Chinertown
Other Resources => Component Deals & Selection => Topic started by: Serge_K on June 29, 2025, 10:28:48 AM
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I recommend Karoo 3. I am very happy with Karoo 2, and now after several years with Garmin, my wife switched to Karoo 3.
Pros:
- very customizable, including all screens, climb pro, lap screen or workout screen. You can also fully customize appearance of maps via xml file (e.g. I significantly increased contrast, distinguished paved/unpaved surfaces, and added drinking water/toilet/atm icons)
- very good and clear display, and modern UI
- can handle power meters, di2/etap shifting (I am not sure about er9 though, but I guess?), radars (including chinese brands)
- never any issues with syncing routes/rides; the ride automatically uploads to strava/invervals before I take my shoes off. On the contrary, syncing rides/courses used to be a repeated issue for my wife's Garmin, prompting several reinstalls.
- you can sync/send route from a link or gpx file using your phone. You long-press the link and "share it" via the Karoo app and it just sends it to your account and Karoo. Very simple and super handy when bikepacking trips goes wrong and you have to conjure a route on your phone while standing at a train station and somehow load it into your computer
- you can load any android app onto it, including spotify
- receives actual updates every 2 weeks
Cons:
- 12-15 hours of battery which can be an issue for some
- the top drawer (like on your phone) is a bit laggy of Karoo 2 but much much better on Karoo 3
Here it can be usually/often bought for 300 euro, but I understand it may be outside of what you are willing to spend on this. Love the device and fully recommend, though.
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Inline comments below. Bolded for readability.
Do your ride road exclusively, or do you also mtb? The integration of trailforks data with garmin (exclusively garmin) is a massive differentiator. For a hot minute I considered a Karoo3 but the inability to integrate the trailforks map data was a show stopper. If you don't care about offroad/trail riding and you don't care about long rides (10+ hrs), then the Karoo3 is also a worthy contender.
For reference, i've been happy with the 530, but never loved it.
- Navigation was always underwhelming (I missed turns so many times)
---- This is semi problematic for all devices IME.
- climb pro is nice, however i could never have on the climb pro screen fields i actually cared about (like power)
---- See comment below
- map / navigation screen was nice, however i could never edit that screen to display fields i actually wanted to see (like power)
---- See comment below
- I had bad experiences with touch screen so i picked it for the physical buttons.
---- The Edge 840 is a great device. It has a decent touch screen AND buttons. I've moved on to a 1050 myself because the screen is easier for me to read, but it lacks physical buttons. Unknown if the imminent 850 will have buttons or not.
- I like that i could get my ltwoo er9 to display data (battery charge and which gear i'm in, mostly)
---- Edge devices can definitely do this for Di2 and AXS. I believe this will work for ltwoo if you use the di2 datafields. https://chinertown.com/index.php?topic=4242.450
If i buy a newer garmin:
- Is it now possible to edit the map / navigation screen / do a split screen with the data i want, like power?
- Is it now possible to edit the climb pro screen / do a split screen with the data i want, like power?
These 2 things would be fairly decent reasons to upgrade, in my mind.
---- On the 1050 (and presumably in the near future with the 850) you can add data fields to the climb and nav screens. I never tried on my 840 because the screen was already too small/busy with information. There are even some great prebuilt datafields available on the connectiq store to make this easier. There are a number of variations, but take a look at this for an example. https://apps.garmin.com/apps/30fdcbb5-a0f2-4832-9157-b7dcd81e7a0f -- no affiliation, but I use this and am happy.
- are there killer features i am missing? (a lot of new features i dont need, like solar and what not).
---- solar isn't a big value add. I had a 1040 solar and got rid of it. The killer features now are the actual screen tech. Brightness and resolution. If you don't care too much about that, there isn't much from the latest greatest that will matter to you. Batteries have improved but with those better screens the energy requirements increased. Net result is that duration is about the same.
I bought a IGPSPORT BSC200 for a friend who wanted something very basic and he says it freezes sometimes, he's not too happy about it.
---- half the price and 10x the frustration is never worth it.
Thanks!
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currently garmin is runing an offer in france, if you buy a 1040 they reimburse you 100€, worth the check.
example
https://www.materiel-velo.com/1872554-compteur-velo-gps-garmin-edge-1040.html (https://www.materiel-velo.com/1872554-compteur-velo-gps-garmin-edge-1040.html)
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currently garmin is runing an offer in france, if you buy a 1040 they reimburse you 100€, worth the check.
example
https://www.materiel-velo.com/1872554-compteur-velo-gps-garmin-edge-1040.html (https://www.materiel-velo.com/1872554-compteur-velo-gps-garmin-edge-1040.html)
I still recommend the 840, but I would not buy a 1040. If you are going to accept the size and weight of the larger device you might as well benefit from the much improved software UI available on the 1050. Don't get me wrong, it is still crap Garmin UI, but it is a lot better.
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+1 for the Karoo 3.
I switched to it from the Edge 530, which I hated from day one.
The Karoo had some bugs initially, but they roll out updates regularly, actually fix the things people complain about, and introduce features users want.
The screen is pretty awesome, though it does take a toll on the battery.
It was also quite affordable — I paid around €350 in December 2024, and at that price, it was a steal.
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I am computer bipolar. I've had over 10 as I always think the grass is greener on others.
The 530 sits firmly at the bottom of my ranking, I hated it then and it must be even more outdated now. If you must stick to garmin the edge explore 2 is imo the best bang for buck, everything was great for me except missing structured workouts.
Haven't had the karoo 3 (450e... cool sram tax) but the karoo 1 i brieftly had was no better than a rugged smartphone. You can probably get an equally powerful 4inch phone with better battery and ant+ support for maybe a third of the price, and run whatever software
As for chinese units, I really like my IGS630 atm. It's what the garmin 540 should have been I think. Nothing special but decent at everything. For the same money I wouldn't even look at magene anymore. If you have more money I would absolutely trust the newer IGPSport units as I'm resisting the call for consumerism on the BiNavi
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So, we have 2 votes for the Karoo 3, and votes for newer garmin devices.
But how does one get a karoo 3 for 300 eur? that's probably more than i'd like to spend on a bike computer, but either way i'm seeing prices higher than that?
I bough it on bikeinn but the price is much higher now.
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I'll add my 2 cents:
My journey went like this: Garmin edge 705 -> Wahoo elemnt bolt -> Hammerhead Karoo 2 -> iGPSport BSC300
Currently I am running the igpsport and karoo 2, a coin flip usually chooses the device. Karoo 2 is great while riding, i like it for the visuals and eccentric colors as it breaks the standard color scheme everyone else uses. The climb pro feature is also pretty great but as you mentioned with your garmin, it isn't very customizable, so I usually rely on it solely for the profile of the climb. Otherwise it is an irritatingly slow device, from boot up to configuring and setting things up it is not good. The top drawer is also extremely slow which is sub optimal while riding to say the least. Oh and the battery life is the worst out of all of my and my riding buddies' experience.
I bought the igpsport a couple of weeks ago because of the battery concerns of the karoo and for the price it is great. I wish it had more field options and customizability, but honestly if you're not super particular about your setup, it should mostly cover your needs. The setup is quite finicky though as the translations are not great and the menus in the app are hard to find sometimes. It also doesn't have the climb pro feature i don't think, maybe other igpsport computers do? And as far as I can see, there is no upcoming elevation graph display, which is the only thing I am actually missing on it. I grabbed it for ~80 eur and do not regret it at all. Haven't experienced any freezing or bugs yet, but keep in mind that I haven't been testing it for long.
As for your requirements the igpsport bsc300 (I might be wrong on some points, if I am someone please correct me): I am not sure about calibrating a power meter, climb pro is missing, I've synced data to intervals.icu via strava or direct file import and it works, I am not sure there is a direct sync option though.
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For reference, i've been happy with the 530, but never loved it.
- Navigation was always underwhelming (I missed turns so many times)
- climb pro is nice, however i could never have on the climb pro screen fields i actually cared about (like power)
- map / navigation screen was nice, however i could never edit that screen to display fields i actually wanted to see (like power)
- I do like the form factor.
- I had bad experiences with touch screen so i picked it for the physical buttons.
- I like that i could get my ltwoo er9 to display data (battery charge and which gear i'm in, mostly)
If i buy a newer garmin:
- Is it now possible to edit the map / navigation screen / do a split screen with the data i want, like power?
- Is it now possible to edit the climb pro screen / do a split screen with the data i want, like power?
These 2 things would be fairly decent reasons to upgrade, in my mind.
- are there killer features i am missing? (a lot of new features i dont need, like solar and what not).
Thanks!
I bought a 1050 this summer. The price was a bit of a had pill to swallow but I sold my other 3 devices to ease the pain. The factory software was crap but after updating has been solid for me.
The screens are very customizable especially with the apps that can be installed for data pages and I like the increased size and brightness that my old eyes can see when it is sunny out. Any data available on the device can be added to the map or climb pro screens including having the map, climp pro AND individual data on the same screen. The photo has been my main data page for a few months now.
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IGPSport users: do you use a power meter? Can you calibrate it via the device? Does power data "work"?
GPLlama did an opening video of the IGS800, then in the comments of the video it seems he got disappointed and never made the follow up video he promised (IGPsport slow to respond to queries, map contrast problems, speaker location problem, no recording of gearing info, power data is also a little off due to some recording problems, and compass problems). Because of all this, i could be tempted by the 630S, but the IGS800 feels too expensive for something that's not quite refined it seems.
Yes, I can edit crank length, calibrate etc from the IGS630. Tried on 3 powermeters no jumps, sticky watts or weird behavior
The IGS800 seems to have been quietly scrapped, their windows vista project if you will. It's been replaced by the Binavi, addressing the IGS800 complaints (for cheaper)
FWIW I find IGPSport very reactive when I reached out to their customer support, updates are frequent and the glitches I reported were all patched within 2 weeks
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FYI, If you want to get more data fields under your map on Garmin Edge devices you can:
(https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/optimized/3X/8/5/85fd9c9f623c3bd4e6deb74481a2932c42527bc6_2_324x562.jpeg)
GPLama video about the Connect IQ field here:
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=HCb7OFJqUj8
(Remove the spaces, because the I can't post the link otherwise)
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Karoo 3 is just what you need. Ticks all the boxes you mentioned. Buy one and live happy till the end.
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All the people recomending Karoo2, I just switched back to Garmin 840. Reason? The main one is the HORRIBLE battery life and screen visibility in sunlight.
Battery life - sensors connected are power/cadence, varia, navigation - if I get 7h I am happy (for anything longer I always bring a power bank (ie. long gravel rides or bikepacking).
Screen - in full sunlight even on the brightest setting you will have to cover the screen to see anything on it.
My wifes cheap $200 IGSport can do everything the K2 can (without installing extra apps which will only drain the battery even more) and lasts at least double the time using the same sensors connected etc.
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just throwing this out here if you haven't yet, look at Coros Dura should you prioritize battery life over everything else.
i haven't gotten it yet, but will likely buy it to match with my Coros Pace Pro watch and stay within the Coros ecosystem
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I ordered the IGPS 630S last week. Should arrive today. Planing a gravel tour this weekend, so I think I can give you a first feedback at saturday evening CET.
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Thanks. Had a quick look, it's not for me. Battery life over everything else isn't what i'm after.
My conclusion so far: that IGPSport 630S looks interesting at c.150 eur, because of relative value, and the opportunity to test an underdog that involves software.
Taking a step back, China has been making good THINGS for a long time, but whatever software / UI / UX they made had the reputation of sucking.
Then came the LTWOO app, which works really well. I wouldnt say it's amazing, but i'm also not sure what more i could ask of it.
And so, electronic devices that are software heavy like bike computers are a logical next frontier, and i'm curious.
Having been on Garmin for years (Edge & Fenix), the software is kind of shit, honestly. Namely:
- they launched that insulting subscription, and it does absolutely nothing. That, overnight, slashed a lot of the goodwill i had towards Garmin. Nobody launches a subscription business lightly in 2025. This IS sending a message, and i dont like it.
- the analytics are a bit shit, which is worse.
-- For example, if you have a power meter, but dont use the HRM, your training load on garmin connect is virtually zero. But on various other platforms (intervals.icu just to name 1), load is computer properly. This is frankly shockingly bad as a data forward company.
-- given the size of Garmin, you'd expect industry leading analytics, but you get the opposite. There are so many features that Garmin doesn't have compared to alternatives, including free ones, that the only logical conclusion is either 1. they dont give a F or 2. they're blatantly incompetent. I'm increasingly associating them with Zwift, which is an incredible money burning machine, run by a CEO who sounds like a complete, self satisfied muppet.
And so, i'm kind of curious to experiment.
Then again, it might suck ass, hard :D
Inputs welcome!
Thanks for the comment/research so far. I am also curently looking for a (extra) affordable bike computer - currently using Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 2, which also works fine, but you know, having is better than needing :D.
iGPSport and Magene are on my shortlist. At Eurobike IGPSport's sales guy told me, R&D is very important for them, as they have 100 engineers. Asked Magene the same - 38 engineers :D (ofc, as a software dev myself, numbers are not everything, seriously..!). I guess, Garmin has also many more business fields, like boat navs, watches, so bike devices might just be a rounding error for them.
There are also more options now, I have a friend in China which travels in a couple of weeks here and can bring me domestic products (Stuff, like 706, but also Magene's Groupset is already available there!)
- BSC300T - 82 EUR when buying in TaoBao and take back by a friend
- BSC300 - 70 EUR
- iGS630S - 141 EUR
- BiNavi - 212 EUR - still to expensive, don't need on device nav.
The 300's have no on device nav, but I normally don't need it anyway, I would plan with an app and load on the device, that should be possible, I guess. 300T seems to have better GPS. 300 blank a larger screen.
Magene has this OneLap app, is it any good?
- C706 - 118 EUR on Taobao (999 RMB)
- C606 - 71 EUR
- C506 - 41 EUR (!)
Found this comparison table https://gw.alicdn.com/imgextra/i2/2200609211326/O1CN01Mk4IjV1LfMFKTSTj7_!!2200609211326.jpg fed it to an LLM and got list of differences - but nothing too helpful.
On the plus side, I already have a radar light from both brands, and might buy a Magene PES or QED in the future, so there might be a better interconnection then...
Hard choices ^^
Because of my access to TaoBao, I might go with C706 ... also so brand new, might be worth to try out and make a review.
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There are also more options now, I have a friend in China which travels in a couple of weeks here and can bring me domestic products (Stuff, like 706, but also Magene's Groupset is already available there!)
- BiNavi - 212 EUR - still to expensive, don't need on device nav.
Can we share your chinese friend?
Regarding the claimed 15-25 hours battery on the C606: That's just a lie. There is no way I could ever get even 15 hours with no mapping, low brightness and zero sensors connected
Regarding the IGS630, I forgot to point out 2 flaws that I think could be improved: The barometer is meh, it tends to overestimate ascent by 5-10% compared to real data (it used to be 50% on launch so they've made great progress but we're not there yet). And there is no radar page (at least for the L508) that I could find so I can't change mode from the computer or check the battery levels (and god knows that is necessary with magene products) like I could on the C606
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I'm using the 630 and I the elevation just goes crazy sometimes (+10%), very often it's just spot on
I do miss the climb screen, rerouting and segments, which are all offered by the 630s
I'm using a speed sensor, just to avoid any GPS lag
I'm getting 10h+ with almost any sensor connected it supports
Sometimes I consider the bolt 2, it's almost the same price point, usb c and Strava segments
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I'm using the 630 and I the elevation just goes crazy sometimes (+10%), very often it's just spot on
I do miss the climb screen, rerouting and segments, which are all offered by the 630s
I'm using a speed sensor, just to avoid any GPS lag
I'm getting 10h+ with almost any sensor connected it supports
Sometimes I consider the bolt 2, it's almost the same price point, usb c and Strava segments
10h+? I get 20 easily. And I do have the climb screen on the OG 630
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Magene C606 user here. If you use navigation then stay away, but if you are after a bike computer for the data then I can recommend it. It cost me US$110 delivered and it certainly beats a 130 in the same price bracket and I personally prefer using it to my 830 (as I don't use the navigation)
Pros:
- Good bright screen
- Touchscreen is responsive
- Good battery life. I get 20-25+ hours ( no nav, no pm, yes speed sensor, yes connected phone).
Cons
- Navigation.
- Climb pro
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All the people recomending Karoo2, I just switched back to Garmin 840. Reason? The main one is the HORRIBLE battery life and screen visibility in sunlight.
Battery life - sensors connected are power/cadence, varia, navigation - if I get 7h I am happy (for anything longer I always bring a power bank (ie. long gravel rides or bikepacking).
Screen - in full sunlight even on the brightest setting you will have to cover the screen to see anything on it.
My wifes cheap $200 IGSport can do everything the K2 can (without installing extra apps which will only drain the battery even more) and lasts at least double the time using the same sensors connected etc.
You are speaking Karoo 2 and we are speaking about Karoo 3 which has far more better battery life than 2.
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You are speaking Karoo 2 and we are speaking about Karoo 3 which has far more better battery life than 2.
Well then you should not mention the K3 in this discussion because the OP is not looking for high end bike computer. also, is it really that much better in real life........ Nope. People go for the Hammerhead units because it feels familiar, cell phone navigation menus etc, and they are willing to forgo the sihtty battery life and poor screen visibility. Also, most people dont go out for more than 2-3h at a time and for them and Hammerhead unit will be a wonderful thing.
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10h+? I get 20 easily. And I do have the climb screen on the OG 630
Usually I get 20h, but I do have weeks, were it's depleting faster, but it's still 10+
For me the climb screen just shows the past and that's as described, if I do something wrong, please let me know
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also, is it really that much better in real life........ Nope.
K3 has significantly better battery life (+50%) and screen than K2 (Source: I have both sitting in front of me).
Your earlier comment regarding readability is perplexing too. I run K2 at 50% and I never had a difficulty reading it, even in the brightest Mallorca sun.
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I only know Garmin devices, so I can't compare. But two more things which I like about Garmin:
- They have a programme where they replace damaged computers for a reasonable amount of money (not quite cheap, but cheaper than the used market). So if your device fails, you'll have access to a certified refurbished one, and don't need to buy a completely new one.
- If you're also a runner and own a Garmin watch, all your training data and training recommendations are nicely synced via the Connect App (also true for swimming, nordic skating, etc...).
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K3 has significantly better battery life (+50%) and screen than K2 (Source: I have both sitting in front of me).
Your earlier comment regarding readability is perplexing too. I run K2 at 50% and I never had a difficulty reading it, even in the brightest Mallorca sun.
Tried the Garmin twice over the weekend. Went on a 9h 240km gravel ride with Navi, Pwr and HR sensors and "some" re-routing". When I got home I had 40% battery left on the Garmin. The screen, even in full sun was amazing and bright. I would never be able to complete this ride with K2 without using power bank.
However.......... I am going back to the K2 and just deal with bringing a power bank on the long rides. Why? Map view and info is simply next level there. Ease of use getting route onto the unit is just much better. When or if the prices drop on the new K3 unit, I might try that. Wish the K2 has battery life equal to the Garmin. And the screen, in full sun cannot compare at all to the Garmin. I have to cover the computer with my hand to see any details on the map......... but this I can live with.
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Tried the Garmin twice over the weekend. Went on a 9h 240km gravel ride with Navi, Pwr and HR sensors and "some" re-routing". When I got home I had 40% battery left on the Garmin. The screen, even in full sun was amazing and bright. I would never be able to complete this ride with K2 without using power bank.
However.......... I am going back to the K2 and just deal with bringing a power bank on the long rides. Why? Map view and info is simply next level there. Ease of use getting route onto the unit is just much better. When or if the prices drop on the new K3 unit, I might try that. Wish the K2 has battery life equal to the Garmin. And the screen, in full sun cannot compare at all to the Garmin. I have to cover the computer with my hand to see any details on the map......... but this I can live with.
This doesn't seem right.
1) Syncing a route to garmin is almost zero effort. You just save/favorite on whichever platform you create the route and it just shows up on the garmin. I don't know how it could be any easier.
2) If you value the map view and information, why don't you value the ability to read it easily? The data displayed is only as good as your ability to read it on the screen.
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It looks like my old Magene c406 pro just died and am looking for a new BC...
From what I have read in this post (forum) and a few reddits, I am in between these BCs:
bsc300/t, igs630/s, magene c606 and the coros duro looks really promising but is more than double the price of some the others.
I am not really that much into navigation as I ride on roads and if I go on a somewhat new path, I check the segments beforehand so navigation is not really important. The c406 was actually really enough for me and after 3 years it could still handle speed sensor, HR, PM, tail light for a 6 hour ride (the tail light gave up :) ). So lets say that the 10h mark is minimum, touch screen is not mandatory but the screen has to be visible in the sun (as it was the c406). I mostly climb hills so the altitude should be somewhat accurate, live in eu if that is any indication to what kinda GPS band is better... Really appreciate any recommendation.
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I did not read the entire thread, however considering your first post, Elemnt Bolt 2 will suffice you:
- Navigation was always underwhelming (I missed turns so many times)
It happened to me on my Bolt 1 quite frequently. On Bolt2 maps are more detailed, but you can't customize the view by uploading different map from OSM. Turn by turn notification are actually good.
- climb pro is nice, however i could never have on the climb pro screen fields i actually cared about (like power)
- map / navigation screen was nice, however i could never edit that screen to display fields i actually wanted to see (like power)
On Bolt 2 you can customize up to 4 (6?) fields on every screen.
- I like that i could get my ltwoo er9 to display data (battery charge and which gear i'm in, mostly)
I cannot tell about the compatibility with Ltwoo, but Di2 works just fine here.
If I buy a computer from some other brand:
- it needs to connect to my power meter & let me calibrate it
- climb pro equivalent is a plus, but honestly not a must.
- it needs to connect to my ltwoo er9 group to display stuff.
- i must be able to load a route (gpx or equivalent) and follow it, preferably without using a cable.
- have to be able to customize screens with data fields.
- i'll export the activities to strava, intervals.icu, and potentially to garmin, because of the history i have there.
All is covered. The only issue you may encounter is smaller battery which will cover you for up to 15 hours (depends on how much stuff you connect, whether you will use navigation etc). Screen is slightly smaller but all is very clear. I had Garmins before and I settled with Wahoo for the sake of simplicity - it has no unnecessary info, bells and whistles Garmin is overloaded with. It just works and I like it. I replaced my Bolt 1 mostly because I wanted an upgrade and music control from my head unit, it served me over 4 years and I liked it much more than my 520. If you use radar it is also more convenient - you can check the warnings with your peripheral vision with upper LEDs.
I wouldn't call it an upgrade to 530, it's rather lateral change. But I like it more
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so Serge, finally which one did you choose?
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Hijacking the thread to review my new unit
I got a good deal locally on the latest IGPSport binavi
Since I'm a slut for computers (bodycount of 13, my longest running until now had been the IGS630, got it 14 months ago which is a record since I started cycling) I figured it would be just a little upgrade over it, bigger screen, touchscreen, new UI and thats about all i expected.
It's a huge step up in every way. I never expected it to love it this much and even some areas I didn't think could be improved much have been significantly overhauled
Touchscreen is extremely responsive, rerouting is pretty good, display is bright, iClimb is perfect (always starts exactly where I would put the start, always ends exactly at the highest point, plus great UI overlaid on the map instead of a dedicated screen), map layer is a lot better (actually easy to tell roads, gravel roads and singletracks apart), much faster boot time, very fast GPS (zero jumps and autopause AS SOON as i stop/go as opposed to 2-3 seconds on every other unit i tried. the pause button might as well be removed, I don't think i manually paused yet)
I have 3 rides on it so far totaling 9 hours and 50 minutes and the battery went from 100% to 63%, always gravel riding with a course loaded (and map page displayed 80% of the time), 3 sensors connected and auto brightness in summer, BUT smart track enabled (only noticed today because intervals.icu told me but data is good). So almost worst case scenario and on track for almost 30 hours, not too bad
I also really like all the analysis and summary screens on the main menu. I have not tried segments yet.
Being nitpicky, the only quirks I've noticed was the map disappearing for a split second when recalculating a route, "taillight battery" not working with my L508 (magene's fault?), and today's peak 1s power being 1850 at the time I almost fell in the mud because time xc pedals are fucking garbage. (powermeter's fault?)
I know the MSRP and size is going to be a dealbreaker for many if not most wanting something basic, but it's a seriously great unit. It's not just magene's C606 being put to shame, it's also garmin that should be shaking
PS: Serge, if you want to try out either, I'll be near morez next month if you're nearby
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Had the iGPSport 630S brought from a Chinese friend 1m ago, for about the same price, in a bundle including their VS800 light EUR 144 (same price as the computer only, so why not! - The light is quite bright, good battery 4000mAh about 4-8h in medium/"low", couple of mount options but has no good cut-off for every-day riding, but good for the night rides in the forest nevertheless).
So far, ok:
- Back from Wahoo, I needed to change the mount inlays because of 90º Rotation again (Garmin style)
- Needs the phone app, which is like, ... yeah okish. Translations only English, no
- No issues connecting to the gps unit and their radar
- 👍🏻 No issues in connecting BT/Ant+ devices
- 👍🏻Battery is good so far, esp. compared to Wahoo, I used the initial charge that come from the box a couple of rides,
- 👎🏻no Intervals.icu integration / harder to get trainings on it, only way seem to be Trainer-Roads
- 👍🏻Strava/Komoot Route and finished ride sync works - occasionally it syncs automatically, but usually i need to open the phone app - not as nice as Wahoo though (You always have to copy to their "Roadbook" first, Then sync to Device, Then start on Device, Wahoo just 1 Click)
- 👎🏻Tons of default pages which needed some work to trim down via App
- 👎🏻Compared to Wahoo Bolt 2 the screen and map is slightly worse to grep, especially map is okish I would say, It shows the maps, but it's hard to navigate on it. Also on bright sunlight from above screen is hard to see, because of reflections (not with bolt)
- Similar to Bolt no touchscreen, but a little different button system which needed some time to get used to.
- 👍🏻More pleasent "beep" sound for radar warnings than Wahoo.
-> Conclusion: Good device for this price point, esp. now that the new Wahoo bolt is 2x of it... I really liked the Bolt, but only battery time was something that never be too satisfactory, and now the battery of the Bolt seem to slowly fade, so this is clearly a good alternative device for me. For Trainingrides I will keep the Bolt though, like the interfaces and Intervals.icu better here.
I plan to buy the Chinese one I mentioned above when I get to France, so I can easily return it if I don't like it. I've been using my Fenix (on my wrist) to track the rides in the meantime, and not seeing bike metrics during a ride has been interesting as an experiment.
I think I'm done with Garmin the analytics really aren't great, I resent them for not improving over time. Latest pet peeves: I do a 4h ride, hard, training effect 5.0, the watch calls it recovery. Once it's uploaded the status changes, but the watch has decided to be stupid and it annoys me. And I find unacceptable that they don't compute a training load unless you have HR (power without HR). A long list of small things that makes me want to try something new.
Edit 11 Aug 25: i just ordered the igpsport 630S, cost me 156 eur all in via Alix. my alternatives were garmin devices that were either 150 eur at the cheapest, or much more. Usual garmin comps are expensive. In this price range, there was the bryton 510E but it was 35% more expensive. The 630S, on paper, does all i need in the form factor i like. To be continued...
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I'm currently going through a similar process with a dying Garmin 530 (at least it's draining lots of battery while switched off, like 20% per day), so I've thrown caution to the wind and bought the iGPSport BiNavi, was about $220USD before taxes in the current AliExpress sale. Didn't feel like Garmin deserved my money again... yet.
Seems like probably the only major feature I'd be missing compared to the 530 is Strava live segments (doesn't look like iGPSport supports this?), but then I remembered that I generally find it pretty annoying on the 530 anyway, Anyway, a couple of weeks and we'll see how we go.
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I'm not a kommard anymore so I didn't try it, but I saw the IGS800 has live segments.
I ride the IGS800 and K2. I love them both. And have excellent user support.
Unfortunately not perfect. But when I compare to my Garmin friends, who can't get their gpx at so many rides, I'm happy.
The big pluses of the IGS800 are the battery life, and the screen size, and readability under the sun(although not good when mixed with trees in woods) and richer software.
The two big downs are the contrast of their map: grey on grey is invisible, with sunglasses it's even worse, and it is always like 3 sec late at junctions.
They had a very slow update cycle on bugs/improvements but now under SRAM they are back delivering continuously.
The big down for me, and the reason of my IGS800 purchase, is when the climbing ladder appear over the map, your position on the map(the direction arrow), disappear below the ladder, making it impossible to know where to go many times.
Some other annoyances of the IGS800:
The trip from a Komoot route to start riding is uselessly tedious, and could be automated
The protective case is a joke
And some annoyance of the K2:
Let it dry before charging after a wet ride, the plug will melt inside.
However they quite nicely replaced mine 3 times under warranty, even if I was once out of the period!
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Well, RIP me because I didn't see this gplama video on the sticky watts issue:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMZEgSwS2x0/?igsh=MTc5cndwc3l4aDRkeA==
... deary dear. Let's see how we go then, it's already shipped so might as well make the most of it!
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Hi.
My Garmin 520 battery is going to dead soon and I'm looking for a new bike GPS with similar options as 520 has without being Garmin.
Most important:
Battery life.
Connection with Strava and intervals.
All kind of sensor connection as Hr, powermeter, Di2.
Open to try any Chinese GPS brand.
Any suggestion?
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The new Magene?