoo for Navigation.
I have the Garmin 840, the thing with Garmin I don’t need all the functions. I’m moving back to wahoo element roam v2 because it has a better user interface. Garmins interface is not intuitive. I also don’t need Garmin connect but I get it, some people do like the ecosystem. I use Strava for all the training info alongside trainer road. But I have to pay subscription fees but everyone is different, nice video.
I do agree that the profiles would be a great enhancement for Wahoo. Although I don't do different disciplines, I do ride different bikes, with different equipment (some have power meters, some don't, one has electronic shifting, etc.). Garmin connect sounds like Apple's ecosystem. Once you are in it, you don't want to leave. I get it. I don't need it. Love my Wahoo Roam.
I simply was not happy with the gps reception of my Bolt2. Literally no strava segments ever finished when there are trees at the side of the street and no gps-settings. It got outperformed by my old 520 in that department, which was just weird. And since I am back on Garmin I started to appreciate those training analyzing features.
Thanks for the warning. I've had one Garmin Edge 500 and several Forerunners. Some of the Forerunners have not lasted very long. I was contemplating a Wahoo Roam or Bolt - but not now. I'm too invested in my Garmin Connect data.
I went from a Garmin Instinct watch (and Connect), which I felt was a little overkill for my needs to an Elemnt Rival watch when the Instinct's battery life began to become a problem. The Wahoo was definitely pared down by comparison and I didn't feel like I was giving up too much in terms of tracking data. Although as you note, there were some customizations missing for when I shared rides to places like Strava. But then Wahoo pushed an app update in May that essentially bricked the watch's GPS as a standalone option (Cust Serv told me I should keep my phone paired and active). So I went back to a new Instinct, it's expanded features, and don't see myself considering a Wahoo watch the next time unless they finally develop a more robust watch themselves.
It’s interesting that I left Garmin because of difficulties with Garmin connect but they seem to have fixed most of them now. My wahoo bolt v1 is now approaching 5 years old and is nearly ready for retirement, so it’s time to make another decision…….
I've read several articles and watched videos comparing Wahoo and Garmin, but no one has mentioned The One Reason. I use the Polar flow app to monitor a chest strap and appreciate that extra data too. Thanks for video.
I have a Polar Grit X Pro 2 watch + a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM v2, and it's a good combo I have been running for a couple of years now. You get the ease of use of Wahoo + the health platform from Polar, and both are much cheaper than some of the Garmin lineup. My only downside is to start and end the activity on the watch two, but it's something I can live with. I think these two should merge at some point to plant a better competition to Garmin, to be honest.
Where Garmin falls short for me is map management. The Explore 2 doesn't have enough storage space for all the maps I need so I have to fire up the BUGGY Garmin Express desktop app when I travel. This one issue is a major enough pain that I'm looking at the Karoo 3 which apparently allows map management through the smartphone app?
Have you found the Garmin headunits and watches over record power data? I've found when you stop pedaling and freewheel, the power would spike up before dropping down to zero. This then adds watts to your average power, displaying more than you actually have done. Particularly unhelpful on an XC ride where theres a lot of stop start pedaling. The wierd thing is when you upload the data afterwards, Strava and training peaks actually display the correct power, so it records correctly on the device, but doesn't display correctly when out on a ride!
@@sebherrod5344 haven’t encountered that issue. Only thing that comes to mind is if you’re using 3 or 10 second average power as the display power, there would be a delay before the drop to zero would show on the device. If you’re putting in a big short effort on a MTB, maybe that could cause that issue?
@@TheLankyCyclist I have a video of a Bolt and Edge 530, both on 3sec average, recording off the same power meter. When you stop pedaling the bolt drops to 0 within a second or 2. The Edge spikes upwards and then returns to 0 after around 4 seconds. Adding this spike onto the total average power. I've sent it to Garmin and they just shrugged their shoulders and didn't seem to care. That's why I've stayed with Wahoo, people complain if a power meter is over or under reading...
In deed, you don't have to do this. I've been switch from this to that and finally i realize i just need a Garmin Fenix to record everything and I can have another bike computer whateven brand it is. I can just let my Garmin Fenix do everything, and combined with another device to do a double recording, that's more easy to manage. Just sell my old 1030 plus and get another BSC300 head unit, that's so fun to use another brand of head unit, and it won't ruin my complete training time line on my garmin connect. The watch can just stay in my backpack or in my pocket while dual recording. It's just still to small of mine Fenix 7X on a bike mount. And it's actually better than use both Garmin head unit and a garmin watch. It's actually more than one Garmin units, it is not very sync together especially you reliy on head unit mostly for riding and read data on watch. It's always something not really same.
Interestingly enough, I may be switch as well. I was curious to see your reason, mine is not the same, but I do think that the way data is organized is a good one.
Integration of fitness metrics is something that, sadly, from my point of view, will ditch Wahoo. They tried with the Rival and completely failed. I think not having a fitness ecosystem will really make the difference and you can see other companies spending efforts in doing this (Suunto-Sram, Coros). Wahoo somehow abandoned that fitness space and it was a very bad decision despite the fact that their cycling computers are really superior.
Have had my ELEMNT Roam v1 for a few years now. It was fine for daily training and short cafe rides. It hooked into my heart rate strap and power meter pedals and that was good enough. Then I recently bought a gravel bike and suddenly the wahoo unit sucked. I would save routes on Strava and they wouldn’t sync to the head unit even after several attempts. When it would sync I would be in the middle of some trails and the unit would just derp out and lose the route, go back to a blank state and I would lose all my ride data. I would then have to stop riding and redo the route multiple times during a ride. During a 2 hour ride it added a half hour of pauses on top of that to the ride. Trash navigation. And yes, it’s been updated to the latest firmware. The last straw was the battery degraded to the point it could only last for 4 hours, so 3/4 or the way through a ride it would just conk out. Looked up the way to replace the battery and it’s a total pita. I just bought a Garmin Edge 830 today and am not going back to Wahoo.
I like using a bike specific computer on bike… hard to see the watch while riding and some other features that are better for cycling on computer vs watch.
This is what I do…love the garmin watch for running, but have never liked the ergonomics of the Garmin cycling computers. Don’t need the maps. Honestly, I just hate the way the buttons are located on the Garmin cycling computers
Even samsung health with the smartwatch 6 has all that the wahoo doesn't, im using this on my mountain bike at the moment rather impressed with the amount of data it offers and that Connet thing from Garmin samsung has similar it is really good! Im looking for a computer so not using my watch all the time definitely need the Mtb features
I still need to get on the bike computer/power meter bandwagon. Since I have used a Garmin Instinct for about 4yrs now will probably just stay in Garmin ecosystem.
You cant import from apple watch but you can manually upload a fit file or a gpx file to garmin connect. If you can get the gpx or fit file from your apple watch, you can upload it to garmin. However, you wont get any of the fitness data provided by Garmin unless you own a Garmin device
@@erbis.e I don't think you lose anything related to the activity though there are probably some less popular data fields (like the MTB stuff) that Wahoo isn't setup to record that wouldn't be included. I also know I used to have some issues with SYSTM workouts not getting factored into the training metrics but maybe that's been fixed. I'm thinking more the general health data: RHR, HRV, sleep metrics etc. I wouldn't think that would be in a fit file.
I have tried uploading my wahoo files to garmin connect. Garmin will display for some things, but it won't update things like records, training load, or other fitness stats.
Wahoo is by far the worst computer when it comes to tracking your rides. It’s nuts suddenly it will stop showing speed, disconnect from all your sensors. If your planning to do any rides above 200KM I wouldn’t recommend Wahoo.
I appreciate your take. Im a Wahoo ROAM V1 user and havent used any Garmin products short of my Varia radar. Ive been getting around the lack of profiles with multiple pages on my Wahoo, but the Strava feature would be convenient. I am intrigued by all the data analytics, however I've got devices from different ecosystems so I'd have to go all in.
Like any training metrics, it's a guide and always more useful when looking at longer term trends. There's also been several updates in recent years that seem to have reduced the ubiquitous "unproductive" status message.
@@TheLankyCyclist I used not for the last 3 years , garmins don’t work well in Puerto Rico , and by that I mean they don’t keep track of elevation very well at all . So I had to give them up
Garmin Connect... 100% FREE !!!! No ads. No upsells. No subscription. No badgering. None of the modern annoyances. Thank you Garmin!
Sort of, the app dev cost is amortised into the Garmin units, which is partly why they cost more. So it you don't use the app much, you're not getting the total value of what you're paying.
I like how you snuck in your VO2 max at 6:39 as a subtle flex.
😂 my stats are all messed up as I’ve been off the bike and running instead.
Confirms my Wahoo choice 😅. I only care about maps when it’s a loaded route and I just want to record my rides without the phone…
Makes total sense why you would prefer the Garman though for your style or riding.
No “industrial gravel” activity profile for you
This is my vote for Wahoo in 2024. I recently updated to the Elemnt Roam v2 from the original Elemnt and am really happy with it. I finally wore out my original Elemnt after 7 years and asked around about whether I should switch. Some users of the "other brand" complained about reliability or that they were a bit complicated (however , as a programmer I didn't let this issue guide me) . Here is my experience so far with the Element Roam v2: It allows me to have different screens, eg for MTB, Velodrome, Lap work and Path riding. The addition of colours makes it easier to see what power and heart rate bands I am riding in. And it is still super easy to program. I am happy I stuck with Wahoo. Whatever you choose, have a great ride!
@@samijones5183 thanks for sharing your experience with the latest generation of Wahoo.
How does it work with different screens for different bikes (road / MTB )?
I’m glad I never bothered leaving Garmin. Having no customizable profile by ride type would drive me nuts. I use the same head unit across four different bikes: MTN, fat, gravel, and road.
Plus integration with Trailforks is great when visiting unfamiliar MTB trail systems. Last time I was in Pisgah I was picking a recommend routes on Trailforks, star it as a favorite, and it would automatically be saved to my Garmin as a MTB course. Down there cell service is non existent so it was my only means of navigation.
Garmin has its quirks, but if you’re used to it, like we are… it becomes second nature.
Forgot about trail forks… was using that often on the 530 but must not have it setup correctly on the 540. Shows you how little I’ve ridden the MTB in the last couple of months since picking it up.
My choice: Garmin Forerunner/Epix/Fenix on the wrist for all the stats (Garmin Re-Routing still sucks big time, even on a 1040) and Wahoo for Navigation.
I have the Garmin 840, the thing with Garmin I don’t need all the functions. I’m moving back to wahoo element roam v2 because it has a better user interface. Garmins interface is not intuitive. I also don’t need Garmin connect but I get it, some people do like the ecosystem. I use Strava for all the training info alongside trainer road. But I have to pay subscription fees but everyone is different, nice video.
Agree on the interface especially if doing a structured workout.
Personally I prefer the Wahoo ❤, because I think it's much more user-friendly.
Oh and you can upload your rides (gpx) into connect if you want.
I do agree that the profiles would be a great enhancement for Wahoo. Although I don't do different disciplines, I do ride different bikes, with different equipment (some have power meters, some don't, one has electronic shifting, etc.). Garmin connect sounds like Apple's ecosystem. Once you are in it, you don't want to leave. I get it. I don't need it. Love my Wahoo Roam.
I simply was not happy with the gps reception of my Bolt2. Literally no strava segments ever finished when there are trees at the side of the street and no gps-settings.
It got outperformed by my old 520 in that department, which was just weird.
And since I am back on Garmin I started to appreciate those training analyzing features.
Thanks for the warning. I've had one Garmin Edge 500 and several Forerunners. Some of the Forerunners have not lasted very long. I was contemplating a Wahoo Roam or Bolt - but not now. I'm too invested in my Garmin Connect data.
I went from a Garmin Instinct watch (and Connect), which I felt was a little overkill for my needs to an Elemnt Rival watch when the Instinct's battery life began to become a problem. The Wahoo was definitely pared down by comparison and I didn't feel like I was giving up too much in terms of tracking data. Although as you note, there were some customizations missing for when I shared rides to places like Strava. But then Wahoo pushed an app update in May that essentially bricked the watch's GPS as a standalone option (Cust Serv told me I should keep my phone paired and active). So I went back to a new Instinct, it's expanded features, and don't see myself considering a Wahoo watch the next time unless they finally develop a more robust watch themselves.
It’s interesting that I left Garmin because of difficulties with Garmin connect but they seem to have fixed most of them now. My wahoo bolt v1 is now approaching 5 years old and is nearly ready for retirement, so it’s time to make another decision…….
I've read several articles and watched videos comparing Wahoo and Garmin, but no one has mentioned The One Reason. I use the Polar flow app to monitor a chest strap and appreciate that extra data too.
Thanks for video.
I have a Polar Grit X Pro 2 watch + a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM v2, and it's a good combo I have been running for a couple of years now. You get the ease of use of Wahoo + the health platform from Polar, and both are much cheaper than some of the Garmin lineup. My only downside is to start and end the activity on the watch two, but it's something I can live with. I think these two should merge at some point to plant a better competition to Garmin, to be honest.
Where Garmin falls short for me is map management. The Explore 2 doesn't have enough storage space for all the maps I need so I have to fire up the BUGGY Garmin Express desktop app when I travel. This one issue is a major enough pain that I'm looking at the Karoo 3 which apparently allows map management through the smartphone app?
@@ak4good interesting. Yeah, I think they only usually spec enough storage for maybe two geographic regions.
Nice back yard!!
Have you found the Garmin headunits and watches over record power data? I've found when you stop pedaling and freewheel, the power would spike up before dropping down to zero. This then adds watts to your average power, displaying more than you actually have done. Particularly unhelpful on an XC ride where theres a lot of stop start pedaling. The wierd thing is when you upload the data afterwards, Strava and training peaks actually display the correct power, so it records correctly on the device, but doesn't display correctly when out on a ride!
@@sebherrod5344 haven’t encountered that issue. Only thing that comes to mind is if you’re using 3 or 10 second average power as the display power, there would be a delay before the drop to zero would show on the device. If you’re putting in a big short effort on a MTB, maybe that could cause that issue?
@@TheLankyCyclist I have a video of a Bolt and Edge 530, both on 3sec average, recording off the same power meter. When you stop pedaling the bolt drops to 0 within a second or 2. The Edge spikes upwards and then returns to 0 after around 4 seconds. Adding this spike onto the total average power. I've sent it to Garmin and they just shrugged their shoulders and didn't seem to care. That's why I've stayed with Wahoo, people complain if a power meter is over or under reading...
In deed, you don't have to do this. I've been switch from this to that and finally i realize i just need a Garmin Fenix to record everything and I can have another bike computer whateven brand it is. I can just let my Garmin Fenix do everything, and combined with another device to do a double recording, that's more easy to manage. Just sell my old 1030 plus and get another BSC300 head unit, that's so fun to use another brand of head unit, and it won't ruin my complete training time line on my garmin connect. The watch can just stay in my backpack or in my pocket while dual recording. It's just still to small of mine Fenix 7X on a bike mount. And it's actually better than use both Garmin head unit and a garmin watch. It's actually more than one Garmin units, it is not very sync together especially you reliy on head unit mostly for riding and read data on watch. It's always something not really same.
Interestingly enough, I may be switch as well. I was curious to see your reason, mine is not the same, but I do think that the way data is organized is a good one.
What’s got you thinking of switching?
@@TheLankyCyclist having some issues with Bluetooth connections with the device.
Integration of fitness metrics is something that, sadly, from my point of view, will ditch Wahoo. They tried with the Rival and completely failed.
I think not having a fitness ecosystem will really make the difference and you can see other companies spending efforts in doing this (Suunto-Sram, Coros).
Wahoo somehow abandoned that fitness space and it was a very bad decision despite the fact that their cycling computers are really superior.
Have had my ELEMNT Roam v1 for a few years now. It was fine for daily training and short cafe rides. It hooked into my heart rate strap and power meter pedals and that was good enough.
Then I recently bought a gravel bike and suddenly the wahoo unit sucked. I would save routes on Strava and they wouldn’t sync to the head unit even after several attempts. When it would sync I would be in the middle of some trails and the unit would just derp out and lose the route, go back to a blank state and I would lose all my ride data. I would then have to stop riding and redo the route multiple times during a ride. During a 2 hour ride it added a half hour of pauses on top of that to the ride. Trash navigation. And yes, it’s been updated to the latest firmware.
The last straw was the battery degraded to the point it could only last for 4 hours, so 3/4 or the way through a ride it would just conk out. Looked up the way to replace the battery and it’s a total pita.
I just bought a Garmin Edge 830 today and am not going back to Wahoo.
Haha. The Dylan-Johnson-style-slacker-dude-alter-ego is funny as hell.
If you allready have a garmin watch, then why dont you use both garmin watch,and wahoo computer?
I like using a bike specific computer on bike… hard to see the watch while riding and some other features that are better for cycling on computer vs watch.
This is what I do…love the garmin watch for running, but have never liked the ergonomics of the Garmin cycling computers. Don’t need the maps. Honestly, I just hate the way the buttons are located on the Garmin cycling computers
90% of people dont know about 90% of the features of these computers
agreed. many people could probably just use their phone.
Even samsung health with the smartwatch 6 has all that the wahoo doesn't, im using this on my mountain bike at the moment rather impressed with the amount of data it offers and that Connet thing from Garmin samsung has similar it is really good! Im looking for a computer so not using my watch all the time definitely need the Mtb features
I still need to get on the bike computer/power meter bandwagon. Since I have used a Garmin Instinct for about 4yrs now will probably just stay in Garmin ecosystem.
If you're already in the Garmin ecosystem, lots of incentive to stay.
I hate that Garmin Connect is so different on mobile versus laptop. Other than this, it's great.
Can Garmin Connect import data from Apple Watch Ultra? I don’t have a Garmin watch.
Not sure, but I doubt it. No incentive for them to do that.
You cant import from apple watch but you can manually upload a fit file or a gpx file to garmin connect. If you can get the gpx or fit file from your apple watch, you can upload it to garmin. However, you wont get any of the fitness data provided by Garmin unless you own a Garmin device
You can upload fit file (from Wahoo) to your Garmin Connect and get all data. This will take about 1 min.😉
Incredibly inconvenient and you’re missing out on a ton of data.
@@TheLankyCyclist What data will you lose when you upload a fit file?🤔
@@erbis.e I don't think you lose anything related to the activity though there are probably some less popular data fields (like the MTB stuff) that Wahoo isn't setup to record that wouldn't be included. I also know I used to have some issues with SYSTM workouts not getting factored into the training metrics but maybe that's been fixed. I'm thinking more the general health data: RHR, HRV, sleep metrics etc. I wouldn't think that would be in a fit file.
I have tried uploading my wahoo files to garmin connect. Garmin will display for some things, but it won't update things like records, training load, or other fitness stats.
Nice bikes bruh!
Wahoo is by far the worst computer when it comes to tracking your rides. It’s nuts suddenly it will stop showing speed, disconnect from all your sensors. If your planning to do any rides above 200KM I wouldn’t recommend Wahoo.
Garmin Connect is why I left Garmin and went to wahoo…. Ha
I appreciate your take. Im a Wahoo ROAM V1 user and havent used any Garmin products short of my Varia radar. Ive been getting around the lack of profiles with multiple pages on my Wahoo, but the Strava feature would be convenient.
I am intrigued by all the data analytics, however I've got devices from different ecosystems so I'd have to go all in.
God damn that VO2 of yours…. If only I was vlose to that!
Doesn’t help me in bike races 😂
Totally agree, the Garmin ecosystem is outstanding, IMHO. I have no idea what it would take to get me away from Garmin.
You know I love you, lanky. However, it is impossible for me to hear training peaks and not think "NEEEEERD"
Fair enough. 😸
Nga u sold me on that
Dood all the garmin connect stuff about showing you how you did on your rides and if you were productive to me was never right or useful
Like any training metrics, it's a guide and always more useful when looking at longer term trends. There's also been several updates in recent years that seem to have reduced the ubiquitous "unproductive" status message.
@@TheLankyCyclist I used not for the last 3 years , garmins don’t work well in Puerto Rico , and by that I mean they don’t keep track of elevation very well at all . So I had to give them up
Dude ... Wahoo SUX. what a crap show with Wahoo. Might as well use your Google maps app. Lol 😆
100% this and the maps suck. Will be going back to Garmin when my wahoo dies.
Selling Wahoo = Good Choice………. Selling Fatbike = Still a bad choice 😂
Will never hear the end of it 😂😂😂
He needed more of a race oriented fat bike, like a Salsa Beargrease, rather than that heavy Surly.
@@330_Crew👆👆👆
@@TheLankyCyclist now is the time to buy 🤣🤪