So, I have been a Polar user for at least 25 years, and all dandy, great HR/GPS and more lately sleep metrics etc. Never felt a need to do anything else. I have m watch on the handlebars and track cadence and HR there. But now…I have some power pedals (to more accurately monitor my age related decline), so i need 10s average power (polar only gives me now power). I need 10s power cos I think i might want (try) to do some of my TR sessions in meatspace rather than cyberspace (when it stops raining, and my power is so spiky outdoors that I probs need at least 15s averages). And i might want some real mapping too if i want to do some longer XC and road loops over the summer.
But what is going to work best for the following criteria:
Works well w TR to upload and help me run TR sessions outside
Doesn’t require another paid subscription to get useful stuff like mapping (do i really need Garmin+ - and what is the benefit if yes)
Good battery life for long days.
Ease of use (including w gloves).
Good web interface w useful stuff (tho probs still going to aggregate to TR/Strava/Intervals. Will also use Polar to track HR and keep my record on Polar too as my life is there)
I’m a big fan of Garmin, you don’t need Garmin+, at least I never have for anything I want to do. It will sync routes with Strava for mapping and pull in your TR workouts for outdoors and all of that. All of their ecosystem stuff syncs up well and I really like Garmin Connect for how it brings everything together. I’ve never seen or used 10 sec power but 3 sec power smoothing is pretty common. I’ve always used the button controlled models not the touchscreen and I like that I can control the page flips with Di2, also the Varia radar is really nice to have on the roads here. Wahoo I know does much of the same just a different ecosystem and from what I have seen on friends devices they seem really similar in terms of abilities. I don’t know much about Hammerhead except that they’re owned by SRAM and I’ve never used SRAM groupsets but if you do they might have some beneficial tie in?
If you have Di2, I believe Shimano removed compatibility with Hammerhead. Not sure if that’s still the case but worth looking in to. From reviews, it seems the Garmin screen is better than the Wahoo. I am a Wahoo user and have no complaints though. I like the simplicity of the system and the structured workouts from TR work great on it. The new Roam 3 has both buttons and touchscreen. And while I am not a big user of the zoom feature but it seems popular for people who prefer a more visible screen. I use it occasionally when I’m looking to focus on certain fields and ignore the other data.
I have used Garmin edge computers for almost two decades. I am quite sure there must be better options available, but I have not yet found a reason to try something else. Anyone planning to purchase a Garmin computer should first browse the forums.garmin.com to get an idea about the issues in their software.
I would checkout dc rainmaker or GP lamas reviews to see differences between models.
For me, I love Garmin and haven’t had any issues with multiple different head units since moving on from their 705 model. My experience is that Garmins are great for TR. the best thing is that TR programs their outdoor workouts so that it will auto lap on something with short recovery periods where keeping rest interval short is important, but for for longer ones it will have you press lap before starting the work interval again. If you have a sweet spot or threshold set, you can make sure you’re in the right spot to not be interrupted by stop signs etc and the start when ready
As for the head units, most people are running Garmin or Wahoo and will tell you to buy the one they have. I’d get a look at both units running maps to see which one you prefer and think about if you want buttons or touch screen. One differentiator I personally like for Garmin is that you get the whole Garmin Connect ecosystem. As someone else mentioned, I’d rely heavily on DCRainmaker reviews and videos to understand differences between units.
Whichever unit you pick, many many many (I’m honestly not exaggerating here) people will tell you one of the best pieces of bike kit they’ve ever purchased is the Garmin Varia radar.
This is some good solid advice. People tend to be pretty tied to whatever brand they have settled on. There are pros and cons to each. I think the good news is that they are all pretty good right now if you are getting a new unit.
My anecdotal suggestions from a Garmin user.
I think you can’t go wrong with a x40 or x50 series Garmin. UI might be the least intuitive to someone who hasn’t used, but super easy to get used to once you understand. I think Garmin Connect ecosystem as well as Garmin Connect IQ which allows all kinds of extra apps and features is a big plus. Battery life is very good.
Wahoo users tend to really like the setup and UI. Anecdotally, it seems that some Wahoo users seems to prefer previous generation to the most recent releases.
If I was buying new today, I would also look at Hammerhead. Seems their latest generation is a strong competitor to the others.
As mentioned, don’t think you can make a bad choice here. Choose your brand and then tell everyone else that all others suck.
i like wahoo, but my last bolt2 i warrantied 3 times and eventually just rode with a partially malfunctioning unit for the last year because i got tired of sending it back. Their warranty support has been great, but id rather not have units failing. I have not used the newest units.
Hammerhead Karoo 3 - resolution is nice, and works just fine, following a structured workout has some annoyances (wahoo much better here), maps are rad. Battery life is like 12 hrs ( their claim of 30 hrs is with the screen off…yeah, thats kinda of misleading advertising). Only has predictive elevation for climbs
Havent tried recent garmins yet, but if i were to buy something today, it would be a garmin. Or in an ideal world, id get a bolt 2 that didnt break so much.
I’ve been using Garmin head units for 10+ years and didn’t even know Garmin+ existed until reading this. I just looked it up and it seems entirely unnecessary, I get all the ride data I need from Intervals.icu. I guess the nutrition tracking might be useful for me but I’m not adding yet another subscription for it.
I suspect that most people who pay for it fall into one of these categories:
They wanted to play with it and forgot to turn it off and stop payment
They like the additional challenges that allow you to “level up” faster
They like the “Strava-like” post ride “Great job! You rode in zone 2 on your Z2 day and enduranced the heck out of that endurance ride like a champ!” post ride feedback.
They did just add the nutrition stuff to Garmin+, not that I pay for myfitness pal but if you’re paying for some sort of product like that then Garmin+ might make sense. Other than that I’ve not seen anything in it that would make me pay.
On the real question, Garmin for me 945 and 840 definitely like it all in the same ecosystem.
As for the 10 and 15s avg power, personally never felt the need for that and almost seems crazy. I can understand not wanting instant because of the noise so 3 or 5 second makes sense but needing 10-15 seems off. I feel like that’s more a getting used to power thing than anything else. Sure you can’t control everything outside but if you can’t get power dialed in over a few seconds something is up. I’m an instant power all the time guy and don’t have my computer showing any short term avg usually.
I’ve had no issues with sending a predetermined route to my Garmin for a group ride or route I made up/found in some sort of third party system.
What I have had issues with is using it like a car/phone nav where you plug in a destination and want it to route you there on device. Possibly in the name of safety but I’ve had it wildly route me miles out of the way to avoid a stretch of road. Sure it’s 3 lanes and that sounds dangerous but it’s 35mph and has a bike lane the thirty minute reroute is unnecessay.
I got my first Garmin Edge in 2010 and have a gotten new ones every so often. I’ve stuck with Garmin despite all the bugs and problems. They’ve added a ton of features over the years but I try to stick to basic nav and ride recording to minimize frustration with bugs.
I have lived in the same area so long that I know the road and gravel routes better than any bike computer: I never use the mapping/navigation functionality of my Garmins. However, when I purchased my 1040 I wanted to test the mapping and that caused the device crash every few kilometers, until I switched back to using it in my normal way.
I have not had any major issues with my 1040 when not using the mapping/navigation.
I recently upgraded from a Bolt v1 to a Roam v3. Overall, when I looked at the market, my impression was as follows:
Garmin, Wahoo and Hammerhead are great options.
There are other manufacturers (such as Coros’ Dura), which are good, but aren’t yet supported by TR yet. That may change in the future, though.
In terms of functionality, I found all of them more than sufficient. E. g. none of the extra features at the time would have swayed me one way or another.
The only exception might be the new lane feature you have with the new Garmin Varia radar coupled to Garmin head units (I hate that features become vendor-specific). I lost my Varia 515 last year and replaced it with a Wahoo Trackr radar as the latter has a much longer battery life and works equally well.
I went with Wahoo for two reasons: I still love the Zoom feature and Wahoo gave me a 40 % discount.
My Roam v3 can be used with both, the touch screen and the buttons. Love that.
