Bike GPS unit/computer vs multisport GPS watch

Dear fellow NSMB'ers,

I notice that I am slowly riding myself into the ground, polishing the ego and trying to best myself every time because of that One Tracking App - which does not work. And I would love to have a chance to plan routes as well.

Now I am thinking about separating my tracking from my mobile phone and get myself either a bike computer with GPS or a multisport watch with GPS, and maybe upload to That Site Starting with S, or not.

The question is....shall I get a watch like a Suunto 9 or a small unit for the handlebars like the Wahoo Elemnt?

What do you guys have?

I am undecided....

Not one of your choices but I ended up with an Apple Watch last year and it’s turned into my activity watch. It covers the vast majority of my needs but most importantly I like that it does heart rate as well so no extra equipment. 

If Trailforks makes an Apple watch app it will be 100% for my needs.

I recently purchased a Garmin Instinct. Specifically did not want a phone on my wrist. This thing has a monochrome display, long battery life, it's simple and tough, does just enough to be useful, can go on the bars on a 1" piece of pipe insulation when I'm all layered up in winter, and wasn't terribly expensive. It interfaces with the Site Starting with S through the Garmin Connect app quite easily.

To me, there's a large gap between phone-on-the-wrist and multisport watch. Which suits you better?

Mainly road/gravel riding here.  Tried using a wrist HR monitor at first, hated pulling my hand up to try and look at the stats.  Got a Wahoo Element Bolt, love it.  Screen is a simple customizeable interface via iPhone to select what stats you want to monitor and constant position in front of stem is better ergonomics for my purpose.  Syncs up automatically to Strava/RidewithGPS to upload my stats when I finish the ride.

HUGE vote for a bike computer. 

Bought a Garmin 520 a couple of years ago. It has a trailforks app. I create routes on trailforks and load them on my bike computer. I rode a route at Ledgeview without pulling my phone out once. The computer can give turn by turn directions. I wouldnt use it to navigate without a route inputted as the screen is not big enough but when you are riding a route you can see where you are and which trail to take. You can customize the screens any way you want and link in any monitor (HR, cadence, power etc)

My wife has a Garmin watch. The GPS isn't as good and the screen is too small to do any sort of route guidance. It is pretty useless aside from tracking your routes and giving you one or two data points (speed, hr etc) as you go.

I checked the Garmin and Wahoo Elmnt bike computers, and what can you say about battery life and reliability? There are mixed reviews, I checked the Garmin 830 and quite a few say that it wstopped working or started to get weird after a few months of use, and that on longer rides the battery might act up. I would love to have a proper navigation on board for those longer rides and the odd "travel by bike will go far" trips.

And the

With regards to battery, I can't speak to the 800 series Garmin but my 530 can outlast me any day of the week. I usually charge mine every week or so. If you are navigating it uses more battery but I've never had it die on a ride. If you were doing 8 hours or something like that, I'm not sure... Definitely enough for mortals.

As for reliability, I went with the 530 cause I think a touch screen is unnecessary on a bike computer. Give me an old fashioned button. The 530 has been excellent for me. No issues

Element Bolt is maybe 8-10hours of on time to a full charge? That would be my estimate on riding longer (4+ Hour) rides on full charge and getting home with 60-70% juice? E-ink is pretty battery friendly.

Edit - 3 hours out yesterday on a full charge.  Got home and battery was 18% down.  I don’t think battery depletion is linear, so I’d say 10-12 hours.

Sweet. Thanks. So...now it is only a question if I take a more basic and not as expensive unit, or the Garmin 830.

I really would like to use it as a sort of navigation tool on longer gravel/road/randonneur trips. U turning because of shitty signage on a 150+ km ride is a major eff up.

Posted by: RAHrider

With regards to battery, I can't speak to the 800 series Garmin but my 530 can outlast me any day of the week. I usually charge mine every week or so. If you are navigating it uses more battery but I've never had it die on a ride. If you were doing 8 hours or something like that, I'm not sure... Definitely enough for mortals.

As for reliability, I went with the 530 cause I think a touch screen is unnecessary on a bike computer. Give me an old fashioned button. The 530 has been excellent for me. No issues

Same here. 530 has been amazing

elemnt roam, 15-16h of navigation time. way better than the elemnt or the bolt, the rerouting feature is worth the higher price. downside is the small storage of not even 3gb, those bigger maps take up a lot of space. if you can wait, a bird told me to wait 6-8months for the successor.

I have a Garmin eTrex I run on a bar mount on every ride. I also use it for touring and hiking and such. Not bike specific, but it's been going strong nearly 10 years. I'm not a fan of wearing a watch so I wouldn't get one of those, but I also don't want a bike specific GPS really. I like having one GPS I can use for all my outdoor activities aside from my smart phone.

You can upload your rides to Ride with GPS if you want to track distance and keep routes without having the virtual race aspect of Strava in your life.

Posted by: Vikb

virtual race aspect of Strava in your life.

that costs money these days

Posted by: Sethimus

elemnt roam, 15-16h of navigation time. way better than the elemnt or the bolt, the rerouting feature is worth the higher price. downside is the small storage of not even 3gb, those bigger maps take up a lot of space. if you can wait, a bird told me to wait 6-8months for the successor.

Looks good, and in the same range as a Garmin, money-wise.

Maybe I treat myself to a bike computer this Christmas, maybe I wait.