spectastic

my garmin 500 finally broke on me, so I'm in the market for a new computer. I'm not a big fan of the newer garmin stuff. i read the 520 only has a 5 hour battery life, which is not enough. it also has a slew of other issues apparently. I'm only looking at the lezyne super gps and elemnt bolt, because I care about function, durability and battery life, than pretty colors on a map.

my needs are simple:
- be able to see my power during training
- upload easily to strava and dropbox (via wifi or bluetooth) so I can use it with golden cheetah
- be able to customize my navigation window to show power so that i can train and read the map at the same time (which was not a function on the 500 for some reason)
- navigate from routes from phone to gps via bluetooth
- durable and long battery life, which as far as i know, both of these have
- good GPS and power data readings. (my 500 gps was not super accurate, and the power reading would sometimes drop out, this is apparently true for the newer garmins as well..)
- water proof. I only say this because the cause of death on my 500 was because the mini usb contacts was getting exposed to water, and got corroded. so I'd like the rubber seal on the new computer to be water proof

So anyone who has either or both of these units. Can you comment that either of these are able to perform these duties? I know the elemnt bolt is probably a little more capable with a better form factor. But if the lezyne can do these things too, then I'd rather save me $100.

exRunner

spectastic

the review i read said that it got around 4-5 hours when using navigation. in either case, I can see how the color screens on the garmin can eat up energy faster than the others, which use simple 'calculator screens'

rubiksoval

My 520 also gets 10-12 hours. And it doesn't have a color screen.

Sy Reene

The screen isn't colored, but it displays colors.
Perhaps OP could throw the Edge 130 though into his mix of considerations.

rubiksoval

On end of ride summary pages about zones? Nothing on the regular screen shows colors. It has zero impact on battery.

Sy Reene

I'm not sure what a regular screen refers to. The 520 shows colors on many pages... borrowing shots from DCR below. That said, I have no idea to what degree 'color' has any impact on screen life, but I'd guess that the B&W data screens on a 520 are probably really done in color, the same way B&W is represented on any RGB computer monitor (which has as you guessed, only Red, Green, or Blue pixels). OTOH, an LCD screen (think your casio watch) in b&w can run for a long long time (like years); even if GPS and WiFi were turned off, how long would a color iWatch run for with screen on, just telling time?

rubiksoval

Ah, I don't have any of that on my screens. Nor do I have maps, so maybe that's why.

spectastic

colors no colors, the bolt has features that i want, presented in a way that suits my preferences. question is how lezyne compares to it

Seattle Forrest

For what it's worth, transflective screens (all Garmins, probably the other two as well) use the same amount of juice to display any color. It's changing the color of a pixel that takes battery power.

Sojodave

Here is a link on another forum comparing the Wahoo Element to the Garmin 520. I was surprised that most prefer the 520. BTW, I own the 520 and I got 10 hours battery life with a colored map.

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt or Garmin 520 Plus

spectastic

guys: this thread is not about the 520!! lol

San Pedro

The Super GPS doesn't show maps, just a breadcrumb trail. It can do turn by turn, but you'll need to make sure your maps are .tcx format. The battery life is good, Lezyne has been good about updates.

The newer Lezyne does have a map screen.

Sy Reene

ahh, but you left an opening by indicating you're not considering the garmins only "because I care about function, durability and battery life, than pretty colors on a map." Folks who disagree or whose experiences are that these factors are not negative nor specific to newer Garmins, are likely to tell you so.

woodcraft

I went from Garmin 500 to Bolt earlier this year.

Thought I would benefit from navigation, & Garmin battery was losing steam.

So far:
- Screens, fields & buttons good
- Initial trouble with the phone app, finally sorted after much fuss & technical support
- Occasional hassle with things becoming 'un-paired' & not uploading.
- Navigation produces a bunch of flashing lights & beeps including when riding under trees & losing satellite signal - very annoying.

USB jack cover somewhat better than Garmin's, but the same basic design.
I have developed a bias against Lezyne based on some of their design choices, so mostly avoid their products.

chicagogal

I have the 520 plus. Connected to PM, radar, and phone last weekend, I got 11 hrs and 15min of charge.

mstateglfr 

I have a lezyne super gps and have used it for about 18mo now.

the battery life is really long- 20 hours? Thats guess because i dont sit and add up all the ride hours before I charge it again. I charge it after 4 or 5 rides and its never below 40%.

the map is a breadcrumb unless you send it directions and it will then display the turn by turn.

I wanted something that is simple to use, simple to load routes to, and tracks basics(speed, avg speed, distance, climb, etc).
it can do way more that in ask it to and its a lot less $.

upload to strava is automatic when you upload the ride to your phone.

Steve B.

When the OP seemingly has some misconceptions about the 520 such as "i read the 520 only has a 5 hour battery life", it then becomes partly about the 520, even though I agree with your point that he was looking for advice about Lezyne vs. Wahoo.

I've used a Bolt, went back to Garmin as I simply could not read the Navigation screens, which are white lettering on black background (so that's my Wahoo contribution). I find the Garmin color screen and navigation screens to be superior to Wahoo, but have no experience with Lezyne. FWIW, I get 10-12 hrs of use out of my Garmin 1000, 8-10 when navigating. This is similar to what I experienced on my Bolt.

spectastic

can you customize data fields on the map page during navigation?

stackinBBs

You'd like to be able to see the breadcrumb map and see your power numbers, is that right? I don't think you can do that on the Super GPS. You can set navigation to pop-up directions, so you could have a data page displaying your power and the turn-by-turn directions will pop up for a few seconds (and beep) over that.

Overall the SuperGPS seems like a pretty good unit, especially for the price. It has the rubber seal you're looking for on the port, battery life is good, the data pages are easily customizable. The only issues I've had is that sometimes the turn-by-turn seems a little hard to figure out. Like I can't get it to navigate even though it's using a .tcx file, and I can't figure out if you can start navigating in the middle of a route, stuff like that. I've only had it a few months so maybe that's just a learning curve.

OBoile

I have the Bolt and I've been very happy with it. I've had none of the problems woodcraft describes. I found it very easy to set up and use. It's been consistent and reliable.

Having said that, I've never used another cycling computer, so I don't have a great basis for comparison.

CMBravo

I have not used Bolt .I did purchase the Super GPS Enhanced . I added the Speed&Cadence sensor. Less than 200.00 US dollars combined.I have to warn you its functionality is not the best. I paired to an Android. WORKED FINE FOR A CPL OF WEEKS. Now after the 30 day return feature expired, I have spend more time tweaking it than using the devise. The cadence sensor magnet is position on the pedal ..Not a good idea. broke away in five weeks.connectivity to BT is also very erratic ..It does have a 1 yr warranty if you have the patience to work with their coustomer service Waiting for a call back.. As it stands ,I guess you get what you paid for. wondering about the Bolt. My local bike shops recommends it..

ksryder

I had the previous generation Lezyne Super GPS and eventually got the Bolt instead. Battery life was good, but it had a lot of shortcomings: wouldn't stay paired to sensors, syncing was needlessly complicated, screens had limited customization options, and support was nonexistent.

I've heard that some of those issues have been addressed with the current generation of Lezyne devices -- but the complete lack of support from Lezyne ultimately convinced me not to give them any more of my money.

I have had absolutely zero complaints about my Wahoo for a year and half now. Not a single bug or failure.

Clipped_in

I can't comment on the Lezyne offering, but I have been a Garmin user for the past several years while changing to the Elemnt Bolt this year. I really like it! The simplicity and straightforward functionality suit me just fine. It seems to me that the Bolt is especially well suited to those who do a lot of focused training and structured workouts. The kind of people who leverage power meter data, which I think really is the intended target consumer for the Bolt. Beyond that, they have the "most aerodynamic" marketing schpeel to gather in the market share.

If you do a lot with navigation, well I don't use that so much. If I do need it, what the Bolt does is certainly adequate. As far as seeing the screen, it works great for me. I don't understand where others have been dissatisfied.

BigPoser

I moved over from a Garmin 1000 to a Bolt and couldn't be happier. I was tired of the Garmin always losing rides, not enough battery life, and things just didn't want to work properly. I've not looked back with my Bolt. Very easy to use, very easy to pair anything and everything to it, battery life is amazing, and it's small and compact. The only niggle that I have is that it isn't as good as Garmin is for navigation. It does it well, but not quite as good. Having said that, if you send it directions from your phone, it's more than adequate.

No personal experience with Lezyne, however a few of my friends have one and they all say that it's a bit quirky. It's possible the newer models have fixed that I can't say.