Garmin alternatives- Wahoo, anyone?

[Rick Youngblood]

Garmin 510's USB has failed. It's just barely out of warranty. It's my second Garmin in 4 years, first Garmin failed last year, so I replaced it with this one. Now the only way to upload my data is with the Mobil app. Yes I've contacted Garmin support. I'm tired of dumping money into Garmin devices. I'm thinking about using my iPhone in conjunction with the wahoo device shown below. Money is a priority, sort of.

Anyone with experience with this wahoo and iPhone setup. Thanks! How is battery life on the iPhone blue toothed to the wahoo. I don't want to carry a charging battery with me.

https://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-RFLKT-...?ie=UTF8&qid=1468503629&sr=8-6&keywords=Wahoo

 

[LarryOz]

Garmin 510's USB has failed. It's just barely out of warranty. It's my second Garmin in 4 years, first Garmin failed last year, so I replaced it with this one. Now the only way to upload my data is with the Mobil app.

Rick, I think I have the 510 - isn't that the one with the touch screen? Mine automatically sync's the data to Garmin when it is connected via bluetooth, so I rarely use the USB for data transfer, only to charge it.
I like the Garmin fine enough - although I have had the issue that the bluetooth constantly drops in and out. Garmin keeps telling me it is my phone - although I have had 3 different phones and it does the same thing with all of them.
When you say the USB has failed, does that mean it will not charge any longer either, or just transfer data? I know mine seems to be very finicky about what USB cable I use.
Good Luck...

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Rick, I think I have the 510 - isn't that the one with the touch screen? Mine automatically sync's the data to Garmin when it is connected via bluetooth, so I rarely use the USB for data transfer, only to charge it.
I like the Garmin fine enough - although I have had the issue that the bluetooth constantly drops in and out. Garmin keeps telling me it is my phone - although I have had 3 different phones and it does the same thing with all of them.
When you say the USB has failed, does that mean it will not charge any longer either, or just transfer data? I know mine seems to be very finicky about what USB cable I use.
Good Luck...

Mine drops the blue tooth every time and I have sync every time to upload. It will charge with usb's, but will not connect to the computer with usb's, computers (both Mac's) will not see it. I have dozens of usb's cable, first thing I checked. Garmin support says its usb that failing or has failed, although yes it will charge.

 

[LarryOz]

Mine drops the blue tooth every time and I have sync every time to upload.

Yes - it is definitely a pain in the !@#$%^ - the bluetooth thing - design flaw no doubt.

The Wahoo head unit looks pretty nice. I just have never had much luck getting my Garmin Pedals to sync up with other apps on my smartphone - so I might be stuck with Garmin for now.
My 510 is almost 2 years old, and I was thinking of upgrading to an 800 series since the display was larger, but might have to rethink it all!
For and $80 investment it might be worth it just to try it and see if it works. At least buying it via Amazon, you can probably send it back in 30 days if not happy with the functionality of it.
Thanks for the feedback Rick

 

[John Dorlon]

Rick, you could get Cyclemeter on your phone (I think it's $5) and have that track your rides and send them to Strava, then keep your Garmin but don't ever upload from it. That's what I do.

 

[super slim]

I can vouch that with a Edge 705 or a 800 the transfers can ONLY occur reliably with the Garmin USB cable!

 

[DavidCH]

I have a wahoo REFLT, it has a small footprint and its great for those 50km runs. Anything above that then wahoo fitness has issues with its GPS tracking, which is really annoying. It's an annoying problem as wahoo fitness appears to be working but impossible to upload to strava or display GPS track when reviewing the ride.

The iPhone version works better than the android and you have to upload the RFLKT firmware via wahoo fitness to one that is stable. The RFLKT display just reflects the wahoo fitness app. After having a 10 minute pause... the RFLKT turns off and it needs two attempts to get it going again. The display is readable during the day and impossible to read at night. I haven't had any problems with the battery. I haven't tried it with a power meter so I don't know if it handles that. What I like about it the most is its inobtrusive and it gives me the basics what I need, Heart Rate, Speed and Cadence rate. Its cheap and its footprint is small. Just looks too stupid having an iPhone roped on the handlebars. Some cruzbikers think its a toy... so enjoy and have fun.

I like it and I would recommend it to iPhone users ( not sure if it displays power meter info).

 

[ratz]

1) Don't Mess with the RFLKT too much hassle; If you really want one I can set you up with a free one to try from by junk bin.
2) Forget that USB/Bluetooth Garmin stuff syncing models.
3) Get a Garmin 520, 820 (brand new) or a 1000. All of them use Wifi to upload
4) Ticked with Garmin get the new Wahoo Elemnt.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/07/garmin-edge-820.html
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/03/wahoo-elemnt-gps-bike-computer-in-depth-review.html

 

[DavidCH]

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-calculator?type=watch&ids=62362,49932#results

Now this is a great link

 

[RojoRacing]

it does actually need the special type of cable that comes with the garmin for data transfer, all other cables work fine for charging though. i have a dozen cables and only 2 have the special yip for data.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

it does actually need the special type of cable that comes with the garmin for data transfer, all other cables work fine for charging though. i have a dozen cables and only 2 have the special yip for data.

Interesting. Does Garmin support know this. Never once did they mention using a special usb's cable for the Garmin. They only suggested I try a different one. As a matter of fact I've never used the original cable. Only the one(s) plugged into the computer at the time, which did work for 14 months.

 

[ratz]

it does actually need the special type of cable that comes with the garmin for data transfer, all other cables work fine for charging though. i have a dozen cables and only 2 have the special yip for data.

Yeah forth and fith wire need to be connected. And the correct resistor has to be inline to get 2.1amp charging on dc. Most target stores carry the garmin car unit micro usb for $15 that will work.

Many many cheap sub are 3 or 4 wire only. Thickness of cable is sometimes an indicator.

Our high end SLR camera has a similar effliction but worse. Some sort of stupid custom resistance to transfer data.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Well, how about that! It's only Garmin Supports that sucks...but this forum is awesome. Like I said above, never once did they mention anything about a special fat yip 5 wire USB.

I found a fat USB, must be YIP and special, cause it worked. But get this, the other non-YIP UN-special skinny USB worked for my old Garmin 500.

Why does nothing with a search on Google say this, would have saved me days going back and forth with Garmin support and a lot of frustration. Again, thank you Jason for pointing this out, and thank you Bob for clarifying.

 

[ratz]

Old cable may a shorted wire. Or a burned out resistor. Life in tech support leads to odd knowledge. I learned about this supporting a customers car gps. Tried to say the computer we sold him was defective because his gps would not charge.

It is not what you know it is what you have done wrong before. And I have done a lot of wrong things. Didn't even think about it until Jason brought that up.

Me thinks he has just repaid the favor and assist on the seat

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Old cable may a shorted wire. Or a burned out resistor. Life in tech support leads to odd knowledge. I learn about this support a customers car gps. Tried to say the computer we sold him was defective because his gps would not charge.

It is not what you know it is what you have done wrong before. And I have done a lot of wrong things. Didn't even think about it until Jason brought that up.

Me thinks he has just repaid the favor and assist on the seat

Actually, I used to changing out USB cables. I tried several, but I suspect they are/were the cheap ones.

Ahhh, Jason paid back the seat favor many times over by winning his last two double century races. Now I owe him, because this saved me a lot of money .

 

[ratz]

One good use of the garmin is to find all the bad cables so you can throw them away

 

[RojoRacing]

After 2 hours on the trainer and I come back to good news, glad I could help. We only know what we know, it's how often we learn something new that counts.

 

[SamP]

One good use of the garmin is to find all the bad cables so you can throw them away

Ahhhhhh! Those aren't (neccessarily) bad cables.

USB (well, before USB 3.0 which added 4 more signal cables) basically uses a four conductor cable. Mini and micro plugs have 5 pins, one pin is connected to the ground pin at the A end of the cable and left unconnected on the B end (so that USB On the Go devices can detect which end of the cable is plugged in). Beyond that, there are a number of manufacturers who have non-standard USB for either stupid or special purposes. Sounds like Garmin was afflicted by this for awhile. GoPro (and several other action cams), for example, uses a 10-pin jack which allows standard mini-USB as well as a 10-pin plug for audio/video output at the same time as external power, for identification the ID pin is grounded through a resister, not uncommon situation for these non-standard USB things.

 

[JOSEPHWEISSERT]

Interesting. Does Garmin support know this. Never once did they mention using a special usb's cable for the Garmin. They only suggested I try a different one. As a matter of fact I've never used the original cable. Only the one(s) plugged into the computer at the time, which did work for 14 months.

I went through a similar exercise with my Garmin 520 earlier in the season: Garmin charges fine with cable on the bench or on the bike. Garmin loves me and I love it back! Custom data screens! Then later: Why the hell can't I see my Garmin when I connect it to my computer? Bad Garmin! Bad! Research, research, research. Hate it! Could be riding! Lost my data? Hate you Garmin! POS! I swear I'll send you back! Find different cable labeled "Garmin" connected to other backstabbing, Garmin-hating device. Well F me, using the wrong cable, duh! Swap cables: sorry Garmin, I still love you. Bike loves you too! Yes, really. Come here and give us a hug. Want to ride? Okay, we ride now.