It’s been nearly a year since the Stages Dash L50 & M50 started shipping, back in June 2019, which was almost a year after they were announced at Eurobike 2018. To say both the product and this review have been on a long road would be an understatement. During that timeframe the Dash has received numerous updates, including features like Varia cycling radar support and an improved app. The remainder of the numerous updates have been largely on fit and finish, more so than dramatic new features.
More than that though, the Stages Dash L50 and M50 are the company’s first color display bike computers. They are not however the first bike computer the company ever made. That honor went to the original black and white Stages Dash (which has since received upgraded internals and become the Stages Dash L10). The ‘L’ designator indicates a larger size, while ‘M’ means a medium size. The 10 or 50 portion of the name is simply the series identifier. Thus the L50 and M50 are of the same series in two formats.
When it comes to structured workouts, Stages has largely dominated that front. Renewed interest from Garmin and Wahoo may be challenging them – but the deeper you dig into the Stages Dash ecosystem the more you realize how deep it really goes. Inversely, this is Stages’ first go of mapping and navigation, so in this review I explain where the product is, and isn’t. Priced at $249 for the Dash M50 and $299 for the L50, they’re at a similar price-point to the Wahoo BOLT (just reduced to $229) and Garmin Edge 530 ($299). But how equal are all these units?
That, I set to find out.
Stages sent over a pile of Dash media loaner units to test. Including an even greater number of mounts. My dog now has a mount on it. Once I’ve wrapped up this review here I’ll put everything back in a hermetically sealed shipping container and send it all back to them. If you found this review useful, hit up the links at the end to support the site.
Unboxing:
The parts in the boxes between the Stages Dash L50 and M50 are identical. Thus, we’ll just unbox one of them for now – the M50 it is:
Inside you’ll find the out-front mount, the Stages Dash itself, a manual that’s made of some crazy water-resistant paper, plus a tether and a micro-USB charging/sync cable:
here’s a closer look at the mount as well as the tether and charging cable. Don’t worry, more mount shots coming up later.
And a closer look at the Stages Dash M50:
Ok, there ya go on the unboxing – pretty straightforward. For a quick size and weight comparison, here’s how it shapes up against the Wahoo BOLT and Edge 530:
And weights (BOLT – 61g, Edge 530 – 79g, Stages M50 – 97g, Stages L50 – 129g):
Got all that? Good. Let’s start using it.
The Basics:
The first thing you may or may not realize about all the Stages Dash units is that they can actually be mounted one of two ways: Landscape or portrait. That’s because on the underside of the units they’ve got two different mounting positions, seen where the gap exists on each unit:
Here’s an example of both orientations. Once you mount it a given way, you can go into the settings and choose a ride profile that switches everything to the correct orientation (which I didn’t do for the secondary photo to the right):
The Stages mounts are all metal, and there’s a boatload of them for tons of different scenarios/bikes/configurations. I’ll give Stages credit that they realized (albeit a few years ago), that mount compatibility is the semi-secret key to anyone having success in this market. That also extends to things like GoPro camera & Di2 junction box mounting spots as well.
However, all that compatibility aside, I will note that the mount still remains one of the more annoying aspects of the Stages Dash lineup to me. No matter how many mounts I use on numerous bikes and numerous Stages Dash units, getting it to click right can be cumbersome and non-reassuring. And I don’t feel like I’m alone in that complaint, judging from other’s opinions. The main reason Stages has gone with an all-metal mount design is to decrease the dependency on the tabs seen in Garmin/Wahoo/everyone’s mounts. However, to be honest, I just don’t hear any sign of widespread issues here with real-world users for the last 11+ years. It’s just not an issue. I’d strongly recommend Stages re-think the mount on any future products.
Nonetheless, once you get the mount and bike computer mounted, you’ll power it on via the side buttons. These turn on the display (it’s not a touchscreen). Navigation through the screen is done using the buttons along the bottom (or side, depending on how you have it oriented):
Which, unfortunately, gets me right to my second point (fear not, after this is smooth sailing), the buttons suck. They’re hard to press, often require double presses that are hard to know if they triggered or not. I suspect part of that is amplified by the general slowness of the unit, so you aren’t sure whether something pressed and have to press it again. Having/leaving the ‘beep’ on helps, since you’ll hear the sharp beep tone on each button press.
The menu system is pretty easy to navigate. From the main menu, you’ve got four simple options. Note that the menus are *IDENTICAL* for both the Stages M50 and L50. Everything is identical except size. So I’ll use them interchangeably here.
The four core options do the following:
– Start ride: Yup, it starts the ride
– Portrait Preset: This is actually the name of the specific preset I’m in, it’ll show whatever you’ve named that preset. Think of this like your ride profile, which contains things like data field layouts and other settings
– Ride History: You can relive the glory days of…erm…yesterday.
– Main Menu: This could alternately be titled ‘Settings’, but it’s more than that, it’s where you can do things like choose a course, or a workout, and also view ride history.
We’ll first talk settings, and then back into actually riding with it. I’ve got separate sections for courses (navigating) and structured workouts.
As I mentioned above, the ‘Ride Profile’ is where you group all your settings for the unit. You can have multiple ride profiles. So for example, one for road riding, one for mountain biking, another for races, etc… For those coming from the Garmin realm, this is akin to ‘Activity Profiles’. Starting with the most obvious thing to configure, data pages and screens, that can be done in one of three places:
A) The Dash unit itself
B) The Stages Sync smartphone companion app
C) The Stages Link website
This is unique and a major selling point for Stages compared to Garmin (device only), or Wahoo (phone only). It’s essentially the holy grail of customization and tweaking. And that concept extends straight into how you configure your data pages. I’ll show it here via the web interface since it’s a bit simpler to take screenshots of:
Each of your up to 9 pages can have upwards of 10 fields (Stages M50) or 16 fields (Stages L50) on them. Seriously, you can go crazy. Or not. You can also just have less fields and bigger data fields – especially on the Stages L50 with the larger screen.
And here’s the same for the M50:
Ultimately, especially on the L50, you can get pretty creative with field layouts. I’d say that in general the ‘easiest’ place to configure these fields is on the website, with the least easy on the unit itself. The smartphone is in the middle. It’s not that doing it on the unit is hard, it’s just that the categorization process of how the menus are on the unit makes it a bit slower to do. But you do whatever makes you happy – you’ve got the choice here.
Here’s a pile of data screen examples I created. First for the Dash M50:
And now the Dash L50:
In addition to data pages, you’ve got a pile of ride profile specific settings, which are the same for both units:
Essentially these bucket into display/power related options, recording options, and orientation. As noted above, both Dashes can be oriented in either portrait or landscape. And with that, you’d configure a given ride profile in one of those two orientations (since the data fields will look different in each configuration).
Meanwhile, there’s a pile of settings that are across all ride profiles. These include phone connectivity settings (pairing, smartphone notifications), workout settings (how individual steps are processed) , map/course settings (orientations, trail lines, POI’s, etc…), and device settings (notably language/units/time formats). I’ll dive into the workout/course navigation settings in those respective sections.
As for pairing with your phone, you’ll actually have done that as part of the initial setup. It uses a simple QR code you scan with your phone and 5 seconds later you’re done – pretty much the same as many devices these days. I mean, except Garmin. They’re still using this process for pairing your Edge device.
The device will display smartphone notifications mid-ride (or, if you forgot to turn it off, mid-backpack), that works just fine. In fact, it assumes that all text messages coming in are happy, and puts a little smiley face next to everything my wife sends me:
Later on, this same smartphone connection is used to upload rides via Bluetooth Smart to the Stages app/platform, and other 3rd party sites like Strava (more on that in a moment).
Next, we’ve got sensor pairing. The Stages Dash allows sensors to be paired only to a specific ride profile, or, in the more common sensor pooling concept to all profiles. In general, I’d recommend you just pair to all profiles, so that later on you aren’t confused as to why a sensor didn’t connect for a ride.
Pairing sensors is done via the sensor menu, and you’ll pair ANT+ sensors and Bluetooth Smart sensors individually. This has its pros and cons. It’s great for power users, but perhaps a little confusing for regular users. In every scenario I can think of, for outdoor cycling specifically, you should always pair ANT+ over Bluetooth Smart.
(Geekery explanation corner: The ANT+ power meter profile is far more mature/stable than the Bluetooth Smart one, specifically around data consistency. For radar, there is no Bluetooth Smart radar profile, so you wouldn’t see them there. For speed/cadence sensors, only Garmin sensors support multiple Bluetooth Smart channels versus unlimited ANT+ connections. So again, using ANT+ makes sense to not block other apps/devices you might use. For heart rate straps, some newer straps from Polar and Garmin support dual-BLE connections, but most don’t. So yes, just choose ANT+ every time unless you’re pairing the rare BLE-only device.)
The Stages Dash M50 & L50 support the following sensor types:
A) ANT+/BLE Speed-only, ANT+/BLE Speed/Cadence Combo, ANT+/BLE Cadence-only
B) ANT+/BLE power meters: Note, no addition cycling dynamics metrics though
C) ANT+ FE-C (but non-controllable): Control firmware update slated for mid-April.
D) ANT+/BLE Heart Rate
E) ANT+ Radar: Such as Garmin’s Varia Radar
Ok with all that set, let me show you how it works for a simple non-workout/non-course ride. To begin, you’ll go back to the main dashboard and ensure the upper edge shows that it has GPS lock (little arrow icon), as well as icons for any sensors you have paired (like HR, power, etc…). As always, riding before any GPS device has GPS lock only makes that process taker longer.
Once that’s done, tap the side little arrow button at the button to start the ride recording. You’ll now see the data screens that you configured. To change to other screens, press the up/down button:
And to create a manual lap marker, press the lap button in the lower left corner. One of the main Stages Dash L50/M50 features is the colored power zone gauge. This large display box shows your exact power level according to the color-coded power levels you’ve defined within the Stages app (either automatically or manually).
This same colorful power gauge will also be repurposed during workouts to show you target zones and how well you’re working to achieve those zones.
Mid-ride you can access various settings by long-holding the circle button, which shows a mini-menu that at the top includes the most common features like backlight or power meter zero offset. Or, you can take a screenshot here too.
As you go down the list further though you can access the ability to edit that specific data page right from the unit mid-ride, as well as change the power settings (to save battery), or even turn the unit off altogether.
It should be noted that the Stages Dash L50 and M50 both support the Varia Radar to detect cars approaching from behind. They launched this functionality late last year, and I wrote an entire piece on it at the time.
Hit up that post for more details on how it all works.
Finally, when you’re done with your ride, you’ll quickly tap that circle button again to bring up the ride menu, which is where you can save/end/delete the ride, or even go back and access the larger menu system (such as to change the course or structured workout):
After you’ve saved a ride, it’ll give you some top-line stats, as well as the ability to dive into more detailed stats and summaries, including maximal values for power and heart rate:
It’s at this point that the unit will sync your ride via Stages Dash to 3rd party platforms including Strava, TrainingPeaks, and plenty more. See all those details in the ‘Platforms & Sync’ section later in the review. All you really need to know is it works exactly like you’d expect, a few seconds later your ride is over on Strava or wherever else. Also, the .FIT file is available locally as a USB mass storage device in case that’s more your thing.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention battery life. It’s one of the marque marketing features of the Stages Dash – coming in at a claimed 24hrs of riding time (or 12hrs with maps/courses). On paper anyway.
In reality, it’s hard to judge clearly. For example, if I go out for a ride, battery life seems fine/acceptable after a few hour ride. No major drops, enough that I don’t really have to think about it. And the display does indeed handle itself in a rather bright way the entire time. Visibility is *never* an issue on the Stages Dash L50 or M50. This baby is bright as a over-tweaked flat-screen TV in Best Buy. And atop the screen (upper left) is a small light sensor, so it automagically adjusts in real-time to your lighting conditions:
The only challenge is what happens after a ride. That’s because the Stages Dash doesn’t automatically turn off if it’s connected to your phone for notifications. Instead, you have to manually power it off. If you don’t, it’ll die a slow death until it runs out of battery (albeit, probably a day later). Then you’ll turn it on the next morning and find this:
This challenge is only doubled-down on by the fact that it charges incredibly slow, and half that yet again if you charge it while powered on. Stages did note though that my unit is an older one from last summer, and that new units double the charging speed. Further, Stages is saying though that they’re working on a fix to ensure the Dash follows the configured automatic shut-down time (which is 20 minutes if not in a ride/activity).
Ok, with that we’ve wrapped up all the basics of a simple ride. But in many ways, you don’t buy the Stages Dash product for a simple ride (I mean, you could, it’ll work just fine for that). You probably bought it for more advanced uses. So I’ve split those two use cases up below.
Structured Workouts:
Before Garmin and Wahoo showed recent renewed interest in structured workouts, the original Stages Dash unit was leading the charge. While the on-unit bits were more impressive than Garmin or Wahoo at the time, it was really more the backend website piece that drove the combo-dish. The thing is, under the covers the Stages Link site is really Today’s Plan. If you’re not familiar with Today’s Plan, they’re a training log and analysis site. A well regarded one too – used by a few WorldTour pro cycling teams among many others. Roughly like TrainingPeaks.
That’s mostly great for Stages users, because the depth of Today’s Plan as a website is something that neither Garmin or Wahoo deliver within their native offerings. Instead, if you want to go as deep as Stages, you’d have to use 3rd party sites on Garmin/Wahoo, including TrainingPeaks…and ironically also Today’s Plan. But, does the early Stages lead mean they’re still a leader here? Let’s dig in a bit.
First, I’m going to create a workout. However, you can easily take one of hundreds of workouts they have already pre-categorized and filterable:
But in my case, I’m a rebel, so I’m going to create my own outdoor workout and indoor workout. First up is choosing to create one from scratch or using a template. In my case, I’m going to actually duplicate one as a baseline, and then tweak it. So I’m going to take the outdoor one I created, and make it a shorter indoor one (basically slicing off the much longer warm-up I had to get me to farm roads). The process for a new workout is identical.
You’ll see up top I can specify some general details, then down below is where we get into the nitty-gritty.
You’ll see each step listed. Note at the top the ‘Sample Thresholds’. The workouts are fundamentally based on power zones that you’ve defined in your profile. Meaning, that’s how they’ll be executed out on the road on your Stages Dash. However, for the workout builder bits, you’ll want to ensure that the ‘Sample thresholds’ option is correct, else previewing it will use a default 200w threshold.
First, I’m going to tweak my warm-up from the longer 35-minutes easy to a shorter 10-minutes. I just do that by changing the time.
Next, I’ll tweak/set my main intervals. Notice above/below it shows my estimated power zone range. For the warm-up, I’ve got a much larger range. Whereas below, I’ve reduced that range by using decimals for the power zones (e.g. 4.7 to 5.0).
I’ve also set the duration at 5 minutes and the number of reps at 4, and the recovery (rest) period at 2 minutes each. You can see how this looks in the workout builder, once I added a few sprints in there too for fun. You’ll also notice it shows the zones down below using the sample value of 285w.
And, if we scroll back up top, it’ll automatically be calculating the duration and TScore (load):
With that set, we’ll go and drag it onto the calendar. We can also just save/highlight it too, which means it’ll always be on the Dash, no matter the day. You can set the day/time/priority when dragging onto your calendar.
In fact, you can also add a course atop it too. But, we won’t cause too much drama in this section.
However, where things start to get pretty impressive is the ability for Stages to utilize these pre-planned workouts on your calendar to predict training load. Again, this is something that isn’t found in the baseline offerings from Garmin or Wahoo.
You can see this pre-ride if you click on the interval before you do it, showing you the dotted line of that activity, and what’s planned on your calendar. Which then will ideally match what happens post-ride:
But, to show you the power of this (similar to other training lot platforms), I can add forward-looking workouts to the calendar. So what if I put this workout on the calendar for the next few weeks, twice a week – plus the longer 90min variant once a week (I know, not optimally designed, but just to illustrate a point).
As you can see the dotted line showing me the next working (since that’s what I clicked on), and then forward-looking from there with the workouts that are planned on the calendar (all sub-100 in T-Score).
In any case, let’s start riding. Because the way structured workouts enumerates itself is both the same indoors and outdoors, I’m going to show you the functionality indoors. It works identically outdoors. But it’s a heck of a lot easier for me to take photos indoors than outdoors. Don’t worry, I’ve got some shots from doing some out on the road too.
Now, on the Dash we need to add the planned workout. So from the unit we’ll choose ‘Main Menu’, and then ‘Select a workout’:
This allows us to choose what’s on our calendar, or one of our favorited ones. If for some reason you didn’t open your smartphone app to sync (or sync via USB cable), now would be the time to do so.
Once the workout is started and loaded, what you see will depend on what fields you’ve configured. In my case, I set it up such that I could see the entire workout (known as the workout graph), and then various data fields related to both the current interval and the workout as a whole. For example, the workout graph data field (the pretty one below) will show you the entire workout at the start of each interval/section, for what seems about 20 seconds.
After that, it goes into a more zoomed in view of what appears to be about the next ~20 mins worth (or maybe it’s just the next three chunks, either way). What you’ll notice above/below though is the coloring around each square, indicating whether or not I’m above or below. In the photo above, I’m below the lap bar for that particular interval (the cool-down, as it were), whereas in the photo below I’m on-point for the target power for that interval.
I like that view, as it makes it easy to see what’s coming up near-term, as well as the occasional refresher on long term.
The way the Stages Dash works (in conjunction with Stages Link) is that you have three options for how it iterates through an interval:
A) Automatically
B) Manual
C) Half and half (my lingo)
In the automatic variant, it’ll automatically go forward through the workout and you’re just along the ride. I’d consider that the norm for how most people assume it’d work. For the manual variant, you’ll manually step into each workout step that’s a work interval. So if you’ve got 5 minutes of hard work, it’ll actually wait at the end of the rest interval, before you press lap to start the work interval. However, upon completion of that 5 minutes of hard work, it’ll instantly go into the rest/recovery interval.
However, for the half and half intervals, you can basically have certain parts of the workout wait until you are ready. For example, doing a longer warm-up, and then you can start the inside section (caller inners) that starts the legit part of your workout. Or, just a different part. You can get pretty crazy here with how you iterate through things.
You can manually skip forward to the next section at any time by pressing the lap button, or pause the workout straight-up by pausing the ride. There isn’t however any way to go back to a previous workout section to re-do it (such as getting hit by a stoplight 30-seconds into an interval).
As you complete each interval you’ll get a lap summary message in the lower right corner of details of the previous interval. Or, in the case of this photo, my rest/recovery section’s averages:
The system works well, both indoors and outdoors. At present it’s not yet controlling a smart trainer, but can read data from it. It sounds like the control is coming any day now, as they’re depending on that functionality for their Stages Bike and integration there. I did a workout yesterday indoors no issues (as seen in photos above). And have done them outside too.
I did run into some weird workout bug while running a beta firmware version, but I haven’t seen that bug repeat in the latest beta or production firmware (I’m running one unit on each). The beta firmware I’ve been using is the production firmware as of today.
Now, it doesn’t really end here. From an on-device workout standpoint, I think that these days the Wahoo/Stages/Garmin experiences are all pretty much the same for 95% of people. Meaning that there are 5% of people that do ‘unique’ things where one solution might be better than the other. Perhaps I’ll take some of this quiet time to finally compare the three side by side in a structured workout.
However, where there’s a clear winner is not just what happens before the workout, but also after the workout. Let’s take yesterday’s intervals. That then sync’s back to Stages Link. It’s here that I see the intervals as normal:
But look closer, and you can see that it’s lined up what I was supposed to do for each interval with the actual interval. Even more, it shows my ‘compliance’ score. Obviously, I wasn’t too hot there. But damn, I nailed that warm-up!
But what’s fascinating about the compliance score is that it’s not just a ‘did you hit the zone’, because clearly, I did hit all of the main interval zones (but undercut the final short sprints). You can see my average wattage for each of those is spot-on. So why the low compliance score? Well, because I was wobbly AF. I was over and undershooting quite a bit. I was doing this on an indoor smart trainer, but without it being in ERG mode. So it was…special.
Still, that’s super cool. And you can dive further and further down these rabbit holes within Stages Link all day long. Realistically I’m not sure at what point such a review becomes more of a ‘Stages Link/Today’s Plan’ review more than a Stages Dash review. You can see my slightly older vintage Today’s Plan post here. But let’s be clear: This concept doesn’t exist in any form on Garmin or Wahoo, at least without not including some element of 3rd party program (which, would invariably be back on Today’s Plan).
Now, for those that don’t have any desire/intent on using Stages Link for analysis, then the value prop does fade away a bit. If you’re invested deep into the TrainingPeaks platform, then all the structured workout bits work just fine – just not in an automated sync fashion. Meaning, you can’t push a TrainingPeaks workout to the Stages Dash automatically, it has to be done manually by exporting the file and manually opening it up on your computer.
Still, I get the feeling from talking to the Stages folks that they might exist almost entirely to nail the structured workout bits. I think it’s been clear through every iteration of the Stages Dash lineup that their ‘nailed it’ feature is the entire structured workout experience. And by and large within that ecosystem, they win there.
Navigation & Mapping:
The Stages Dash has navigation and mapping. Mostly. Like many units on the market the definition of what ‘navigation’ is varies a bit. When it comes to bike computers, you’ve basically got a handful of core tiers, and a lot of grey area between them. Just to set the stage a bit, here’s roughly how I’d define things.
Tier 0: No navigation, no courses, no breadcrumb trail, no maps, no nothing
Tier 1A: Can load courses, and display those as a breadcrumb trail without any mapping data
Tier 1B: Can’t load courses, but might display some sort of maps
Tier 2: Can load courses with breadcrumb routing only atop actual maps, but have to have courses pre-defined
Tier 3A: Courses + pre-defined turn by turn navigation atop maps
Tier 3B: Courses + pre-defined turn by turn atop maps, but may require a phone to do routing (pre or during)
Tier 4: Courses as well as on the fly navigation to saved waypoints, with underlying maps (no phone/connectivity needed)
Tier 5: Courses as well as on the fly navigation to any address/point you can imagine, with underlying maps (no phone/connectivity needed)
Note, I made up these tiers at this moment. I reserve the right to change the naming and definitions in 5 minutes. Still, the concept hasn’t changed in the last 5-7 years. Roughly speaking, here’s where the market sits on these:
Tier 5: Garmin Edge 830/1030, Hammerhead Karoo, Sigma ROX 12
Tier 4: Garmin Edge 530, Wahoo ROAM
Tier 3: Wahoo BOLT/ELEMNT (depending on source), Stages Dash L50/M50
Tier 2: Wahoo BOLT/ELEMNT (depending on route source)
Tier 1: Edge 130
Tier 0: A $10 bike computer
Ok, got all that? Good. Note, there’s more nuance to these levels. For example on which companies provide free maps and which don’t, or which services are or aren’t supported. Or how easy it is to get courses onto devices, etc… And perhaps super importantly: Whether or not it can re-route onto new roads when you get lost. But at the core, everything mostly boils down to those tiers. They are what they are, they have been what they have been, and they aren’t terribly debatable. Something like Lezyne’s Mega-C/XL falls into a blend of Tier 1A + Tier 3B. It’s messy. Hence why I’m not going to try and boil the ocean here.
So, here’s what the Stages Dash M50/L50 can and can’t do:
– Can show maps for any region on the planet that you can download for free
– Can navigate with turn by turn instructions (e.g. ‘Turn left on Maple Street’)
– Can show points of interest in nearby areas
– Can show features like water, forests, roads, bridges, tunnels, etc…
– Cannot re-reroute onto new roads, it’ll simply tell you you’re off course
– Cannot choose a waypoint on the device itself to route to, must build course/route first and send to device
– Cannot choose a random address on the device itself to route to, must build course/route first and send to device.
With all that in mind, there’s three main ways to get routes onto the device:
A) Simply create them using Link app/site and send to Stages Dash
B) Link up your Strava account, and have it push favorited courses to Stages Link, and then onwards to Stages Dash
C) Manually import a route file (.TCX/.GPX/.FIT)
And continuing our list format, the following services can push routes to Stages Link:
– Strava (Routes)
– Veloviewer (some routes)
– GPSises (aka Alltrails)
– Stages Link itself for creation
And finally, one minor caveat – at present here in March 2020, the route creation feature is considered a ‘Premium’ function of Stages Link. However, going into April, they’re getting rid of the paid version and users will have everything that was part of Premium expect for the training plan generator. Stages says that if you’re a Stages user and simply want Premium, to contact support and they’ll add it to your account immediately for free (versus waiting till April). I’ve seen that manifest itself in the comments section already – so good to see!
Starting with what I typically do first, it’s actually Strava routes. I tend to build all my routes there, since that’s easiest for me to use across virtually any device I use. These show up in the Stages Link app automatically once I’ve paired my Strava account to Stages Link.
You can tap on one to tell it so favorite and push to your device. You can’t however preview it from the Stages Link smartphone app, which is kinda sorta a bummer. So I can’t zoom in and see details about there. However, I can do that from the Stages Link website:
Either way, the net of either of those scenarios is that the route ends up on your Stages Dash. However, you can also manually create a route wholly within Stages Link with no other 3rd party services. This works basically just like you’d expect. You tap-tap-tap your way around, and it’ll create the route.
You can also add points of interest/markers too:
Like with workouts, you can drag a route to a given day on the calendar, and it’ll ensure the course is loaded onto your device in time for that ride by syncing that route to your device. Next, on your device, crack open the menu and go into course, and then it’s here that you’ll select the course to follow:
Now, start riding (after pressing to start the course). You’ll see your mapping page, as well as the breadcrumb trail atop that page.
Assuming the default page configuration, you’ll also have a page that lists the turns. In some cases, enough mapping data will be present to give you specific street/path names. Whereas in other cases it’ll just say to turn left or right (or go straight, etc…). Maps are pre-loaded for certain countries, and you can easily download maps for free for anywhere on earth with Stages Link too.
Here’s an example of the cue sheet, where you can see certain turns have names, while others don’t. This isn’t terribly different than what you see on Garmin, Wahoo, or others – with mapping data sometimes a bit variable depending on the area.
As you approach a turn, you’ll get a turn banner atop any data page you’re on. So you needn’t stay in the map or directions page each time.
And if you go off course? It’ll notify you. Albeit, it seems a little wobbly on that. For example, in order to get the below photo, I purposefully made a turn off-course. At about 50-meters (~150ft) off-course it notified me I was doing bad things, which is fine. Except, it then thought the solution was some 1050ft feet away (320m). Obviously that part isn’t quite correct, but perhaps it was just practicing safe social distancing.
In terms of re-routing, it doesn’t have that. And that goes back to all those tiers I talked about at the beginning. For more advanced units out there, it’d give you step by step instructions to get back on-course (such as the case might be with either one-way streets, or not realizing you missed the turn). The Stages Dash L50/M50 doesn’t do that, at least not today. From the conversations at launch some 9 months ago, it sounds like that was potentially viable with the hardware they have, but I’d point out that’s a huge lift for any company. Re-routing bicycle instructions is really, really, really hard (way harder than cars, since bikes can use both roads and non-car routes).
Finally, you can zoom in and move the map around as you see fit as well on both units by long-holding the circle button until the arrows pop-up:
In any event, if super deep navigation isn’t a big deal to you, then the Stages Dash M50 or L50 will probably fit the bill. Whereas if you were sans-phone and trying to navigate your way across Europe or elsewhere, the Stages Dash probably isn’t the best solution for those needs. For me personally, when I do routing, I rarely tend to go off-course (90% of the time), so it really comes down to that 10% of the time where I might need to shortcut a route and just need a ‘get me home the fastest possible way’, that wouldn’t be available here.
Just a quick note on syncing between different platforms. Obviously, as you’ve seen by now, the Stages Dash device is heavily tied to the Stages Dash app and backend platform (which, are free in the context of this review). Up until now-ish, that meant there were two tiers: Premium and free.
Premium got you things like more detailed ride analysis, training plans, and the course/route builder. However, starting in April the company is removing the differentiation for all but the training plan features. Meaning, you’ll get the full experience (which is what you see here in this post) for free. Said another way, you’re getting the full Today’s Plan experience…for free. Which is huge. Until April, Stages says that users can simply hit up Stages support and they’ll upgrade their accounts for free immediately.
But, how well does the Stages Dash play with other companies/ecosystems? After all, by aligning themselves to Today’s Plan, it’d be roughly equivalent to Wahoo saying their entire backend was built on TrainingPeaks (it isn’t, just an imaginary example). Well, for the most part we see pretty extensive 3rd party compatibility.
If you dive into your account settings, you can see all the platforms. First up is the list of platforms that Stages can accept data from. This is largely on account of Stages Link being Today’s Plan. So as such, you can actually link your Garmin, Polar, or Suunto accounts here. Wahoo too (except you do that on the Wahoo side). This makes it by far the easiest platform to migrate to, since you can sync data into it ahead of time.
Next, are the things that Stages Link pushes too (primarily, sends a copy of your finished ride). Plus Strava courses:
And finally, are the applications that have access:
In my testing, I found that the sync from my Stages Dash units outbound to Strava was immediate. Assuming I had the smartphone app (Stages Link) running somewhere in the background, once I finished the ride and saved it, within about 30-45 seconds I’d get the notification that Strava had received it. Super quick. Obviously, a longer ride will take slightly longer to transfer the initial file from the Stages Dash to your phone, but we’re only talking a handful of extra seconds.
Note that the Stages Dash doesn’t have WiFi, so all uploads need to happen either using Bluetooth Smart with the Stages Link app (Android/iOS), or via the Stages Sync app on your desktop computer (Mac/PC). I did both variants, and had no issues either way.
GPS Accuracy:
There’s likely no topic that stirs as much discussion and passion as GPS accuracy. A bike computer could fall apart and give you dire electrical shocks while doing so, but if it shows you on the wrong side of the road? Oh hell no, bring on the fury of the internet!
GPS accuracy can be looked at in a number of different ways, but I prefer to look at it using a number of devices in real-world scenarios across a vast number of activities. I use 2-6 other devices at once, trying to get a clear picture of how a given set of devices handles conditions on a certain day. Conditions include everything from tree/building cover to weather.
Over the years, I’ve continued to tweak my GPS testing methodology. For example, for watches, I try to not place two units next to each other on my wrists, as that can impact signal. And for bike computers, I keep them all roughly spaced on my handlebars. For some of the tests I’m using a combination of GPS bike computers as well as GPS watches to judge GPS accuracy.
As is usually the case, I’m largely just using my day to day training as my test ‘venue’, which mostly means the areas around Amsterdam (where I live). However, I have used the Stages Dash in other cities/locales, including in Mallorca (Spain), and within the Alps. However, both of those more elevation-oriented locations were back a number of months ago (last year) on much older firmware). So for these tests I’m just sticking to more recent data points. Though, I’ll spoil the ending and say I saw no issues with GPS accuracy back then either.
Realistically, it’s rare to see GPS bike computers screw up these days road-riding. It happens, but when it does it’s usually quite minor. Still, I’ll analyzer a number of sets here. While I just got a mountain bike last week, I haven’t had a chance to put it through its paces with the Stages Dash yet. So, road-riding it is here.
In any case, here’s a look at a ride a few weeks ago with the Stages Dash L50, compared against the Garmin Edge 830, Wahoo BOLT, and Apple Watch Series 5. Here’s that data set:
I started the ride, and then realized about 30 seconds later that my back tire was flat AF (a slow leak I’ve been meaning to fix for months). So, I took a quick detour into a local bike shop to grab the pump they place at the front door. However, what’s more important is the rest of what you see below is spot-on by everywhere, past pretty tall buildings (the tallest ones in Amsterdam), as well as under some overpass things too. All good!
Next, we’ve got my crossing my highway/river overpass. What’s notable here is all of the units are nice and crispy, with the little squiggle switch-backs pretty solid (the one to the left includes going under the exit ramps. Of course, that doesn’t include the Apple Watch – which trail-blazed across all the turns because…Apple Watch.
And from that point onwards, it’s frankly pretty boring. All the units largely stay on the road the entire time, save a few seconds here or there where one unit might dip a couple of meters to my side into the canal for a short bit and back. A slight offset. You can see the Stages Dash L50 do it once here (to briefly tourist at a castle):
And then you can see the Garmin Edge 830 do it once here:
But we’re really only talking just a couple cases of that, most of the time, they all looked identical (and boring):
So, let’s move to another boring ride. I mean, the ride was nice – just the GPS tracks are boring. This one of both the Stages Dash L50 and M50, as well as the Garmin Edge 830, Suunto 7, and Garmin Fenix 6 Pro. Mind you, the Stages M50 was chillin’ in my back pocket for some of this ride snuggling with my phone, yet still laid down perfect GPS tracks. Here’s that airport-loop data set:
Like I said, the tracks are boringly perfect:
More boring:
Two hours of perfectly boring tracks. But wait, what’s this excitement?!?!
Oh, that’s right. It’s me, getting distracted by riding under a Boeing 747:
I’m not sure I can really give anyone a hard time for that situation. Nor the fact that after I left the 747, I immediately enter a tunnel – which dorks up things briefly (though, barely). But I always opt to ride under 747’s when I can:
Later in the ride on a bike path, I did see a bit of separation, primarily from the Suunto 7, but it was very small, and only lasted a few hundred meters.
In any case, let’s call that ride done and…boring.
Here’s another route, slightly different from the first one:
The only excitement we got on this ride was right at the beginning, when the Edge 830 apparently forgot it’s supposed to do the ‘GPS Thing’. It remembered about 300 meters down the road.
After that, pure boring:
Ok – so, just in case it wasn’t obvious: Zero issues with GPS accuracy on this unit (a trend I saw all the way back to last summer). Seriously, I’ve been riding with these things on and off since then.
Also, for lack of anywhere else to put it, I did test/look at where there were any recording differences between a Stages Dash unit and a Garmin or Wahoo one, with respect to power meters or heart rate sensors specifically. In those cases, I paired up a given power meter (Quarq on one test, Favero Assioma on another) as well as heart rate sensors (Polar H9 and Garmin HRM-DUAL) and looked to see if there were any differences between the recordings (beyond normal 1-2 second minor differences due to recording transmission/reception timing issues). They were not different at the recorded data level:
However, I will note that I see a weird quirk in the final summary screen of the Stages Dash units, where it reports a higher than actual power value for my “instant” power (I can’t produce that power, I’ve seen many hundred watts higher). This value isn’t shown anywhere else in the platform or files. Stages says they’re looking into it.
But what’s key is that aside from showing that only on the Stages Dash L50/M50 ride summary screen, I see it displayed/recorded nowhere else. So, all’s good in that sense.
Finally, for elevation comparisons – I’d love to have some. But, the highest thing I can go over around these parts is a highway overpass (seriously).
Within that context, all of the units I tested for these rides tracked change in elevation very closely, however they were separated by about 5m in actual elevation. On a ride anywhere else in the world you’d never notice this. But when the *entire scale* of my graph is 20 meters (the highway overpass is shown at the 10 min and 1:06 marker), it makes a mountain out of a mole hill.
(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy sections were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more. You can use it as well for your own gadget comparisons, more details here.)
Product Comparison:
I’ve added the Stages Dash L50 & M50 into the product comparison calculator so you can see how it compares to other units on the market. To keep things simple for below, I’ve compared it against the Edge 530 and Wahoo BOLT – primarily since those are in the same ballpark price-wise. Of course, there are plenty more units in the product comparison calculator (like the Edge 830 or Wahoo ROAM), so you can make your own charts here as well. In the meantime, here’s how things line-up below:
| Function/Feature | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 |
|---|
| Copyright DC Rainmaker - Updated June 8th, 2023 @ 1:27 am New Window |
| Price | $249 | $299 | $229 | $299 |
| Product Announcement Date | July 2018 | July 2018 | Mar 14th, 2017 | Apr 24th, 2019 |
| Actual Availability/Shipping Date | June 2019 | June 2019 | Mar 14th, 2017 | Early May 2019 |
| GPS Recording Functionality | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data Transfer | USB & Bluetooth Smart | USB & Bluetooth Smart | Bluetooth Smart, WiFi, USB | USB, Bluetooth Smart, WiFi |
| Waterproofing | IPX7 | IPX7 | IPX7 | IPX7 |
| Battery Life (GPS) | 24 | 24 | 15 hours | 20 Hours (40 in battery Saver Mode) |
| Solar Charging | | | | No |
| Recording Interval | 1-second & All data packets (even faster) | 1-second & All data packets (even faster) | 1-second | 1-Second or Smart |
| Dual-Frequency GNSS | | | | No |
| Alerts | Audio/Visual | Audio/Visual | AUDIO/VISUAL + LED's | Audio/Visual |
| Backlight Greatness | Great | Great | Great | Great |
| Ability to download custom apps to unit/device | No | No | No | Yes |
| Acts as daily activity monitor (steps, etc...) | N/A | N/A | N/A | No |
Music | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Can control phone music | No | No | No | No |
| Has music storage and playback | No | No | No | No |
| Streaming Services | | | No | No |
Payments | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Contactless-NFC Payments | | | No | |
Connectivity | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Bluetooth Smart to Phone Uploading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Phone Notifications to unit (i.e. texts/calls/etc...) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live Tracking (streaming location to website) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Group tracking | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Emergency/SOS Message Notification (from watch to contacts) | No | No | No | Yes |
| Built-in cellular chip (no phone required) | No | No | No | No |
Cycling | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Designed for cycling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | YEs |
| Power Meter Configuration/Calibration Options | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter TSS/NP/IF | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Speed/Cadence Sensor Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Strava segments live on device | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Crash detection | No | No | No | Yes |
Running | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Designed for running | No | No | N/A | N/A |
| VO2Max Estimation | N/A | N/A | N/A | (CYCLING YES THOUGH) |
| Recovery Advisor | N/A | N/A | N/A | (CYCLING YES THOUGH) |
Swimming | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Designed for swimming | No | No | N/A | N/A |
Triathlon | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Designed for triathlon | No | No | N/A | Sorta |
Workouts | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Create/Follow custom workouts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| On-unit interval Feature | No (only via Stages Link) | No (only via Stages Link) | No | Yes |
| Training Calendar Functionality | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Functions | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Auto Start/Stop | Yes (GPS or Sensor activated) | Yes (GPS or Sensor activated) | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Partner Feature | No | No | No | Yes |
| Virtual Racer Feature | No | No | No | Yes |
| Records PR's - Personal Records (diff than history) | No (Planned July 2017) | No (Planned July 2017) | No | Yes |
| Tidal Tables (Tide Information) | No | No | N/A | N/A |
| Weather Display (live data) | no | no | No | Yes |
Navigate | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Follow GPS Track (Courses/Waypoints) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Markers/Waypoint Direction | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Routable/Visual Maps (like car GPS) | Maps yes, turn by turn from pre-loaded file | Maps yes, turn by turn from pre-loaded file | Sorta (Maps yes, but technically not routable) | Yes |
| Back to start | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Impromptu Round Trip Route Creation | No | No | No (But can create one-way routes from phone app) | No |
| Download courses/routes from phone to unit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sensors | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Altimeter Type | Barometric & GPS | Barometric & GPS | Barometric | Barometric |
| Compass Type | GPS | GPS | Magnetic | GPS |
| Optical Heart Rate Sensor internally | No | No | N/A | No |
| SpO2 (aka Pulse Oximetry) | No | No | | |
| Heart Rate Strap Compatible | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Heart Rate Strap Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | YEs |
| ANT+ Speed/Cadence Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | YEs |
| ANT+ Footpod Capable | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Power Meter Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Lighting Control | No | No | No | Yes |
| ANT+ Bike Radar Integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Trainer Control (FE-C) | Partial (connect yes, but control April 2020) | Partial (connect yes, but control April 2020) | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Remote Control | No | No | No | Yes |
| ANT+ eBike Compatibility | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Gear Shifting (i.e. SRAM ETAP) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shimano Di2 Shifting | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart HR Strap Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart Footpod Capable | No | No | YEs | No |
| Bluetooth Smart Power Meter Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temp Recording (internal sensor) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temp Recording (external sensor) | No | No | No | No |
Software | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | PC Application | Yes | Yes | N/A | Garmin Express |
| Web Application | Yes | Yes | N/A | Garmin Connect |
| Phone App | iOS/Android | iOS/Android | iOS/Android | iOS/Android/Windows Phone |
| Ability to Export Settings | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Purchase | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Amazon | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| Backcountry.com | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| Competitive Cyclist | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| REI | | | | Link |
DCRainmaker | Stages Dash M50 | Stages Dash L50 | Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT | Garmin Edge 530 | | Review Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
Also, it’s worth noting somewhere that while I didn’t include the Stages L10 in this review, it’s a beast of a unit capability-wise. Essentially it has everything you see in this review except the mapping and color bits. I dive into those specs here. Most notably, it’s only $149. So if you don’t care about color mapping, then you should seriously consider that unit.
Summary:
The Stages Dash M50 and L50 definitely represent a leap above Stages’ first Dash unit – there’s no question there. And for the size of the company, they’re able to put through a surprising number of features, and with significant depth. The unsung hero of the Stages Dash lineup is actually the deeper integration with Stages Link, and the premium features they include there that other platforms like Garmin and Wahoo simply don’t have. If you’re an athlete training for something with specificity, then there’s no beating the included Stages Link platform for the value. Especially if you often do structured workouts.
Ironically, it’s this secret weapon that I think may be hurting Stages in the larger picture. See, much of the product’s depth is unseen – like the greatest oceanic canyons. As such, when you look at features compared to a Garmin or Wahoo unit, things like lack of Strava Segments, lack of live tracking, lack of on-device waypoint routing, and so on, get all the attention. It doesn’t help that the Dash L50 and M50 aren’t as sexy looking as a ‘Stealth BOLT’ or an Edge 530. It’s hard to explain to someone how sexy T-Scores, CTL, ATL, and inner-outer structured workouts work in a bike shop or a 30-second elevator pitch.
Said differently – the Stages Dash M50 or L50 are both incredibly solid computers for the money that are ideally suited to those with structured training with a power meter or smart trainer. They provide as a whole platform far more depth than Garmin or Wahoo can in the planning and performance metrics category. However, for someone that just wants to go out and ride, some of the value prop is lost. That said, I’m interested to see now that Stages has largely stabilized their development efforts, how they can turn that ship a bit into new features that have broader appeal to be able to eat into Garmin or Wahoo’s sales.
With that – thanks for reading!
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Hopefully you found this review/post useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
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Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
Review seems a bit short :-) I can’t see the photos with the dog mount installed!
I honestly don’t know how it got so long. I woke up this morning thinking I had a mere 45-60 mins left on it, and then I just adding thing and adding things…fast forward till 5PM and finally hit publish.
As for Lucy…no amount of navigational device can help that dog.
I’ve had both the M50 and L50 for close to a year and mostly use it for day-to-day riding. For me, with terrible reading vision without glasses, the big advantage is the large and bright screen. I can read it without glasses. Something I can’t do on Garmin or Wahoo. That is the huge attraction for me. Nothing else is anywhere close.
Indeed, the ability to make some giganto data fields can be appealing. I made a massive one in the gallery of the L50 for example.
When can we see an updated articel on Todays plan vs Training peaks?
Maybe tips and tricks with todays plan?
Possibly…
Might be quite for new releases around here for a while.
Does the Stages unit have an audio beeper functionality for Varia radar?
Yup! Here’s how that all works: link to dcrainmaker.com
Any news about the Release of the Garmin Edge 1040?
It´s three years ago they released the 1030 and the already dropped the price of it…
It was released towards the end of 2017. So at the earliest will be towards the end of this year
Ray´s In-Depth Review has been released in August of 2017. I get you anything that he already has a prototyp for testing. :)
typo: bet = get
In reviews involving computers with GPS, please add another column indicating visibility of the map in bright sunlight. Many times with my Garmin 830 Edge I have had to pull off the road to find shade to be able to see the screen.
That’s odd. I’ve heard virtually no complaints there (and I’ve used it in some crazy sunny spots over the last year).
It almost sounds like perhaps auto-backlight adjustments is turned off, and then set to low. You shouldn’t have any issues seeing the display on the Edge 830 in basically any lighting conditions.
All that said – the Stages M50/L50 backlight is beastly. Though, figuring out exact battery burn of the differing levels is tricky, as they don’t write battery levels to the .FIT file (Garmin/Wahoo do, making it kinda fun to see how various things impact battery life).
I’ve tried all the back light options and none of them gave a usable screen in bright sunlight
Change the angle of the computer rotate it up.
Hi Peter-
Honestly, that sounds like a defective unit. You should easily be able to see it in any lighting conditions. I’ve done Australian sun in summer, California super sunny, a bunch of places in the Med sunny days. Plus of course all last summer in the Netherlands. Zero issues in the sun.
I wonder if something is stuck settings-wise. Either way, I’d reach out to support.
I have owned the L50 Since September. For me the biggest feature is also the big bright display.
Likes
– Big bright vibrant landscape display. Looks like a display should! Not Dull.
– Power Wheel & customizable display fields
– Stages link analysis
– Varia Radar Support (Edge 800 did not support Varia)
– Price (I got it with 20% off. Riding buddy got the L50 30% + 15% for $178) Lot of computer for that price.
– Battery Life
– Customer Service. They have been great!
Dislikes
– Side button is hard to press. I only use it to power the unit on. Buttons along the bottom are good for me.
– Small user base. So not a lot of information on the web. Would love a user group.
– Mount can be difficult to know when engaged. Although once you figure it out you get an audible click when engaged.*
* Mine works great and gives an audible click when I place the computer on the mount and rotate it in. Not a straight down motion.
I own M50 can share likes/dislikes. though battery life at 0-5 C about 5-8 hours. And charging is painfully slow: ~8 hours zero to full charge
There is Stages Dash&Web feature request site link to dashpublic.ideas.aha.io
Would love more responsive Dash forum|group to share issues, solve problems, beta test.
And there are some to fix, some to improve.
Looks like Stages just released Firmware 2.2.0 today and still they haven’t addressed wheel size calibration for speed sensors. C’MON STAGES!!!! That is a key element to accurate speed. I know you guys focus on GPS but I have news for you I have used your GPS and it sucks. I was in a paceline going 26mph and my computer was bouncing from 22-26mph. Please add manual MM sizing for wheel size. I can’t even use this computer on my Gravel bike as I just a 40C tire. The biggest the Dash will to go is a 700×38. How is that going to work. Please release Firmware updates more regularly to fix little things like this. If you guys don’t step up you will lose to Wahoo and I can’t believe I’m saying this but Garmin. I love everything about the L/M50 but lets see some basic updates for normal day to day use.
Jason,
Will do! We are adding this right now and will push it out with 2.3.0 in about a month. Certainly don’t want to lose to anyone :)
I absolutely love this computer. It just works now time to work out some small kinks.
Is there any way to add the option for the light sensor to automatically switch from day to night mode or make it easier to access that feature maybe in the backlight area?
Jason,
Love to hear it, sorry we dropped the ball on the wheel size, we will get that done quick.
I like that idea. I have entered it in our idea log here: link to dashpublic.ideas.aha.io
Any other good ideas? Log them here! link to dashpublic.ideas.aha.io
@Jim From Stages – Hello, Jim. I’m reaching out here in hopes of getting some info, as I can’t log on to track the support tickets. I get the canned response, but the link to track the tickets requires logging in. I tried to log on using my stages-link account but it does not work. So I tried creating a new account on the support portal, only to be told the account already exists. Trying to recover the password yielded no password recovery email.
Context: I sometimes do 300+km/24hr rides.
So just a few questions/observations.
1. What is the battery capacity on the M50? I know this issue has been addressed before, but as it stands, the current battery life is insufficient for my occasional needs. I therefore need to make use of an external power bank while using the headunit. So I’d like to know what the battery capacity is so I can plan on the smallest powerbank I can purchase and fasten to my bike that will still allow me up to 24 hrs of riding with navigation/sensors.
2. The navigation tiles would be more useful if the writing (such as street names) was flipped the right way around regardless of the direction of travel.
3. And while we’re at it, having the village/town names shown on lower zoom levels would also help. Especially since there’s currently no way to create a new course on the go, should I need it. It would help to at least see where I’m heading when navigating unknown places. Currently all I see is a mesh of streets with no idea where I’m heading unless I am riding an already set route.
4. Easier course creation, while on the go. At least allow importing a GPX file directly in the phone app and sync it with the headunit.
Thanks.
“Digger you deep” is that how it’s said in America?
Sometimes it’s true. Though, not this time. Thanks! ;)
Ray, isn’t it great that you have so many brilliant proof readers? ?
What is Stages using for maps? Both on the device and in Stages Link for mapping.
Reason being… The Garmin maps are old and outdated and missing a ton of trails that I use for mountain biking. Even the Garmin Connect maps supposedly sourced from OpenStreetMap are missing trails that show up on the actual OpenStreetMap site.
Garmin only updates the maps a couple of times a year so recent additions to OSM will be missing. You can always use 3rd party maps based on OSM for maps which will be much more up to date.
Stages also use OSM for their maps.
Which Garmin maps and which Garmin device? I certainly don’t see anything missing here in central Pennsylvania on my Edge 830, which also has Trailforks maps included.
Any devices, and primarily concerned with GarminConnect vs StagesLink for routing. Here’s a side by side of some local trails in the Bay Area. Trails are flat out missing, and look chunky compared to OSM.
Another huge miss from GarminConnect is the lack of contour lines. The only way to even guess at the steepness of a trail is to toggle back and forth between the OSM and Google Maps overlays. The former shows only some of the trails in the area, the latter shows virtually none and only uses shading to imply gradient. They almost had to make an effort to screw up the maps this badly for mtb riding.
@Meredith Looks like Stages is using plain old Google maps in Link. Created a free Link account and created a course. Went to the same area I show in a previous message, and StagesLink contains virtually no trails. I didn’t think it was possible for someone to screw up even worse than GarminConnect, but there ya go.
@Ray I understand that you are primarily a road rider. And for your use case, the platforms mapping and routing capabilities are probably sufficient. But most of them are complete garbage for riding off-road. Garmin claims to use OSM data, but their implementation sucks, doesn’t include contour lines, and lacks a lot of trails. Stages is using plain old Google maps which has virtually nothing for mtb trails. These eco-systems HAVE to do a better job, and I can’t be the only mtb rider here that would like to see you address it with them. Comparison attached.
Have you tried using the Garmin combo though of Trailforks + Garmin?
I think (for better or worse), Garmin’s partnership with TrailForks is that’s where you build out and do any route planning, and then it syncs to your Garmin. Or, if on an Edge 530/830, then you can also just do it on the head unit. Most folks seem pretty happy with that combo.
Trailforks is pretty bad as well. There’s barely anything in that same vicinity.
OpenStreetMap already has the most robust dataset available. Why are companies like Stages and Garmin not using it?! Is it because they can’t make any money from partnership agreements? This is more than frustrating. It’s just plain infuriating.
And I get it, you’re not coming into these reviews with a mindset of mtbing. But not a single one of these companies are doing a good job at this. They’re all absolutely piss poor implementations. Please call them out on their incompetence. They might listen to your feedback more than just some schmoe who hasn’t even purchased their device. (because their maps suck)
That’s odd. I’ve never had an issue finding MTB trails anywhere I go with TrailForks (nor have I heard complaints). And honestly, everyone seems pretty darn happy at the intergration between Trailforks and Garmin on the latest units especially.
Now, I will say that using Garmin Connect online to plan those routes is wonkier – I agree, that piece is lacking in making it clear, despite actually having the underlying data.
Note – both Stages and Garmin utilize OSM for their mapping. It just appears that Garmin Connect itself hasn’t toggled on the MTB routes layer.
Yeah Trailforks has –some– trails. Directly south of the area I included, it has all sorts of trails that are part of Wilder Ranch. If you’re riding there, you won’t have an issue. Fine for popular crowded trails. Much less so for more back country style trails. I mean, I just sent multiple examples of where the data is flat out missing. And that last one is a popular area for riding. Those trails all show up just fine on Strava. Oh, that’s right, Strava uses OSM.
Regardless of Stages using OSM for mapping (maybe that’s just on the devices?), the interface on Stages Link for creating a course is most assuredly Google maps. Complete with lack of trails, lack of contour lines, lack of any meaningful information. GarminConnect is only slightly better with their OSM overlay, but it’s lacking as well. And let’s be honest, it looks like hot garbage compared to OSM.
C’mon, it cant be that hard to pull in the OSM data. The API is free for crying out loud. Why are they all screwing it up so badly?
Scott – the on device maps for the Dash are already Open Streets map. It will have all the trails you see on OSM. You’ll want to build the course elsewhere, however, to route onto these trails.
Yeah, that’s my point. Garmin and Stages try to have some sort of unified platform and eco-system. And yet those eco-system are atrocious. Their only real answer is to use another platform.
Please add batterysize to your comparison chart. These devices haves a 2 times bigger battery then a Edge 530.
The challenge with listing straight mAh sizes is that it’s largely meaningless (except if you have a finite battery pack and need to recharge it). mAh only tells you the size of the battery, but not the burn rate.
And in fact, the Stages Dash is probably a perfect example of why the burn rate is far more important than the battery size directly. Not to mention the burn rate varies as Stages notes by whether or not courses and other features are being used. For example, on the Edge 530 they say 20 hours with 2 sensors. Stages says 24 hours with no routing/courses/maps, but unclear on sensors. They say with sensors/routing/maps it’s 11 hours. Where is Garmin on courses/maps/sensors? I haven’t seen a spec for that, but instead, I do have data from actual rides.
In that configuration, on a ride last summer I burned 6% in 90 mins. So basically 4%/hour with courses/etc – or actually trending towards 25hrs. Another ride this past fall with courses/maps/sensors/BT/etc, I was 9% in 3hrs. So that’s 3%/hour, or over 30 hours. Obviously, I suspect burn rates vary based on a lot of things. But the point is, it’s not about your size, but how you use it…
Haha,
I know there are more factors but it gives a better indication about the energie efficiënty of a unit then only burn time.
Yes, like to ride multiple days outside without wall outlet. Then this things are import.
Otherthing, most times charging a bigger battery takes more time, but then there are also more factors involved.
You wrote: “However, starting in April the company is removing the differentiation for all but the training plan features. ”
Could you pls indicate which functionality remains paid-for after April?
link to support.stages-link.com
My main interest is free-of-charge ability to create structured workout, save it on dash m50, and being able to use it any later day.
Vito,
We will have a clearer definition of what that means soon, stay tuned!
Is there any update on whats paid for and whatnot? When I bought my m50 there was absolutely no mention ANYWHERE that a paid subscription was required for full functionality.
I’m at a complete loss as to how to upload routes to the unit.
Hey Stewart,
Sorry about my delayed reply here. If you contact support they will set you up with premium while we work on removing the paywall. I really apologize for the delay here. That way you can create routes in link and they will sync directly to the dash automatically.
Its less great, but you can always export a route from any platform and copy it to the add_files folder on the dash manually. Were working on getting this kind of sync into the app so it happens via bluetooth after you validate your account.
I hope that helps at least in the interim.
Ok, so I like the specs and price of the M50. I currently own a Bolt which I like a lot except for screen readability in many situations. So the M50 lacks:
Strava live segments ( not a real big deal but nice to have)
Download course wirelessly from RidewithGPS(Boo…)
Upload to Dropbox wirelessly (although Stages support says that but can be done via the Link App)
No Leds( which I like more over time)
Poor buttons(at least the side)
I wish the reviews would give dB level in audio alerts. I returned a 530 because it was too quiet.
Second, in the comparison table it would be nice to see which apps the unit can send/receive from.
In regards to dB levels I wear earbuds in both ears while riding listening to music and when a car approaches I can hear my Varia Radar alert over my music.
Thanks for the reply, but this is the typical response. Your ears are definitely different from mine. Stages says louder than Garmin, quieter than Wahoo. Whatever that means. It still makes me try it out to compare levels. Ideally,a graph showing the amplitude vs frequency would be the best.
Example: my hearing is especially poor at 5-7 kilohertz due to many years of drumming with cymbals.
All sorts of people have hearing problems. I would prefer some sort of standard.
No offense to DC Rainmaker, but I would like real numbers for brightness levels, pressure to push buttons, audio alerts etc much like he does for power meters and GPS accuracy.
Of course it could be argued that the companies themselves should provide this information. Sigh……
Sounds like you just need to buy on and if it doesn’t work out send it back. Just a thought…
I get that. I hate buying and returning stuff, which is why I appreciate DC Rainmaker’s reviews. Again, First World problems?.
One of these days some manufacturer will get smart about sound and offer tone selection (high/med/low) and volume control (off, on, louder), plus a BT option. Then it won’t matter what the user’s hearing range is.
The current offerings are STUPID and ignore a segment of the population.
Scott,
I had written back here with a bunch of technical details from our spec sheets, but once you put something in a plastic enclosure, all bets are off. Any chance you want to get in touch outside of the forum here and maybe you can help us measure and specify what you are talking about?
Email support@stagescycling.com if so, they can connect you up with me.
JD,
I understand the tone and volume, logged that in the to-do list.
What would the BT option do? Asking for a friend :)
Sent an email
Some segment of the market may have BT headphones/buds/bone conduction units and undoubtedly prefer sound be routed to those.
Are laps changed/counted automatically in structured workouts synched with Training Peaks?
Hi Rob, yup indeed. See attached pic for what my Monday workout looks like in Training Peaks. That was the structured one I mainly showed above as an example. You can see the precise laps/splits automatically there.
Ok, thanks for replying, i have gone from Lezyne to Garmin to Wahoo and now going to try Stages….but each time i look to your videos for a fair unbiased review. Keep up the good work and keep training buddy!!!
Ok, i have tried 50 different ways to get my future workouts from Training Peaks to my Stages Link on my computer……i just got the unit 2 days ago and did 2 activities which i have no problem getting them to sync through mobile app or when i plug in the USB to the computer but none of my TP workouts show up on the Calendars or on the device??
Just to be clear, the two scenarios are:
A) Syncing from device to Training Peaks: Works for me, shown above
B) Syncing from your Training Peaks calendar to Stages device: No automated method today
As noted up in the post, that second piece doesn’t happen today, but is planned near-term though. Still, it’s a gap. :(
The ability to download structured workouts from Training Peaks to my Dash L50 is a big problem. With a Training Peaks Coach loafing structured power workouts on my Training Peaks Calendar I need to be able to do that. I like my Dash but just ordered a Wahoo Element Bolt so I can download workouts from TP Calendar. Also, I can export my workouts on the Dash to TP but it doesn’t seem to capture laps.
I actually jumped ship from stages to Wahoo recently. I purchased a Roam and LOVE it. I like how wahoo does frequent firmware updates to address issues. It’s also super easy to setup and use. Adding route takes less then a minute and everything is done via you phone. No computer ever needed.
I had two L50’s and one M50 and recently sold them as I couldn’t wait for firmware updrafts to be released to add more features that everyday users would like to have.
Stages don’t turn into Garmin and wait months to release new features that are currently on other devices.
This sounds like it will meet my needs nicely. I do a lot of structured training and currently use todays plan. So if I get the L50 or M50 do I continue using my premium version of Today’s Plan or do I just start using Stages Link, I assume they are the same and hopefully you can import old data to have it all on the same platform.
Only downside side to me is no WiFi but not a deal breaker.
I don’t believe there’s any migration between Todays Plan and Stages Link, but you can continue to use Todays Plan. I actually switched from Link to Todays Plan because it’s cheaper. The main missing features are a) you can’t design routes and upload them to the device (this requires the $200 premium stages link subscription…) and b) you don’t get access to the Stages workouts/courses, Todays Plan has their own set.
It’s strange that the course creation tool on the Stages Link site is noted as a premium only feature because I’ve been actively using it and managing courses ever since my premium access expired back in December. I know for a fact I haven’t had a premium account because all of the workout and analytics features have been unavailable. However, I went to the site just now to check, and sure enough there’s no courses option available anymore on the calendar tab.
I had 15+ courses I’d created on there, which I can no longer access (guessing since the update to the site on March 10th). Hopefully I’ll gain access to them again when April comes around or by emailing support for early access. Fortunately, I exported FIT files for most of them.
Was it some fluke that I had access to the courses feature? I was under the impression everyone had access to it from as non-premium users.
Hey Markus,
Thanks for pointing this out. We actually ran into a strange technical issue where we were unable (without great effort im told) to move this into the non-premium. I hate that this happened. As with anyone wanting to use the course builder, email support and we will give you premium while we wait for this to be resolved once and for all.
Great review as always. I’ve had the M50 for half a year now and it works like a charm. I have a road, cross, and trainer profiles all set up and chose accordingly.
I like the updating that stages does on a regular basis as it tells me that they are investing in the unit not waiting to release a new model in a few months. I agree that you need to be vigilant and shut down the unit or it runs out battery. Easy fix by paying attention.
My only tiny gripe is that the keys are hard to press which can get dicey when riding. Is that your experience as well?
Hey Ray,
I’ve only got 1/2 way through the review… need to have a nap and then a coffee :)
But my read thus far pointed me to a question… about fit file compatability. I don’t expect Garmin and Wahoo and Stages to upload each other’s files… whereas training peaks, strava, etc., sure, will accept data from anyone. But if they’re all fit files, could you export a stages fit file to your garmin connect account? Why? Because… I have more stats on my Connect account than my Strava account… I’m not gonna pay Strava for milk that Garmin gives me for free… and all my other devices are Garmins… but starting to think of a new bike computer… to replace my ages old, battery quickly drains, Garmin 500.
I have a Garmin Fenix. So I keep data on Stages Link and Garmin Connect. Every once in a while I need to upload a file from the Stages to Garmin and vice versa.
Garmin to Stages works fine
Stages to Garmin does not work, but you can upload to Strava. Then download a GPX file from Strava. Then upload That file to Garmin.
I kind of think this is a Garmin blocking stages but have no proof. Would love for Stages to allow a download of GPX file to try that.
Thanks John! I can’t promise to give this all a try, but it’s very useful info to have.
Stay healthy,
-tim
Downloading a fit file from Stages Link then uploading it to Garmin Connect will occasionally work but in the majority of cases fails. I haven’t been keeping a track of which bikes / sensors are in use to determine if there’s a pattern to which ones work.
Love this review. I’m a data freak and I’m getting into more structured workouts. I have a garmin 1030 and love it. Can i still use the 1030 with the stages app/online platform to assess data and create workouts? Or do i have to purchase the M50 unit to plug in that collected data??
So far, I have been using L50 only a little while, so I can’t answer all the questions or comments. I am very impressed with L50 features since it has bright colored LCD. I was looking forward to seeing how bright is the LCD is and how much you can setup a backlight. It is simply great. You can blind somebody at 100% backlight. Colors are pretty accurate for a bike computer. Much better than for example Garmin 735Xt watch. L50 has a day and night color setting, which means white or black background. Then next great feature that follows is colored zones, speed dial for training. Which works very well. Stages have done amazing work in this section. I haven’t had a chance to use a structured workout feature or any other advanced planing features. Bottoms work great, they are big & soft and easy to press. There are a few options to press buttons including long-press shortcuts, so you don’t need to use left bottom at all. Like everyone said it’s hard to press….it’s true :-/ Maps and navigation, that is a big task for bike computers in general, it doesn’t matter who you are. Bike computers are too small for great Navi and mapping features in my opinion. I got Stages L50, since in one of the bigger computers in the mid-range. Garmin 1030 is too expansive if you crash or lose it, but I understand that there some people that don’t worry about money too much and can buy 1030 every weekend. I have been using Polar V650, Wahoo Bolt. Lezyne XL some. The touch screen with color is better for maps, plain and simple. L50 is somewhere in the middle with its features. Good colors, but only buttons. Navigating map with buttons works well, it just needs a bigger delay so you browse a map and what is around you or find POI. The Map has some POI’s, but many and depends on the country. You can’t navigate to certain POI or a place on the map. If you like to use good navigation on the bike simply get older Garmin Nuvi for a few bucks and external battery or use navigation platforms like Gpstuner. I don’t think that Garmin Nuvi navigation features will be any bike computers anytime soon. The V650 has best informaion on map even that is an older unit. No navigation, not a single POI and supports only BLE sensors. Also, V650 has audio levels and LCD brightness right of the bet just like most Android devices. Every company has to know who they target, their needs and price point. New Dash has been on the market for almost two years and until now no one has reviewed it until now. Thanks Ray! Sounds are not loud enough if you don’t hear well. Loud enough for most cases. I haven’t; try with headphones with music on. I am not sure what frequency, sorry. I can measure it with the app if you like. Temperatures readings are a little high in 70 F range, which is cost by some heat inside the unit, but I don’t have any specific measurements yet. BT audio feedback is a differently must-have function of any measuring device because you don’t have look at small screens while you riding. Maybe Stages will be first because it has great visual feedback, now needs to get BT audio feedback. Sensors can use ANT protocol. I hope that the problem with premium and free features will be solved soon since that was a big disadvantage of old Dash. Last note old Dash was a disaster compared to L50. Don’t own any current high end Garmin or Wahoo devices to compare with L50. Hope that helps :-)
I bought a dash l50 because of its size factor, but I have some Problems with it, maybe somebody could help me?
How can I get turn by turn navigation with gpx tracks from komoot etc? Uploaded gpx files on stages link dont have turn by turn, the only way for me to get them is using ride with gps and trace the track or add manually waypoints. Both ways are very complex and take long time, so is there any other method?
Second thing that I can understand is why they are using gmaps for planing on link but openstreetmaps on the device?
The track creator is useless for me because maps is very bad for navigating offroad.
Another thing that annoys me are the maps. I am a xc mountainbiker, so maybe they are not build for mtbs, but it is very difficult to navigate because smaller ways in forest etc are not findable on there maps.
The last Problem I had was yesterday where the dash had big Problems with gps and the sky was clear. It shows my that I was minus 45 meters high, which is impossible because we are at least 100 m high and at the same time ist locates ma 100 to 200 m away on the maps. Is there any option to get better gps Signal?
I konw my english is not the best but could somebody help me with the first and the last question?
Nunya/John,
Trainer control is on its way in our 2.3.0 update! Testing it now and it’s looking incredible. Just a few things to clean up and were a go.
I’ve attached a sneak peak from my ride on the StagesBike and Dash with trainer control today, we’re super excited about this and think our implementation of trainer control is the best there is for a bike computer. In this shot, I’m letting a workout control my StagesBike. Easy peasy. Change control modes right from the ride screen, edit control values using the tool pictured, or let the workout do it for you. We’ve been riding a lot of bikes indoors for a long time, and I am truly excited about this.
We do releases on tuesdays. I don’t expect it to be ready next tuesday, but the following tuesday looks good.
Gerdi,
Sorry about the errant reply below, I’m not sure what happened, but it looks like I double posted my previous comment by accidently logging in.
To address your question, currently there is no way to get navigation overlays from gpx courses exported from Komoot on the Dash. We are working on a Komoot integration with the link app to add this, but won’t have it done until June. This integration will make your life much better, but in the short term it is only possible to get notifications from courses created in Link or that are the correct FIT format. I am sorry about this disappointment for you. Were working on it.
Our maps are based on link to openstreetmap.org, if the trail exists there, it exists on the Dash. If not, then unfortunately we do not support that trail. Its also possible that trails added recently are not on the Dash yet, as we have to remake the map tiles and update them on your dash to get new trails on the Dash for you.
Your last concern about GPS quality is something I am concerned about. It would be good to get a support ticket going with our support team so we can chat directly with you about this. We expect the Dash to perform much better than you are reporting!
I hope that was at least informative, if not exactly the information you wanted to hear. Hope to hear from you through our support team.
The barometric pressure altimeter explains the last question, Low air pressure will read a lower than actual elevation (storm incoming), I nice clear day will read higher. Hopefully, the total gain and loss will be fairly accurate. GPS based elevation computers aren’t a whole lot better, as their ‘smoothing’ tends to leave most smaller ups & downs out altogether. If you are using it to post to strava, the box below elevation lets recalc which will get you out from under the ocean but leave the exact profile of the ride.
Thanks for the headsup I too need a computer w/ topo maps & offroad tracking.
I put a support request in to add the premium for free. Customer support quickly got me hooked up until July. This is great as I want to try the trainer control! If that works well I will stay premium. One subscription for indoor and outdoor training.
John
has ANT+ FE-C been added, to control a trainer?
Nunya/John,
Trainer control is on its way in our 2.3.0 update! Testing it now and it’s looking incredible. Just a few things to clean up and were a go.
I’ve attached a sneak peak from my ride on the StagesBike and Dash with trainer control today, we’re super excited about this and think our implementation of trainer control is the best there is for a bike computer. In this shot, I’m letting a workout control my StagesBike. Easy peasy. Change control modes right from the ride screen, edit control values using the tool pictured, or let the workout do it for you. We’ve been riding a lot of bikes indoors for a long time, and I am truly excited about this.
We do releases on tuesdays. I don’t expect it to be ready next tuesday, but the following tuesday looks good.
@Jim,
How are workouts loaded to L50? I use Today’s Plan, and trying to register Stages Link gives me some weird error. I’m a premium member for Today’s Plan, so would want whatever I have to be utilized, I would just want to sync my workouts from Today’s Plan over.
That said, I do hop around services, as I have a workout library on TrainingPeaks as well.
Also, any plans to support some form of Xert Player?
Nunya,
Sorry I missed this comment!
You should be able to log in to the StagesLink app with your Todaysplan account. If that is exactly what you tried, and it is not working, you might need to tap on the world icon on the login page pictured in the attachment to this comment, and enter “whats.todaysplan.co.au” and try again.
Once you are logged in, the app will handle syncing all workouts in the next week to the Dash.
If you have workouts from other platforms, export them as FIT files and copy them to the dash, they will be added in the “Manually added” folder in the workout menu.
Hope that helps, dont be afraid to use support@stagescycling.com for further questions so we dont forget to help you out!
Jim, I’m really looking forward to the new firmware with trainer control! Do you expect to release this week?
Koen,
That’s the plan! We do releases on Tuesdays. We have a few more things to check today and if all is well, we’re good to go.
If you really are chomping at the bit, email support and ask for a beta version.
Thanks! I can wait a couple more days, just looking forward to it!
I got my hands on 2.3.0 and I love how you can add custom wheel circumferences now.
Now I’m waiting on Di2 / eTap integration and i’ll be 100% happy.
Maybe Strava one day but who knows… :-)
Jason.
Great job guys and gals in Stages gadgets engineering department, L50 is superb. I haven’t had a chance to use navigation via smartphone. So far, I am really impressed and I have to mention that don’t use structured training features at all. I just love to use (test) new GPS gadgets for outdoors and ride my bike. I am not coached by anybody nor I complete. I have average fitness, own few powermeters and all the sensors that you can on your body and my bike. Just like Ray does :-) The only difference between me and Ray is that I got bored with the same features from different brands. Ray has more patience than I do to do it over and over again with 5000 words or more plus videos. I don’t know how you do it for so many years man. Fitness gadgets are not advancing that much, but the current generation of GPS bike computers is not boring. Back Dash L50 only issue I had was premium features are not fully unlocked for everybody since there is a problem on Stages side which has to do Stages Link (Todays Plan) servers. Navigation is not working great at all with a free account. That might scare new buyers if they don’t get 6 months of free premium account until problem is solved on Stages Link side.
Part II of my comments. I Stages is working on fixing Stages Link issues and mine has been fixed and I have a premium account. Thank you, guys. I love the VAM feature because you don’t need a PowerMeter to get accurate power if you “climbing” on steeper or steep hills. Simply two thumbs up!! The way you can select span for most of the metrics (used 3s VAM span) is simply brilliant, way to go Dash L50. I think that Garmin and wahoo are jealous or simply don’t even know that span can be used on other metrics than power… You can learn about your new Dash on the fly without manual since I thing all features are simply accessible during the ride in main menu and you don’t exit your work out or ride. The ability to take a screenshot is another touch of greatness. Where Garmin and wahoo have been all those years not to have a screenshot. If they do in their latest high-end devices I am sorry not to know about since I don’t own them. I tried VAM on Polar V650, but that was a mistake. Gradient and elivation worked great on polar, but VAM was completelly off. Simply Polar didn’t put correct formula from Dr. Ferrari to the brain of v650.
Part III of my comments. This time, it will be a short comment of the last picture. I took a picture of Polar & Stages GPS together with GARMIN Nuvi car GPS in full sun to see different navigation overview (“streetview”) and level of brightness. Polar v650 is not very bright in full sun, but good enough in most cases. Colors are great and you can have pages with a black bagroud as well which is a good feature. Dash L50 has option to have light or dark backgroud per your choice. Great to have options, as always. I have to go to bed since is midnight in Prague. More comments in later time if you are interested.
Isn’t instant power something like 0.25 second power (if Ant+ PM transmits at 4Hz).
Michal,
There is a little nuance to this I would add. Yes, data is transferred every 0.25s from a sensor to collector, however the content of this data is what defines the time between power events. One part of this data is the time since the previous event and another part is the event count, so regardless of the frequency of the data transfer, we know how many events happened since the last update we get, and the time it took from that last event.
That means instant power on the Dash is limited to updating a new value every 0.25s, which would be 4 x 60s = 240rpm pedaling cadence, but the actual updates contain very precise data about the actual instantaneous values. So, on the dash, instant power is reporting the most up-to-date information possible from these sensors, unless you are doing 241rpm, in which case we might occasionally average 2 events together :)
Hi. I deleted all data ob my dass. Now it starts but i van see no menu. Can anybody help me? It‘s a Dash m50. Thanks!!
Tom,
Please contact support@stagescycling.com, they should be able to help.
Jim
Hello
I have an older L10 Unit and I like it for the most part. When talking to Stages, do they have any plans to integrate Strava live tracking for segments into their new models?
Thanks Simon
Hello, can anyone advise please?
There’s no current plans that I’ve seen.
According to a recent facebook post by ‘Stages Cycling’ on June 22, there is a new feature coming mid July, which does look like some kind of climb target based thing, whether its Strava live segments though, don’t know, will have to wait and see, and the feature as teased looks more suited to the M50/L50
Yeah, that looks more like a ClimbPro-ish sorta thing.
Stages previously didn’t roll-out Strava Live Segments because Strava demanded a licensing fee from certain companies (basically, any companies not Garmin or Wahoo).
Thanks for the update, I had the feeling that it was a licensing issue.
Great review and as a Today’s Plan user, I’m pretty excited about this product. My device needs updating and this seems a really good option as training and racing are higher up my preference table than mapping.
Are there any plans for Strava segments? I’m a hammerhead Karoo user and this was one of the most anticipated updates recently.
Does anyone have experience with compatibility with Wahoo indoor trainers or more specifically with the Wahoo Bike? And how about a mount for the S-Works aero bars?
After being a devout Garmin user for many years I decided to try out an L50. I have been using it for 6 months and I absolutely love the display. When I go back to my Garmins they look awful in comparison. The stages is easy to use but like other comments on here I think the power button is a little stiff and the mount integration is not as straight forward as Garmin. The mapping is also excellent and shows lots of trails and details. The software is a little less easy to use than Garmin but good once you get used to it.’The Mounts are pretty expensive if you have a lot of bikes.
Unfortunately when I turned it on Today I got a critical low battery error and despite trying several cables and chargers it wont charge. I am hoping customer support will sort me out . I have never had a Garmin go bad like this.
I had a strange situation with my battery last Sunday. Used the device for a quick shakedown ride and to sync some settings, and pretty sure I powered it off and left it overnight with my kit. Set off in the morning and notice the power level at 14%, not expecting that to be enough to capture the planned ride I also started recording with my phone.
Anyway, the level drop and drops, and after 2 hours is at 1%. To avoid losing data, I stopped recording and saved the ride, then started another ride. The unit lasted another 2 hours !
So, something up with the battery gauge obviously. I used gotoes.org to join the files together later.
Mark,
That is not expected behavior. CS should be able to help you out.
myhandle,
Is it possible you just updated the firmware on your dash computer? As for the long lasting battery after 1%, that will degrade over time, on a newer dash it will go a long time like you described before actually shutting down, in a few years that time will be much less.
Hi Jim, is there any plans for strava segments ?
Am I the only one that had issues installing the dash l50? Usually these things have rubber pads or the like to help tighten on the bars. I have tried some rubber yoga mat pieces but since the buttons require so much pressure I have not been able to keep the computer from sliding to even use yet.
If you are trying to fit the Dash L50 / M50 mount to 26mm or 25.4mm bars you need to use a metal shim or a solid plastic shim not rubber. You can use the shims designed for fitting 31.7mm aero bar clamps to smaller base bars.
My flat bar bars say they are “MTB-AL152 W:620MMxR:20MM,”. I assume that is 20mm wide. Are there shims that work with this, or am I out of luck?
Normally the L50 / M50 mount would be fitted near to the centre of the bars where they bulge for the stem to clamp. This will usually be either 31.7mm, 26mm or 25.4mm although it could be the larger 35mm for which you would need the Stages Dash MTB Mount which “accommodates the use of 31.8mm and 35mm handlebars”.
I have the supplied mount and it fits my bars, difficult to move between bikes though so I thought I would try the ‘Anywhere Mount’, available for around £8 in the UK.
This comes with a couple of O rings and a piece of rubber to help it grip to various sizes of handlebar, but also in the box is a little piece which screws to the back of the Dash mount part and makes it compatible with a Garmin mount.
If you are confident in the elastic bands supplied with the Anywhere mount then you should be good to go on most bars, or get a Garmin compatible mount for your bars and you should be pretty solid.
Thx for the tip, I will check it out.
Hi,
Could someone confirm what is the exact width (in millimeters) of the Dash L50 mount ring (the part around the bike handlebar? The gap between my Giant Contact SLR AERO handlebar and the stem is very narrow…
Thanks
The width of the part that clamps is very narrow(hard to keep computer straight due to this), about 3/8th of an inch.
has anyone else had problems with the mount? after about 6 months my head unit became quite loose in the mount, stages recommended using the tiny torx drier supplied to tighten the two screws on the bottom, this fixed it but they come loose regularly and eventual the tiny screws rounded
raised a ticket over a week ago still no reply, how long do replies normally take?
Could you send me the ticket number? I dont have any “Dolo” in my search.
#167567
Well. It is now mid-July and the mentioned change from paid premium to free in June as clearly not happened.
This is so typical of companies nowadays that have no concept of “do what you say you are going to do…”
Frederic,
Were still working on some agreements with Todays Plan to make this happen, since they run our website, its actually rather complex.
In the meantime, please contact support@stagescycling.com and we will validate you premium access while you wait.
Wasn’t too encouraged by some comments I had read on DCR’s initial release review, but went ahead and picked up an L10 a few months ago when Stages had it on sale for $75 (I had finally sold my old Magellan unit for $80 the day before, so figured it was a sign, lol).
Setup seemed easy, and I made sure it showed my firmware up-to-date. Having only used twist-type mounts previously, there was some issue getting it to mount initially; need to kind of push down on the back while rotating the front up to click in. But once it’s in it isn’t going anywhere, which is nice. I love the form factor, it’s sleek and compact and landscape mode is very pleasing visually. A coworker had tried the L50 and said he had to push the buttons extremely hard for it to register, but I’ve found my L10 to be quite responsive, which is good since I wanted to get away from a touchscreen. I ride year-round and haven’t had good experiences with full-finger gloves and touchscreens (even ones that were supposed to work with gloves).
However, some problems were apparent right away (mostly GPS-based):
– Alert beep is quiet, can’t hear it at all while riding if I get a notification
– Temperature seems to consistently show 10 degrees (F) higher than any other local device/weather station. Like, all the time, no matter how long it’s been powered on.
– Took way longer to get a GPS lock than any other device I’ve used (Magellan 505, Garmin 230, 235, 800). Like, up to 5 minutes at times in areas that my Magellan would connect in under 20 seconds.
– If I powered the L10 on in a spot with bad GPS reception (under cover, etc), but then moved into a good spot, I still couldn’t get GPS lock unless I restarted the device. I once waited over 10 minutes to test, I got the popup a couple times asking if I wanted to keep searching but it wouldn’t connect. Restarted device and it got a lock within a couple minutes.
– Even after getting GPS lock, it seems quite sensitive. A section of a route I ride frequently has moderate tree cover. The Magellan would occasionally show an erratic speed or gradient through here, but maybe once or twice for the stretch with the heaviest cover. The L10 jumps around the entire section, even when it shows a connection to 8-10 satellites. Sometimes all I have to do is lean forward enough where my head is partially over the L10 and I’ll get similar erratic readings.
– Gradient readings fluctuate quite a bit in general. As much as 5-10% every few seconds going up a steady, uncovered climb.
Recently I decided to try reflashing the firmware just to see what would happen, and it dramatically improved GPS lock time. It’s still longer than others I’ve used, but it’s a lot closer now. Plus, I no longer have the issue of needing to restart it if I power it on before I move into a better signal area. I even tested it by waiting until I got the popup asking to keep searching before I moved outside, hit Yes then went outside, connected about 20 seconds after that. The other issues remain, but it’s still a big improvement (had lost several miles off rides where I got tired of waiting for a signal and just started before it finally got a lock).
Got excited this morning when it said there was new firmware, but it ended up being “1.2.0-alpha1109”, which a commenter in Ray’s first ride review said was on his L10 nearly a year ago?! I didn’t notice what I was running before, but now I’m worried what new problems may this may bring. I realize the L10 is limited and new features aren’t really planned, but this long with no updates to at least improve existing functionality is pretty poor. I listed it on FB marketplace to see what I could get for it, but a couple interested people rescinded their offers because they had looked around for reviews while we were negotiating and it turned them off to this brand. Not a good look :-(
My dash l50 takes about a mile to show distance regardless of how long I wait for GPS. It is showing speed the entire time and since I have no speed sensor I would think it must have a GPS lock to give speed data.
It seems like this is a bug. I also have not got any notice when connected to the pc-“stages link” to upgrade firmware since I purchased and started using a month ago.
The other bug I have found is if you hit the button to stop a ride and you get the screen “save or resume ride–and choose save it save the data from when you select that option, not when you originally hit the button to stop the ride. I have finally got the mount right after purchasing a pack of shims off amazon.
An update on the GPS bug, Although the Dash did not start recording distance until about .9 miles in the past 2 rides on the dash screen, the data is complete on the data sent to Strava. The dash GPS mileage total was about .7 miles short on a 11 mile ride today (although the map was right) compared to Strava based on the same data. Polar and Garmin both agree with Strava for this course so the Dash GPS is clearly off. The good thing is the screen is easy to read on the entire ride which is why I purchased it however.
Robert,
Could you create a support ticket with support@stagescycling.com? There is something up here and we can help you sort it out.
Ryan,
Could you create a support ticket at support@stagescycling.com? We can help you out there.
Hi again, Just to update the post above I did another ride and waited a bit longer to start, and saw a new icon appear-Maybe a mini cell tower?. Anyways the GPS was fine on the start and after that and agreed within a 1/10th of a mile to polar app on my phone. I had asked support about this previously(if an icon would show GPS) and got no response and the manual does not say.
The other issue about the ride stats not stopping when you hit the button to get the question “stop ride or resume” still exists. I will just have to get faster at answer the question and hitting the next button.
Now if only I could get data to load up without going to the pc(perhaps new firmware will take care of this) I will be all set.
Long been curious about trying a Dash so when Stages was running a 20% off campaign I ordered an L50. First impression is that the screen is huge, at nearly twice the area of my most recent computer the Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt. Second impression is that the mounting interface is offensively bad.
Clipping in the computer seems to require almost micrometer precision and at the same time way too much force. Over many repeated attempts I can maybe get it attached to the included out-front mount once. Also bought a different Blendr style mount as required by my integrated handlebars, but so far I haven’t managed to get the computer attached to it at all.
Landscape or portrait orientation make no difference either. With every mounting attempt it feels like I am about to accidentally break the buttons or the display. Even if I were to eventually get it in there properly, it is only a matter of time before the day comes when I don’t, it shakes loose and hits the tarmac at speed.
As I don’t have any other bike this dud will probably have to go back to Stages for a refund without even testing it out during a ride.
Yeah that amount is a pain in the butt. I actually have 2 L50’s and 1 M50 and I have jumped ship and went over to the Wahoo Element Roam and it is absolutely perfect. I really like the Stages L/M50 however they are taking way to long releasing new features that are actually useful. I mean come on Di2/Etap access. Crash detection. Basic features that are available on 90% of other computers on the market.
I have gotten a little better at mounting the computer but very hard still. Comes out no problem after but getting it on the bike is a pain. This is why I am upset I can not get the ride to load up on my phone after and have to take to the PC. The battery is good and an 45 min ride only uses about 5% so I would not have to take it off often(this is with no other sensors at the moment). Shims helped me get it mounted good to the bars.
It can be tricky to get the Dash to mate with the included mount, I find it helps to grip the Dash all round and bend the tab on the mount out slightly with the other thumb, I’ve only once not mounted it properly and the lanyard saved me, soon put right.
Syncing after a ride, that can be hit and miss. Worked first time on my last ride, the week before I had trouble and stopped/started the app, Bluetooth on/off, in the end I think I rebooted the Dash and was able to connect, I’m never sure what works in getting it to sync if it doesn’t work straight away.
So support was not particularly helpful. Supposedly whomever packed this unit had tried attaching the mount and at that time it worked fine. Use more force!
Well if I place the upper half of the default out-front mount on a table and push down on it with all of my might, then admittedly it does seat. But this requires way more brute force than I am comfortable with, especially if the mount had been attached to my bike. I would honestly be afraid of ripping out the bonded in rivnuts on the bottom of the integrated handlebars. It is absolutely nothing like the video displayed on Stages support site, where they casually attach the unit one-handed with an audible click.
I think I will be making a request for return and refund. Keep my Bolt for now and await a better deal on a Roam, if not earlier then perhaps at Black Friday.
Mayhem and others,
Im sorry to hear the mount is something that is not meeting your expectations. It can for sure be surprisingly difficult to get used to and get mounted the first few times. The mount settles in after your first few rides and should be much easier to use after that happens.
Here is a support article you might want to check out before sending the Dash back:
link to support.stagescycling.com
We really like having the mount on the side, although it does take getting used to. I appreciate the feedback, maybe we will have to consider making quarter turn mounts an option.
See my comment below – I have found a great solution to the mount.
Jim, are you aware of http://www.racewaredirect.co ?
I have just had one of the standard out front mounts fail on me, it broke across the two bolt holes nearest to the arm that attaches to the bars.
It looks like this could be an inherent design fault because the rotating action coupled with the force required to click in the Dash computer will flex the mount at that point as the Dash is installed and over time the mount will break at the bolt holes.
As much as I like the form factor of the Dash mounts I will be reverting to quarter turn mounts using a modified Dash AnyWhere mount.
I’m a cycling coach and want to recommend the Dish L/M50 for the power training of my athletes. However, after the test (I really bought a new L50), I discover the Dish don’t record the channel of Effectiveness and Smoothness. It make me so disappointed, even the low level computer of other brand can record such channel , it is nonsense to buy a Dash if you use more money to buy a L/R Power Meter (i.e. Stages L/R, Infocrank, 2inpower…etc) for better performance (for example: pedalling analiysis). Dash can show such data in ride but don’t record, it is really ridiculous. If no new firmware to rectify such mistake, Dash will lost many serious elite athlete users.
This is the reply from Stages
BC,
Would you mind sending me your support ticket number? I’d like to carry on this conversation with you personally.
Ticket #169783
However, it doesn’t matter, your staff has answered me and think that effectiveness and smoothness are rubbish data. Your company have your right to insist such opinion and I have the right to choice the right stuff for my athlete’s training and racing, never mind.
BC,
I think you have every right to be angry. That was not only out of line, but also not an opinion I, or others at Stages share. I completely understand if you’d like to tell me to bug off, I would. What I would like to do is make sure this data is logged in our next update, would love to get your input to make sure we get it right for you.
I apologize for this.
In fact after my test, I am very satisfied the display and full customize features of dash L/M50 which is very good for power training and racing, especially your company use color to make the power data “Visual Capture” , it can easy to produce a visual feedback in ride and Dash can also display the Power Zone in Zone X.X form which is very important in training and racing because if I ask the athlete to ride in Sweetspot Zone, they just need to remember to ride in Zone 3.8 to 4.2. Did you know Wahoo cannot display the Power Zone after the decimal point? they just display Zone 1, Zone 2…etc, it make the athlete very confuse if they don’t remember the exact power number…..if your company rectify the said matter, Dash L/M50 will be prefect cycling computer for power training in my opinion.
@Jim from Stages, I made a ticket with support on 20th July and haven’t had a reply yet. (#168527).
It’s was regarding the premium access and also migrating Polar files into Stages. Could you look into this for me? I’m liking my M50 so far but not able to use it to its full potential.
Thanks
Josh,
Thanks for the note, will chat with you on that ticket.
Ray, I hope you don’t mind me posting this here – it’s a plug for a 3D printed mount for the Dash.
I too had real issues with the mount supplied. In fact, having purchased two M50s to replace devices for both the wife and I, we found that she almost always needs my assistance in getting the Dash M50 to fix properly in its supplied mount. And its quite a chore getting it to fix in.
I reached out to http://www.racewaredirect.co who had started work on a 3D printed out-front mount for the Venge. It arrived today and it’s a perfect fit. The Dash fits in nice and easily, is fixed when in and comes out nice and easily too when you pull back the tab. racewaredirect.co can make them to fit most handlebar plate mounts for a slick, out-front setup.
Highly recommended.
Has anyone else had problems with mounts drooping and then snapping? I had the first generation Dash and the metal on the mount was thicker, I never had any problems whatsoever. I find even a new mount, after a few rides the computer develops a droop, then with it moving around it weakens the metal. I’ve had a mount totally snap and now another is beyond serviceable because of how loose the computer becomes. To my mind this ruins a fantastic product, it’s a regular thing being asked ‘is my computer secure’.
Yes I have checked the tightness of the 2 screws which tighten the clip in place, before I’m asked, I even had to purchase a hex screwdriver small enough to fit!
Jason,
Yep, I’ve found the mounts for the L50/M50 to be quite unreliable. Since buying the L50 in December, I’ve had the following mount failures during rides:
– 2x aluminum out-front mounts: broke in half (same place both times — right after the 90-degree bend where there are two adjacent screw holes). Computer and light attached via GoPro accessory mount went tumbling onto the road at speed and using the leash as suggested by the manual wouldn’t have prevented this because of where the mount fractured.
– 1x aluminum out-front mount: the two screws holding the tab (that clips the computer in) rattled loose during a ride and then the same screws snapped in half. The computer would have fallen onto the road if I didn’t attach the leash to a separate K-Edge mount that was holding my light.
– 1x Anywhere mount Garmin quarter-turn adapter: I tried using this to mount the Dash to a stronger K-Edge quarter-turn mount after giving up on Stages’ out-front mount, but the thin plastic around the single screw holding the Dash to the quarter-mount adapter broke off on the first ride within 25 miles, so the computer fell off the mount. Luckily, it was leashed to a separate mount again.
Stages support sent me two replacement out-front mounts and even a new L50 replacement when the screen was scratched by the tumble in the second mount failure all for free under warranty, but I think I’ve lost the will to keep filing more tickets with them to get yet another copy of a mount I don’t trust.
The only Dash mount that I’ve found to reliably keep the L50 attached to my bike so far is the Anywhere mount using the o-ring option. Unfortunately, that rattles around a lot during rides and it’s not mounted out front, so it’s an annoying solution.
I like the L50 computer itself for the most part, but ultimately, without any reliable out-front mount options directly from Stages or aftermarket vendors like Bar Fly and K-Edge, I’m likely going to replace it with something from another brand this year.
Hi Conrad,
your experience sounds identical to mine! the first one failed and the L50 fell to the ground, luckily i was climbing, so only a tiny mark on the side of the unit.
Fitted a brand new mount to another bike, within 2 rides loose a screw on one side and Dash was falling off, only to be saved by the leash!
I’ve been in contact with support who are really good at getting back, but this was a over a month ago and I’m still waiting for Saddleback (UK supplier) to reach out. In the meantime another fail is on the cards!
I reached out to Raceware direct, they have been recommended in the comments section.
Super quick reply from them, here is a pic of a prototype they are almost ready with. I’m not sure how strong/different it will be, whether or not you can attach a Gopro to the underside, but having a alternative is a start at least!
I think it will be priced at £30 plus postage.
how is this mounted as the slot at the back is clearly not in use ?
I’ll let the Stages guys comment here as I’m sure they know, but my guess would be they’ve used a glue-on Garmin adapter mount for it, or, some combination of the Dash “Mount Anywhere” mount, with the Garmin adapter.
The problems with mounts breaking may be related to the high force needed to attach the Dash. I had one mount break the piece that goes under the bars as I was pushing down hard to get the Dash to seat in the mount. Stages sent me a new one right away which I was happy about. Since then I mount the Dash in the mount by supporting the bottom of the mount with my fingers and pressing the Dash down with my thumbs. No problem since then. I think that mounts are sort of like bottom brackets- every manufacturer has a different “standard” for no particular reason other than to be different since a perfectly workable version already exists.
Hi,
I am thinking of switching to an Dash m50. But I habe some Questions:
– how long is battery time with powermeter, heartrate and routing?
– can I still only get the trainingpeaks structured workouts manually on file level to the dash?
– is there any form of live tracking?
Cheers Sascha
Hello! I am having a problem that I cannot solve myself. The map is not displayed, as well as the route that I made. I used different programs. The maximum is hints about turns. Stages Dash m50, maps of Russia. Instead of a map, I see the message “Loding title”. Stage tech support is not responding.
Two reason Im not buying this.
It cant be mounted on my Black Inc integrated bars. I can only fit garmin mounts.
I really need to see my AXS gears on Stages.
Hoping Jim from Stages sees this !
I’ve been running a Dash since July 2019, I was sent a new unit in February and that one has run very well, I have had one lockup which I think I could now sort for myself having been sent the fix from support.
My main gripe now is over the need to get Premium Support enabled to get to the Course and Workout builders, Courses I can do over USB if I have to, but I now have a power meter (Favero, sorry !) and am starting to experiment with workouts, and without Premium I seem to be limited. Support always switch on Premium when asked, but at the moment it is taking several days for support to respond to tickets (unless you complain on Facebook), perhaps I just need to ask a week in advance of the activation expiring. But wouldn’t it just be easier to make Premium access permanent, until you have the proper solution ? Or perhaps you don’t want to leave premium active when perhaps people might have moved on from the Dash. I feel like I am getting less than the full product at the moment, of course when you switch on premium I also get access to all your training plans which I understand I should not be getting long term.
I bought the Dash M50 based on this review in September 2020, as it appeared to be better suited to my needs than the Wahoo Element Bolt, the other option in my price range.
To say that I am disappointed with the M50 would be an understatement.
1) I have been experiencing problems with elevation data from the start.
The instant elevation data displayed on the head unit is completely inaccurate. The elevation reading remains constant for long periods of time, basically only changing once or twice on a ride, including on long climbs. The real-time elevation graph is hit and miss: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it starts to display the elevation mid-ride. The elevation data in the workout files are often buggy: I have files where no change in elevation is logged, I have files where the first 5-10-15-20kms are missing and then starts to log it correctly from a random point, and I have files which are perfectly fine.
2) The map feature simply does not work 90% of the time – the Dash M50 would not load the map, and would display a ‘loading tiles’ message for hours. Same for routes and navigation. What is quite puzzling that it does work sometimes, on some stretches of certain roads, but even then it would freeze once I leave the “known” stretch. I am usually riding on major state and prefectural roads in the Tokyo area, so these are supposed to be on every normal map.
I have been told by support that these are known firmware issues when using the Dash M50 with a speed sensor, which will be resolved. A new firmware came out this week which, according to the release notes, should fix elevation bugs etc. None of these issues were resolved for me. In addition, the firmware update also messed up a lot of my settings (HR zones, screen brightness, sensors, type of workout, etc.). The whole thing comes off to me as incredibly amateurish.
There are other problems as well:
3) Sensor pause feature is buggy. Sometimes it pauses the Dash at every red light, sometimes it keeps logging the workout during a long break.
4) As others have pointed out in the comments, access to the Premium features on Stages Link lapses, and once it does, you lose your ability to create/add workouts and routes. I assume you can still do that from 3rd party apps, have not tried yet. BUT for me one of the main selling point of the Dash was the integrated workout and route creator, which is now gone. (And even if supports reinstates my access, it is a bit of a nuisance.)
5) On the few occasions I have been able to use the map and navigation feature (interestingly, it works on some roads further away from home), the elevation profiles for the routes I had created on Stages Link were off. For example, I wanted to pace myself on a long climb I hadn’t tackled before based on the profile, but the profile was off by about 2kms. In practice this meant that the route profile on the Dash displayed that I was on the top of the climb, even though I still had 2kms to go uphill. Needless to say, I did not enjoy that part. I’ve noticed a similar pattern on other routes I had created — even when I go over them in the route creator, I can tell that there is a discrepancy between the elevation and the route. Weird.
6) Contrary to previous commenters, I did not have any problems with attaching the Dash to the mount, but the mount did develop quite a bit of play in only 4 months, so it appears that it will not last long.
So in brief, now I have a $250 bike computer with features I can get for under $100 (no maps, no navigation, no structured workouts, no reliable elevation data, unreliable sensors pause feature, buggy routes, unreliable mount). The screen is really nice, but at the end of the day I regret not getting the Wahoo Element Bolt every time I get on my bike.
As some have noted, it looks like Stages is changing what they consider Premium features. Per my latest email with support – Course Builder is now considered a premium feature (unlike what is called out in the review). Not sure if it’s worth updating, but if this is reality it seems worth updating as the mapping feature is difficult without (at least for me Strava course sync also seems like it’s premium).
I recently bought the L50 unit and am happy with the display, but have had problems with the fit files for rides longer than a couple of hours. On 2 occasions recently the fit file, and upload to Strava, have truncated the ride to the last 4 or 5 miles, although the elevation data remains correct. The mileage is correct, however, on the stages link app. Here’s an example, stages link correctly records 41.3 miles, same ride upload to Strava records 4.6 miles, elevation data the same for both: link to stages-link.com. link to strava.com. If this persists I will have to resort to recording the ride on another device, and using the Dash for its map display alone. Disappointing to say the least. I haven’t seen other reports of this via web searches, so maybe its a bad unit. I opened a ticket at Stages more than a week ago, no response yet.
Jim,
This sounds like a strange issue that we are not seeing in regular production release testing. I will find your ticket and get more information from you there. We absolutely want to get you going with confidence!
Nicholas,
The issue is with the provider of Stages Link. They are unable to make the course builder a community feature so for those who have asked, we have given premium to make up for this. We are still hoping they are able to make this feature community but its been a long time now so we’re not sure if it will get done soon or not.
If you need this feature, please email support@stagescycling.com and we will help you out.
Jim,
I looked for a support ticket with your name and could not find one. I also clicked on the links in your comment and they do not take me to the ride file in question. Could you create a support ticket with support@stagescycling.com and in the subject line say “Jim from Stages sent me”?
Sure, but here is a direct link to the ticket link to support.stagesdash.com.
RE the ride file on stages link, I couldn’t find a way to make that public. In any event I will enter a new ticket with all this information.
It occurred to me that on both rides I “deactivated” a course in route, because I was no longer following this course. But I don’t think the deactivation occurred at the point of the file corruption, Anyway maybe that will help, I will open a new ticket.
Hi – thanks for the reply. My issue is that your website still calls out course builder as a feature of the Dash (without any comment that it is a premium feature). Through support I was able to get “premium” but it’s for a limited time and “course builder” is one of those things that you only need when you need it.
Obviously there are other methods to create courses – but, it feels as though Stages shouldn’t be advertising it as a default feature if it isn’t and as your current infrastructure is built it is not a default feature.
For anyone who comes across this, my problem turned out to be a one-off with my unit, Stages Support were very prompt and helpful in trying to debug this and ultimately sending a replacement.
Arggh well I declared victory too soon. Today on a 61 mile ride the new unit did the same thing, kept only the last 11 miles in the .fit file. As usual the stages link app shows the correct mileage and elevation, but wrong time. The fit file (strava) has the truncated mileage but correct elevation. This is the 4th occurence, on 2 different units.
Ray,
(Stages Dash L50):
There are two tiny screws under the mount that allow you to change the clamping tension on the mount so that you don’t have to be Schwarzenegger to press it in. There was a supplied torx driver in the box for mine to do this but no real instructions.
The power button is a pain in the next to press but works. All the other buttons are pretty good on mine with firm and good feedback.
I opened a case to see if they will upgrade me to the “free” premium membership.
Stages Link website is pretty darn awesome as you wrote in the review. I paid $150 for mine brand new to replace a Garmin 130 Plus (buggy, buggy, buggy). At this price for an L50, it was a no brainer.
Hello,
i’m trying to figure out how to push a .gpx route to the dash without using a computer. You mentioned “B) Link up your Strava account, and have it push favorited courses to Stages Link, and then onwards to Stages Dash”
Can you maybe add some details on how to do that? I did connect my strava account but the favorited courses don’t sync to the dash.
If you get onto the latest firmware and newer app (Firmware 3.0 and ‘Stages Cycling’) then they do sync up easily, also syncs with RidewithGPS. You can send a course to the Dash, then activate that course, from the app.
All in this 3.0 makes the Dash look much nicer, due to better fonts used, at least to my eyes. It feels a little more responsive. Some menu items have moved around but I’m still finding them.
hola el M50 y L50 son compatibles con di2?
Any news on the new Stages M200 and L200 Dash units and what they offer in comparison to the M50 / L50. They must be due out soon as they are selectable as Dash computers in the new ‘Stages Cycling’ Android app.
I’m sure DCR is not going to be impressed by the fact that the L/M200s appear to have micro-USB ports. Amazing!
tried to update my stages dash (I’m super averse to software updates as I never ever have good experiences)
Followed the rather bizarre instructions (plug in the dash to computer, drag and drop file from the firmware page once you download it, eject and unplug dash) and my unit is now bricked. I see a blank screen. On/off cycle brings my back to the blank screen after a beep. It’s black but you can tell it’s on due to the backlighting.
Stages phone support number always seems to be unmanned as I get the “no one is available leave a message” recording. Email and support tickets have been left unanswered for weeks.
Support seems to be nonexistent. Maybe I’ve just been unlucky and this isn’t the normal experience for others. I’d say skip these and look at a garmiin, wahoo or hammerhead unit.
Have you tried the hard reset? Press and hold the ‘Power’ button for about 15 seconds.
doesn’t seem to work at all. held for a bit longer to be sure. screen turns off and doesn’t do anything beyond that. if I try turning it on again I get a quick beep and blank backlit screen again.
Dash Product Firmware Update has added Full Climb (including Live Climb Stats). Love it!
Yes this is a much welcomed major software update, nice to see that Stages rolled this out to older versions of the stages dash as they could have just kept if for the new m200 and L200 series like Garmin did when they introduced climbpro .
on the photo with different mount options I saw one for Cannondale but haven’t been able to find it anywhere else online. For some integrated handlebar/stem options? Or I’m mistaken?
Thanks Ray. Can you think of any reason why you couldn’t stick an adhesive Garmin mount to the back of this device?
Stick on 1/4 turn would definitely work also this is available
link to saddleback.co.uk
I have stuck Garmin style tabs to both my L50 and M50 using 3m adhesive patches and been using them on Garmin mounts for over a year.
Thanks for the link Paolo
That’s brill. Thank you for taking the time to upload a photo. Much appreciated