Just about one year after Wahoo started shipping the Wahoo ELEMNT, they’re back at it again with a new and smaller variant – the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT. Now like their competitors, this unit isn’t designed as a successor, but rather simply another option with a different size for those who want a smaller unit. Some folks want a bigger display – and the existing ELEMNT is still there for ya.
The new ELEMNT BOLT packs in all the same software goodness as its larger brother, but just does so in a much smaller package nearly identical in size to Garmin’s Edge 520 and Edge 820 units. But as I’ll talk about in a moment – the BOLT also incorporates the last year’s worth of changes that Wahoo has made on the existing ELEMNT. So if you read my review a year ago, it’s a very different situation today.
I’ve been using the BOLT for quite a while now – and thus have had plenty of time to put together an in-depth review and dive into all the nuances and details. Like always, once done with the unit I’ll ship it back to them and go out and get my own. Also, while I did attend Wahoo’s media event – I paid my own way for travel/hotel/etc costs. Mostly I just wanted an excuse to ride in the sun for a few days.
With that – let’s get started!
(Oh, and a side note before I get started because I don’t know where else to put it – the BOLT is shipping as of today, for $249.)
What’s new and different:
While it’s true that the Bolt’s software is the same as the original ELEMNT’s, it would be hugely mistaken to think it’s the same ELEMNT we saw a year ago. The difference is beyond night and day; it’s like the Sun and Pluto. Assuming Pluto is still considered a planet. Poor Pluto.
The amount of changes that have occurred to the ELEMNT from launch until now is staggering. Things like legit turn by turn directions, Strava Segment integration, and BestBikeSplit integration are all major items. But in many was it’s the hundreds of smaller changes that are more important. It’s these little nuanced details that might have driven folks crazy a year ago, are now gone. I’ve gone through the firmware update notes for the last 12 months, and consolidated into what I think are the most notable non-bug related items (from hundreds of hundreds of changes):
– Added Route Me Anywhere
– Added Back to Start Routing, Reverse Routing
– Added Turn by Turn Navigation
– Added ability to sync routes via Bluetooth (previously just WiFi)
– Added support for GPX, TCX, and FIT routes from USB (plus wirelessly)
– Added Komoot, BestBikeSplit, Strava Live Segment integrations
– Added about 100 new data fields
– Added a bunch of languages (Thai, French, Dutch, German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese)
– Added ability to mix unit types (i.e. miles with meters)
– Added sync partners like Dropbox and SportTracks.mobi
– Sensor pages can now show actual sensor firmware versions
– Increased from 9 data fields to 11 data fields per page
– Text/E-mail notifications can now be read full-screen
And of course, I’m being picky in what I’m selecting from the massive list I linked to above. Just scrolling through that all is pretty mind-boggling. Certainly, many items are bug fixes or making things better, but a lot are just 1% type changes/enhancements that if they impact you – it might be a big deal for you.
In any case, I’ve consolidated much of this review and the basics into a single semi-cohesive video, which you can view here:
With that – let’s dive into the full in-depth review below.
Unboxing:
To get started, let’s look at what’s in the box. Which of course starts by looking at the box itself.
First up the unit will slide out from its little window, where you’ll simply pop it out of the hole.
Under the plastic cover are all the accessories.
The accessories include the following:
– Out-front bike mount
– Handlebar bike mount
– Micro-USB charging cable
– Some paper stuff
– Zip ties for handlebar mount
Here’s a mini-gallery of these items:
And then, of course, there’s the BOLT itself.
Note that the below video not only includes the unboxing, but also a detailed size and weight comparison of the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT, as well as virtually every other competing bike computer out there.
With that, let’s dive into the basics of using the unit.
The Basics:
To get started with the ELEMNT, it’s almost appropriate to look at the out-front mount that’s included with it. This mount is unique in that it’s one of the first (if only?) mounts out there designed to be aerodynamic when the unit is connected to it. Most mounts are designed around a specific connector type (i.e. those from K-Edge or Barfly), and while a given mount may be slightly more aerodynamic than the next, in many ways it’s the bike computer that’s hindering the whole situation aerodynamically.
In Wahoo’s case, they built what they’re claiming is the most aerodynamic bike mount/computer combo on the market (a claim I’m interested in validating…soonish.) That’s because once the BOLT snaps into the mount, it makes any sharp edge disappear from view.
What’s even more interesting is that on the BOLT mount there’s a small screw. This screw is there in the event you want to screw your BOLT into the bike mount semi-permanently. By enabling this, Wahoo’s sponsored pro teams (such as Team Sky) could include the unit during bike weigh-ins (applicable at UCI sanctioned events such as the Tour de France), as opposed to having to remove the unit for the weigh-in. Since the goal of most weigh-ins is to meet the minimum weight threshold, this enables them to do so without ‘adding’ weight afterwards (installing a bike computer after the weigh-in). While Team Sky hasn’t yet committed to the BOLT for 2017, it’s certainly a factor they’re looking at.
With everything…umm…bolted on…let’s talk basics. First up is the unit itself, which has a single button on the left side, two on the right side (up/down), and three along the base of it. The left button is used for power and accessing the settings. The right buttons are used for going up/down menus, and increasing/decreasing data fields. And the lower buttons allow changing of data pages and confirmations within various prompts.
Diving very briefly into the settings menu, this is where you can pair sensors, as well as configure things like the backlight or whether you’re indoors or outdoors. But I’m going to dive more into sensors in a dedicated section below.
What’s notable about the BOLT though is that virtually everything can be configured via the Wahoo ELEMNT companion phone app. In fact, that app is basically required to make the ELEMNT BOLT work. It does make things super-quick to configure though.
Back briefly on the BOLT, one thing to understand is how data pages work. On the BOLT you’ve got a number of core data pages that you can iterate through by pressing the ‘Page’ button in the lower right. These include a map/routing page, a data fields page, a climbing page, lap page, Strava Segments page, and any custom pages.
Within the data fields page, the number of fields and specific fields that you’ve displayed will vary. Specifically, they’re ordered based on your prioritization, which allows you to increase/decrease the number of fields shown by just pressing the up/down buttons. You can thus display a single data field, or nine data fields (all on a single page), and it’ll just remove those that are less important to you.
Don’t fret though – you can still create secondary data pages and customize those too. All that’s done within the ELEMNT Companion App I mentioned earlier.
Here’s a look at some quick customization:
Back on the unit itself, when you’re ready to ride you simply hit the start button and it’ll start recording as you’d expect. It’ll show your data in real-time, and then allow you to increase/decrease data fields as you see fit in real-time. Same goes for changing data pages. Basically, everything you’d expect from a bike computer.
All of this from a basics standpoint works just fine and dandy – no issues here. Don’t worry, I’ll dive into features like mapping/navigation, Strava Live Segments, sensors, and so on in separate sections below.
Along the top of the BOLT are a series of LED lights that can be utilized to present additional information. In the original ELEMNT, there was also a side LED column, but that’s gone to save space in the BOLT. You can see these LED’s illuminated partially below:
These LED’s are generally used for navigational information, but can also display speed, power, or HR zones. Your zones can be configured on the profile tab. Further, they’ll display data around notifications being received.
Speaking of notifications, during the ride you’ll see notifications from texts display on the screen (if you’ve configured as such). You can even configure a temporary ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode, should you be in the middle of something important (like an interval).
Once completed with a ride, it’ll sync to the app where you can dive into it in more detail. There’s a boatload of charts to choose from.
However, what’s more important is that it’ll sync automatically to any number of sites that you’ve configured in the accounts tab. These include sites like TrainingPeaks, Strava, and so on. It’ll do this via WiFi and Bluetooth Smart.
You can also just plug-in the BOLT using micro-USB and grab the .FIT file directly. That’s a pretty common file type standard that most devices use these days for recording fitness data.
Last but not least, the app has settings for things like the backlight timeout (note: the backlight is significantly brighter on the BOLT than the original ELEMNT), as well as auto pause or automatic power off settings.
Oh – and you can even send out a Live Tracking link. But that’s probably the worst feature of the BOLT. Like the ELEMNT it’s little more than a single dot of where you are. No track history, no sensor data, no elevation. Nothing. Just a lonely green dot on the side of a mountain.
So sad.
However, turn that frown upside-down, because Wahoo does have some group tracking of sorts. You can, on the units themselves, at least track other people while they’re out riding. For example during a solo ride last week I unknowingly passed Jose, as seen below on the unit.
This type of functionality can be useful in group ride situations for tracking other riders, as well as in cases where you want to try and meet up with a group ride and are waiting for incoming riders before heading out.
One quick note about battery life – the unit is spec’d at 15 hours, and I’d say it’s right on target of that. On a 7hr 31min ride (where GPS was left on the entire time, with ANT+ sensors and mapping and no auto-pause), the unit came back at 49% battery remaining. It started at ~95%.
With those basics out of the way, let’s dive further into all the nuances of those other features.
Trainer Control:
Given Wahoo is a trainer company as well, it’s of no surprise that the unit is able to control your trainer. And as I’ve said in the past, nobody does trainer control from a head unit better than Wahoo.
The BOLT includes a number of different trainer control modes, allowing you to skip use of 3rd party software to control your KICKR/KICKR SNAP if you want – in lieu of having the BOLT directly control your trainer.
Within that, there are different modes that you can use to control the trainer. For trainer aficionados, these will likely be familiar. But let me give you a quick overview:
Erg Mode (Target Watts): Allows you to specify a given wattage level – i.e. 150w, 237w, 350w, etc…. % Resistance Mode: In this you specify in % a given resistance level – i.e. 10%, 25%, etc… Note that this isn’t grade though, just total resistance available. Route Mode: Here you specify a saved route (from one of the ones you’ve downloaded to your unit). Passive Mode: In this case you’ve got another app controlling the KICKR (i.e. Zwift), where the BOLT just chills out and records the data. Level Mode: Simply set a resistance level, i.e. ‘Level 3’.
Now most of my time has been in simple ERG mode. It’s just what I use the most. That means that I’m simply just setting the trainer at a specific wattage, on demand.
Doing so on the BOLT is simple. On your resistance page, you’ll use the middle button to shift between the three digits of wattage (i.e. 000w or 320w) – thus the hundreds, tens, and ones. Then you use the up/down to change wattage.
This makes it quick and easy to change wattage – be it a small amount (i.e. 5w during an interval) or a big amount (i.e. 300w from work to recovery). And that’s really critical.
So how is this different than the Garmin Edge? Well, it depends on which Edge unit you have. For example, with the Edge 820 and 1000, they both have touch screens, so changing the resistance level, à la ERG mode, has a suck level of 4 (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the worst rating). Whereas with the Edge 520 you lack a touch-screen, so changing resistance levels has a suck factor of 5. The problem is simply that there are far too many button/screen presses on the Garmin devices for ERG mode.
When it comes to the other modes (such as re-riding a route), they’re largely equal. Note that Wahoo does have the ‘Passive’ mode for trainers, that Garmin lacks. But honestly, I think that’s a pretty slim edge case, since most people can simply ‘fake’ that exact same thing by pairing the power meter side of any trainer out there (any trainer that supports FE-C, certainly supports broadcasting of power). Where the ‘Passive’ function is useful however is just minimizing the number of sensors paired. So there’s something to be said for that.
Sensors & Data:
When the ELEMNT was first introduced, one of the biggest strengths was its sensor support – which covered both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors. And the same is true of the ELEMNT BOLT. It retains all of that support, creating a clear differentiator against the Garmin Edge lineup, which still maintains ANT+ compatibility only.
The BOLT supports the following types of sensors:
ANT+ Heart Rate sensor
ANT+ Speed-only sensor
ANT+ Cadence-only Sensor
ANT+ Speed/Cadence Combo Sensor
ANT+ Power Meter
Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate sensor
Bluetooth Smart Speed-only sensor
Bluetooth Smart Cadence-only Sensor
Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence Combo Sensor
Bluetooth Smart Power Meter
Shimano Di2 System (via private-ANT)
SRAM RED eTAP System (via ANT+ Gear Shifting Profile)
BSX & Moxy Muscle Oxygenation sensors (via ANT+ Muscle Oxygen Profile)
Wahoo KICKR/KICKR SNAP Trainers
The above list captures the vast majority of cycling sensors out there today. If you were to boil it all down into things that the Edge series doesn’t support, it’d be:
Bluetooth Smart sensors (of all types)
Then there are things that the Edge series supports that Wahoo doesn’t (yet):
Garmin Varia Radar systems
Garmin VIRB Action Camera
ANT+ Lighting Control (Garmin Varia lights)
ANT+ Remote Control
ANT+ Weight Scales
ANT+ FE-C Trainers (most electronic trainers except Wahoo trainers)
Of course, all of these things may or may not matter to you. For example, if you have a Wahoo trainer, then you won’t care that it doesn’t support FE-C yet. Whereas if you have a Tacx trainer, then you very much might care. Or you still might not care if you only use Zwift to control your trainer.
Wahoo notes that they do plan FE-C support for this upcoming Fall (Fall 2017), but I’d note that they said that last year too…and that never happened.
As for action cam integration, Wahoo is backing away from the previously discussed GoPro control. Some of that seems to be blaming GoPro for their funky software implementation (a message I’ve heard echoed from other companies that have investigated the same thing).
With all that out of the way, let’s talk about pairing. With the BOLT you’ll go into the settings menu and immediately see the sensors listed below. You can see the signal strength (and thus status) of the sensor right on the display.
You can select a given sensor to get more information about it. For example, on a power meter, you can select to calibrate it, or even see the left/right sensor status for a unit like the PowerTap P1.
Towards the bottom is the ability to add new sensors. This will search for the nearest sensor first and offer the ability to confirm/pair it:
Alternatively, you can go into the list of sensors nearby and add/select them manually. They are sorted first by sensor type, and then if multiple sensors exist nearby, it’ll show you the individual sensors.
Like most units on the market, you can assign names to the sensors. However, unlike most units, you can do so via your phone with the ELEMNT companion app. This makes giving sensor names a boatload easier. Also – you can pair from this same menu too, if you have unpaired sensors nearby:
As noted above, probably the most critical difference in terms of sensors here between the Wahoo ELEMNT and the Garmin Edges units is the ability to utilize Bluetooth Smart sensors. Garmin only permits ANT+ sensors, except on their newest Fenix 5 series, which can also connect to Bluetooth Smart sensors (Running Footpods, HR Straps, Cycling Speed/Cadence sensors, and Power Meters)
In the grand scheme of cycling, there are only a handful of cycling-specific devices that are Bluetooth Smart only (the mostly defunct Polar Bluetooth Power Meter Pedals), and the original Wahoo BlueSC or original RPM1 units. Beyond that, almost everything is dual (ANT+/Bluetooth Smart) these days. Of course, there are more Bluetooth Smart-only heart rate straps. But there are also numerous ANT+/Bluetooth Smart dual straps available too.
In terms of things I want to see ‘changed’, I’d put two requests at both company’s doors: I want to see the Edge series support Bluetooth Smart sensors (if technically capable on existing hardware, which I think it may be), and on the Wahoo side I want to see them move up the FE-C support. Given Wahoo’s trainer control implementation is just soooooo much better than Garmin’s from a usability standpoint, I’d love to see that happen sooner rather than later.
Note: For those curious, I’ve used the following sensors with the BOLT over the past month or so: Wahoo KICKR2, PowerTap P1 pedals, Power2Max NG, Garmin HRM-TRI, Scosche Rhythm+, Garmin Fenix 5 Optical Sensor Rebroadcast, Wahoo RPM, TACX NEO (Power/Speed/Cadence), Wahoo TICKR, Quarq DZero, and probably a few more I’m forgetting. I saw no issues with any of them as far as I can remember.
Update – Feb 2nd, 2018: Note that there are reports of issues with ROTOR and Favero power meters (Assioma and bePro) and certain total/average power meter metrics displaying correctly on the unit itself. This doesn’t impact the underlying recorded data, but rather the summary and average fields, including TSS/IF/NP. Wahoo says they’re hoping to have a fix out in the coming weeks.
Mapping & Navigation:
When the Wahoo ELEMNT first rolled out last year, the navigation was a bit…limited. Basically, they provided the equivalent of breadcrumb trail mapping. Albeit, overlaid onto a global street map. So it was one notch above the Garmin Edge 520 (default config), and about equal to a Garmin Edge 520 where you manually added some 3rd party maps (slight differences on both sides).
But then about 3 months later last June they added legit turn by turn navigation to the ELEMNT, which carries through to the BOLT. In this case, it’d let you know of upcoming turns on each street as you approached it, and would allow you to view cue sheets accordingly. And that’s basically where we are today with the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT.
First, let’s backup though and talk about how you get routes onto the device itself. For the most part, you’re going to leverage four key methods: Strava Routes, RideWithGPS, BestBikeSplit, or Komoot.
When you configure those accounts within the BOLT, it’ll automatically sync the routes via WiFi or Bluetooth Smart from your saved routes to your device. You can see these routes in either my Strava or RideWithGPS accounts. Note that the Strava routes won’t give you proper turn by turn, whereas RideWithGPS routes will.
Note that previously you had to have a WiFi connection to sync routes, but now that’s no longer required. You’ll see these routes displayed within the routes page on your BOLT. Next, we’ll select a route to begin navigation on. By default, after selecting, you’ll see the distance remaining and the cue sheet for your turns.
However, by pressing the back button you’ll get to the normal navigation page that shows you the map along with the distance until your next turn. You can also configure the data displayed at the top of the page as well:
As you approach a turn, it’ll notify you of that turn and the direction of travel.
All this works well. On my 84 mile route last week, it happily notified me of approximately 68,128 turns. Seriously, so many tiny roads. It works great for the most part.
I say ‘most part’, because I did feel at times it was a bit last second on some turns (whereas most times it notified well in advance properly). Also, in cases of traffic circles, while it does have the specific exit to take (i.e. 2nd exit), it can be hard to read on the smaller screen (and I have what the doctor would describe as “exceptionally good” eyesight).
In the example below – can you tell whether it’s the 1st or 2nd exit in that circle to take?
The only downside to the Wahoo turn by turn implementation is the inability for it to ‘recover’ from a wrong turn. Basically, it doesn’t know how to re-route you. That’s because technically speaking Strava or RideWithGPS has done that routing. If you get off course, the BOLT isn’t going to help you much, aside from letting you point your way back to the route. This isn’t a horrible thing, as sometimes it’s just quicker for you to figure it out yourself in a few seconds. But if you royally miss a turn (and don’t realize it for a long time), being able to re-route is handy.
Also – because the BOLT isn’t storing data like addresses or points of interest, it can’t do any of that routing without a phone. Meaning that on a Garmin Edge 820/1000, for example, you can enter in an address to route to (with no phone nearby) and it’ll get you there. You can do the same on the BOLT, but it has to be done from your phone with data services. So if you’re touring in a foreign country, you’re going to need a smartphone data plan for any mid-day re-routes.
Finally, there’s another newish feature on the BOLT which is the ability to use your phone to navigate point to point. This is great if you don’t have a pre-created route, and just want to route somewhere really important: Like a nearby ice cream shop. To do this you’ll crack open your phone and use the routing page:
Then you just send it to the ELEMNT BOLT and off you go on this route using the BOLT. It’s pretty darn cool, and reminds me a lot of what we saw Lezyne do last year. The reason I prefer this over doing it manually on the device (such as on an Edge 1000 series) is that often times Google/etc searches for places are simply more up to date. Plus, it’s usually easier to filter through results on your phone than on the head unit.
Having the ability to do it on the head unit certainly has its place – but if I had to pick one flavor, it’d be via phone and then sent to the BOLT. Note that you can also create a route from past rides, as well as create a route by opening a GPX/TCX file with the ELEMNT app (such as e-mailing it to yourself).
One area that both companies still seem to totally miss is the ability to easily create a route on my phone by just tapping a series of points on the map and then sending it to the bike computer (Wahoo only allows navigation to a single point from the phone app, Garmin none at all). To me when I’m exploring new areas, this is how I create routes quickly. I use EasyRoute (a free app), but getting that to devices is tricky. On the bright side, last year Wahoo ‘acquihired’ the developer behind EasyRoute, and it sounds like we may see that functionality incorporated into the lineup, which would be sweet.
Strava & 3rd Party apps:
When it comes to 3rd party apps on the device itself, for the most part that’s limited to Strava and BestBikeSplit. Wahoo doesn’t have an open app platform like Garmin does with Connect IQ. Instead, they prefer to pick specific partners and then build a single cohesive experience in a first party kinda way. And in many ways, that’s worked out well for them, specifically when it comes to Strava.
Strava integration with the BOLT is fantastic, just like it was with the original ELEMNT when they introduced it last summer. To get the BOLT working with Strava for Live Segments (which shows your status against competitor leaderboards), you’ll need to ensure you’ve got a Strava Premium account, as well as have that account all setup within the ELEMNT companion app. Further, you’ll want to double-check that your Strava Live Segments options are how you like them.
Next, on the BOLT you can go into the dedicated Strava page, which will show your ‘Starred’ segments around you. This is a bit different than Garmin, which will not only show starred segments, but also popular segments in your riding area. So in that sense, Garmin’s implementation is easier if you don’t know what’s cool around you. But that’s kinda where things win for the Garmin camp. Note that you can check your starred segment list on the Strava site (Dashboard > My Segments).
Once that’s all set and good, you’ll sync your BOLT using either WiFi or Bluetooth Smart. Either will work for this purpose. Then you’ll head on outside and find a segment. As you get within range of a segment it’ll appear along the bottom – displaying your distance until the segment begins:
As you cross the line, it’ll show a big-ass ‘GO!’ prompt at the bottom of the BOLT.
At this point it begins showing you how far ahead or behind you are, as well as your distance remaining and end time.
You’ll notice it’ll display either your PR or the KOM on the page, which you can quickly toggle back and forth using the ‘VS’ button in the middle.
Once done it’ll give you a summary, including whether any KOM’s or PR’s were hit. In my case, none today. What’s cool though is that the BOLT (like the original ELEMNT) can concurrently handle multiple segments, which is something that Garmin is unable to do. So if you’ve triggered multiple segments that overlap (common in many places), you can just tap the ‘SGMNT’ button in the lower left to toggle between them.
Note that at any time you can change to other data pages by pressing the ‘Page’ button. Additionally, you’ll also get any routing/mapping information displayed on the Strava page as well along the bottom – should it occur.
Again – all of this works pretty darn well. Like when I tested it last summer, the only thing I really wish the BOLT did was allow me to toggle against not just PR/KOM, but also people I follow (friend’s PR’s). In many ways, that’s who I’m most interested in beating – which is a function that Garmin does allow.
Product Comparison:
I’ve added the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT into the product comparison database, which you’ll find below. But what if you want the quick and dirty version? Well, here’s some things to consider:
If you care about: Easy to use routing from existing services like Strava and RideWithGPS, dual ANT+/BLE sensor support, BestBikeSplit integration, and the best Strava/trainer integration: Then the BOLT might be your answer. When it comes to the basics – for the most part, these days, Garmin and Wahoo have all those down pat and are both equal. It’s nuances like these (on both sides) that separate them. Wahoo’s Strava Live Segment integration is easily the best I’ve tried, and their trainer control of their own trainers is awesome. They have dual ANT+/BLE sensor support, which Garmin lacks, and Garmin also lacks being able to easily get Strava and RideWithGPS routes onto their device. I haven’t heard of any plans from Garmin to rectify any of these items. Though, keep in mind Garmin does have Connect IQ – which means that they have far more apps out there than Wahoo does (since Wahoo has no app platform).
If you care about: Structured workout support, FE-C trainer control, Live Tracking, or Action Cam Control: Then the BOLT probably isn’t for you. Wahoo doesn’t have any of these features today, and while some are on the horizon, none are near-term. For example, the Garmin series can download structured workouts you create easily, and then the unit will guide you through them. Wahoo does have some support via BestBikeSplit for some cool integration there – but that’s really only useful if you utilize that service. On the other points, the Live Tracking is dismal on Wahoo, and the action cam control doesn’t seem like it’s in any cards (realistically). FE-C trainer control we should see this fall, which is when Wahoo says we might also see structured workout support. But on both of those – I’ll believe it when I see it. Also – if you tend to do more re-routing/re-navigation mid-ride without a phone, then the BOLT probably isn’t for you either (i.e. touring in a foreign country without data coverage). That’s because it doesn’t have any sort of POI/address/routing database on it.
Again – there are a crapton more nuances than those. But if I had 30 seconds to explain to someone the core differences, up above is really the gist of it. Beyond that, you get into many of the details outlined in the below tables. For the purposes of comparison, I’ve added the Wahoo ELEMNT, ELEMNT BOLT, Edge 520, and Edge 820. I think those are realistically the units people are most comparing these days. But fear not, you can use the product comparison tool to compare other units here.
Again, remember that you can mix and match your own product comparison chart using the product comparison tool here.
Summary:
A year later, and things are dramatically different for the BOLT than the original ELEMNT. As I said back then, one of the biggest challenges for me with the original ELEMNT was the size compared to my mainstay of a smaller Edge 520 (and now including the Edge 820). However, with the BOLT that’s no longer an issue. The same goes for many other nuances that kept me from using the Wahoo bike computers as my day to day unit.
But with the BOLT, I see it as incredibly likely that I might make the switch. And when I say ‘switch’, I mean to having four concurrent BOLT’s running on my bike concurrently. There are some minor nuances that I have when it comes to doing product reviews (such as power meter or trainer reviews where I validate data across 3-4 power meters at once) that make my workflow easier on Garmin devices, but ironically some of these same tiny quirks are blockers for Team Sky as well. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see them taken care of…soon. Plus, I love that the BOLT can sync to Dropbox, an annoyance that Garmin can’t do natively. That’s a huge help for me in consolidating data quickly post-ride. But again – I’m an oddity here on some of my requirements.
When I was out riding in Mallorca last week and not having to worry about comparing piles of multiple power meter data streams or numerous heart rate sensor data streams, the BOLT worked fantastically well. I had zero issues in routing or data display. It’s really just such a nice little package that works so well – and all cheaper than an Edge 520. Plus, I love how easy it is to stick a point on a map via the phone and have it route. The same goes for using RideWithGPS to get turn by turn routes onto the unit. All major benefits if you use those services.
So job well done Wahoo – you’ve managed to do what is far more difficult than most people realize: Making a really good bike computer that consumers will crave and love. It’s been a long journey from the original Wahoo iPhone Bike case to the RFLKT then the RFLKT+, then the original ELEMNT, and now finally the BOLT. But you’ve arrived.
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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.
If you're shopping for the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot.
And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors, you can use just about anything though.
I love out-front mounts. Both Barfly and K-Edge make good ones. I primarily use the aluminum ones though, because this mount comes with a GoPro (and light/Di2) adapter on the bottom. So I can mount a GoPro up front and have the footage be rock solid.
The Garmin Varia radar alerts you to cars coming up behind you, well before you see them. It's awesome for quieter roads (country roads/mountains), especially on longer rides. It's less useful for city riding. The RVR315 skips the light.
The Varia radar has become incredibly popular in the last year, with most bike GPS companies supporting it (Wahoo, Stages, Hammerhead, Garmin, and more soon). It notifies you of overtaking traffic. While useless for cities, it's amazing for quieter country roads.
This dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart sensor will transmit cadence not only to your bike computer/watch, but also 3rd party apps like Zwift, TrainerRoad, and more.
Speed sensors are primarily useful for offroad usage. I don't find much of a need for one while road-cycling, but for mountain bike trails they can help alleviate speed/distance issues with poor GPS reception in dense trees.
The Wahoo TICKR is their baseline dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart chest strap that includes basic broadcasting of heart rate data to apps. If you don't care about all the fancy features of the TICKR X, this is one of the best straps out there. The 'just works' factor is high.
The TICKR FIT is Wahoo's optical HR sensor band, and overall it's a pretty solid no-frills offering. It broadcasts dual ANT+/BLE with a claimed 30 hours of battery life. It doesn't have any other features beyond that. Simple and straightforward.
The TICKR X is Wahoo's top-end chest strap that not only does dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart (with two Bluetooth Smart channels), but also Running Dynamics, running pace, storage of workouts when you don't have a watch/phone, and even music control and laps.
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
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!
Brilliant, thanks for teeing this up and pushing it out so hot on the heels of the launch, I think I’ve just found my replacement having finally given up the Lezyne GPs (Y9) that promised lots but drove me nuts.
Yeah, I did it within the video in a fair bit of detail.
I meant to reshoot all that upstairs in natural light but somehow it slipped off my to-do list for last Saturday before my train. I’ll add them in this weekend.
Just to clarify, are you saying that the BOLT and the 1st gen ELEMNT use the same processor? Obviously, the displays are different and perhaps there is a different graphics chip.
A while ago there was a change that (i think?) removed the ability for a lot of 3rd party devices to upload to Garmin Connect – I think the elemnt was impacted… has this been resolved? Some of my iOS apps have since brought the feature back (iSmoothRun for example)
Garmin doesn’t seem to be on the list for linked accounts in the phone app (at least based on the review shots) so it seems like it’s not back (I may be wrong though).
Yep that’s what I was thinking. The share sheet of the element app on the store shows connect, but the release notes of the over wahoo app say it was removed.
If this works on the bolt I will be all over it!
While I was extremely happy to dump my 820 for an ELEMNT, at least for now I do like my data in Garmin Connect. (That being said, it’s buggyness is making me grow less tolerant.)
The way I set it up:
I have a Dropbox account (actually only for this).
Setup the E app to push the .fit file to that (and Strava) at the end of a ride.
Have the Dropbox app on my iOS devices.
Setup a ‘iOS desktop’ Safari shortcut directly to the GC Import screen.
Then I can open that, browse directly to Dropbox for the .fit file, it will ‘download’, then I can hit the import button.
It’s actually easier to do on an iOS than a PC desktop.
It’s not 100% automatic, but very easy.
That was my question re sending to Garmin Connect at the end of a ride too.
I used to use iSmoothRun for years for both running and cycling until I finally got round to buying a Fenix 3 (as I mainly run) and continued to use my phone to record rides (but auto exporting to both Garmin and Strava after). I like things to be automated so that I don’t have to do anything (ie after a run the Fenix 3 syncs with my phone and data appears within both Garmin Connect and Stava within a minute or less) so if this unit can auto export/share to Garmin Connect then I may pick up one of these over the Garmin 520 (which I was thinking of getting as my first proper headunit – I’ve been using the Wahoo RFLKT+ with my phone up to now).
I too like my data in Garmin Connect (and SportTracks 3 PC-app).
I can grab a .FIT-file from the Bolt and import it in GC.
However, when I shall view that activity, Garmin webpage fails and Garmin android app show no map.
Import in SportTracks 3 PC-app does not work.
Working with the file in GPSBABEL does not work.
Are your -FIT-files compatible with Garmin Connect?
The root cause of the issue is likely that BOLT uses FIT 2.0, I have no idea why the manual import on GC doesn’t work for FIT 2.0 since all there devices support it. The best thing to do is reach out to the developers of SportTracks and GPSBABEL, it should be a pretty simple update for them to handle FIT 2.0 files. I have a contact at SportTracks and can send them a email.
SportTracks is not that willing to help with improvements to the ST3 version. I paid for this version and like the offline tool, so I don’t like that I need to pay for the ST.mobi only to import fit files for offline usage. There reply is:
================
Hi there.
It’s possible the new FIT file not supported by the ST3 version. The updated software online should support this.
We don’t have plans to have any new releases of the ST3 software at this point.
-Team SportTracks-
================
I hope that you will try contact SportTracks. Maybe it can help, if you explain that the solution is simple…
I’ll be honest here – this isn’t Wahoo’s fault, this is 100% on Sport Tracks. And in fact, they already implemented it online as noted (meaning, they’re capable of doing it for the desktop client).
The new FIT 2.0 file standard came out well over a year ago now, and everyone else now for the most part properly supports it. It’s this standard that allows additional data to be recorded into the files, including new sensor types and custom data.
I learned that I shall not blame Wahoo for exploiting a new standard (without knowing if they comply to it properly). Instead, I think that Garmin need to support FIT v2 in Garmin Connect, and I hope that SportTracks will update their PC application.
Garmin actually supports it as well (they were the first to). It’s used in all Edge products now, the Fenix 5, Fenix 3/3HR, FR735XT and just about anything else that supports Connect IQ.
Now…the better question is what’s causing the failure on uploads to GC from Wahoo. It wasn’t broken as of about a month ago, and then it broke. It’s not super clear to me if it was a Wahoo-breaking thing, or a Garmin breaking thing. Obviously, someone broke something. I just don’t know who.
@Ray: Sure. I have sent Garmin my FIT-files asking if they have a compatibility issue.
@Eli: I have posted my idea. Unfortunately, I don’t expect an action from Sport Tracks as they are not willing to update the ST3. Reference: link to sporttracks.uservoice.com
I am just a little fish…
Ray, we only switched to FIT 2.0 last big update (Strava rolled out full support last month). Its my understanding that FIT 2.0 upload doesn’t work when manually uploading files to GC, we tied FIT 2.0 from their own devices and it failed as well. Maybe its not exactly FIT 2.0 and just some other issue. We would love to get it resolved.
Strava’s supported parsing of the files since approximately 3PM Pacific Time on August 31st, 2016 (about a year ago). I only know this because I was somehow the first person to actually notice that the FIT2 developer fields were breaking Strava uploads when rolled out on a Garmin beta update I got (I’ll ignore the fact that somehow nobody at Garmin noticed this in months of testing). And because I happen to have an e-mail from the Strava crew when the fix was implemented – Outlook for the win! ;) Now, as for more full-scale support, perhaps they changed something last month too.
As for GC, it’s long been using FIT2 uploads. So my guess is that’s not the issue, but rather something else in the file causing issues.
Garmin does have a history of occasionally ‘breaking’ 3rd party compatibility (as you know, being on the receiving end of it). Whether that’s purposeful this time, or who’s fault it is, I’m not sure. There was times were Timex .FIT files failed because Garmin didn’t follow the spec correctly. Thus some companies have simply worked to figure out where the oddities are so that uploads work.
Obviously they don’t really have any interest in making it easier for companies like Wahoo to leverage their platform (despite it being an obviously good thing for them….). Which may in turn delay getting it figured out as to what’s causing the breakage. :(
(And just in case it’s not clear to folks, I’ve long been trying to convince Garmin to open their Garmin Connect platform up. It’s a stupid business decision not to. Eventually they’ll get it.)
Can anyone tell if the Wahoo-GC compatibility issue is caused by Wahoo changing their file format or Garmin changes their GN import function? It is mentioned that it wasn’t broken as of about a month ago, and then it broke. So, if someone can try import a FIT-file from a Wahoo Bolt unit created more than one month ago and see if it imports properly into GN, then we have a clue….
Interesting, we had to delay our FIT 2.0 release to wait for Strava to switch over to a new FIT parsing, they had a roll-your-own parser for a while, maybe it was compatible enough for your Garmin uploads. Anyway, that’s mute now.
Interesting that you haven’t had trouble with manual uploads of FIT2.0, we have with files from Garmin devices, I will reach out privately and maybe you can help us resolve the issue. Like you said, it can be hard with conflicting interests.
I picked an old BOLT .FIT file from March, and that still uploads to GC just fine. I then picked two from July 17th, and both failed. Interestingly, I then picked one from July 30th or so, using the ELEMNT MINI’s App, and that actually works. And one from yesterday on the BOLT fails. All of these were .FIT files via Dropbox and then manually uploaded to GC using the website.
I’d agree there’s no logical reason it shouldn’t work, but usually nuance of something odd is why they don’t work. I’ll catch-up with Murray some more and see if between us we can figure out some aspect of the pattern.
Done at ST site.
Question, I am simple: speed, distance, HR etc. I will be able to Load to Strava then export as .gpx and load into SportTracks correct?
You can export an activity as a .GPX-file within Strava to (somehow) get around the .FIT-file. I just did do so and imported it into Garmin Connect. It maintained “basic” data items but lost power data and average values considering when the activity was paused. Not recommended.
Hope that Ray and Murray can contribute to a better solution, although ST3 seems to be a dead end if ignoring ST.mobi.
Great review. The new mount is super cool, but unless I’m missing something, unusable for any triathlete using a between-the-arms hydration system, right? This seems odd. If any crowd is going to be attracted to a more aero bike computer, it seems likely to be the tri crowd. . .
That was my thought too actually. I can’t tell if it detaches or not. Perhaps Ray can chime in on that? Would be unusable for me, personally, for this reason. But the rest of it looks… very impressive. A clear shot across the bow for Garmin to take note of. I have a feeling a lot of people looking to upgrade will happily take a close look at this one.
Agreed, re: BTA mount. It seems like an obvious hole and triathletes would love it; I’m hoping they have one in the works? Sure you could use the ELEMNT mount because of the connection, but the way the backside of the BOLT is designed it won’t be as seamless as the engineered out-of-the-box solution on the BOLT’s packaged mount.
Ray, maybe you’ve heard something about optional mounts being offered? As always, thanks for the great review!
I am somewhat unhappy with my Garmin Edge 820 (that darn touchscreen, why did I go for touchscreen; plus a dead pixel on the screen that bugs me on top of it). If WAHOO comes up with a full color version, I think that would be the one to have. I just prefer color vs B/W.
Ray, one correction: “you can still crease secondary data pages” -> “create”?
Recently saw that on Strava iOS feed that they were pimping that Beacon could be used with my Garmin device. At the moment I Bluetooth connect 810 to Garmin Connect iOS, and “Start Live Track”.
I am not sure what Strava Beacon offers that Garmin Live Track doesn’t?
I use the garmin live track all the time, but I would like to switch to the Elment, which has crappy live track. So if it worked with Breacon, that would help.
Unless it’s different from the elemnt you can view it visually (little gears) or with numbers, as well as battery info. See here: link to bikeradar.com
Good to read all the reviews that are out while Wahoo are still promoting the big upcoming announcement of a mystery product – that everyone already knows what it is.
The embargo as 9AM US EST. I had it setup for 3PM CET. Which was great…until about 2:15PM CET while sitting on a chairlift I got a text from someone asking why the review was missing (they knew it was set for embargo lift time).
@!#$@#%#
Forgot the US did their timezone changeroo this past weekend, so now only 5 hours behind me.
Sigh. Spent the next 35 minutes on the chairlifts in between runs trying to fix all the various things that were set to automatically trigger (Site post, YouTube, Facebook, database entries, etc…). Kinda a mess. But all good now.
This looks great. I wish Wahoo would come out with an equally awesome running watch so I could walk away from Garmin completely and still be with on vendor for both running and cycling.
I saw this on their twitter feed a while back. Very promising. They didn’t deny it which says a lot.
I’m trying to post the link to the tweet but the spam filter won’t let me.
3rd August 2016
“@mjulianb There has been some research on our end regarding a watch. You will need to stay tuned.”
Wahoo if your listening, this is what needs to happen to get the rest of us. However, I would really do some market research. IT seems there is a divide in the “watch” group.
Some people like me, don’t want a fenix 5, we prefer the garmin 230. But its not the features, its the weight size battery aspects.
I would make 2 watches. 1 for the tri nut jobs, and 1 for the rest., The 1 for the rest prioritize battery, weight, an size.
I would ditch garmin in second for my new bolt and new wahoo gps fitness tracker.
I agree. A 230/235 is my target. In fact, my 25 would be fine if it had a built in HRM…and, of course, if it would keep working, especially the wireless sync. A two watch offering from Wahoo would be great, but I bet a basic version and something around the 235 would be the perfect combo.
This is the one thing it doesn’t do that i want to see. The ability to build simple erg workout in Wahoo app that then send to Elemnt. I can’t believe they haven’t implemented this for the kickr. For now i use Hurts Ergo but would much prefer to keep my phone away and use my bike computer for all training.
I’m an ELEMNT user (with what a doctor would describe as lousy eyesight…) and really like the big screen on the ELEMNT so won’t be downsizing to the BOLT.
However I was interested if Wahoo have changed the feel of the buttons on the case.
I like the three buttons at the bottom and find them positive and easy to use with gloves, but find the two buttons on the right side (used to increase/decrease the number of data fields) less positive to use.
It would be good if Wahoo brought out a remote for handlebar control.
Hi Michael, Ray’s review of the Elemnt last year suggested the battery life was not as advertised. I need a decent battery life for touring but prefer the larger screen of the Elemnt. I wondered what your experiences were of battery life? Cheers!
I know I’m a noob and that this may not be the place for this, most likely asked already, question. But, why, if most non-pros out there carry their smartphone with them, do you need any of these units.
I keep reading the reviews, and wanting the new tech, but I stop at the pay now button. I have my iPhone 7 mounted to my bike with a Quad lock out front mount/case, running Strava or Ride with GPS. Battery life is fine for my typical 3-4 hour ride, and I can get 5-6 hours out of it if needed. Not to mention you shouldn’t carry your phone in your jersey pocket anyway.
Is the only benefit Ant+ and Battery life? What am I missing?
Battery life. Waterproof. MUCH smaller – less weight in expensive electronics bouncing with every pothole. Higher contrast in direct light. ANT+ support (up until a couple of years ago Bluetooth fitness devices were unheard of)
It doesn’t make sense for the casual rider, but if you put on a couple of thousand miles a year (not that unusual) then its worth the investment.
I typed a very similar comment at the same time. Weight is not much smaller if I compare my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact to my friends’ Garmin units. It has ANT+ support. It has adjustable brightness and gives me wonderful contrast – and COLOR! Hence, much better maps than my peers have. Battery life is shorter, but I still get more than 8 hours of riding out of it. Plus, that seems the easiest fix to me in various ways. I ride thousands of miles, and I still don’t see why I should carry two devices of those few extra features that these specialty units have could easily be implemented as an app.
If you carry your phone with you anyway, you’re already risking it. If you are carrying it in your Jersey pocket you are risking personal injury too. There have been several Lithium burns caused by falling on phones.
The iPhone 7 like many others coming out are even water resistant. I don’t even have any Ant only devices to speak of. If I have to carry two devices, the second might as well be a battery pack to keep the iPhone going which is far cheaper than a head the Element of Edge.
I get it, if your racing and that weight is a concern, I just don’t see it for myself… Yet.
I tried just using a phone for a few years, and then a RFLKT and RFLKT+. Bottom line: it’s not as reliable, you lose rides, and it’s just fussier. The WF app, for example, would fritz if a phone call came in during a ride.
I’m sure a lot of these issues have been fixed, but I’m also sure more have been added. The bottom line (for me at least) was I’ve never had an issue with a dedicated bike computer. It just works…
If you want to have the ability to see maps/stats while you ride, mounting a phone to your bars is awkward and puts the phone at greater risk in the event of a crash. A small head unit on an out-front mount is out of the way and much more protected in a crash. Additionally, most phones are only capable of a couple hours of screen-on time at best, so live-view maps and data screens will kill your phone’s battery very quickly. And touch screens just flat out suck to use when wet – either due to sweat or rain.
If all you care about is recording the ride and don’t need to see maps or live data on your speed/distance/power/whatever, then a phone is absolutely a fine choice. Apps like Strava are actually pretty light on battery as long as the screen is off – just fire up your tracker app of choice and toss the phone in your jersey pocket for the duration of the ride.
If that technology exists to make bike computers work, I can just repeat myself: it doesn’t take a genius to create an Android-powered bike computer with phone capabilities. It’s not that phones can’t have physical buttons. And that you could have a button that switches touchscreen functions on/off. It’s not that you couldn’t develop power management to get more battery life. Or, as Reuben said, that you couldn’t just carry an extra battery. If I have to charge an Elemnt Bolt after every second ride, I can also charge a phone after every ride.
I run OruxMaps on my phone. It’s permanently running maps and data screens. I use offline maps. (OpenAndroMaps – can only recommend them.). Helps with the battery I look at my data, I look at my maps. Actively use it to look ahead what’s coming up next on the route, something which is clumsy to do on a Garmin unit and requires just a swipe for me. I got calls, text messages, used other apps simultaneously. Just because one app is wonky doesn’t mean that that’s a problem inherent to phone. For what it’s worth, Ray mentioned the bugginess of the original Elemnt.
I have my phone on a Quadlock mount on the stem. I have crashed twice last summer. In one occasion, I got significant damage to my handlebar. My phone doesn’t even have a scratch. In most crash circumstances, it’s not likely to hit the ground – less likely than when sitting in the back pocket.
Way back when, what’s very first foray into bike computers was actually developing a bike case for the iPhone. Designed for road and TT bikes, etc…
What they…and everyone else, have learned is there’s simply very little market for developing phone based cycling head units that target this end of the market. Sure, cheap phone mounts are a plenty, but not once you get into the $300-$500 range. People just want a dedicated unit without the fussiness of a phone.
And ultimately – the piece that I can’t stress enough is that when it comes to phone-based apps, none do the full range of what Garmin (or even Wahoo) do today. It’s the nuances of all these little things that add up. Too many apps skip on little features that frustrate folks.
I think we will see attempts to do Android based units as time goes forward, but the battery life on dedicated units is just so strong these days it’s really hard to justify. For example, 15 hours of display-on, GPS-on riding isn’t something you’ll find in a phone.
Additionally, each time you upgrade your phone, you will most likely have to purchase a new cycle mount/case.
“Way back when”, I started using an iPhone 3S with a dedicated waterproof/shockproof case. It was a great case that cost about $50. I then upgraded to iPhone 4S and needed a new case… another $60 .When it came time to upgrade my phone again, it seemed more cost effective to spend money on a dedicated cycling computer and, as Ray points out, the UX of a dedicated unit is so much better.
As soon as you switch manufacturer from one computer generation to the next, you’ll also need a new mount. A plastic case and a simple Quadlock adapter come in at $25 combined. That’s eight generations of smartphones for one Elemnt Bolt. Let it be the $50 you say because you’re phone is not water-proof by design. That’s still four generations of smartphones. (The smartphone itself price is irrelevant here, since you’d buy a phone anyways.) Even if you switch your phone every two years, that’s 8 years of technological progress. By that time, you’d also switch your bike computer.
Sure, no single app has all the little features. But in combination of apps, you’ll get them easily on a phone. And still: if you can implement it as a software in a proprietary environment, generally you should also be able to implement it on a smartphone OS, no? Even if not, let’s be honest, many of those features are of the kind of “I want to have it, even though I’m never going to use it” for the majority of users.
I agree that a few years back this market wasn’t there. But phones have become better and stronger, and phone mounts have become better as well (Quadlock now is just one of various options). And more bulky to put in the jersey pocket. The compact Xperia phones are a good note on this: Every manufacturer was like “there is no market for small phones”, but the compact phones sold better than their larger brothers.
Ray, if I’m not mistaken, you’re an iPhone user, no? I’d be happy to see you doing a comparative review on a number of popular apps used on both iPhone and Android, certainly including OruxMaps, which I can just very highly advocate. I can’t stress enough that the attention your website gets, and your own thoroughness in reviewing things, could only help those app developers to go ahead, get better, and increase the range of options for more of us.
There’s fewer things I hate doing than app reviews. Here’s how it works (always works):
A) I do an app review, talk about things I don’t like.
B) Within a week, developer fixes things I don’t like (great!), and then asks me to update review ‘ASAP!’
C) Sigh. My post is not outdated and useless…unless I spend more time to update it/completely revamp it.
D) Then every other app that’s vaguely like app noted in item A, asks for a review of their app.
E) Sometimes, said apps even will ‘rally’ their Facebook fans to contact me to request a review of their app.
F) Other apps will continue to get upset that I haven’t reviewed them, often sending all sorts of odd e-mails to me about why I’m ignoring them.
And the cycle continues….a cycle that oddly only exists when I review apps.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure there’s a future for phones as head units, but I disagree that having a smattering of apps across phone models that rarely meet cyclists needs is the best solution.
The new iphone 7 is water resistant with better battery life. Although having it out on a mount might not be the best shock absorption as in a pocket, its still OK. The quad locks are great as they aren’t too rigid. I have the plus version and I’d say its a tad too big and looks a bit weird like futureBike 2.0, but until I get more serious into cycling I just can’t justify a separate unit. I’d say for MTB they make less sense but road riding its fine. Whats funny, is that even if I had a dedicated unit like the bolt (which is very tempting)… I’d then worry about the phone falling out of my jersey pocket or crashing with it!
Thomas, if you have made up your mind to use your phone as a head unit, then you should. I am not arguing with your preference. You posed a question and I replied with my experiences regarding your question.
I believe that you are assuming that I have a WF ELEMNT BOLT. I do not. I do own a few WF products, including a 1st gen KICKR, and I think they are a great company.
I average about 4200 road miles a year on my bike. For me, using a dedicated cycling computer has proven to be a much better experience than running one, or more, apps on my phone.
“As soon as you switch manufacturer from one computer generation to the next, you’ll also need a new mount.” – Do keep in mind that most, if not all, cycling computers come with at least one mount.
Indeed, that is most certainly true. Besides, one wouldn’t want to leave their smartphone on their bike: sometimes bike computers gets stolen in Parc Ferme.
I agree! But I want a small, aerodynamic 2nd screen. Panel shape, b/w high contrast screen. With barometer. Sliding (not turning) mount.
And a small pod with buttons to change screens, set laps.
Result: no big thing on the handlebar, no shaking/vibrating of the delicate electronics, save a lot of power, camera on hand, Google Maps, communication, music……
Too bad Wahoo didn’t do that right…….. (of why did it fail?)
It´s nice you´re happy with oruxmaps, probably the best app für cyclists out there.
I used it a lot and later other apps on an iphone.
Yes, it works, but once I got my Garmin I will never go back, although the Garmin software can be pita (same goes for Oruxmaps, but as you surely agree: it IS a great app and I never regreted spending money for it to support the developers). But (to me and many others) a dedicated device is simply better. I also like to have my phone in my backpack at full charge when I do long rides.
Btw I think you were lucky since I totalled a Sony Xperia Z3 in a quite harmless crash.
After riding for a while with the iPhone 7 plus as my primary head unit for several months I decided to get the Wahoo Bolt. Not because I feel my phone is safer in my pocket, not to save weight (I still carry the phone after all), and not so much for a screen easier to read in direct sunlight.
It came done to function. Strava Premium, which I love, has yet to get their Route Builder out of Beta. They have yet to get more screen customizations such as multiple screens for say climbing, nor have they taken advantage of the large screens phones offer. They still have no Turn by Turn directions and they seem more focused on social aspects than functionality during a ride. I still prefer Strava over other apps as they all have a host of issues. I have dropped my Premium account in protest.
I got the Bolt for Battery life, cycling specific design, and turn by turn directions for long routes. The screen is tiny, and difficult to read small labels during a ride (which won’t matter as much when I’m more familiar with the device). It’s just more convenient for cycling.
A couple points of criticism for the Bolt though;
I did find a bug already where the Bolt has difficulty reconnecting to my power meter after the meter goes to sleep during a food stop. Also the included Aero mount won’t allow for the Device to be centered (Similar to the bike in the DC’s review of it, it’s just off center). I tucked it as close as physically possible to the stem and the bolt sits 2-3mm off. Not really an aero issue, but my OCD won’t allow it. I purchased a K-Edge mount as per Wahoo’s suggestion, however this loses the aero factor.
I also miss the ability to answer Facetime calls during leisure rides, apparently my daughter gets a kick out of looking up nose….
I used to track my workouts with an Apple Watch and Strava + IPhone 6s+ in my Jersey for Audionavigation (komoot). That was completly fine for tracking.
Now i’m using a bolt because the apps in the phone are too limited for me:
Strava doesnt support intervals. No average HR for laps, no advanced metrics for powermeters etc.
Plus the battery issue with display on and GPS on.
The Quadlock Kit is 180g vs 63g for bolt. Additional battery pack not mentioned.
Strava Premium is for live metrics 60€/year. Lets say I use my bike Computer for 3 years, thats a 180+60€ for mount + 60€ for battery pack.
With lap and better powermeter support Strava could easily make a bike Computer obsolete for me. But we are not there yet…
Can the BOLT upload workout data to the Wahoo Fitness app? I use the Wahoo Fitness app to track my skiing/running/hiking and currently my cycling (with a RFLKT+.) It’d be nice to keep all the data in the same place.
I still don’t understand why not one of the big players has yet developed a dedicated Android-based outdoor phone. Size of a Sony Xperia Z1/3/5 Compact, more battery in exchange for less fancy smartphone features that I don’t care about on the ride, display brightness options (automatic adjustment to brightness, monochrome), turn-on/off-by-physical button touch functionality, weather-resistance, and a great app that is (1) available for free if you buy the device or (2) costs 9.99 if you want it from the PlayStore for any other phone. All those third-party app integrations are then done by default, because… it’s just a phone.
So much of what these super expensive computers can do I get with OruxMaps for free. I am missing workouts, but there are apps for that. I am missing an inbuilt calibration for power meters, but there are apps for that. I am missing looking up places, but if my dedicated bike computer requires me to pair it with a phone for that feature, why not use a dedicated sports phone in the first place? Really, the only thing I am concerned about is battery life on trips beyond 150km (or a bit shorter if they include a train ride to get back home).
I have to carry my phone anyways. I’d love to save the weight of an unnecessary extra unit. And I’m really impressed that all of them are still pushing forward with what to me seems like an outdated idea of a special-purpose device.
I 100% agree. I’m also surprised nobody has done an Android Wear powered bike computer that could have a better screen, large battery, and a ton of apps already native to the OS.
Otherwise, I might be looking into this. I’d like to replace my Edge 800 and the Lezyne Super GPS and now this Bolt are on my radar. I wish there was a bit more of a comparison to the Lezyne models instead of multiple Garmins and an old Wahoo.
I’ve read on a few sites that the Polar V650 is a Droid-based unit. I would put this in the “rumor mill” category, as I have not been able to get that information verified. Perhaps it is…?
This is what I said a long time I ago…. Garmin should have acquired some ‘crashed’ phone brand like Nokia. So little people with vision……….
Everybody is riding around with 2 devices that have 75% the same contents…….
see my comment above, I misclicked. I (and obviously many others as well) do want an extra device and Oruxmaps is great but still cannot do everything a good bike computer can.
I’ve wished that an updated version of the Motoactv would be made for a long time now, even though I know it’s not coming. It was android in a watch with gps, bt4, ant+, hardware buttons for workout start/stop and audio controls, readable screen in light and dark, and could be attached to a wrist strap, a clip, or a bike mount. The major downside was the fact that you needed to log into the Motoactv Portal (which was notoriously issue prone as the Motorola/Lenovo let the product slowly die) to export your workout data. Software could use some updating too, as it’s 5-6 years old a this point. It’s been dropped a couple times and seen better days, but I still use it from time to time.
Wonder how well this works on an aero road bar like the ENVE SES Aero Road handlebar. I have one of these bars on my roadie and cannot use any out front mounts unless I switch to an ENVE stem which doesn’t work for my fit (-17 110mm stem required).
Off-topic but I don’t know where to put else: did you ever looked into Best Bike Split (BBS)? I read it here, looked for the web site and found it pretty cool in terms of race prediction/pacing. Would be interesting to see if their calculation models are close to real life.
I haven’t spent much time with it. In large part because my training is pretty unstructured right now – so it’d probably be taking a solid wag at things.
I use Best Bike Split and have done for a while. I generally plan a route with it for events, and use it for pacing. Initially it would only give you target power, and I found that to be quite a bit off from what I actually recorded – so typically I would need much more power than BBS would expect me to have for the expected time – typical ! (even after playing with multiple variables) And before the Wahoo Elemnt it was very clunky and limited to display that data in an Edge 1000.
More recently BBS now gives you a target speed and used in conjunction with the Elemnt, you get can display a target speed and target power against your actual speed and power throughout the course. I find that pretty helpful, and actually works pretty well. There is some issue with syncing, so I find that it is often targeting 45kph while I still have 10 seconds of climbing to do, but that’s easy to live with. I’d also recommend playing with the advance settings in BBS if you are not on closed roads, because downhill speeds are probably not going to be achieved safely in traffic, so you can set an upper limit on them. I typically set that pretty low, and if I go over the target I consider it a bonus!
It could be improved though. I’d love to be able to configure the lights on the Element, or a field to show where you are compared to the overall expected time on the course. As it stands, you only get Target Speed and Target Pace so if you fall behind (or by some miracle are ahead of your plan), there is no way to really know without doing your own maths. And I’d like BBS to account for non-race situation better, such as stopping a junctions, but that’s probably being a bit pedantic! I think you should be able to feed a result of a race back in though by uploading the fit/gpx and letting it adjust the variables/learn so it can get better at predicting in the future – that seems like it would be a cool thing to add.
Thx Ray, thx Ian!
Ok, I’ve had a quick look at it. Looks like they’ve advanced a bit a they created a ConnectIQ data field for their Garmin Power Courses. Reads finde. I also watched the video where they showed how to tweak your configuration to reflect a real ride matches their prediction. I think for non-race situations and even road races the model can “just” give some speed/power targets. Especially during road races as drag effects can’t be predicted. Guess that’s why the name is BBS, it’s designed for TT/triathlon. Let’s see what I can do with their free membership.
Best,
Olly
Still a bit off topic we are finally moving towards analyzing actual rides to help refine settings (starting with drag the most difficult to nail down). In the future we will look max descent speeds, typical cornering speeds, min climbing power/speeds, and do comparisons of plans/actuals. Free users can sync unlimited courses an a single race plan to the ELEMNT but it can be updated as many times as you like and resynched.
Using the ELEMNT LEDs to quickly show over / under target has been discussed with the ELEMNT team so we will see. Just got a BOLT in the mail and it really does look pretty awesome. Basically the same
Same size as a 520/820 but being able to setup with my phone and quickly adjust things and having actual buttons is really what seals it for me. I’m sure structured workouts are in the cards as some point as that’s really the only missing feature I would want.
One thing to note on using BBS race plans with the kicker in the route simulation. It simulates the elevation but also the weight, race/climb drag, wind conditions, that you have setup in the BBS plan so the simulation is a bit more in-depth than a normal course.
>> finally moving towards analyzing actual rides
and
>> will look at max descent speeds, typical cornering speeds, min climbing power/speeds, and do comparisons of plans/actuals
Sounds great! Looking forward to seeing that :) And will give the Kickr simulation a go too.
Wow! The device itself looks pretty decent. Not massively different to my Edge 520, but I do like the LEDs, which I’d use for power zones.
The main attraction is being able the app! So much that can be customised, and you don’t have to sit there and faff with the unit. I hate having to go through all the menus on my Edge! It’s even more annoying with the fact that Garmin are so inconsistent with their button layout! Muscle memory means that I keep hitting back instead of down etc.
I’ve got a section to add in for GPS accuracy. Just ran out of time to add it in. But in comparing things to the Edge 820/520, Garmin Fenix 5, and Suunto Spartan Ultra, I didn’t see anything of concern.
When riding together, my son’s Bolt consistently records 15% more elevation than my Garmin Edge 820.
All other measurements are identical (time, distance, etc.). Is this a 820 or Bolt issue?
Are you talking about actual elevation, or cumulative elevation gain? If it’s actual elevation, do you calibrate your 820 before every ride? Does he calibrate his Bolt? You really need to do that with a barometric altimeter if you want accuracy. Calibration via GPS just doesn’t work well.
If it’s elevation gain, you can usually estimate a lower value for elevation gain if the climbs are long enough (it’s hard to do if the climbs are all small). For example, one of my regular rides starts at 1200 ft, goes to 2000, down to 1700, up to 2400, down to 1700, up to 2100, down to 1200. So that gives 1900 ft, and it usually actually measures on the various Edges I’ve used over the year at about 2200 ft (there are enough small climbs along the way so that’s believable). You can also get independent measurements from maps (go to Garmin Connect and turn on elevation correction, for example).
I have the same experience as Jim : the Bolt (consistently) comes up with a much higher elevation gain compared to several other sources, both other (barometric) gps-es as well as routing apps.
No offence Ray, but you’ve banged on about the original Elemnt as it if was built like a house brick. Be fair, its no bigger than a Garmin really and when its placed on the included out-front mount you never even query the size.
To say its not been your go-to bike computer simply because of this is a bit unfair and a bit picky in my opinion. The Elemnt has been nothing but 100% from my experiences and has more than enough features to compete with the Garmin1000, without all the software glitches.
But I don’t use the out-front mounts for my usage. I use smaller mounts on bike handlebars and even on the top-tube of my bike. So putting something in an out-front mount to make it bigger and then saying it’s now the same size is silly.
And no, it’s not the same size as an Edge 520/820. One only need to watch the comparison section to see that.
I’m unclear the differences between the ELEMNT and BOLT, aside from “packaging” like screen size, LEDs, aero mount. Are they basically identical in the brains/UI?
Great review as always Ray. A few things… more for Wahoo if they’re following along
1. I’m assuming all of the internals are essentially the same as the Elemnt. Which would imply that the Bolt will still have issues connecting to an ANT+ SRM. Is this the case? (and the only reason I still have to keep my old Garmin) I’ve been waiting for this to be addressed for over a year now.
2. Using the LEDs to denote zones is a great idea, and I use them for HR zones. My strong preference would be to use them for Power zones instead. However… the only option is for instantaneous power with no smoothing (like a 3sec average), which makes it nearly useless on anything but the smoothest of roads. Any plans to make that a bit more configurable?
3. You mention that structured workouts are on the horizon. How realistic is that “Fall 2017” target in the comparison chart?
This SRM thing is starting to be a serious drag. Fortunately I have a Fenix3HR that I can fall back to when I ride my SRM equipped bike, but I’d much rather use my ELEMNT. I can’t believe it’s been this long without a fix. I’ve been complaining and checking in for months now only to continue to be told “nope, no fix and no timelines, sorry.”
I like the durability of the ELEMNT hardware better for mountain biking than the Garmin (no matter what, you will get dirt in the Edge buttons that will let water in that will eventually ruin your unit, in my experience). But if it doesn’t support your hardware, it doesn’t support your hardware….*sigh*
Does this make the original ELEMNT pretty much obsolete or am I missing something?
There will be a few people who like the bigger size (better visibility etc.), but other than that small niche, is there a reason to spend $330 on ELEMNT when the ELEMNT BOLT goes for $250, with more features/functionality?
The Bolt seems to have exactly the same features/functionality as its bigger brother but I take your point that most people will probably go for the smaller and cheaper model.
Personally, I really like the larger screen size of the ELEMNT because of its legibility so I’m in the small niche.
Only other ELEMNT feature I can think of that this is missing is the second LED strip – the ELEMNT can show power/HR zone/segment progress (and probably a couple other things I’m forgetting) on the side LED strip at the same time as navigation indicators on the top strip. The BOLT only has the top strip, which can do all the same indicators as the ELEMNT’s strips, but only one thing at a time. Like the screen size though, that’s probably a relatively niche audience.
and +2 hrs stated battery life on the ELEMNT. I actually get nowhere near the 17 hours they suggest for the ELEMNT – more like 8-10 – not sure why. So that would be my main concern with the BOLT which states 15hrs – not that I often do rides over 8 hours, but it has been known, and will definitely be doing some this summer :)
Yeah, I was impressed with the battery life on my nearly 8hr ride. I’ve got the photo I took at the end of the ride showing the battery percentage just below 50%. Even more notable because I specifically turned off Auto Pause, and also left it on 100% of the time.
Yes could you clarify Ray – the Garmin web site states 15hrs for Bolt and 17hrs for Elemnt. I get about 10 hours on the Elemnt, which I think was in line with your testing? But are you saying the Bolt is actually much closer (ever better) than the stated 15hrs?
I’m interested in battery life while using navigation and turn by turn. Do you have any idea if navigation depletes the battery faster? (I’m thinking of getting one for 150 mile gravel race)
Correct, based on my 7hr 32min (and 20 second) ride, with GPS on, navigation on, LED’s enabled, ANT+ connect to multiple sensors, and Bluetooth Smart connected to my phone sending out a live tracking link. Basically, there’s nothing else to enable.
I started the ride around 95% battery, and finished with 47% (I took about 5-7 mins to get photos/etc before I ended, so a bit more).
Photo at finish attached.
*As a minor point of interest, the LED’s actually take up equal amounts of battery as the display. Though, to put that in perspective, the display takes up almost nothing. It’s GPS that hurts ya.
That’s a deal maker for me. Think I may sell the ELEMNT and get a BOLT. Battery battery life and size, and every thing else I need. (I’ll miss the lights on the side a bit, but having the top set is probably enough). I have a week in the Pyrenees coming up where I expect to be out for 10-11 hours on some days and was considering a battery pack arrangement for the Elemnt, but the Bolt would solve that and save weight.
My only concern is that (unbelievably!) I appear to have more sensors connected than Ray – so I have DI2 and Speed and Cadence (though I don’t really need that because the Vectors do it, but I keep it on for when I am on a turbo). I also leave the Kickr sensor in the list.
Could those settings by what is hurting the battery life for me? Could I get better battery life on the ELEMNT if I cut those sensors to Tickr X, Power and DI2? If I leave them in would the BOLT also degrade in battery life?
Hi Ray!
Thanks for the review, amazing job as always.
This unit seems like a better deal than the Edge 520 now, do you expect Garmin to lower their price?
Do you know when/if it will be available on the European clever training site soon?
Been looking around for the specs on the screen (as well as the original Element screen) and cant seem to find any besides the size, do you know any more about it? Is it E-Ink? I have the 810 and while color and touch screen are nice at times (and can be frustrating at other times), I could probably do with without, this looks really nice and fairly straight forward to use.
Can you set the Bolt to display your 3/sec power averages without zero’s? I had the Elemnt and I couldn’t figure out how to set it up where it would display my power without zero’s.
This looks like a nice improvement over the original. I’d love to move away from Garmin and their buggy products. Although, having said that the 520 has been pretty faultless recently. I’m also an avid Varia Radar fan now and the current lack of support is a massive deal breaker on this, that, and having to buy 3 new mounts for the various bikes. Still, this should make Garmin sit up a bit. You can’t stand still on innovation and this seems to close the gap massively, it works well, looks better and the app seems a much better way of setting up the device verses the slow and painful Garmin setup.
Can you measure the width of the ‘strap’ that goes around the handlebar? Just trying to see if the mount will fit on my aero drop bar w/o modification.
A few people have hinted at this but I thought I’d ask explicitly:
With the software being identical as the original ELEMNT (Right?) will subsequent updates be applicable to both units – released as a single update? Or will we now see more focus on the BOLT, and a slower schedule for the original ELEMNT? I won’t confess to having in-depth knowledge on these sort of issues but I’d of thought there would be nuances in their construction that would make it difficult to apply the same update to two different units.
I don’t see that it integrates with Campagnolo EPS V3 to provide gear selection data?
I’m looking for a new computer as my 510 doesn’t give me gear selection data from EPS.
EPS supports the ANT+ Gear Shifting standard, which is also what eTAP supports. The only caveat would be if Wahoo implemented some sort of early eTAP beta thing, but I’m pretty sure they just did the ANT+ spec. Perhaps they can confirm here…
I have a KICRK and use the various 3rd party software for custom interval training in erg mode. When I contacted Wahoo they indicated that the ELEMNT does not support the upload of custom workouts. Has the Bolt changed this? If so, then I will purchase today and get that free shirt!
On the group ride I did at the press event, it was like being in a casino every time we came up upon a turn. Dinging from everywhere in the huge group.
You need to test devices wearing full gloves. Those of us who live in colder climates need this feature. Can the buttons on the Bolt be used while wearing full gloves? Heavier lobster claw gloves?
Yup. I think I covered it in one of the two videos.
But actually, that’s one of the key design changes between the original ELEMNT and this – super easy to use wearing gloves. I mean, maybe not full on mittens, but no bike computer really is. But for normal cycling gloves (even of the cold winter variety), it’s good.
Technically no. Officially no. But it kinda works. It’s just not good for the ELEMNT or the other mount, as you have to wedge it in there. Long term I’m guessing it’d break something.
I’ve been using my ELEMNT on Garmin mounts since the ELEMNT was introduced. Been through some significant mountain bike crashes with it (hard enough to knock the mount around to the side of the stem). Haven’t seen any damage or problem yet.
Well, using the Garmin mount works as far as you can turn it 90 degrees as the mounting tabs (at least for the original ELEMNT) are not on the same direction. Some third party mounts allow you to turn it, some do not.
I have the K-Edge XL Garmin mount. Ordered the Wahoo Elemnt puck to replace the Garmin puck on Friday and already have the new Elemnt puck in the mount – link to k-edge.com Way to go K-Edge!
What I don’t have is a Bolt as of yet. LBS says mid April as of today per their Wahoo rep. Wahoo online site now says 4/5.
Anyone know if Wahoo missed the demand of an alternate to Garmin or missed the shipping date with manufacturing delays?
Does anyone know if you can see your power on the Strava live segment screen? On my Garmin 520 I love the live segment tracking but I would love to be able to have power on the screen as well.
Thanks!
I don’t think you can add a field to the Strava Live Segment page, but there is a setting called “Notification on Other Pages” which basically shows the Strava Segment on whatever page you are on, and that could have power, so you can work round it like that. More details here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Sadly no power on the Strava page but the information there is useful.
If you want to see power hit the page button once to go back to the main screen and use the LED’s to monitor segment performance.
Where is the micro USB charge port located? Would it be possible to top up the power on the go while the unit is on the mount (for rides in excess of 15hrs)?
Joe, in the image I posted I filled the unnecessary plastic already. In the meantime I got in contact with K-Edge and they say you should be able to insert a micro USB. I’ll have on in orde, I’ll let you know. I’ll receive it tomorrow.
I know, this is maybe not an issue for mainstream users, but I’m riding ultra distances and attach my electronics to a power bank attached to my hub dynamo.
Many of us use one of these GPS bike computers for our stable of multiple bikes. I might have missed it in your video, but can you nickname the bikes and input the odometer for each bike. My Polar V650 can only name the bike as “Bike 1”, etc., and cannot input the existing odometer reading. This is a shortcoming – as it would be nice to keep track of mileage for each bike for maintenance (how long before you had to replace the chain, etc.).
No sir, the unit is the system of record. Strava, et all, are social media platforms where records are selectively shared. The unit is responsible and needs this data.
For me, profiles are a must in the device. I have two very diferent road bikes with very different weights and different tires and I also have a tacx. With garmin I can simply load my desired profile and for the fuji it only searches h for heart “and” cadence sensor, for tarmac searches heart “and” cadence “and” speed and for tacx it searches “heart” and power and cadence / speed sensors. It’s kinda tricky to be setting each time different sensors, weights and tires for each bike.
I was very close to buy bolt three days ago. Now I’m reading ¿many? issues about altitude gained data… Is it really an issue? And secondly, how are we sure wich device is measuring that information correctly?
Why do you need profiles for multiple bikes? With ELEMNT/BOLT you just pair ALL your sensors, jump on whatever bike you want and go. No need to switch profiles, change settings or anything, just ride. ELEMNT/BOLT will connect to the active sensors and record your data.
Elevation Data, The problem these guys are having are when using the BOLT for hiking. Elevation data is very noisy and changes in weather/pressure when climbing a mountain makes things even harder, as a result we use algorithms to filter the data in real time, this is optimised 1000’s of miles of data we collected cycling, not walking. For normal every day use, including MTB biking we find our elevation data to be very good.
My elevation has been correct at least as close as my Garmin 520 was. +-40-80ft at the end of a ride vs what Strava thinks is pretty accurate. Some are saying the instant readout can be off but my edge 520 was not always accurate on the instant read out so I just ignore it
When it’s said that element bolt will have integration with FC-E smart trainers in the fall 2017, does that mean that it will be through a software update? I mean, if I buy now the bolt, there will be a software update to control a tacx smart trainer or I should have to wait to a new version of element bolt with some kind of new hardware? Also I’m very interested in the interval training mode. As i do a lot of indoor training, those two features are very important for me (interval training and FC-E integration.
I don’t need ELEMENT/BOLT to store bike specific stats (odometer, etc. However, I would like it to automatically recognize which bike I rode, so that I don’t have to manually select the bike after uploading to Strava.
Love the Bolt but came across a sensor issue today. My ride partner borrowed from me a speed/cadence sensor (we’ll call it ‘her sensor’). At start of ride I had connected to my own sensor but after the ride started I noticed I was picking up her cadence. I stopped and erased her sensor but then couldn’t connect to my sensor at all. After we got home I switched everything off and back on again and all was good, but this was with her sensor deleted. So, although I like the ability to jump from bike to bike, there is an advantage of having bike profiles. I’m just going to leave ‘her sensor’ deleted for now (I’m not using it), but I suppose WAHOO don’t expect both sensors to be running at the same time.
Looking to upgrade my Garmin 800 and really like the general functionality of the Wahoo unit. Unfortunately, the lack of Live Tracking features is a deal breaker. Wonder if the Garmin 530 is coming this Summer?
I really wish Strava would have a good API so Garmin and Wahoo tracking could talk. The “see others riding with [your device]” is great but seriously limited.
That’s exactly why I’ve built an open live tracking service this winter. The existing live tracking services are all very closed. If Wahoo reads this. You are welcome to use my services. Is all open source. Of course, everyone else can use it. Currently only on Android with IpBike… link to livetracking.io
How does the unit deal with multiple bikes? Is it a sensor pool concept like Garmin uses in the 520/820/1000 or a profile-based system like the older Garmins?
I use my Elemnt on three bikes and it uses a sensor pool. You just pair all the sensors with the Elemnt and get on and ride. It uses whatever sensors that are present and happens automatically. I never even think about it. There are no bike profiles so you can’t keep track of different odometer readings or things like that. But Strava does that for me so I don’t miss it.
A couple of comments:
1) In the comparison table Ray has “No” for “Records Temperature” for both the Bolt and the Elemnt. They both record temperature. It shows up in Strava on every ride. The temperature is measured by the internal sensor that is used to compensate the altimeter.
2) According to Wahoo, the Bolt will fit onto ANY existing Elemnt mount. Although it won’t be as aero as the new mount. So, if you already have a TT mount or something like that for the Elemnt it will also work for the Bolt.
Actually, it says ‘Yes’ for records temperature. There are two rows. One for internal sensor, and one for external sensor. The Wahoo units only record from their internal sensor, and can’t connect to an external sensor.
It looks like the charging port is accessible for use while mounted. Do you know if this supports using a lipstick USB battery to charge while riding? Yes, I do rides well in excess of the documented 15 hours and can not use a device that doesn’t let me charge while riding.
Ray can you confirm that you actually get notifications of calls/texts with an android phone? I don’t believe the original Elemnt you can, only iPhone.
Great, thanks. Are music controls definitely out? I know everyone looks down on it but what’s the difference between reaching up and touching a button to change song or changing a page on the display?
What about the issue described by DCR here, is it solved/implemented yet:
“The singular downside however is that unlike Garmin, Wahoo doesn’t show people you follow (friends) on Strava as a competitor, whereas Garmin does. In my case, I don’t actually follow that many people on Strava, so it’s not a huge deal. But if you’ve got a close-knit group of riding buddies, then that’s definitely a Debbie-downer moment to not be able to seek out your friend’s PR. Though, Wahoo says this is coming soon”.
Is there any “remote” like the Edge Remote that can control moving between screens on the Bolt? I’ve found that the little remote is quite handy as you can operate it without moving your hands from the handlebars – especially useful while MTB or descending quickly on the road bike. Seems like this would be easy to support. Wahoo??
genuine question Literally an hour before you posted this blog i purchased the elemnt, now reading this im not 100% sure if I should send it back or stick with what I have ordered? Is it just size difference as im not super concerned about the size or maybe I should be as its going to go on my TT bike.
I believe the elemnt comes with a TT mount but it looks like the bolt doesnt is that correct?
Are there plans to support Garmin’s Varia Radar at any point, or is that locked down to Garmin? I rely on it heavily, and it has me locked into the Garmin ecosystem…(Not particularly complaining, it’s a nice jail cell.)
I agree, I might jump to this wahoo system because I hate what Garmin did with Garmin connect, trying to make it a Fitbit style thing. But I can’t live without the varia radar at this point, so I am stuck with Garmin
+1 on integration with the Varia Radar. That is one Garmin device that just works. Of course they had to buy up the company that came up with the design ;-)
I agree about the need for Varia radar support. That and cold weather use with gloves are why I bought the Garmin 520. Not sure either is addressed here?
I spoke to Wahoo about Varia support about one month ago. At that time they said they had no plans to support it.
However, you can use Varia via the dedicated Varia head unit. I happened to get one when I bought my Varia radar unit so I may make the switch as I too am fed up with Garmin’s products.
Also the rear vary radar still works in standalone mode – it will increase the lights when a car approaches from behind, you don’t get any warning on the Wahoo head unit of course, but you have increased your visibility to the car.
Agree on the Varia Radar. I got one last year and am shocked by how well it works and how much safer it makes me feel. I can’t imagine riding on open roads without it now.
I’d make the jump from my Edge 1000 to this Bolt in a heartbeat if it were supported. As it stands, the benefits of the Varia (safety) outweigh the benefits of the Bolt (battery life, no touchscreen, better GUI, high contrast screen, easier screen configuration, aero).
I think there are 2 questions to ask, regarding Varia Radar support –
1. Does Garmin even allow other head units to interact with the Varia Radar?
2. And then, if yes to question 1, are there any other head units that do interact with the Varia Radar?
I agree. The added safety of the Varia radar is important. Yes I could use the Varia head unit and the Bolt but I like the quick easy integration of both on the Garmin. I hope that Wahoo after seeing posts like this will look into it or come out with their own product.
+1 for Varia integration as I’ve also come to rely on it. The Bolt also needs structured workouts. My Edge 520 works well and no real issues with firmware upgrades, but its a hassle getting RWGPS maps onto it and forget about changing a route mid ride. Garmin doesn’t seem to understand its a smartphone world, while Wahoo has embraced the idea. Interested to see what Stages Dash will bring to the market. I’d sell the 520 for a head unit that better integrates with my iPhone, RWGPS, and helps me stay on track with training.
Varia Radar support is the only thing stopping me from moving over to the Bolt. Its perfect (and now indispensable) for where I ride. I hope Wahoo are listening – add the support or make a better radar.
Props to Wahoo for erasing pretty much all the primary objections to the ELEMENT, which was way too big and bulky. I have an edge 520 and 820. The 520 has been great, the 820 has been extremely disappointing. The touchscreen is slow to respond and awful in glove/rain conditions even with the latest firmware. (which I”m surprised was never a topic for the review on this site)
Is there a patent preventing wahoo from making the Bolt compatible with Garmin quarter turn? I would totally sell my 820 now and get a bolt, but I don’t want to change mounts every time I use a different device.
I guess what Alex is asking is if there is a way to use both Garmin and Wahoo on the same mounts (in case one has 2 bike computers). To my experience the answer is no.
I have the original ELEMNT but for some rides I prefer the Garmin (for example in come more complex structure workouts) ant that is a pain to change it every time.
Additionally for some specialty mounts (like canyon mount for integrated stem/handlebar) I could not really get it working well.
Mounts from third parties, like K-Edge and Cycliq, have swappable pucks that allow you to go between Garmin, Wahoo, etc… See link to youtube.com and link to k-edge.com
Quick question: Is there a way for the BOLT to default all loaded Strava segments to either KOM or PR goal times?
On the Garmin units, it always defaults to something strange like the people you follow and no way to change all without going through every single segment.
Yes, when you hit your first segment it will have defaulted to “PR”. The middle button can be pressed once and then this will switched to “VS” which is the KOM version.
My recommendation is keep on “PR” and set goals in Strava for your favourite segments as the integration is brilliant. Smashed so many PR’s this week just through having clear information.
As far as I see, my Edge 520 has Crash detection.
So this doesn’t have cycling dynamics and probably will not show platform center offset from Vector2?
K-Edge sells the inserts for both Garmin and Elemnt at link to k-edge.com
It takes 30 seconds to change from one to the other.
Also, since others are reporting you can actually use the Garmin insert with the Elemnt, just a tight fit, you can also rotate the inserts in the K-Edge mounts. The inserts are held to the mount by two screws. The mount has screw holes at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock so you can rotate the mounts in increments of 90 degrees to meet your needs.
I have the K-Edge Garmin Combo XL mount (Edge 1000 and GoPro Session) link to k-edge.com and ordered the Elemnt insert, swapped the inserts in the mount, and can know use the Elemnt or Bolt.
It should work fine with those sensors. I have the cadence sensor and it works with every computer I have tried it with including the Elemnt. The speed is supposed to be the same.
Great review !!! I was awaiting launch of this unit couple of weeks/months. I found it as a product/function combo which exactly meets my needs (as a current Suunto Ambit 3 user incl. cycling – any cycling specific unit yet, but it´s time to change). BUT…, as a owner of new Canyon Ultimate with their H36 integrated aero cockpit, I don´t have any idea if there exists some way for my purpose. Would you please give me some hint ? Thank you in advance ! I´m sure there must be an answer within this great platform & community :-)
The link is for Garmin…. it could work if you can rotate the insert, should work but you may have to drill new holes as the screws are in the corners….. I saw there is one for wahoo but it looks like it is not available.
Hi Ray, trainer control is a big feature for me (kinda just putting this to spur on any wahoo people reading). I know the BOLT doesn’t have ANT+ FEC trainer control, but can it do it over bluetooth?
Currently my use case is building workouts in trainer road (I don’t really use their plans) as I like the interface and the power matching feature (I have P1s and a Tacx Bushido), but I’m essentially paying a subscription for no reason.
My ideal situation would be to plan a workout on my phone and then have the head unit take me though it either on the trainer or outdoors. Currently it seems like Garmin would be the better option for this, but it feels like Wahoo has more potential for growth and improvement.
Essentially my questions are:
1. Can it control my bushido over bluetooth?
2. Are there any plans for powermatching?
3. how far away is the ability to quickly build a workout (ideally on my phone) that can be followed on the road or on the trainer?
Great review as ever!
(Also, a possible error, you used “concurrently” twice in one setence when talking about how you use your head units)
I really wish Wahoo make a stem bolt mount since it’s the only way to mount it (out front) on my Enve road bar which doesn’t leave any space for bar clamp type of mount.
F3cycling.com has you covered. Garmin and Wahoo inserts and stem-bolt mountable. I have not received my two mounts yet, but they have been shipped. #fingerscrossed
I HAD a 520 (sold it cos mapping & nav was garbage), I HAVE an 820, but that screen winds me up SO much.
So I was looking at the Elemnt a while back, and now this! However, during winter I ride a lot in the dark, how does the Elemnt deliver in the dark, do you just hit a button to light it up? I think I know it has a daylight inverted display but just wondering about actually getting to the data?
Despite the Bolt’s cool size, i like the idea of the lights telling me when I’m turning, so I think the Elemnt may just be getting the vote. ANyone with first hand experience of night riding’s opinion would be much appreciated
I ride in the dark with the Elemnt all the time. You can either set the backlight to be on all of the time or press any of the buttons to have it come on for a programmable amount of time. Having the backlight on all the time uses more battery life but I didn’t have any problem for rides a couple of hours long. It used up maybe 25% of the battery (I don’t remember exactly since it wasn’t a problem). However, most of the time I leave the backlight turned off and just push a button when I want to read the data.
Thanks David. If you are following a course in the dark and the screen is OFF, does it light up with the turn direction as well as the top edge LED lights?
I think actually the bigger screen size will be a benefit to me, so I may jump on an Elemnt rather than the ewbie!
Yes with the back light set to ‘Auto’ it lights up for the user defined period when the turn notification occurs (around 250m prior). The directional led repeat at a higher frequency as you approach the turn point. Then immediately after the turn it will give you the distance and instruction for the following turn, as well as one iteration of the Led signal. However I don’t recall it lighting the display for this pre-emptive info.
My ELEMNT with light set to on, using TBT and with HR and SC (both ANT+) connected uses approximately 8.5% battery per hour. I now set the backlight to on for night time riding, whereas with previous touch screen devices I’ve always had them set to auto.
thanks to both above – trigger pulled on Elemnt! I think it will finally do all I can do, even this morning, a clear spring day (if a misty start) in the UK, the touchscreen on my 820 was winding me up on arrival at work…Think I’ll hang onto it though, as I’ve loaded OS coverage onto it, so there will be times when it might be needed…
Thanks all
JON
Interesting unit but the aero thing seems a bit of marketing thing – 12 secs in an hour at 21 mph (according to Chip Hawkins in his video on it) but that’s going to be without aero bars which will clearly save you more than 12 secs wherever you then put the unit! Also B&W is mostly fine for bike computers but I feel maps work so much better in colour.
Just wanted to add that being able to screw the unit to the mount could be appealing for the transition area – I am always nervous that leaving a bike computer on a quarter twist mount is too tempting and easy for someone passing by, so typically hide it somewhere then fit it while desparately trying to take a wetsuit off! Having it permanently attached is one less thing to worry about :)
I’m not that familiar with the torpedo, but looking on the web it seems it would work because you can easily force a Wahoo into a Garmin mount (I do it a lot) – or is there something else that stops it working?
If I had a nit to pick, it would be the way these so-called “low profile” mounts can be so hard to retrofit with existing cables routed under handlebar tape.
As much as I like the stability and durability of my K-Edge combo mount, it has the exact same problem.
Making a mount where the horizontal extension is level with the **top** of the handlebar would be a lot more useful for a lot more people, and not that much less aero than this design.
Totally agree with this John, my bike with mech ultegra doesn’t allow the out-front mount to be installed as the shift and brake cables are in the way… what did you do to get around this John? Perhaps I’ll need to trim and clean up the cables? See attached picture.
This wouldn’t be an issue with Di2 bikes or handlebars with integrated routing though!
It would fit if you cleaned up that messy cabling job. Your housings are too long and the cables should be routed under the bar, not along the front of it. Aerodynamics aside, it would look so much better and likely improve shifting performance as well. There’s no downside to a clean cabling job with quality cables and housings.
Thanks for the excellent review Ray. The million dollar question is what next and where does this leave the Edge 1000?
The app configuration is a great addition by Wahoo and Garmin would do well to intro this as well. Battery life, now for the edge is a real downside etc……….
Completely unrelated, is there any new on whats next for the Garmin Vector?
Another really complete review. Quick question: Just looking at the bundle option. With my stages powermeter I don’t need those sensors but I wonder if my garmin heart rate strap would work on the wahoo elemnt/bolt?
A standard Garmin strap works fine. I have used Garmin, Wahoo, and CycleOps and they all worked fine. I have a Stages meter and use it for power and cadence. I have the Wahoo Speed sensor for speed when GPS signal is poor (trees, etc) but I have ridden without it also. I have also used a Garmin speed-cadence combo sensor and that also works fine.
Would this serve as an ANT to Bluetooth bridge? If I want to use Zwift and I have a Quarq with ANT will the Bolt allow Zwift to pick up my data? Was thinking of buying an ANT to Bluetooth bridge but maybe this is the push I need to replace my old garmin edge 500
you could simply use a ant usb antenna in a pc or laptop to transfer data to Zwift. With the ant antenna, there’s no need for a head unit as it transmits data to Zwift from all of my sensors and is then logged in Strava, if you set it up to do so.
I’m curious to see how the “bolt to the mount” thing will work in UCI races when a bike change for a mechanical is necessary – the rider is always quick to grab their PC8 or Garmin and move it to the new bike before they throw a leg over to rejoin the race. Having the ability to do this seems more important than saving 61 grams on UCI’s scale, no?
Or can they remove the bolt while racing and just re-install it before putting the bike on the scale?
The Strava page does not allow field customization.
If you are on a page with your chosen fields, you can get banner notifications of Strava segment progress at 25% of the segment distance, 50%, and 75%, and if you are close to besting your PR, a large popup will appear as well, encouraging you to push for the PR.
On the “full size” ELEMNT, the side LEDs can be configured to show power zones. I’m not sure how that would work with the BOLT top LEDs.
I’ve read that Wahoo has been using “average segment speed” to calculate Strava Live Segments. Has that changed? I know in the Wahoo Elemnt user forum there have been some discussions regarding how that doesn’t really make sense when a segment changes grade and consequently speed. If I’m doing a segment and the information on how I’m comparing to a PR or KOM is based on the average speed then it’s pretty useless if the segment changes grade… which is true of every segment near me. I know Garmin uses data from my specific location to tell me where I stand on the segment so it’s much more accurate and useful.
It would be great if you or someone from Wahoo could confirm just how Live Segment data is currently calculated and if they are using the average speed from the segment, are there are plans to either change it to something that’s useful/accurate or at least offer the option to have Live Segment data calculated with real-time speed as compared throughout different points on the segment.
Thank for the great review. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time before I dump my Garmin 510 for the Bolt.
I have also heard that Wahoo includes zeroes when they calculate average cadence. So I get the average of my pedaling and coasting, but not the average cadence when I’m pedaling.
It would be great if either Ray or someone from Wahoo could verify if this as well as the “average speed” in Live Segments is the case.
I know Ray said he thought Wahoo did Live Segments better than any other computer, but frankly, if they are using average speed for the segments then I’d respectfully disagree… It certainly looks well done, but looks can be deceiving. That’s what I usually like about Ray’s reviews, the attention to detail. I hope we get an answer.
On the ELEMNT at the start of the segment which is flat, it was showing me 55 seconds ahead (if only!), and as I climbed that fell until at the top it was 35seconds.
If you look at the way it is shown on the Strava web site, then you see that in reality I was only ever 5-10 seconds ahead for most of the climb, and I made the most progress at the top section where I picked up 20 odd seconds.. The ELEMNT sort of gave the complete opposite impression while riding!
So definitely room for improvement, but still fun and nicely implemented up to a point.
Ian,
Thanks for the follow-up! Since Ray and no one from Wahoo replied I figured that was the case. While I agree it is fun, I’d expect a higher level of execution there as well as in calculating average cadence (without using zeroes) on the bike.
Thanks again!
Looking at the Strava API for segment efforts (link to strava.github.io) it seems they don’t actually expose enough data to show anything other than an average speed currently. They do state on this page that “The object is returned in summary or detailed representations. They are currently the same” so I guess the detailed representation has not been completed yet.
Not sure if or how Garmin are doing it in that case – they either have privileged access to an API not publicly available or they are doing their own estimation on the device based on gradient perhaps (or they are not doing it at all – I haven’t actually checked – they may use an average too)
Scratch that! You can use effort streams from the Strava API link to strava.github.io – I guess it’s down to Wahoo not putting the effort in to complete that yet :)
Ian,
Thanks for doing the research into that! I had suspected as much regarding Wahoo not taking the extra steps to get the segment stream set up properly. I guess I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have that done. It would seem like low hanging fruit along with proper cadence calculation. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation, but it seems like they are avoiding the issue altogether when no one seems to want to address it. I appreciate that there is someone else out there that see this as something worth asking about! :-)
Hi Christian, our customer service team may not yet know about changes to this feature and as a general rule we don’t like to talk about unreleased and unannounced features as things can change but we making this change, I can’t give a date but it will be in our next major release.
You sure about that? It’s honestly hard to tell. I had also thought that in Ray’s most recent video Ray’s watch’s glass section seemed to fill much more of the front than the Fenix 5 with it’s big bezel, but it’s also hard to be certain.
This video he’s either wearing a black/black Saphire Fenix 5, or a forerunner of some sort it looks like: link to youtube.com
On second thought there’s a great flat-on shot of the watch Ray is wearing at 3:58 (link: link to youtu.be ), and I’m pretty sure I see the Fenix bezel. Dang, it looks good/thin in black/black if that’s actually the Fenix 5. I’m not sure why, but having used various similar sized caps to simulate the Fenix 5 based on the thickness/diameter dimensions listed for it (from cumin to ketchup to milk), it seems ENORMOUS compared to that. I think it must just be a quirk of how the dimensions are measured exactly.
That said, the Clever Training vid you linked DEFINITELY has a round forerunner-looking watch in it with yellow non-circular-holes band (not sure how I missed the great shot of it right at the beginning). So unless it’s a non-Garmin with a VERY Garmin-esque logo at the bottom and Garmin-esque time font or he switched out the bands, then it’s a new Forerunner. There are 3rd party replacement bands for Forerunners that look very similar to that though: link to amazon.com and I don’t know if they’re compatible but if they are he could’ve replaced them with Fenix 5 bands if they fit for quick-fit compatibility.
– Nevermind, they can’t be Fenix 5 bands because they have slots the whole way up the band.
Yeah looking at the video again, it doesn’t have a flat-tire on the screen – it’s a full circle. That pretty much clinches that it cannot be an old forerunner with new/3rd party bands. So almost certainly a new one then.
As aerodynamics are getting more and more important for those on TT bikes, is there a TT mount available as well?
otherwise the benefits they are referring to in the presentation are not exist in TT world ;)
* the reason is that on the TT bikes you hide the EDGE devices by either using the elastic bands or the TT mounts (the bottom part to be covered as well). For road bikes is another story though.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for another fantastic review. I’m still using my Edge 800 without any issues but I want to buy a Wahoo Bolt as an upgrade. For me Turn by Turn nav is one of the most important features I use. I created a lot of routes in Strava which work flawlessly on my Edge 800. TbT nav is almost perfect for me. I just want to ask you what you mean by “Note that the Strava routes won’t give you proper turn by turn” talking about the Bolt. Is the Tbt nav similar to what I have right now on the Edge? Thanks a lot
The Garmin 820 has routable maps so the GPS itself can work out a route and provide TBT directions with street names, such as “Turn left onto Main Street”. The maps on the Garmin itself therefore contain street names to generate this type of TBT instruction.
The ELEMNT does not have routable maps. In other words, if you want to follow a route, you must load the route onto the ELEMNT from an external source – the ELEMNT itself cannot generate a route.
I’d therefore quibble with the Navigate section in Ray’s product comparison table that has “Routable/Visual Maps (like car GPS)” as “Yes” for the ELEMNT and BOLT.
The maps on the ELEMNT are visual, but they aren’t routable as I understand the term, in that the ELEMNT can’t generate a route itself using its map.
So for the ELEMNT to display TBT directions, the TBT directions must be included within the route loaded on the ELEMNT.
Routes generated by RideWithGPS include TBT directions such as “Turn left onto Main Street” provided by RideWithGPS and you can actually edit the TBT directions on RideWithGPS before importing the route onto the ELEMNT.
Routes generated by Strava don’t include the TBT directions within the route so when imported into the ELEMNT, they don’t have TBT directions such as “Turn left onto Main Street”.
Yeah, I agree there are some nuances there between those definitions in the table. Eventually I kinda get to the point where trying to explain those itty bitty differences is tough in a broadly understandable way. Hence, the text of the review. :)
I don’t envy the task of explaining this stuff! To get my head around what the various mapping applications were doing I ended up looking at GPX and TCX files in an XML editor… and then there is the Garmin “Turn Guidance” feature as well…
Just spotted this on the Wahoo web site, but can’t work out why you would want it? Security in addition to screwing the bolt to the mount? Or is it just so you can swing it around on your wrist as you walk to the coffee shop whistling a happy tune?
It’s a tether in case the GPS gets knocked off the mount after a crash.
Lack of a tethering point for the ELEMENT has been a complaint on the unofficial forum and some people have put together DIY solutions involving superglue or replacing some of the screws in the case so it is interesting that Wahoo seem to have addressed this in the BOLT.
Thanks Michael – makes sense now :) I’d never even considered the need for something like that, but yes I can see my Edge has a tethering point, and the Elemnt doesn’t, so I guess that is good news for Bolt users.
Thanks DCR for a fantastic and thorough review. I’ve been delaying my computer upgrade to see how the BOLT stacks up and you’ve nailed all my queries in this review. It’s out with the ageing Garmin 510 and in with the BOLT. Really appreciate the effort you put into educating and helping a regular cycling punter.
Great review Ray, spelling/typo error on ‘acquired’ (last section on Navigation, before Strava).
I’m kinda kicking myself as my ELEMNT is only a month or two old (but still really glad I switched from the 810 to it!). A colour screen would be the logical next step for the ELEMNT ‘v2’ as although initially I missed the touchscreen of my Garmin now I don’t really feel it adds anything to the unit.
Only thing I really want from my ELEMNT is Bike/activity profiles (done very well on Garmin) to switch between 2 bikes (indoor/outdoor usage). Not really something you’ve mentioned in either your BOLT or ELEMNT reviews (but I’d be surprised if you hadn’t used it on Garmin?!).
So can you set up different bike and activity profiles as per the garmin? If you cant then thats a deal breaker for me as its nice to have all the different sensor data saved for different bikes/bike profiles and easily switch between them.
I know I am gonna come acros as a huge weirdo :-) but I am still gonna ask – is there any chance this thing could get a windows phone app? I mean the elemnt is pretty useless if you don`t have an ios/andorid device… or at least is it possible to configure the elemnt via desktop/laptop?
Clears a lot of things up! Since my edge 800 is dying i’m gonna replace it with the 820 because of the “offline routing” (routable maps) – abilities. (don’t like the smartphone & data connection requirement of the Elemnt & Bolt)
I felt the same way you did prior to buying my Edge 820. I now own a Bolt. I guess we’ll be seeing you back here in 6 months when you get tired of missing or inaccurate data, unrecorded rides and a frozen, unresponsive head unit while the group is waiting for your Garmin to calculate the route. I’ve always used RideWithGPS to do all of my turn by turn routing as I’ve found it to be the best so I would need a phone or computer anyways to create and load a route. Strava and in general GPX routing is horrible if you’re not really riding in familiar territory. TCX is far superior and should be utilized whenever possible. As Mr. Miller pointed out in his review, if you need to do on the go routing, it’s easier to just use Google maps to figure out where you are and where you need to go as it’s too many steps regardless of the unit. And if you’re riding without your phone, what do you do in case of emergency or catastrophic mechanical failure?
Technical details
sizw 41 x 58.4 x 17 mm
display size 1.8″
weight 31 grams
ANT+ yes
Bluetooth yes
battery time approx. 12 months (round cell)
mount stem
included sensor Wahoo RPM Speed
Could be an interesting option for those who just want live data while riding though, or maybe those who keep a phone in a pocket for Strava and want a head unit on the bike at the same time…
Looks like an interesting, small bike computer. I am wondering if Wahoo also includes some kind of turn-by-turn navigation, perhaps via the app and then sending messages to the screen.
Can you use this device also without GPS recording (sometimes)? So it just uses the speed sensor and other sensors to track distance and speed, but does not record a track. I don’t want to record all my commutes to work, but I still would like to have them added to the total distance. If possible, how many hours would the device last (compare to GPS enabled)?
here is what i get (raw text don’t blame me for the lack of clarity).
Description of Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Our price:
89,99 €
Price incl. VAT excl. Shipping & Handling
for shipment to Germany.
PriceGuarantee
Focused on the essential
Because controlling your bike computer shouldn’t be the most complicated part of the ride
Wahoo Fitness is breaking the bike computer stereotype! Equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 and ANT+ dualband technology, ELEMNT MINI pairs seamlessly with all of your cycling sensors. Using a smartphone it is possible to expand the MINI’s functionality.
Riding without Smartphone
Connected via included RPM Speed sensor the Wahoo ELEMNT MINI informs about data for speed, distance and time.
Connecting to ANT+ sensors without using a smartphone.
Data summary at the end of the ride. Smartphone mode with advanced functions Connection via ANT+ and Bluetooth 4.0 sensors. Receiving of popup messages from calls and text messages. Live tracking Look for fellow Wahoo users to meet up with nearby or let friends and family track you remotely on long rides. Complete ride summary incl. total route, elevation gain etc. Transferring of data to platforms such as Strava, Training Peaks and much more.
Fact Sheet of Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Product Name: Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Manufacturer: Wahoo Fitness
Item Code: WAF317015
Year: 2017
Manufacturer item code: WFCC2
Weight: approx. 31 gram (manufacturer’s specs)
Included in delivery: ELEMNT MINI unit incl. stem mount and RPM Speed sensor
Color: black
Auxiliary equipment (optional): ANT+ Stride Sensor
Balance Bluetooth Smart Scale
Blue HR Heart Rate Strap
Blue SC Speed and Cadence Sensor
Cycling ANT+ Speed/Cadence Sensor
Key ANT+ Dongle
TICKR ANT+ and Bluetooth 4.0 Heart Rate Strap
Wireless: Yes
So it doesn’t require a phone to be connected, but will only record GPS tracks if the phone is connected, so it kinda sits in between a cateye and an edge 25.
There is another reviewer who found that if you create a course using RideWithGPS that the Garmin 520 will give you turn by turn directions. Haven’t tried it but it might be something to check.
The comparison table has a row for “Built-In Cellular Chip (No Phone Required)”
Are there actually any such cycling computers?
I’d really love to leave my phone at home, not just because of it’s size/weight, but also so I don’t break it while mountain biking.
Any such device would need to provide some text messaging style facility for coordinating with friends and calling for help.
I’ve been looking at the new LTE based Android Wear smartwatches, but it sounds like their GPS tracking is really crappy without a phone. If you were to pair the Bolt to one of those via Bluetooth, would it be able to utilize the LTE connection for group tracking, etc, or does it require an app running on the phone?
Man, I’d love an Android based bike computer with LTE :-(
Not at present. There have been in the past (Bia, Timex, Android Wear of course, and someone else I’m forgetting). The backend database for bike computers and GPS watches is shared (those tables), since many times people compare them (i.e. deciding between a dedicated unit and a watch). Hence why some of those fields are there.
it is accessible as a mass storage device – I’m pretty sure he mentioned this in his video review – I use it all the time to grab the activity files for various purposes.
What does it mean the BOLT supports SRAM RED eTAP System (via ANT+ Gear Shifting Profile)? Is it possible to monitore the gearing behaviour when riding?
Ray, great review. One item for your attention – the product comparison table lists “ROUTABLE/VISUAL MAPS (LIKE CAR GPS)” and yes for Wahoo and a qualified yes for Edge 520. From what I read in this review (and your 2016-06 Wahoo rolls out turn by turn article), the mapping and navigation during a ride is equivalent on the 520 and Wahoo. Only difference appears to be how courses are loaded.
Anybody know if the Elemnt software includes the ability to control Kickr power using an external power meter? It’s what TrainerRoad calls PowerMatch. Not sure what Wahoo calls it, but they have the functionality on their iPhone app.
Hi Ray,
Glad you enjoyed Australia recently at TDU. My question on the above is do they make a mount for aero road bars like on the Canyon Ultimate road bike? Thanks
I do a lot of out-there mountain bike rides on gravel roads, forest service areas, etc., where I don’t get cell coverage. I’ve found that OpenCycleMaps content is useful for this, and I use the Gaia app on my phone to download map content ahead of time and have it handy for on-the-fly routing. I can even overlay multiple GPXs on the OpenCycleMap content to reference like a trail map. If I’m planning ahead, sometimes I’ll lay out a route in RideWithGPS. Other times, I just use the Gaia map on my phone and reference it from time to time. However, battery life is always a concern and I’ve several times gotten myself into trouble by running down my phone battery from checking the map too frequently while out in the middle of nowhere and had trouble navigating back home without it.
My question is, how well would this device work for viewing map data like that, either through the RideWithGPS integration or some other means? If I want to divert from my planned RideWithGPS route, is there any way to view a decent map of my current area and zoom out/in, etc.? What about overlaying GPX routes on an OpenCycleMap base map?
Maps on the ELEMNT are based upon Open Street Map but then Wahoo do their own processing to get them onto the ELEMNT so there currently isn’t a way to load your own maps onto the device.
If you plot a route using RwGPS then load it onto the ELEMNT then the ELEMNT will display the route overlayed on top of the map but at the moment there is no way to change the map if it doesn’t have the detail you want.
Personally, if I’m worried that battery life for GPS or phone will be an issue for a long ride, I take a small external battery with me.
Thanks for this review. I finally have one question: As far as I understand Wahoo allows navigation to a single point from the phone app. Do I have an influence on the kind of route the app chooses? Is it the shortest one? Can I choose between a route suitable for road bike or suitable for mountain bike? Thanks in advance
_allez_
Don’t think you can. It just does it’s own thing in creating a route, and not always the best one in my experience.
You can use the “EasyRoute” app though to create a multi-point route (link to iosnoops.com) then you can use Share > GPX which offers open in other app > Elemnt app, and it will import the GPX for you which is then synced to the actual device. Actually surprisingly easy.
Did someone say the chap who wrote EasyRoute has been employed by Wahoo? If that’s right I guess we will see that functionality in the Elemnt app sometime soon.
The ELEMNT has 2.77GB of total addressable storage space, of which 279MB is free in a default configuration (i.e. with all the maps installed for major continents).
An average ride takes .1MB per hour (with full sensors & GPS enabled)), so 10 hours is 1MB. So that leaves you 2,790 hours of recording time before you need to offload/sync. That’s 116.25 days of riding, assuming riding 24 hours/day. Alternatively, that’s 348 days of riding non-stop at 8 hours per day.
You mention that the Bolt is available as of today on Clever Training…however, the Bolt page is showing Pre-Order – late March Shipping (pic attached). Did they already sell out of the first batch or is the release date still a few weeks off?
Is the front mount much more reliable than the one from the mio 505? Because that one breaks all the time :( and this one looks a better option with the screw thing? Also about the duration of the battery its said that it will remain for 15 hours? But thats with everything on basic/low backlight and so on i suppose?
Thank you Ray for all the effort you put into these reviews. Your insight has been invaluable. Keep up the
great work. And thanks to all the readers who contribute to the knowledge base.
Sounds like navigation on the BOLT is going to be a little different from the Garmin 800 I am SO accustomed to using. Before I make the paradigm shift, I have a few questions about the navigation that I haven’t seen answered anywhere.
1. Does the BOLT alert you when you’ve returned to the course?
2. What is that the reason the maps don’t have street names? Storage? Speed? Battery life? Priorities?
I understand from all the comments, that the maps on the BOLT are not routable and that street names come from the course file. But it is very reassuring when I can confirm the route by matching street names on the map with street names on the signage. Does that mean that you only get streets (no names) when you use the BOLT without a course?
3. If the answer is “priorities”, any idea when this might be addressed?
From what I understand, Wahoo does not allow a direct discount on their products, so you will get points with Clever Training towards your next purchase, so if you order the Bolt for $249 you will get $24 off on your next purchase.
Nice review. I was leaning to Garmin edge…but when I kept seeing the same problems in reviews I started looking at other computers. Your review along with others has convinced me to go with the Bolt. Thanks for your work.
Up untill now, whilst deciding which bike GPS to buy, I have used Strava on iPhone to plan and keep me on route in areas I don’t know. Clearly not ideal for many reasons, but just about functional while the power lasts!
Usefully (or not and possibly not very accurately) when reviewing the ride later Strava offers an estimate of the Power used throughout the ride. (If no power meter is present)
My question – is that Power estimation still provided in Strava if a third party unit (wahoo or garmin) is used to collect the data ? Is it calculated within the app/device alone or estimated based on the data that the app/device the provides ?
Ray: Have you tested it with a Bluetooth Smart Power Meter?
In the comp. table it says:
Bluetooth Smart power meter capable Yes, for both ELEMNT
Which sensor did you use?
I have tried my Polar Look Keo and it fails.
(I can use my iPhone and Wahoo Fitness app with the Polar Look Keo power meter pedal, but I want to use my ELEMNT.)
Can’t pair my Stages power meter via Bluetooth. Only shows up as ANT+.
Wahoo Fitness app on iOS picks it right up. Doesn’t make sense. Please enable this, Wahoo
We actually detect and merge the connection parameters. We can do this as Stages (like Wahoo) use the ANT+ ID in the Bluetooth Advertising name.
ELEMNT will prefer to connect over ANT+. We do this for three reasons.
1. It leaves the bluetooth connection available for phone apps (e.g. using Zwift on iOS at the same time).
2. ANT+ has eaiser support for L/R power meters
3. In general, we have found ANT+ to be more stable and connection stronger.
Wahoo murray is there really no way to force stages power meter to work via blue tooth? as i have had very bad luck with ant+ my current computer garmin edge 520 randomly gets 0 power drop outs when over ant+ while Bluetooth signal is fine. so if theres no way to force it i may just have to return the bolt before i even open it… and spend the extra for stages own headunit was hoping since this was advertised as a dual ant+ and Bluetooth head unit id be able to use bluetooth but i may have got my hopes up
Is there any way to display power on the main screen of the Bolt? I know you can use the LED’s but I want to see the number on the front page!
thanks,
steve
If I understood your question, the answer is: YES. Use the Companion App to configure your Main Page (any page or create a new page) and add any of the power options provided (they’re several)
1. Does Auto Pause only kick in when you come to a complete stop or can you set a minimum threshold? When I come up to a light, I tend to just cycle in circles until the light changes so I never really stop.
Answer from Wahoo: You can set a auto pause threshold
2. Do we have any hope of future support for the Garmin Varia Radar? Or of a competing product from Wahoo? This is a big help for safety and I don’t want to have to have a separate head unit for it.
Answer from Wahoo: We will not be pairing to Varia and have no plans for our own system right now.
3. As a long time RFLKT user, it was nice to be able to stop/start music using a button on the RFLKT. This is especially helpful in the winter when riding with gloves. Can the Elemnt/Bolt do this now? If not do we have any plans for adding it in the future?
Answer from Wahoo: The ELEMNT and bolt will not control your music, we do have plans on adding this in future updates
4. Does the Elemnt/Bolt have the ability to show battery levels for Wahoo sensors like the cadence and speed sensors? I hate getting on my bike to ride and finding out one of them is dead.
Answer from Wahoo: Right now the Bolt and ELEMNT will not be able to check battery level but this is something that is in the works.
Hey Ray,
Can you clarify: after a ride can you upload the ride to Strava without being on wifi (using just cellular data)? For mountain bikers, it’d be nice to be able to upload it at the trailhead and not wait until after you get back home.
Thanks!
You get points equivalent to 10% (I think) of the purchase price. Those points can be applied to a future purchase. I think they’re doing it this way to avoid restrictions on selling certain products below prices set by the manufacturers.
Does the Bolt use a dedicated mount or will it work on a Garmin-style mount? I understand that doing so defeats the purpose of the aerodynamic innovation, but my Madone 9 only comes with a Garmin attachment and I can’t use a handlebar-wrap style mount. Alternatively, will Wahoo produce a Madone 9 compatible mount? Thanks.
Bunch of choices. Screw a K edge wahoo adaptor (5 bucks) onto the top of the blendr garmin mount. Or search bud hammerton on shapeways (where’s waldo user name on weight weenies, check cycle chat forum for 3d printed parts). He has a wahoo mount for madone, I believe, and he sells an adaptor that clips into gamin mount and makes it edge. His bontrager style garmin mounts are set up so the slots are at 45s to do either landscape or portrait, and I suspect if you nipped the corners a bit you’d have a cross compatible mount. I did that and it still works great for my 800, still waiting on my Bolt.
One thing I would love to see, and would probably be super easy to implement is:
On the “Climbing” page, lets put an option of:
If GRADE is greater than ___ % for ___ seconds auto switch to climbing screen.
Have the ___ be simple spin wheels.
It should take someone 15 minutes to do and would be pretty awesome. We already have auto switching for Strava segments if we want. I like the climbing screen but hell if im going to be pushing buttons while i’m wanting to puke my guts out because I made a poor decision to tackle that mountain. (50ft hill)
Awesome review thanks so much. Question. Does the new Bolt have a screen like the Garmin Edge 820 that shows you where you are on a climb? I like that graphic especially in an area climbing some mountain that I’m not familiar with. Thanks so much.
Even after living with a wobbly Wahoo Snap (aka Scrap, that was a joke Ray), I think I’m going to purchase the Bolt as I don’t have a head unit and just getting into cadence and power stuff.
Sweet price point and enough features for me. Not sure I will great the lack of color and good navigation.
The software aspects of my Wahoo Snap (vs the disaster I had with a Kurt Kinetic “Smart Control) lead me to believe this will be sound from the software side. PLUS there are NO ROTATING COMPONENTS!!!.
I reserve the right to the nickname Dolt if my experience does not live up to the promise found in the review.
So enormous storage and awesome battery life (two our of three things that wind me up about my 520).
Have you had a chance to check the altimeter out in less than perfect conditions? My 520 is terrible in anything even slightly damp, just losing hills completely!
If that was also better then the only thing stopping me swapping would be the lovely Barfly Direct mounts I’ve got on two bikes. Would those Dogears things really work so I could keep the Garmin mounts?
About the Elemnt Mini,, I found the user manual here: link to fccid.io
Looks like a RFLKT+ with leds and Strava segments.
Which is good value.
I use the RFLKT+ and have a huge number of annoyances when it comes to start a ride (need to decouple, pair again, remove from bt devices EVERY single ride. I think it’s bluetooth issues, and had many rides lost cause I just moves like 10 mts from the bike and the device could non connect any more… but mine is from KS campaign, so very very old).
If they have solved all these things with the mini, which I believe, it’s gonna be a pretty nice device.
I have a Bolt and Vector 2 pedals. I see power and L/R power % but Torque Efficiency and Pedal Smoothness do not show up for me (I just see N/A on the Bolt).
Can someone confirm that these do indeed show up on the Bolt when paired with Vector 2 pedals?
I have the same issue. I get no readings for smoothness or torque from my Vector 2 to the Bolt.
I have looked for any definitive info from Wahoo, but can’t find any. Can someone from Wahoo post here to let us know what we should be seeing, if anything?
Wow given the amount of ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ comparison with the 520 – I think the BOLT has definitely fallen short of the mark. Will definitely stick with the 520 for the considerable future.
As for the mount, I can’t help but think the small grapefruit segments will fill up with water when it’s pouring down or when you wash your bike.
Really interested which functionalities you’re so wow’d about which the Elemnt is missing. I think the difference between functionalities is very small. The only thing I would really miss on the elemnt are personalized work-outs.
I haven’t seen any issues with mounts filling with water on rides.
As for which items are missing, certainly Garmin has some – yet there’s also a lot of ‘No’ when it comes to Garmin too – such as BLE sensors. Whether or not those No’s mean anything will depend greatly on the person.
Really [I hope!] quick one – and thanks for the review – Bolt, Element or Edge 1000; if you had to pick only one for navigation, which would you go for?
Literally lost my Garmin 810 today on a ride, so wasn’t in the market until, ooh, 10.54am :-/! I can see the usefulness of those damned tethers…..but, the 810 was distinctly average, frustrating at times when you had to turn around or it kept beeping at me. Thanks!
Hi Rao,
ELEMNT Maps are based on open street maps, so should in general give the same roads as these. Wahoo processes the maps quite heavily, so they won’t show anything apart from roads (no woods, houses, anything), but roads are there down to the smallest MTB singletrail.
Why is the ELEMNT $80 more expensive than the BOLT? Seems like they are identical save 2 more hours battery + the BOLT with it’s fancy streamlining…. am I missing something?
On the Elemnt if you zoom out all the way the screen is large enough to display 11 data values at once (although the text is pretty small). On the Bolt, because of its smaller screen, you can only display 9.
The camera control would be a hard piece for me to break with my existing Garmin setup. The ability to turn on/off my cameras so easily from my bike computer is so handy right now. Hopefully they will work out some level of open standard and can get multiple camera companies to buy into it…
Just received mine (ordered directly at wahoo).
It’s really tiny and well made. Very easy to configurate from my phone.
I’m really impressed. Just have to wait saturday for a good trial during 220 km on belgian cobbles (Gent Wevelgem)
Looks pretty intriguing. I may have missed this so apologies if already covered. But, I do a few 24-48 hour continuous rides a year and need a GPS to last the whole ride. Can I intermittently plug in and charge this from an external USB battery while riding to make the battery last longer for these really long rides? If the battery dies mid ride, you immediately notice and plug in an external battery to charge while riding can you continue the same ride or did that ride end and now it will be 2 separate files?
Looking closer at the unit looks like the charge port is at 6 o’clock and the micro USB cable used to charge would probably not be able to be plugged in while mounted due to handlebar interference anyway. Maybe an aftermarket mount could get around that, but that’d be a huge bummer if I’m right. It otherwise seems perfect
1) Not the way you want. You can use the Elemnt and Bolt with however many bikes you want in terms of different sensors on different bikes. But other than that ithe Elemnt has no concept of a bike- there is no odometer, weight, etc.. You can have custom pages and turn them on and off manually in the app when you switch bikes but you can’t change a single “bike” setting and have a bunch of other things change. I use Strava to do all of that so it isn’t a big deal to me.
2) Yes you can calibrate the PM from the unit. You simply select the PM you want in the sensor list, and (assuming it is connected) hit “calib” and it will calibrate.
With a powermeter kJ comes from the measured power and the weight doesn’t matter. Without a powermeter heartrate is used and I think (not sure) your own weight from your profile. If you were riding a 50 pound bike it might be off quite a bit. But the only accurate way to do it is with a PM. Everything else is an estimation.
Hey Ray … any ideas why some fields are black background with white font and others the other way around? Is this something you’ve found a way to amend in the settings?
Ray,
Firstly thats for another great in depth review. I’m thinking of going for the Bolt over an Edge 520 but I have 4 Garmin mounts that I’d still like to use with my Garmin Edge 1000. There are hacks to modify the mounts which I’d rather not do, but has anyone tried a Garmin in a Wahoo mount, and if so is it secure? It would possibly be a lower cost route for changing the ‘pucks’ in my K-Edge mounts from Garmin to Wahoo.
Just took the unit out for a test ride this morning and I must say, goodbye Edge 520! The software on the Bolt is so much more logical and easier to use. Menus are much easier to navigate and none of the Garmin glitchy software bloat. Love the buttons on top for screens and the setup was a breeze. Screen is super easy and nice to read but the LEDs are useless if the sun is out.
Also, found out that it does not fit a standard quarter-turn Garmin mount. Well, I should clarify: It does fit into the mount and rotates just fine but the Bolt is then 90º rotated from where it needs to be on my old mount.
Yes, you can set the wheel circumference in the Wahoo Speed sensor attached to your wheel, via the Element app on the above mentionned sensor’s option menu
I’ve been training with heart rate because power meters are a bit out of my price range. Is it possible to make a Heart Rate Zone page with overall time and lap time? What does that look like? How do the LEDs indicate heart rate zones? By number? By color?
I had many GPS units (starting with a Garmin Geko 201 that I bought in 2004) in my life (so many that before getting to know this website I felt almost a bit bad about it), but reading this review was the first time I felt really something different inside of me. I always had Garmin units, concerning the cycling range I walked the Edge 500-800-520 road so far, and they were not perfect, but I was OK with them. Although I kind of liked the hardware Garmin produced (especially my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx that is 11 years old now but still works perfectly as a hiking GPS, with some amazing capabilities and great rugged built), but the software always made me want to cry. Garmin Connect is a piece of (insert crap emoji, but no smiling) – so I only use it as a backup besides Strava and Golden Cheetah -, the menus on many devices are illogical, and there is always something that bothers me. So many bad memories I don’t even want to talk about it. But to close this with a positive note, at least I never had a crash mid ride or a corrupted file, so I guess I should be thankful for that.
So I read this review, and I knew that even though I was not going to buy another GPS this year (because I love gadgets, but I am also not the kind of a person who gets a new iPhone every year), I will have to get this. It seemed like everything I wanted from a cycling GPS. Don’t have to navigate endless horrible menus on the device itself but I can use a great phone app to do it?!? CHECK! Awesome. (Also, a phone app that does not hurt looking at unlike the Garmin apps? Cool.) Seriously, change fields, set up custom pages, anything you want from the phone? Route transfer from other accounts directly to the device? I WAS SOLD. Also, zoom-in on the data fields: great idea! So I registered at one of the large Belgian/Dutch online shops a few days ago to let me know via email when the unit becomes available, yesterday afternoon came their mail, 30 seconds later I placed the order (2 hours later they were sold out), and today I got the unit.
Tomorrow morning is my first test ride, but the setup was awesome. Paired my phone, my sensors, my accounts in a second (without any issues), and everything just worked. (It is just an extra that the colours math my bike perfectly, unlike the white of the Edge 520.) If the data recording is at least as good (and it should be) as it was on my Garmin units, I will be 100% satisfied. The out front mount feels great, and the aero design looks very sleek. Looking forward to the long-term experience, and hopefully the battery lasts as long as advertised, because the Edge 520 was really doing badly when you spent a lot of time on the map screen…
Two very minor issues: 1) is it just me, or there is no 10 second power option? I see …,5,20,30,… but the 10 seems to be missing. It is what I would normally use, and it feels weird to have such a big gap between the 5 and 20 second option. If it is not just me, then I guess a software update could easily solve this. 2) My OCD is a bit bothered that the clamp of the out front mount should be 1-2 mm further to the side from the unit, because now it is a bit too close, so even when I put the clamp tight against the stem, the unit is not lined up with the centre line of the stem (which is also visible in your photos, the unit being slightly off centre to the left; it is worse on your Giant bike and better but not perfect on your Mallorca rental).
lol its pretty close to being lined up on my bike,or at least close enough that the 1mm off doesn’t bother me on my cannondale stem . I am really enjoy the zoom feature to be able to change if i want more or less data fields by just pressing a button. if you decide to use strava live segments 2 months of premium come free. I checked on the 10 sec power and its not just you. I like using 3 sec or 5 sec my self so it doesn’t bother me but its worth shooting them an email if its a feature you want. wahoo has been pretty good with updates so its possible to get it added specially since its a easy thing to add. I am waiting for the big update when they add work out plans you can follow on the device its supposed to come some time this fall
How does one sync a route using ride with GPS through Bluetooth. I noticed the review said “Added ability to sync routes via Bluetooth (previously just WiFi)” but I can’t figure out how.
Firstly must say excellent and in depth review which is greatly appreciated. I have been using the Bolt for a few days now and mostly the experience has been positive, one thing that I have noticed is when pushing the front three buttons the lcd screen is often put under pressure causing a kind of lcd bruising effect. This doesn’t happen so much when lightly pushing the buttons towards the front of the unit but if pushing with gloves on you tend to put pressure on the rear section of the buttons which in turn pressurises the screen. I understand this is a relatively minor point but I am just thinking long term use and effect on the screen? probably just me :) ! but wondered if any other users had picked up on this.
Just to let you know that you are not alone, I have also noticed this. Even without pressing the buttons I can see some minor excess pressure in the bottom corners of the screen.
That is interesting, mine certainly looks OK unless I press the buttons. I have since been using an original Elemnt and the button placement/screen separation is far superior, screen is also significantly clearer to my eyes at least due to having a lighter background. I have mixed feelings about the Bolt but at the moment it is likely I will return it and keep the original Elemnt.
Does this work with aero bars? What does it mount like on the stem? I have another bar mount on the left of center handlebar just inside the aero bar mount (use it for a light mount) that would be in the way of this handlebar mount for Bolt. Could try to trouble shoot that. Just curious as to where this would mount if not out front. Aerodynamics not a big deal to me for my riding.
I’ve had the Elemnt sice it was released. Overall I like the unit but I have experienced 2 types of issues (quite often I bring the Elemnt and Garmin Fenix 3 and/or Edge 520 on the same ride to compare results)
1) ELEVATION/TOTAL CLIMBING – quite often the elevation/climbing is wrong, sometimes lower, sometimes higher when compared to two garmins or known elevation. Many times it shows much higher errors than gamin units when riding twice over the same mountain pass.
2) CALORIES – The total energy reported by Garmin and Elemnt (in kJ) are always very similar (I’m always riding with a Power Meter). The total calories, however, sometimes closely match the energy (as expected and as it always does on Garmin) but sometimes it is VERY different, like less than half calories when compared to energy.
Ray, have you experienced/tested for this type of errors? Did anyone find them?
After 300 km, 12 hours of riding in mapping mode with phone, HR and PW activated it stays 31% battery ! This Bolt is definitively best gps device I’ve own.
Great screen in a sexy case ;-)
I recently upgraded to the Bolt from a Garmin 500. I’ve been pretty happy with it for the most part.
The fatal flaw: Missing odometer feature / bike profiles. For an item designed to track speed & distance, I should expect to be able to track how far I’ve ridden my gear.
Not so bad:
Housing is a little glossy, cheap feeling – like an old oily tv remote. You never touch the unit, so no biggie.
The silver bolt on the handlebar mount faces you, along with the bulk of the attachment housing. Seems they could have moved that out of sight. The stem mount is laughable. It’s a free-extra, they hit an aggressive price point, and there are aftermarket options.
Beeper can be harsh, would like a lower volume setting. No biggie
The Good: Everything else
-Packaging looks great!
-Setup is amazingly smooth and intuitive.
-Unit operates without hiccups in my limited rides.
Totally agree of fatal flaw of not having odometer, especially when a customer use Wahoo Bolt on multiple bikes.
Could you please check whether there’s an option to enter wheel calibration manually, like in Edge 500? See my post above with a picture of red Edge 500. Thanks!
Yup – they’ve been shipping. They shipped out a bunch the first week, and then have another shipment arriving middle of this week, and then they have another shipment early next week. They expect all existing back-orders will be fulfilled by early next week. They’ll also be sending out an update note to anyone who doesn’t make the cut for this week’s mid-week shipment, just letting them know it’s coming next week.
They note that the majority of orders were placed in those first few days in rapid succession, so it’s a bit tricky to give general blanket guidance on a specific cutoff-date for this week’s shipment.
Just got notification that my Bolt has shipped from CT! WOOT! For those playing along at home and waiting on theirs, I ordered at about 8:30am EDT on March 15.
I spotted on your YouTube review that there’s a field called “Heart rate zone (visual)”. Is that essentially the same as the heart rate graph on Garmin units? That is, a line chart of your heart rate zone over time.
I love the unit. Went from Garmin 510. Everything is better, Garmin seems DOS based compared to this. Really like screen clarity and ease of use. Only complaint is that elevation seems to be off. It is recording much lower ascents and descents compared to others I am riding with. I am certain the Bolt is getting the measurements incorrect. Hopefully this is software glitch that can be addressed.
I have the same elevation issue. Sometimes the total climbing is OK but the absolute altitude is way off. Today when I got home it was showing -60m!! It should be +14m and I think there is no way to correct for it.
Elevation is quite a way off on my Bolt as well, I have raised this issue with Wahoo, generally reading quite low by maybe 30% compared to Garmin and actual map values. Comparing to the original Elemnt I also find the screen to be darker unless the back light is running in which case the Bolt wins over the previous generation Elemnt. The Bolt somehow feels a bit cheap to me and led’s are not as bright compared to old Elemnt. Zoom function on the Wahoo units is a winner and customising from the phone app is so easy. Battery life also seems impressive so far.
When riding together, my son’s Bolt consistently records 15% more elevation than my Garmin Edge 820.
All other measurements are identical (time, distance, etc.). Is this a 820 or Bolt issue?
You mention in the review that the ELEMNT can handle a GPX route side-loaded through the app. This is correct, but it won’t provide turn-by-turn directions, just the usual breadcrumb trail.
Really value your review though, my Edge 1000 is on eBay after reading the review and borrowing an ELEMNT from my local bike shop for a day.
I’ve decided to move on from the Garmin 520 and purchase the Bolt. The Garmin 520 was a good unit but the menu system and the phone pairing and dropping was a major issue for me. The one thing I will miss in regards to the 520 will be the open street maps that were on the unit. The maps allowed me to see the names of the local MTB trails that I ride in the area. I’m hoping that a future update to the mapping on the Bolt will allow me to see the trail names. I ordered mine on 3/28 and it’s showing the order is still processing.
Very well could be user error but is anyone having issues with notifications, specifically text messages, not coming through. Also my Strava live segments don’t work. I have them starred in the Strava app and nothing. I do have the app running when I am riding. Other than that I do like the Bolt. Coming over from the 820.
Socia, you might need to reset the Bolt to enable Strava Live Segments page, I found this on the Elemnt, it seems to have happened to other Wahoo users, once this is done and the Bolt picks up settings from the Wahoo phone app your Live Segments page should appear on the Bolt after the GPS/maps page :) – hope that works out if all else fails.
Thanks. Will give it a shot this weekend. The not getting notifications still has me puzzled though. It worked a few times and a few times it didn’t. I’m really hoping it is user error as I so want this to work over the 820. The touchscreen frustrates me to say the least. As far as elevation. I ran a couple rides with the 820 and Bolt side by side and the elevation results were respectable enough.
You’re welcome, resetting is not too much of a problem since the app does retain most of the settings, just scan the Wahoo from the phone and let it sort itself out for a few minutes. I will run some further comparisons against the Garmin 1000 to see how the elevation pans out but from what I’ve seen so far the Wahoo units on overall ride elevation seem good, see my reply a few down below for more information.
In addition to the above it would be worthwhile registering your elevation issues with Wahoo, the more people that do this the better hopefully and should push them to improve the sampling method for elevation. The support and responsiveness from Wahoo has been nothing short of excellent in my experience so far.
Does anyone else has also seen that the BOLT calculates the average time on the total time and not the active time? Not only during segments, but rather for the complete ride.
I have seen the same issue on my BOLT, not at an indoor training but during a normal ride.
While Strava shows an average speed of 29.9kmh after uploading the ride (which is currect), the BOLT bolt shows me an average of 25.6kmh which was definitely wrong. The BOLT is calculating the average speed on the total time, not active time. I’ve seen this also while standing a while during the ride and the average speed is getting lower and lower.
Garmin is calculating the average only for the active time, which makes more sense IMHO.
Experienced same thing with regards to average speed with my first outdoor ride yesterday. Noticed that the Bolt includes zeros for cadence calculation (and you can’t change this). Also had some power discrepancies compared to TrainingPeaks (NP, IF, TSS, L/R balance)… Emailed Wahoo but haven’t heard back yet.
To elaborate, I think the issue is how the Bolt handles slowing/stopping. From my ride yesterday Strava gave 2:53:36 moving time – Bolt app (and what gets exported to TP) gave 3:00:59. As a result my average speed and power on Strava were higher. I had auto pause enabled and had a wheel speed sensor paired but it took several seconds after stopping for the Bolt to pause. I would usually see 0.1 mph or so difference in Strava speed/810 speed but with the Bolt it was almost a full mph. Annoying.
BOLT uses distance/active time. Active time is when the device is not paused, so you need to have auto-pause enabled or manually pause the unit.
Strava sometimes uses distance / moving time (aka, non-zero speed), although I’m not totally sure if they show this if the speed data is from a bike computer.
So, is anyone NOT having issues with elevation profile? Think this is something that will be able to be fixed with software updates, or an inherent flaw of the device? I don’t seem to recall so many elevation issues with the full size ELEMNT. Hope they can get this fixed, seems like kind of a huge deal breaker to me……
JJ, I have raised this issue very recently with Wahoo and they stated it is something they are working on with a view to improve. Personally I find the original Elemnt to be pretty reasonable with overall ride elevation readings at around negative 10% on average, the start/finish elevation compared to actual map data is less accurate, maybe averaging negative 10-20%. The Bolt in my relatively short testing experience seems to be close to the Original Elemnt in overall ride elevation but reads quite a bit lower in the start/finish elevation data, maybe closer to negative 30-40%. I am hopeful that this can be corrected in firmware, from my reading into this subject it could simply be a case of the Wahoo sampling more data and more frequently from actual GPS map data in order to better estimate elevation.
You can see the elevation data looks virtually identical between the pile of units that day. I did no manual elevation overrides on any units, just simply let them figure it out via GPS/etc…
I haven’t pulled in my data from this past weekend yet, which does include the BOLT.
So here’s a question. Now that the edge 520 can be had for $250… which should I choose? And now I’m hearing about elevation issues with the bolt so really wondering.
I am in the same position… i bought a wahoo bolt fpr 239€ and yesterday amazon had a one day deal for the Garmin 520 … only at 179€!!! I got it and now I have the problem which one will stay which one should be send back? Which would you keep for MTB?
lol, i did exactly the same (bought the wahoo bolt and one day later the edge 520for 179€)
Since this will be my first bike gps, please help!! :D
The “route me anywhere” via app sounds nice on the bolt, but i’m not sure if the wahoo is as reliable and stable as the garmin 520(which should be a solid device now, right?)
Also, is the wahoo worth the price? (60€ more than the edge..)
When I change the number of fields in a page using the up/down buttons on the side I can configure for 1,2,3,4,7 or 9 fields. What about 5,6 or 8 ? Are others able to configure for all the possible number of fields.
It’s a layout thing, when you are at 4 we add a entire row that fits 2 data fields. It also reduces the total number of layouts you toggle through. The idea is that you zoom in and out to see more/less data, not necessarily see 1 through 9 data fields.
If you really want 5, configure the page for 5 items and you will see Just 5
We don’t have any public forums. Questions and comments can be directed through our support website, otherwise I monitor a few public forums when available. The ELEMNT google user group also has many of our beta testers that help out.
I’ve just raise a related issue via support but can summarise the response as ‘thats how it is’…
The zoom to 4 fields (and not 5) seems completely pointless as on the Bolt 5 fields would consume the same space as its using for 4 right now (and it turns out that the 4/5 zoom level on the bolt is just about readable for me so would be perfect if it made good use of the display and showed the 4th and 5th fields in the bottom row).
I suspect on the original Element 4 is perhaps displayed differently and therefore makes it a sensible option, but on the Bolt its just a waste of space.
I have the ELEMNT and there is no way of pressing the lap button while paused, this is very annoying especially in time trials when you want to press the lap button as you’re waiting on the start ramp. I emailed support over a month ago asking them to include this feature but there is still no update. Thoughts?
Hi Conner, this request is on our list to review but as you know all the button already have actions so it’s not a simple add. While we love feedback and try and include as many user requests as possible we need to make sure it fit into the overall product roadmap and priotized. Cheers
I talked about it a bit in the review and the videos.
In short, the answer is ‘sorta’. It can kinda fit, but it’s not perfect and if you keep doing it (especially to the non-rubber mounts), it’ll likely break the tabs on the ELEMNT. But, if you shave the tabs very slightly on the ELEMNT it’ll fit better.
I found that if you just touched a hot soldering iron to the opposite corner of both cutouts on the Garmin mount, the ELEMNT Bolt drops in perfectly. You only need to remove about 1mm of material for this to work. It can be forced in, but as Ray says it’ll damage the unit over time.
First comment here :-)
I have a sigma Rox 10.0 which is ok. After the initial review here I was convinced and made an order for this Bolt at Bike24 (they will have it from 22th april). But now it seems that some not all the units have the same accuracy! I only do MTB (even if I do about 10 000 Km a year in the road with my mtb bike).
The wireless part is the big difference compared to the Rox (TBT not important for what I do).
But the Sigma is a great product too (and no problems with altitude! I start at 17 meters and after 100 Km I end at 14 or 15 meter altitude).
Anyone switched from a Rox 10 to a Bolt?
Cheers from Portugal.
I ordered mine on 3/28. I received an email today stating that it had been shipped. It will be here on Thursday. I’m coming from a Garmin 520 and will go on a couple of rides and post a comparison after that.
Hi,
Thanks for the great review! On my Garmin 1000, I am able to tell it the distance of how many miles I want to ride, and it will give me a few different options. Am I able to do this with the Elmnt?
How do the Elements handle multiple bikes? I have multiple bikes, each with their own sensors. With my 510, I had multiple bike profiles with each profile set up to connect to the sensors on that bike. On my 820, Garmin uses what they call a “sensor pool” which basically means I connect all of the sensors to the unit and it automatically figures out which ones to use as I ride the bike and the sensors wake up. How does the Element and Bolt handle this? Thanks in advance.
You just need to pair all your sensors and Ride, ELEMNT will connect to any sensor that wakes up and return the best source of the data. Eg Valid Speed sensor trump’s GPS. No need to manually group or assign sensors to profiles.
There have been questions about the Bolt in a aero position. Yesterday I had my first ride with this new toy. I attached it to the computer mount that comes with Profile Design’s Aero HC System (link to profile-design.com). I used the “interlocking mount” that comes with the Bolt. This setup works very well, as I had the unit at sight at all times.
I have no idea whether this position brings any advantage in terms of aerodynamics but honestly I don’t care. The unit is still most placed behind the bottle, and I decided to buy it because of the promise of delivering a good user experience using it and configuring/updating the software. I haven’t explored all the options yet, but my first impression from box to mount and first ride has been very positive.
What I wonder is… does Wahoo offer a website where I can share all the data that the Bolt shows at the end of a ride? I don’t care about the “social” features, I just want to share with my trainer all the numbers the Bolt offers about my rides. I know you can upload data to many 3rd party services (Strava integration works flawlessly, but it seems that Wahoo and Movescount won’t speak to each other) and I have also seen that you can export a .fit file (pity that Movescount won’t import it as far as I can see).
Ray, I’m currently on a completely Garmin setup and switching to the bolt. Does it sync back to garmin connect? Or would have to upload the fit file to garmin connect afterwards.
Hi, no, it does not sync to Garmin Connect (Garmin revoked permission to do this… clearly they are afraid of the competition…). But if you want to stick with Garmin Connect, the fit files can automatically exported to a dropbox folder, and you can still upload them manually.
Looks worth a closer look the next time my 520 packs up on me :) Just spotted that your comparison table says that the Edge 520 doesn’t do Emergency/SOS Message Notification. They added that a few months ago in Version 10 (I think) of the software, I’ve tested it and it works fine on my 520.
I currently use an edge 510 and am liking what I see with this. A few questions though.
1. Is there a detailed list of ALL of the data fields available?
2. Is there an auto lap feature by time, distance, or location?
3. Do they use the same calculation as Garmin (Coggan’s formulat I believe) for normalized power and TSS?
4. There are not any preset profiles that save which data pages and data fields are set. Such as Trainer, Train, Race, MTB, etc. that you could configure on the Edge 510 and up.
I posted earlier that I was going from the Garmin 520 to the Bolt. I received the Bolt and will echo some of the other first impressions.
1. The Bolt was super easy to set up. The Garmin is a chore at best.
2. The Bolt’s shell feels a little bit cheaper in quality to the 520.
3. I love that the main buttons are on the top of the unit. They offer really good feedback even while wearing gloves.
4. I do not miss the fact that the Bolt does not offer a color screen.
5. I like the mount, but the bottom of the unit is too close to the stem. I have to get really creative trying to accommodate the Bolt and my Bontrager front light. I may look for another option that extends out a little bit.
6. Moving from page to page is so much better than the 520. This is the reason that I decided to make the switch. On the 520 there were endless menus for other menus. It was a real pain in the ass.
7. Pairing of the sensors was easy, but not hard with the 520.
I’m going for a ride today and with put the route feature to the test. I’m also interested to see if I’ll experience any problems with the Autopause feature as others have noted. I’m using a Bontrager Duotrap BT unit for speed and cadence. I’ll post a ride report a little later.
I completed a ride today using the Bolt. Even though I new the route well, I uploaded a RWGPS route that I previously created. The turn by turn directions were flawless and dead-on. I never lost the GPS signal as I had in the past with the 520. I ran Strava on my telephone in an attempt to notice any discrepancies regarding distance or time. The distance was within .1 in regards to the RWGPS route and Starva on the telephone. The auto-pause issue that some has described in earlier posts was not an issue. The unit paused within 3 seconds of stopping. I did notice that the Bolt’s elevation was 200 ft. on the generous side. My 520 and RWGPS were almost identical no matter where or when I rode in the past. I really enjoyed my ride today with the Bolt. I hope this helps anyone with a future purchase in mind.
I rode the exact same route that I rode the other day. The first ride recorded an additional 200 feet of elevation. The ride I just completed was dead on regarding elevation. Completely in-line with the 520 and RWGPS. Any thoughts on the correction?
My Garmin 810 crashed again (as it usually intermittently does during courses). Sealed my decision to get a Bolt. Even better, Clever Training has it shipping in 1 biz day. So PSA – Seems to be back in stock.
I live in Singapore and it does not ship for free here but that does not matter. Signed up for the DCR – Clever Training VIP programme too contribute back to a site that I have relied so much upon.
I have been running the elemnt bolt for a week and have also been using my old garmin 520 at the same time. I have noticed the bolt reads higher than the garmin on everything though.
Using the following sensors, garmin ant+ speed sensor, garmin ant+ cadance sensor (when not using power meter), garmin ant+ heart rate belt, 4iiii power meter.
On each ride, of varying distances from 20 miles to 60 miles, the bolt reads distance travelled higher than the 520 by up to 1/2 mile.
The cadence figures (max and average)are always 3 or 4 higher than the garmin.
The heart rate seems to be 2 beats higher than the 520.
The power (3sec, average, max, normalised) are all consistently 2-3 watts higher.
Seeing as they are picking up the data from the same sensors, any idea why there is this discrepancy? Which is likely to be more accurate, the 520 or the bolt?
1. Check that you have the wheel circumference set to the same on both devices.
2. Auto-pause could be effecting your numbers (likely reason)
3. BOLT includes zero cadence in average, pretty the 520 doesn’t by default.
Element bolt is everything Garmin edge 520 should be but is not. Easy to use, iPhone centric, simple to update, easy to add sensors, Bluetooth friendly. Garmin has blown the lead in pretty much everything they’ve done beginning with fitness watches. Now you can add bike computers to the list.
Already past 11 rides with the Bolt, still fully satisfied, but there is one additional thought to my previous comments above: for some reason the iPhone app reminds me to charge the Bolt just after the first ride is done with the previously fully charged device. It should remind me when the battery gets below a given level, not when it gets back up to almost 100 :) Since I see Wahoo personnel is reading these comments, I thought this could be useful here. Wondering if anyone else has encountered the same. (By the way, the battery life is awesome.)
The review says that a mobile data signal is required for routing to an address so not ideal for traveling abroad. Can route to a pin point on the mobile map be done without a data signal?
Also what is the coverage of the included maps if purchased in the UK?
Thanks.
The Bolt is no Dolt. This is my first real bike computer, so I can’t compare it to Garmin. I was about to the pull the trigger on a Garmin 1000 for about twice the price of this thinking I needed a big color screen for navigation. Wrong.
I love that the setup is so easy, it’s light, it has great battery life.
It is very hilly where I live so I found the climbing page very interesting during the ride.
Elevation off?
I setup a new Strava route that had 3970 of elevation. The Bolt measured 4400. So which is correct? Man with two watches never knows the time. The ascent/decent totals were only different 2% on the 50 mile loop. 10% difference in Bolt measured versus strava estimate seems a little high.
The unit yelled at me a couple times when it thought I was off route and I was not, but once actually noticed that I was going off my route and got my attention. Sweet.
Some minor things
During setup my C1 chain rings paired as “power” instead of what I expected which was power and cadence. So I fished around to see if I needed to pair it again as cadence but found it worked as both.
The LEDs are not bright enough for me outside with tinted lenses on.
The case is a light plastic that some might not like. I’m ok with it.
For $250 this is a really great deal.
Appreciate DCR’s review which put this on my radar.
Received my Bolt today.
No problems with synch, customizations it is really easy. I’m not in an iPhone here!
But:
– I saw a lots of maps from around the world. Since i would like to have Portugal and Spain loaded I started to delete the maps. I arrived to France and deleted. Then I thought, maybe I go there sometime soon so let’s downloaded again! No way because there is not enough memory!!!! What? The map was already there, I erased it with all, from A to France, so why there is not enough memory? Could you check this please?
One more question: when you “tested” the battery did you had the backlight turned on or off?
The Bolt displayed that I burned 1650 calories. This figure was also displayed on the Wahoo APP. When the ride was uploaded to Strava, it displayed 1100. I’m pretty sure that Strava doesn’t take into account HR for calorie burn, so it’s always on the low side. My question is why did it default to the Strava calculations for only that metric?
Because that’s what Strava does. It does it for all of the rides from my Edge 1000, too. Calorie numbers are only estimates, so it may well be that Strava is closer to the actual number than what your Bolt says.
Squid, the official line from Strava is shown below, I asked this question a week or two back:
“Strava uses your weight, your bike’s weight, your elevation data and your speed to estimate power output, then from that it estimates calories.”
Far from ideal in my view, Garmin, Wahoo and Polar all come out with calorie data higher than Strava, on average I would say 25% higher. If you have a power meter then Strava will work it’s magic, otherwise you have to make do with their estimate.
As far as I can tell, Strava still uses its own number even with a power meter. Garmin always just shows the number of kJ as the number of calories (at least for the modern devices; my Edge 800 showed a HR based estimate) when there’s a power meter. Strava still shows its own number.
I do not think this is correct. If you ride withoutout a power meter Strava calls it estimated.
When riding with a power meter shows weighted average power. I think they are actually using data from your power meter if you have one
I rode the exact same route that I rode the other day. The first ride recorded an additional 200 feet of elevation. The ride I just completed was dead on regarding elevation. Completely in-line with the 520 and RWGPS. Any thoughts on the correction?
First ride with my new Bolt and I’m surprisingly happy :-).
I compared with my Sigma Rox 10.0 and the tracking for the same route was better and the altitude ant start and finish was exactly the same (Rox uses a baro altimeter too). Uploaded to Strava as soon as I finished…nice!
For now very satisfied :-).
I would like to have (very easy to do in the software department):
– workout planning and uploading to the Bolt (this is a basic function! Even the Rox 11.0 have it)
– alarm with text (Eat Now every n mins…). Ok, I know everyone should know when to eat/drink!
– please make a sound volume button somewhere!
And I forgot: why do we need all those countries maps installed? I think it would be better to have more detailed maps of all the countries/regions and download te ones we need! If I go travel to Germany (just an example), I could download the map of that country, otherwise I don’t need it at all. I would prefer a more detailed map of Portugal, the country I live. But I thing this will happen :-).
First serious ride today. Only have HR strap connected, LEDs ON, connected to my Note3 via bluetooth.
– 4h56 min ride – 32% battery used (so, about 15h30 min bat autonomy. Spot on)
– no problems with altitude! I ended at home that I know it is 17 m above sea and…Bolt readings was…17m! wow.
– Leds. Well I will turn it off (today they were ON and unless the bolt was at my shade…sun behind me, I could not see if the led were ON or OFF! So, for me, LEDs could go away in the next BOLT iteration. I live in a sunny country :-).)
– Uploading the exercise to Strava: well, when I came upstairs I received a notification from Strava that everything was done :-). Great, no more cables like with the Rox 10.0.
After some serious testing in the past days in maybe not so standard conditions (starting rides at an altitude of 2150 metres, and doing 10% climbs and descents), I encountered a serious issue, about which here is the detailed report I just sent to Wahoo:
Dear Wahoo Support,
let me start by saying how much I love the new Bolt. there is not question about that. I have been using 3 different Garmin GPS devices in the past 7 years, and I don’t ever want to go back. I have ridden 13 rides (ranging between 1.5 and 4 hours) with the Bolt since 3/25, in various circumstances, and I had a very positive experience. On the other hand I have encountered a very serious issue, which I tried and managed to reproduce on three different rides during the past week.
I am currently working on top of the island of La Palma at an altitude of 2150 metres, and every afternoon I am riding around which means a lot of climbing and descending here. Here is a detailed description of the 3 separate occurrences of the issue with the altimeter (see attached the exported .fit files of these rides).
### 2017-04-04-130543-ELEMNT 6F03-6-0.fit ###
21 minutes into the ride descending a steep -9% slope at an altitude of 2027 metres the altimeter stopped working, displaying a 0 value. I stopped, thinking maybe switching on and off the GPS will solve the issue. This indeed seemed to help, but a few seconds after resuming the ride a huge spike occurred in the displayed altitude, peaking around 10000 metres. then the altitude dropped back to ~0 and exponentially climbed back to my actual elevation withing the next few seconds. After this I climbed back to the top and descended the other side of the mountain. Strangely, again, descending at a very steep -9 to -10% section at an altitude of 2005 metres the displayed elevation dropped to 0, and stayed there for the rest of the ride. The GPS displayed that I had an elevation gain of 29.959 metres and a descent of 30.072 metres…
Just after this ride I installed the latest firmware update, hoping that the mentioned elevation related improvements might also fix this issue. For a few days everything seemed to be ok, so I was happy, until yesterday.
### 2017-04-11-153147-ELEMNT 6F03-12-0.fit ###
A bit more than 20 minutes into the ride descending at a -10% slope, at an altitude of 2004 metres the elevation sensor produced a huge spike to almost 10000 metres (in the fit file it must be a slighly averaged value saved, because I definitely saw larger values on the screen), then immediately dropped to zero, and exponentially returned to the actual elevation after a few seconds. Soon I turned around and started climbing back again, but just before reaching 2000 metres, the elevation sensor stopped working and kept displaying 0 until the end of the ride. At the end, the displayed elevation gain and descent were 43.768 and 45.915 metres, respectively.
### 2017-04-12-154140-ELEMNT 6F03-13-0.fit ###
Today I went out trying to really reproduce this event again. 27 minutes into the ride, descending again at a steep -10% slope, just before reaching an elevation of 2000 metres (at 2021 metres) the same huge peak followed by a drop to 0 and slow exponential climb back to the actual altitude occurred. Unlike the previous days, the sensor kept working properly afterwards. At the end of the ride, the displayed elevation gain was 46.973 metres with a descent of 46970 metres.
### SUMMARY ###
1) Seems like the elevation related issues happened always when descending at a fast rate around an altitude of 2000 metres. there was always a large spike in the displayed value, after which the sensor either dropped to zero and stayed there, or dropped to zero and slowly recovered. After the possible recovery, within the next half hour the sensor likely stopped working.
2) The parts of the elevation profile outside these spikes (and the parts where altitude of 0 was recorded) look perfectly good, as expected.
Could you please get back to me ASAP and give an information if this is an issue that was already reported / being looked into as a high priority item? I really want this device to work perfectly, but if this issue is not going to be solved within a very short timeframe, I am afraid I will have to send it back, which I really don’t want to, because everything is just so much better than on my Garmin units… But being a data scientist, I really can not live with missing data.
– Additional notes: I also encountered quite a few spikes in power, (Garmin Vector S pedal), so probably the algorithm there could be also refined a bit. (Have not had any of these spikes using a Garmin head unit.)
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely yours,
Peter I. Papics http://papics.eu
Wow. Thanks for the detailed analysis. It’s pretty hard to say what’s going on, it’s not something ive heard of before. I will send you a email, we can get some verbose logging turned on and see what’s happening.
Thanks for the quick reply, curious to know what is going on… I am still up here on the mountain for two more days, and on the island for a week, so I can try to reproduce the circumstances in the coming days a few times again, but back in Belgium this will be a bit more difficult :) (Meaning the elevation of 2000+ metres above sea level.)
Got my Bolt about a week ago- very happy with it. My only (small) complaint is regards to data fields being dark and light. I’ve noticed when LED’s are on that the corresponding data field is dark- which I like. I use power on the top and it is easier I see when that field is dark.
However the 3s average power (which I prefer) turns the data field back to light- it seems only the power/average xxxx turns it dark, and only with LED’s on.
Is there any way to make 3s Power dark as well? That would really be nice.
1up for this. Really annoying that you can’t choose which fields to be dark. I want the upper, first, primary field to be black, either power or speed. Just like you see on the ads. Currently I use the led for heart rate zone, but i want the speed or power to be black.
So I’m in the market for a new bike computer bundle. I’ve been using a cateye padrone smart for 2 years and have nearly 5000 miles with it. To upload a ride with it, I have to connect the bike computer to my phone via Bluetooth, then the trip is tracked using the cateye app. To upload to strava, I always have to use my phone. If my computer lost connection with my phone, or if I didn’t bring my phone, I couldn’t upload to Strava.
So my question is:
With the Elemnt Bolt, do I have to be connected with my phone in order to upload to Strava, or can I plug the bike computer into my laptop and upload it through USB?. I don’t want my upload to be reliant on being connected wth my phone.
With Strava segments it seems like the “end time” and ahead/behind calculation is based on the average speed of the PR or KOM that you are competing against. Not very useful except on flat segments where speed is fairly constant. A waypoint to waypoint comparison would be more accurate. Not a complaint, or feature request, I was just surprised it worked this way, Never had a Garmin with Strava segments. Don’t know how they do it.
Hey thanks for the wonderful review! I am a new to this stuff and was wondering what my best options. I don’t have a smartphone i can use my wife’s to set up the elemnt but I feel like I would miss out on all the data the app provides. I like the turn by turn but I am worried that I will miss the app data. I see withe the edge 520 I can plug it into a computer. Do you know of any workarounds for the elemnt? Or is there another site that I can use to get this info?
Hi Bryant, one option in this case would be to initially setup the Elemnt with your wife’s phone, connect it to your wireless, configure a link to Strava and also RidewithGPS, this combination once running would allow you to view your ride data on the Strava website and also RidewithGPS, see which one you prefer of these two. RidewithGPS will allow you to create routes, once saved these will sync with the Elemnt automatically assuming the Elemnt can see the wireless network and is powered on, you can then pick a route from the Elemnt that you created in RidewithGPS and it will give you turn by turn directions :) – feel free to ask if you need any further information but having a smartphone once past the initial setup stage is not essential at all. Because the Elemnt has wireless built in it will sync your rides to Strava, RidewithGPS and several other popular sites for data viewing and analysis.
Thanks for the response. I have used strava and rwgps and I love the segments in strava, do you know a good website the elemnt can sync with the provides more detail?
I have only used Strava and Rwgps personally, Trainerroad is another which appears to go more in depth with the data, this is a paid only service from memory and not one I have experience with. Golden Cheetah is interesting but you need to export the .fit files from the Elemnt and this is easier with a smartphone to hand.
I received my Bolt a week ago – and will after three rides and 400km return it to Wahoo, because I am not willing to act as an unpaid device tester. Do not get me wrong, D.C., but I personally think that your product test is a bit too enthusiastic.
I live and ride in Germany, which might have an effect on maps, routing etc. The product might work better in other countries.
My issues are:
*Routing is a pain. Coming from an old Garmin Edge 705 I am used to comfortable route planning in Basecamp and by perfect turn-by-turn routing on the device. This is working since 2007. Importing a Garmin Basecamp gpx route on the device fails completely, while importing it as a track works fine. But turn-by-turn works only with a route, not with a track. Importing routes from strava works fine, but they also come as non-routable tracks. It might work with komoot, but I am not willing to pay another 20 Euros to get a routable map (or not, who knows). Routing with turn-by-turn for me worked only fine when planning in the Elemnt Companion App, but you do not really want to plan your ride in the App. Nightmare. Plus, the directions are in a very small font and are barely readable for me (riders with better sight might easily read them).
*When you zoom out of a map the Bolt does not display the track properly. It just get’s lost somewhere.
*Good luck if you end up in nowhere with a closed road ahead and no mobile access. Forget the map if you take a detour, as it will not reload due to the missing mobile coverage. Happened to me today, not funny.
*The GPS chip is very picky. While competing in a strava segment, the Bolt stopped displaying my segment in between. I looked at the recording afterwards, and the recorded track runs like 10-20 meters next to the paved and curved road. Yeah, it was a cloudy day and it was in a forest – but in cerntral Europe we still have some forests and I guess most serious strava segments have trees nearby. In today’s ride each segment worked, but I had a nearly blue sky. Not working for me. However, when the segment thing works it’s pretty cool (and a bit frustrating to me, as I I am not really competing somewhere in the top ten. Pretty interesting though, how far I am behind the KOM)
*Some not really important stuff:
– Who the hell needs SMS notification? My people send WhatsApp or Telegram. SMS is outdated.
– Map northbound does not work when routing.
– Companion App does not find the Bolt when Bolt is running before the app is started.
Overall, I am rather disappointed. After D.C.’s review I expected muchmuch more. However, if routing is not important for you it still might be a good product – after the next few software updates.
I will now try the Edge 820 as a replacement for my old 705. Bolt and me will not get friends.
I am from Germany too, but I don’t know what this should have to do with the use of the Bolt? It is working the same way as everywhere else in the world. Map quality depends on Open Street Map coverage, and here in Germany in my experience, map coverage is very good. So no complaints from my side.
But I have to say that I don’t have a Bolt, but an original Element, but since software is the same this should not make a difference…
Also I don’t know what you are talking about being an unpaid device tester? Don’t get it! Might have been true a year ago with the original Element, but current status is quite stable, Garmin had bigger f..ckups.
Regarding routing: I had an eTrex 30 before I got the Element, and I totally do not get your affection for Garmin basecamp. In my experience this is one of the worst softwares out there to do route planning. I hated it from the beginning and was very pleased that I could get rid of it. Since I have the E I did not use it for a second and am pretty happy about it. So why do you want to stick to it? The Element clearly is not designed to use such crappy SW.
Also you do not need a paid Komoot account to get turn by turn, you can just sign in at ridewitgps with a free account and also get free TBT. I used it in the beginning, but since komoot is supported, I switched over to komoot since I believe that route planning for MTB is better in komoot. But both are miles ahead of the basecamp crap.
-What about the map not reloading when you take a detour!? Don’t understand what you mean! Maps are completely on the device, no reloading from the mobile will happen…ever! Everything already on the Elemnt.
Strava Segments: Works well for me. My experience is, that since I am so far away from KOM most of the time I prefer to ride against my Personal Record (PR), which can be set on the Elemnt while riding the segment.
Overall it seems you really should go 820, so you can stick to basecamp. I personally will not turn back as long as I need to connect a computer to the device to get a route onto it. This is just the best selling point I have for the E, saves so much time and for me it just works.
No reason to feel offended. It’s just about a bike computer.
Agreed, Basecamp has lots of useless features. But to me it is still a very good way to plan a tour, if you have the proper maps. One of the best options is to switch between topo maps (for mtb, no routing) and street maps (incl. turn by turn). IMHO the map quality is superior to the map of the bolt, which I cannot change. On the other hand, Garmin maps are very expensive.
This is also where my misunderstanding of “map reloading” came from: I planned my tour in strava, which showed all the small streets in that specific area. Strava obviously uses a different map than the Bolt, and the Bolt missed all the small streets. This might be rare in Germany, but it happened.
BTW: Wahoo support (which always reacted within only minutes to my requests, Kudos!) confirmed that for Komoot you need to buy the map of a region to import routes to the Bolt.
Leaves me mainly with the “picky GPS chip”. I maybe need some more rides in cloudy weather in forests to accurately judge its behaviour. Right now I feel that the old Edge 705 is much more accurate (although it takes an eternity to start the device). Would be good to hear if anybody else encountered similar issues.
However, you made one very strong point at the end: that you still need a USB port to get a route or a track on the Garmin device. I know this from my 705, which has no funky wifi or bt to communicate with a smartphone. I did not even consider that such a new device as the 820 could not get a route from the mobile device (although it seems to work with not supported workarounds). Clearly a minus for the Garmin.
I have ordered the 820, have not yet returned the Bolt and will run both in parallel for a couple of days. Good that Wahoo offers a 30 day return.
Thanks for your comment, Philip.
one more thing about komoot: I got my home area for free when I signed up, so for testing this might be worthwhile.
But you should really test ridewithgps, as you can switch between different maps there too. (But komoot as well ;),
For basecamp I always used OpenMTB maps since they contained al trails in my area.
The Element map is based on OpenStreetMaps, so all bikeable roads from there should be on the Elemnt, though I don’t know how old the maps are on the E!?
On the other hand they are not so important anyway, since the won’t be used for routing at all, just as visual cue when navigating a breadcrumb or navigating without a route.
One more thing about komoot: if you have mobile data you can use the komoot app on the cellphone to plan or adjust a route and sync it via bluetooth from the element app to the Elemnt. Did this a few times when getting stuck or when I decided to take a detour. Works really well and fast and you have complete control over the rout, and you get TBT… alone from this point of view the komoot fee was worth it…
I’ll give the Bolt together with Komoot another shot. The 20 Euros for the world map are absolutely ok, compared to the Garmin maps pricing. Maybe I was too quick in my decision to return the bolt.
I will update this thread once I know. Again: Thanks for your advice, Philip.
I really interested to see if my local MTB trails are named in the Bolt’s map system. I followed DC’s guide in regards to my 520 and all of the trail names and routes were listed.
-battery: 16+ hours (with BT connected)
-TBT works fine (route created with RWGPS)
-altitude: really great! I knew the real altitude of some points and checked the one displayed and I was happy with what I saw.
-synch to all my sites after I press “end of ride”. This via BT to the cell phone and the cell phone do the rest (data ON). Really nice.
Now for the GPS refreshing rate: Bolt displayed the distance to the next turn and refreshed it but I turned and it displayed 19 m until the turn!
Should I turn off wifi while riding? Any negative impact if turned on?
Based in a post I saw here, I paid the 20 euro fee for Komoot hopping that I could make any route, point by point, for my mtb trails! Wrong! Even if I knew that there was a trail (and we can see it in a satellite image) I could not make the trail with my cell phone! So I am a little disapointed! Works great if the streets are at the komoot map and the synch to bolt is fine too. I ended up to making the route in the laptop with RWGPS and it was 100% accurate. I did this just to test because I did not needed a route for this trail! So, it will be a great feature when one, can make a route in a cell phone based in satellite image and not only with a map, because maps (at least the ones I saw) don’t have all the trails.
Does anyone know if the Wahoo elemnt Bolt will pair better with wahoo’s cadence/speed and heart rate sensor than gamins? If it doesn’t matter, I was thinking of getting the Garmin speed/cadence sensor because the ratings are good but I would have the wahoo heart rate monitor. Does it drain the head unit battery more if connected to units that utilize both Blu tooth and ant+ instead of just straight Blu tooth or ant +? I am new to this stuff so I am not sure.
Bryant, I have used both the original Elemnt and the Bolt with Wahoo and Garmin sensors without problems, like yourself I picked up the Garmin sensor due to better reviews but have used the Wahoo cadence, the Garmin cadence sensor fitting method is not great (rubber bands not enough stretch) and I prefer the Wahoo zip tie fixings but otherwise I have no issue with Garmin speed and cadence, seem to work well. Couldn’t confirm if using mixed sensors impacts the battery life, I use Garmin Ant+ cadence and speed with Polar Bluetooth heart rate monitor and with LED’s and Strava Segments on, no back light, I will average 8-10% per hour when used for short rides of 40 minutes or less. Cadence takes a few spins to pickup, speed is virtually instant. I do find the Garmin cadence is a bit delayed when you stop pedalling, in the same way it takes a couple of spins to wake it up at the beginning of a ride.
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Brilliant, thanks for teeing this up and pushing it out so hot on the heels of the launch, I think I’ve just found my replacement having finally given up the Lezyne GPs (Y9) that promised lots but drove me nuts.
Would be good to see a side by side with a 520 and the original ELEMNT, similar to the way you do with watches.
+1 for this. You’re slipping. ;-)
Not in the review but he does a comparison in the unboxing video here: link to youtu.be
Yeah, I did it within the video in a fair bit of detail.
I meant to reshoot all that upstairs in natural light but somehow it slipped off my to-do list for last Saturday before my train. I’ll add them in this weekend.
Great review. Inside I can imagine it is the same as its big brother ELEMNT, isn´t it?.
So any update wil be for both.
Thanks.
Correct (as far as we know, and as far as everything I’ve heard officially or unofficially).
Great review as always.
Just to clarify, are you saying that the BOLT and the 1st gen ELEMNT use the same processor? Obviously, the displays are different and perhaps there is a different graphics chip.
This looks legitimately awesome!
So many great features.
A while ago there was a change that (i think?) removed the ability for a lot of 3rd party devices to upload to Garmin Connect – I think the elemnt was impacted… has this been resolved? Some of my iOS apps have since brought the feature back (iSmoothRun for example)
Garmin doesn’t seem to be on the list for linked accounts in the phone app (at least based on the review shots) so it seems like it’s not back (I may be wrong though).
I still can’t upload to Garmin Connect through the Wahoo Fitness app, which I used to be able to do, so I doubt it.
Yep that’s what I was thinking. The share sheet of the element app on the store shows connect, but the release notes of the over wahoo app say it was removed.
If this works on the bolt I will be all over it!
What about using Tapiriik? For a small annual charge it syncs just about anything to anything. Should be able to do Dropbox to Garnim Connect.
While I was extremely happy to dump my 820 for an ELEMNT, at least for now I do like my data in Garmin Connect. (That being said, it’s buggyness is making me grow less tolerant.)
The way I set it up:
I have a Dropbox account (actually only for this).
Setup the E app to push the .fit file to that (and Strava) at the end of a ride.
Have the Dropbox app on my iOS devices.
Setup a ‘iOS desktop’ Safari shortcut directly to the GC Import screen.
Then I can open that, browse directly to Dropbox for the .fit file, it will ‘download’, then I can hit the import button.
It’s actually easier to do on an iOS than a PC desktop.
It’s not 100% automatic, but very easy.
That was my question re sending to Garmin Connect at the end of a ride too.
I used to use iSmoothRun for years for both running and cycling until I finally got round to buying a Fenix 3 (as I mainly run) and continued to use my phone to record rides (but auto exporting to both Garmin and Strava after). I like things to be automated so that I don’t have to do anything (ie after a run the Fenix 3 syncs with my phone and data appears within both Garmin Connect and Stava within a minute or less) so if this unit can auto export/share to Garmin Connect then I may pick up one of these over the Garmin 520 (which I was thinking of getting as my first proper headunit – I’ve been using the Wahoo RFLKT+ with my phone up to now).
Is there a 3rd party upload that is similar to Garmin Connect?
I too like my data in Garmin Connect (and SportTracks 3 PC-app).
I can grab a .FIT-file from the Bolt and import it in GC.
However, when I shall view that activity, Garmin webpage fails and Garmin android app show no map.
Import in SportTracks 3 PC-app does not work.
Working with the file in GPSBABEL does not work.
Are your -FIT-files compatible with Garmin Connect?
The root cause of the issue is likely that BOLT uses FIT 2.0, I have no idea why the manual import on GC doesn’t work for FIT 2.0 since all there devices support it. The best thing to do is reach out to the developers of SportTracks and GPSBABEL, it should be a pretty simple update for them to handle FIT 2.0 files. I have a contact at SportTracks and can send them a email.
Thanks for the reply Wahoo Murray
SportTracks is not that willing to help with improvements to the ST3 version. I paid for this version and like the offline tool, so I don’t like that I need to pay for the ST.mobi only to import fit files for offline usage. There reply is:
================
Hi there.
It’s possible the new FIT file not supported by the ST3 version. The updated software online should support this.
We don’t have plans to have any new releases of the ST3 software at this point.
-Team SportTracks-
================
I hope that you will try contact SportTracks. Maybe it can help, if you explain that the solution is simple…
I’ll be honest here – this isn’t Wahoo’s fault, this is 100% on Sport Tracks. And in fact, they already implemented it online as noted (meaning, they’re capable of doing it for the desktop client).
The new FIT 2.0 file standard came out well over a year ago now, and everyone else now for the most part properly supports it. It’s this standard that allows additional data to be recorded into the files, including new sensor types and custom data.
Thanks for the comment Ray
I learned that I shall not blame Wahoo for exploiting a new standard (without knowing if they comply to it properly). Instead, I think that Garmin need to support FIT v2 in Garmin Connect, and I hope that SportTracks will update their PC application.
Garmin actually supports it as well (they were the first to). It’s used in all Edge products now, the Fenix 5, Fenix 3/3HR, FR735XT and just about anything else that supports Connect IQ.
Now…the better question is what’s causing the failure on uploads to GC from Wahoo. It wasn’t broken as of about a month ago, and then it broke. It’s not super clear to me if it was a Wahoo-breaking thing, or a Garmin breaking thing. Obviously, someone broke something. I just don’t know who.
Make the issue more public: link to sporttracks.uservoice.com
@Ray: Sure. I have sent Garmin my FIT-files asking if they have a compatibility issue.
@Eli: I have posted my idea. Unfortunately, I don’t expect an action from Sport Tracks as they are not willing to update the ST3. Reference: link to sporttracks.uservoice.com
I am just a little fish…
Ray, we only switched to FIT 2.0 last big update (Strava rolled out full support last month). Its my understanding that FIT 2.0 upload doesn’t work when manually uploading files to GC, we tied FIT 2.0 from their own devices and it failed as well. Maybe its not exactly FIT 2.0 and just some other issue. We would love to get it resolved.
Strava’s supported parsing of the files since approximately 3PM Pacific Time on August 31st, 2016 (about a year ago). I only know this because I was somehow the first person to actually notice that the FIT2 developer fields were breaking Strava uploads when rolled out on a Garmin beta update I got (I’ll ignore the fact that somehow nobody at Garmin noticed this in months of testing). And because I happen to have an e-mail from the Strava crew when the fix was implemented – Outlook for the win! ;) Now, as for more full-scale support, perhaps they changed something last month too.
As for GC, it’s long been using FIT2 uploads. So my guess is that’s not the issue, but rather something else in the file causing issues.
Garmin does have a history of occasionally ‘breaking’ 3rd party compatibility (as you know, being on the receiving end of it). Whether that’s purposeful this time, or who’s fault it is, I’m not sure. There was times were Timex .FIT files failed because Garmin didn’t follow the spec correctly. Thus some companies have simply worked to figure out where the oddities are so that uploads work.
Obviously they don’t really have any interest in making it easier for companies like Wahoo to leverage their platform (despite it being an obviously good thing for them….). Which may in turn delay getting it figured out as to what’s causing the breakage. :(
(And just in case it’s not clear to folks, I’ve long been trying to convince Garmin to open their Garmin Connect platform up. It’s a stupid business decision not to. Eventually they’ll get it.)
Thanks Ray
Can anyone tell if the Wahoo-GC compatibility issue is caused by Wahoo changing their file format or Garmin changes their GN import function? It is mentioned that it wasn’t broken as of about a month ago, and then it broke. So, if someone can try import a FIT-file from a Wahoo Bolt unit created more than one month ago and see if it imports properly into GN, then we have a clue….
Interesting, we had to delay our FIT 2.0 release to wait for Strava to switch over to a new FIT parsing, they had a roll-your-own parser for a while, maybe it was compatible enough for your Garmin uploads. Anyway, that’s mute now.
Interesting that you haven’t had trouble with manual uploads of FIT2.0, we have with files from Garmin devices, I will reach out privately and maybe you can help us resolve the issue. Like you said, it can be hard with conflicting interests.
I would also like to note that we use the official FIT SDK to write out FIT files, so no reason they shouldn’t be compatible?
I picked an old BOLT .FIT file from March, and that still uploads to GC just fine. I then picked two from July 17th, and both failed. Interestingly, I then picked one from July 30th or so, using the ELEMNT MINI’s App, and that actually works. And one from yesterday on the BOLT fails. All of these were .FIT files via Dropbox and then manually uploaded to GC using the website.
I’d agree there’s no logical reason it shouldn’t work, but usually nuance of something odd is why they don’t work. I’ll catch-up with Murray some more and see if between us we can figure out some aspect of the pattern.
Done at ST site.
Question, I am simple: speed, distance, HR etc. I will be able to Load to Strava then export as .gpx and load into SportTracks correct?
You can export an activity as a .GPX-file within Strava to (somehow) get around the .FIT-file. I just did do so and imported it into Garmin Connect. It maintained “basic” data items but lost power data and average values considering when the activity was paused. Not recommended.
Hope that Ray and Murray can contribute to a better solution, although ST3 seems to be a dead end if ignoring ST.mobi.
Just want to say thank you for trying to figure things out and letting everyone know what you can right now.
Is the issue with sending data to Garmin Connect solved?
If not, what is the process?
Nope, still kaput. And it doesn’t look like Garmin will fix this any time soon, since it’s broken for so long now. Mid August I think.
BOLT isn’t exactly in line with Wahoos typical product naming, but I suspect that the Wahoo BLT would have been a bit misleading.
Anyway. Can you reroute to a specific location mid-life?
Through the companion app, you can choose a new destination during the ride and get turn-by-turn directions there.
Great review. The new mount is super cool, but unless I’m missing something, unusable for any triathlete using a between-the-arms hydration system, right? This seems odd. If any crowd is going to be attracted to a more aero bike computer, it seems likely to be the tri crowd. . .
That was my thought too actually. I can’t tell if it detaches or not. Perhaps Ray can chime in on that? Would be unusable for me, personally, for this reason. But the rest of it looks… very impressive. A clear shot across the bow for Garmin to take note of. I have a feeling a lot of people looking to upgrade will happily take a close look at this one.
It depends on the BTA you use… I wouldn’t have any issue to use it with my Profile Design FC35. But I know this is not the most common BTA.
The lug appears to be the same as the ELEMNT, so any mount suitable for the ELEMNT should suit the BOLT.
Agreed, re: BTA mount. It seems like an obvious hole and triathletes would love it; I’m hoping they have one in the works? Sure you could use the ELEMNT mount because of the connection, but the way the backside of the BOLT is designed it won’t be as seamless as the engineered out-of-the-box solution on the BOLT’s packaged mount.
Ray, maybe you’ve heard something about optional mounts being offered? As always, thanks for the great review!
Good review!
I am somewhat unhappy with my Garmin Edge 820 (that darn touchscreen, why did I go for touchscreen; plus a dead pixel on the screen that bugs me on top of it). If WAHOO comes up with a full color version, I think that would be the one to have. I just prefer color vs B/W.
Ray, one correction: “you can still crease secondary data pages” -> “create”?
I always crease my pages.
Thanks for the review. Are there any plans to make a better live track or integrate with Strava Beacon?
I know Garmin has an exclusive on that for some period of time. I can’t remember it if ended Jan 1st, 2017, or if it was sometime next year.
Recently saw that on Strava iOS feed that they were pimping that Beacon could be used with my Garmin device. At the moment I Bluetooth connect 810 to Garmin Connect iOS, and “Start Live Track”.
I am not sure what Strava Beacon offers that Garmin Live Track doesn’t?
I use the garmin live track all the time, but I would like to switch to the Elment, which has crappy live track. So if it worked with Breacon, that would help.
Ray,
Just a heads up…..You didnt include the Bolt in the comparison charts.
Sorry, should be fixed. A timing error in the database didn’t show right. My bad.
I made the jump to Elemnt last summer. Overall I’m VERY happy with it. The continuous software updates are wonderful
I read the review twice and missed what and how Di2 information is displayed.
Unless it’s different from the elemnt you can view it visually (little gears) or with numbers, as well as battery info. See here: link to bikeradar.com
Good to read all the reviews that are out while Wahoo are still promoting the big upcoming announcement of a mystery product – that everyone already knows what it is.
Ray, did you break embargo? Is this supposed to be Wahoos noon announcement?
actually I see they have it up too, so i guess I jumped the gun.
They had it up on the site, then took it down and have now put it back up again. I think they messed up this one.
we had a few streams break so just decided to go early.
The embargo as 9AM US EST. I had it setup for 3PM CET. Which was great…until about 2:15PM CET while sitting on a chairlift I got a text from someone asking why the review was missing (they knew it was set for embargo lift time).
@!#$@#%#
Forgot the US did their timezone changeroo this past weekend, so now only 5 hours behind me.
Sigh. Spent the next 35 minutes on the chairlifts in between runs trying to fix all the various things that were set to automatically trigger (Site post, YouTube, Facebook, database entries, etc…). Kinda a mess. But all good now.
This looks great. I wish Wahoo would come out with an equally awesome running watch so I could walk away from Garmin completely and still be with on vendor for both running and cycling.
This is my hope as well. I’m sick of my 500 dollar Garmin watch constantly losing bluetooth connection to my Pixel phone.
I saw this on their twitter feed a while back. Very promising. They didn’t deny it which says a lot.
I’m trying to post the link to the tweet but the spam filter won’t let me.
3rd August 2016
“@mjulianb There has been some research on our end regarding a watch. You will need to stay tuned.”
This.
Wahoo if your listening, this is what needs to happen to get the rest of us. However, I would really do some market research. IT seems there is a divide in the “watch” group.
Some people like me, don’t want a fenix 5, we prefer the garmin 230. But its not the features, its the weight size battery aspects.
I would make 2 watches. 1 for the tri nut jobs, and 1 for the rest., The 1 for the rest prioritize battery, weight, an size.
I would ditch garmin in second for my new bolt and new wahoo gps fitness tracker.
I agree. A 230/235 is my target. In fact, my 25 would be fine if it had a built in HRM…and, of course, if it would keep working, especially the wireless sync. A two watch offering from Wahoo would be great, but I bet a basic version and something around the 235 would be the perfect combo.
Fully agree; Garmin makes quite crappy software. And that shows everywhere; their watches, bike computers, their Connect website.
Once they get structured workouts I think I will be in. Great price, size, and features and the DCR blessing.
This is the one thing it doesn’t do that i want to see. The ability to build simple erg workout in Wahoo app that then send to Elemnt. I can’t believe they haven’t implemented this for the kickr. For now i use Hurts Ergo but would much prefer to keep my phone away and use my bike computer for all training.
I’m an ELEMNT user (with what a doctor would describe as lousy eyesight…) and really like the big screen on the ELEMNT so won’t be downsizing to the BOLT.
However I was interested if Wahoo have changed the feel of the buttons on the case.
I like the three buttons at the bottom and find them positive and easy to use with gloves, but find the two buttons on the right side (used to increase/decrease the number of data fields) less positive to use.
It would be good if Wahoo brought out a remote for handlebar control.
Hi Michael, Ray’s review of the Elemnt last year suggested the battery life was not as advertised. I need a decent battery life for touring but prefer the larger screen of the Elemnt. I wondered what your experiences were of battery life? Cheers!
Thanks for an excellent review Ray! I just have one question.
– Is there something the Bolt can do that the old Elemnt can’t do?
Nope, both units have been getting concurrent updates – so identical in features (except for the bigger bolt having more data fields – 11 vs 9.).
Ray,
Can you use the Bolt with any out front mount (e.g., Bar Fly Prime)? Or does it only work with the included out front bike mount?
It needs a Wahoo compatible one in theory. So companies like BarFly and K-Edge make those.
Though, it does roughly fit the Garmin mount, it’s just not an ideal fit and long-term probably wouldn’t be good.
Ray,
Thanks. I was concerned that with the funky aero integration, you’d be locked into only using the Wahoo mount. Good to know that this isn’t an issue
Great review as always!
I know I’m a noob and that this may not be the place for this, most likely asked already, question. But, why, if most non-pros out there carry their smartphone with them, do you need any of these units.
I keep reading the reviews, and wanting the new tech, but I stop at the pay now button. I have my iPhone 7 mounted to my bike with a Quad lock out front mount/case, running Strava or Ride with GPS. Battery life is fine for my typical 3-4 hour ride, and I can get 5-6 hours out of it if needed. Not to mention you shouldn’t carry your phone in your jersey pocket anyway.
Is the only benefit Ant+ and Battery life? What am I missing?
Battery life. Waterproof. MUCH smaller – less weight in expensive electronics bouncing with every pothole. Higher contrast in direct light. ANT+ support (up until a couple of years ago Bluetooth fitness devices were unheard of)
It doesn’t make sense for the casual rider, but if you put on a couple of thousand miles a year (not that unusual) then its worth the investment.
I typed a very similar comment at the same time. Weight is not much smaller if I compare my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact to my friends’ Garmin units. It has ANT+ support. It has adjustable brightness and gives me wonderful contrast – and COLOR! Hence, much better maps than my peers have. Battery life is shorter, but I still get more than 8 hours of riding out of it. Plus, that seems the easiest fix to me in various ways. I ride thousands of miles, and I still don’t see why I should carry two devices of those few extra features that these specialty units have could easily be implemented as an app.
If you carry your phone with you anyway, you’re already risking it. If you are carrying it in your Jersey pocket you are risking personal injury too. There have been several Lithium burns caused by falling on phones.
The iPhone 7 like many others coming out are even water resistant. I don’t even have any Ant only devices to speak of. If I have to carry two devices, the second might as well be a battery pack to keep the iPhone going which is far cheaper than a head the Element of Edge.
I get it, if your racing and that weight is a concern, I just don’t see it for myself… Yet.
I tried just using a phone for a few years, and then a RFLKT and RFLKT+. Bottom line: it’s not as reliable, you lose rides, and it’s just fussier. The WF app, for example, would fritz if a phone call came in during a ride.
I’m sure a lot of these issues have been fixed, but I’m also sure more have been added. The bottom line (for me at least) was I’ve never had an issue with a dedicated bike computer. It just works…
If you want to have the ability to see maps/stats while you ride, mounting a phone to your bars is awkward and puts the phone at greater risk in the event of a crash. A small head unit on an out-front mount is out of the way and much more protected in a crash. Additionally, most phones are only capable of a couple hours of screen-on time at best, so live-view maps and data screens will kill your phone’s battery very quickly. And touch screens just flat out suck to use when wet – either due to sweat or rain.
If all you care about is recording the ride and don’t need to see maps or live data on your speed/distance/power/whatever, then a phone is absolutely a fine choice. Apps like Strava are actually pretty light on battery as long as the screen is off – just fire up your tracker app of choice and toss the phone in your jersey pocket for the duration of the ride.
If that technology exists to make bike computers work, I can just repeat myself: it doesn’t take a genius to create an Android-powered bike computer with phone capabilities. It’s not that phones can’t have physical buttons. And that you could have a button that switches touchscreen functions on/off. It’s not that you couldn’t develop power management to get more battery life. Or, as Reuben said, that you couldn’t just carry an extra battery. If I have to charge an Elemnt Bolt after every second ride, I can also charge a phone after every ride.
I run OruxMaps on my phone. It’s permanently running maps and data screens. I use offline maps. (OpenAndroMaps – can only recommend them.). Helps with the battery I look at my data, I look at my maps. Actively use it to look ahead what’s coming up next on the route, something which is clumsy to do on a Garmin unit and requires just a swipe for me. I got calls, text messages, used other apps simultaneously. Just because one app is wonky doesn’t mean that that’s a problem inherent to phone. For what it’s worth, Ray mentioned the bugginess of the original Elemnt.
I have my phone on a Quadlock mount on the stem. I have crashed twice last summer. In one occasion, I got significant damage to my handlebar. My phone doesn’t even have a scratch. In most crash circumstances, it’s not likely to hit the ground – less likely than when sitting in the back pocket.
Way back when, what’s very first foray into bike computers was actually developing a bike case for the iPhone. Designed for road and TT bikes, etc…
What they…and everyone else, have learned is there’s simply very little market for developing phone based cycling head units that target this end of the market. Sure, cheap phone mounts are a plenty, but not once you get into the $300-$500 range. People just want a dedicated unit without the fussiness of a phone.
And ultimately – the piece that I can’t stress enough is that when it comes to phone-based apps, none do the full range of what Garmin (or even Wahoo) do today. It’s the nuances of all these little things that add up. Too many apps skip on little features that frustrate folks.
I think we will see attempts to do Android based units as time goes forward, but the battery life on dedicated units is just so strong these days it’s really hard to justify. For example, 15 hours of display-on, GPS-on riding isn’t something you’ll find in a phone.
Additionally, each time you upgrade your phone, you will most likely have to purchase a new cycle mount/case.
“Way back when”, I started using an iPhone 3S with a dedicated waterproof/shockproof case. It was a great case that cost about $50. I then upgraded to iPhone 4S and needed a new case… another $60 .When it came time to upgrade my phone again, it seemed more cost effective to spend money on a dedicated cycling computer and, as Ray points out, the UX of a dedicated unit is so much better.
Mobile devices banned in triathlon events?
As soon as you switch manufacturer from one computer generation to the next, you’ll also need a new mount. A plastic case and a simple Quadlock adapter come in at $25 combined. That’s eight generations of smartphones for one Elemnt Bolt. Let it be the $50 you say because you’re phone is not water-proof by design. That’s still four generations of smartphones. (The smartphone itself price is irrelevant here, since you’d buy a phone anyways.) Even if you switch your phone every two years, that’s 8 years of technological progress. By that time, you’d also switch your bike computer.
Sure, no single app has all the little features. But in combination of apps, you’ll get them easily on a phone. And still: if you can implement it as a software in a proprietary environment, generally you should also be able to implement it on a smartphone OS, no? Even if not, let’s be honest, many of those features are of the kind of “I want to have it, even though I’m never going to use it” for the majority of users.
I agree that a few years back this market wasn’t there. But phones have become better and stronger, and phone mounts have become better as well (Quadlock now is just one of various options). And more bulky to put in the jersey pocket. The compact Xperia phones are a good note on this: Every manufacturer was like “there is no market for small phones”, but the compact phones sold better than their larger brothers.
Ray, if I’m not mistaken, you’re an iPhone user, no? I’d be happy to see you doing a comparative review on a number of popular apps used on both iPhone and Android, certainly including OruxMaps, which I can just very highly advocate. I can’t stress enough that the attention your website gets, and your own thoroughness in reviewing things, could only help those app developers to go ahead, get better, and increase the range of options for more of us.
There’s fewer things I hate doing than app reviews. Here’s how it works (always works):
A) I do an app review, talk about things I don’t like.
B) Within a week, developer fixes things I don’t like (great!), and then asks me to update review ‘ASAP!’
C) Sigh. My post is not outdated and useless…unless I spend more time to update it/completely revamp it.
D) Then every other app that’s vaguely like app noted in item A, asks for a review of their app.
E) Sometimes, said apps even will ‘rally’ their Facebook fans to contact me to request a review of their app.
F) Other apps will continue to get upset that I haven’t reviewed them, often sending all sorts of odd e-mails to me about why I’m ignoring them.
And the cycle continues….a cycle that oddly only exists when I review apps.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure there’s a future for phones as head units, but I disagree that having a smattering of apps across phone models that rarely meet cyclists needs is the best solution.
The new iphone 7 is water resistant with better battery life. Although having it out on a mount might not be the best shock absorption as in a pocket, its still OK. The quad locks are great as they aren’t too rigid. I have the plus version and I’d say its a tad too big and looks a bit weird like futureBike 2.0, but until I get more serious into cycling I just can’t justify a separate unit. I’d say for MTB they make less sense but road riding its fine. Whats funny, is that even if I had a dedicated unit like the bolt (which is very tempting)… I’d then worry about the phone falling out of my jersey pocket or crashing with it!
ELEMNT has proven 100x more reliable than the RFLKT type Wahoo devices, especially on Android.
If you want a oldschool bike computer, go for it.
Thomas, if you have made up your mind to use your phone as a head unit, then you should. I am not arguing with your preference. You posed a question and I replied with my experiences regarding your question.
I believe that you are assuming that I have a WF ELEMNT BOLT. I do not. I do own a few WF products, including a 1st gen KICKR, and I think they are a great company.
I average about 4200 road miles a year on my bike. For me, using a dedicated cycling computer has proven to be a much better experience than running one, or more, apps on my phone.
“As soon as you switch manufacturer from one computer generation to the next, you’ll also need a new mount.” – Do keep in mind that most, if not all, cycling computers come with at least one mount.
Cheers!
Indeed, that is most certainly true. Besides, one wouldn’t want to leave their smartphone on their bike: sometimes bike computers gets stolen in Parc Ferme.
Correct, according to ITU rules:
4.8 g: Mobile phone(s) or any other electronic listening communication device;
link to triathlon.org
I agree! But I want a small, aerodynamic 2nd screen. Panel shape, b/w high contrast screen. With barometer. Sliding (not turning) mount.
And a small pod with buttons to change screens, set laps.
Result: no big thing on the handlebar, no shaking/vibrating of the delicate electronics, save a lot of power, camera on hand, Google Maps, communication, music……
Too bad Wahoo didn’t do that right…….. (of why did it fail?)
It´s nice you´re happy with oruxmaps, probably the best app für cyclists out there.
I used it a lot and later other apps on an iphone.
Yes, it works, but once I got my Garmin I will never go back, although the Garmin software can be pita (same goes for Oruxmaps, but as you surely agree: it IS a great app and I never regreted spending money for it to support the developers). But (to me and many others) a dedicated device is simply better. I also like to have my phone in my backpack at full charge when I do long rides.
Btw I think you were lucky since I totalled a Sony Xperia Z3 in a quite harmless crash.
Just an update to my post here.
After riding for a while with the iPhone 7 plus as my primary head unit for several months I decided to get the Wahoo Bolt. Not because I feel my phone is safer in my pocket, not to save weight (I still carry the phone after all), and not so much for a screen easier to read in direct sunlight.
It came done to function. Strava Premium, which I love, has yet to get their Route Builder out of Beta. They have yet to get more screen customizations such as multiple screens for say climbing, nor have they taken advantage of the large screens phones offer. They still have no Turn by Turn directions and they seem more focused on social aspects than functionality during a ride. I still prefer Strava over other apps as they all have a host of issues. I have dropped my Premium account in protest.
I got the Bolt for Battery life, cycling specific design, and turn by turn directions for long routes. The screen is tiny, and difficult to read small labels during a ride (which won’t matter as much when I’m more familiar with the device). It’s just more convenient for cycling.
A couple points of criticism for the Bolt though;
I did find a bug already where the Bolt has difficulty reconnecting to my power meter after the meter goes to sleep during a food stop. Also the included Aero mount won’t allow for the Device to be centered (Similar to the bike in the DC’s review of it, it’s just off center). I tucked it as close as physically possible to the stem and the bolt sits 2-3mm off. Not really an aero issue, but my OCD won’t allow it. I purchased a K-Edge mount as per Wahoo’s suggestion, however this loses the aero factor.
I also miss the ability to answer Facetime calls during leisure rides, apparently my daughter gets a kick out of looking up nose….
I used to track my workouts with an Apple Watch and Strava + IPhone 6s+ in my Jersey for Audionavigation (komoot). That was completly fine for tracking.
Now i’m using a bolt because the apps in the phone are too limited for me:
Strava doesnt support intervals. No average HR for laps, no advanced metrics for powermeters etc.
Plus the battery issue with display on and GPS on.
The Quadlock Kit is 180g vs 63g for bolt. Additional battery pack not mentioned.
Strava Premium is for live metrics 60€/year. Lets say I use my bike Computer for 3 years, thats a 180+60€ for mount + 60€ for battery pack.
With lap and better powermeter support Strava could easily make a bike Computer obsolete for me. But we are not there yet…
Can the BOLT upload workout data to the Wahoo Fitness app? I use the Wahoo Fitness app to track my skiing/running/hiking and currently my cycling (with a RFLKT+.) It’d be nice to keep all the data in the same place.
I still don’t understand why not one of the big players has yet developed a dedicated Android-based outdoor phone. Size of a Sony Xperia Z1/3/5 Compact, more battery in exchange for less fancy smartphone features that I don’t care about on the ride, display brightness options (automatic adjustment to brightness, monochrome), turn-on/off-by-physical button touch functionality, weather-resistance, and a great app that is (1) available for free if you buy the device or (2) costs 9.99 if you want it from the PlayStore for any other phone. All those third-party app integrations are then done by default, because… it’s just a phone.
So much of what these super expensive computers can do I get with OruxMaps for free. I am missing workouts, but there are apps for that. I am missing an inbuilt calibration for power meters, but there are apps for that. I am missing looking up places, but if my dedicated bike computer requires me to pair it with a phone for that feature, why not use a dedicated sports phone in the first place? Really, the only thing I am concerned about is battery life on trips beyond 150km (or a bit shorter if they include a train ride to get back home).
I have to carry my phone anyways. I’d love to save the weight of an unnecessary extra unit. And I’m really impressed that all of them are still pushing forward with what to me seems like an outdated idea of a special-purpose device.
I 100% agree. I’m also surprised nobody has done an Android Wear powered bike computer that could have a better screen, large battery, and a ton of apps already native to the OS.
Otherwise, I might be looking into this. I’d like to replace my Edge 800 and the Lezyne Super GPS and now this Bolt are on my radar. I wish there was a bit more of a comparison to the Lezyne models instead of multiple Garmins and an old Wahoo.
I’ve read on a few sites that the Polar V650 is a Droid-based unit. I would put this in the “rumor mill” category, as I have not been able to get that information verified. Perhaps it is…?
This is what I said a long time I ago…. Garmin should have acquired some ‘crashed’ phone brand like Nokia. So little people with vision……….
Everybody is riding around with 2 devices that have 75% the same contents…….
Remember, Garmin did actually have an Android phone back in the day. Project was shelved as nobody bought it.
Also, keep in mind that Microsoft acquired the Nokia phone brand back a few years ago for billions. Biggest waste of money ever.
see my comment above, I misclicked. I (and obviously many others as well) do want an extra device and Oruxmaps is great but still cannot do everything a good bike computer can.
I’ve wished that an updated version of the Motoactv would be made for a long time now, even though I know it’s not coming. It was android in a watch with gps, bt4, ant+, hardware buttons for workout start/stop and audio controls, readable screen in light and dark, and could be attached to a wrist strap, a clip, or a bike mount. The major downside was the fact that you needed to log into the Motoactv Portal (which was notoriously issue prone as the Motorola/Lenovo let the product slowly die) to export your workout data. Software could use some updating too, as it’s 5-6 years old a this point. It’s been dropped a couple times and seen better days, but I still use it from time to time.
Wonder how well this works on an aero road bar like the ENVE SES Aero Road handlebar. I have one of these bars on my roadie and cannot use any out front mounts unless I switch to an ENVE stem which doesn’t work for my fit (-17 110mm stem required).
K Edge have mounts already….perhaps this could work or you??
Off-topic but I don’t know where to put else: did you ever looked into Best Bike Split (BBS)? I read it here, looked for the web site and found it pretty cool in terms of race prediction/pacing. Would be interesting to see if their calculation models are close to real life.
I haven’t spent much time with it. In large part because my training is pretty unstructured right now – so it’d probably be taking a solid wag at things.
I use Best Bike Split and have done for a while. I generally plan a route with it for events, and use it for pacing. Initially it would only give you target power, and I found that to be quite a bit off from what I actually recorded – so typically I would need much more power than BBS would expect me to have for the expected time – typical ! (even after playing with multiple variables) And before the Wahoo Elemnt it was very clunky and limited to display that data in an Edge 1000.
More recently BBS now gives you a target speed and used in conjunction with the Elemnt, you get can display a target speed and target power against your actual speed and power throughout the course. I find that pretty helpful, and actually works pretty well. There is some issue with syncing, so I find that it is often targeting 45kph while I still have 10 seconds of climbing to do, but that’s easy to live with. I’d also recommend playing with the advance settings in BBS if you are not on closed roads, because downhill speeds are probably not going to be achieved safely in traffic, so you can set an upper limit on them. I typically set that pretty low, and if I go over the target I consider it a bonus!
It could be improved though. I’d love to be able to configure the lights on the Element, or a field to show where you are compared to the overall expected time on the course. As it stands, you only get Target Speed and Target Pace so if you fall behind (or by some miracle are ahead of your plan), there is no way to really know without doing your own maths. And I’d like BBS to account for non-race situation better, such as stopping a junctions, but that’s probably being a bit pedantic! I think you should be able to feed a result of a race back in though by uploading the fit/gpx and letting it adjust the variables/learn so it can get better at predicting in the future – that seems like it would be a cool thing to add.
Cheers
Ian
Thx Ray, thx Ian!
Ok, I’ve had a quick look at it. Looks like they’ve advanced a bit a they created a ConnectIQ data field for their Garmin Power Courses. Reads finde. I also watched the video where they showed how to tweak your configuration to reflect a real ride matches their prediction. I think for non-race situations and even road races the model can “just” give some speed/power targets. Especially during road races as drag effects can’t be predicted. Guess that’s why the name is BBS, it’s designed for TT/triathlon. Let’s see what I can do with their free membership.
Best,
Olly
Ian,
Still a bit off topic we are finally moving towards analyzing actual rides to help refine settings (starting with drag the most difficult to nail down). In the future we will look max descent speeds, typical cornering speeds, min climbing power/speeds, and do comparisons of plans/actuals. Free users can sync unlimited courses an a single race plan to the ELEMNT but it can be updated as many times as you like and resynched.
Using the ELEMNT LEDs to quickly show over / under target has been discussed with the ELEMNT team so we will see. Just got a BOLT in the mail and it really does look pretty awesome. Basically the same
whoops.
Same size as a 520/820 but being able to setup with my phone and quickly adjust things and having actual buttons is really what seals it for me. I’m sure structured workouts are in the cards as some point as that’s really the only missing feature I would want.
One thing to note on using BBS race plans with the kicker in the route simulation. It simulates the elevation but also the weight, race/climb drag, wind conditions, that you have setup in the BBS plan so the simulation is a bit more in-depth than a normal course.
Many thanks for the reply Ryan.
>> finally moving towards analyzing actual rides
and
>> will look at max descent speeds, typical cornering speeds, min climbing power/speeds, and do comparisons of plans/actuals
Sounds great! Looking forward to seeing that :) And will give the Kickr simulation a go too.
Cheers
Ian
Wow! The device itself looks pretty decent. Not massively different to my Edge 520, but I do like the LEDs, which I’d use for power zones.
The main attraction is being able the app! So much that can be customised, and you don’t have to sit there and faff with the unit. I hate having to go through all the menus on my Edge! It’s even more annoying with the fact that Garmin are so inconsistent with their button layout! Muscle memory means that I keep hitting back instead of down etc.
It’d be great if it had Xert integration. That’s a showstopper for me.
Definitely a bummer indeed. Very cool stuff their doing on the Connect IQ side.
Any word on gps chipset? Is gps accuracy no longer a differentiator of products in this class? Will the accuracy compare with Garmin?
I’ve got a section to add in for GPS accuracy. Just ran out of time to add it in. But in comparing things to the Edge 820/520, Garmin Fenix 5, and Suunto Spartan Ultra, I didn’t see anything of concern.
When riding together, my son’s Bolt consistently records 15% more elevation than my Garmin Edge 820.
All other measurements are identical (time, distance, etc.). Is this a 820 or Bolt issue?
Are you talking about actual elevation, or cumulative elevation gain? If it’s actual elevation, do you calibrate your 820 before every ride? Does he calibrate his Bolt? You really need to do that with a barometric altimeter if you want accuracy. Calibration via GPS just doesn’t work well.
If it’s elevation gain, you can usually estimate a lower value for elevation gain if the climbs are long enough (it’s hard to do if the climbs are all small). For example, one of my regular rides starts at 1200 ft, goes to 2000, down to 1700, up to 2400, down to 1700, up to 2100, down to 1200. So that gives 1900 ft, and it usually actually measures on the various Edges I’ve used over the year at about 2200 ft (there are enough small climbs along the way so that’s believable). You can also get independent measurements from maps (go to Garmin Connect and turn on elevation correction, for example).
Is it possible to calibrate the bolt? If yes, how?
Hi,
I have the same experience as Jim : the Bolt (consistently) comes up with a much higher elevation gain compared to several other sources, both other (barometric) gps-es as well as routing apps.
brs,
peter
Cumulative
The 15% difference remains after activating the elevation correction option in Strava and Garmin Connect.
No offence Ray, but you’ve banged on about the original Elemnt as it if was built like a house brick. Be fair, its no bigger than a Garmin really and when its placed on the included out-front mount you never even query the size.
To say its not been your go-to bike computer simply because of this is a bit unfair and a bit picky in my opinion. The Elemnt has been nothing but 100% from my experiences and has more than enough features to compete with the Garmin1000, without all the software glitches.
You should have swapped ages ago!
But I don’t use the out-front mounts for my usage. I use smaller mounts on bike handlebars and even on the top-tube of my bike. So putting something in an out-front mount to make it bigger and then saying it’s now the same size is silly.
And no, it’s not the same size as an Edge 520/820. One only need to watch the comparison section to see that.
I’m unclear the differences between the ELEMNT and BOLT, aside from “packaging” like screen size, LEDs, aero mount. Are they basically identical in the brains/UI?
Correct, identical.
Longer battery run time on the ELEMNT at 17hours and bigger screen (makes for clearer viewing of text/maps/etc), BOLT 15 hour battery.
and with the bigger screen, when increasing size, font can be made bigger
Great review as always Ray. A few things… more for Wahoo if they’re following along
1. I’m assuming all of the internals are essentially the same as the Elemnt. Which would imply that the Bolt will still have issues connecting to an ANT+ SRM. Is this the case? (and the only reason I still have to keep my old Garmin) I’ve been waiting for this to be addressed for over a year now.
2. Using the LEDs to denote zones is a great idea, and I use them for HR zones. My strong preference would be to use them for Power zones instead. However… the only option is for instantaneous power with no smoothing (like a 3sec average), which makes it nearly useless on anything but the smoothest of roads. Any plans to make that a bit more configurable?
3. You mention that structured workouts are on the horizon. How realistic is that “Fall 2017” target in the comparison chart?
1) I don’t have my SRM on a bike currently to validate unfortunately.
2) I’d agree, using for smoothed zones would make more sense. I’ll bring it up.
3) I think a more realistic date is ‘End of year’.
This SRM thing is starting to be a serious drag. Fortunately I have a Fenix3HR that I can fall back to when I ride my SRM equipped bike, but I’d much rather use my ELEMNT. I can’t believe it’s been this long without a fix. I’ve been complaining and checking in for months now only to continue to be told “nope, no fix and no timelines, sorry.”
I like the durability of the ELEMNT hardware better for mountain biking than the Garmin (no matter what, you will get dirt in the Edge buttons that will let water in that will eventually ruin your unit, in my experience). But if it doesn’t support your hardware, it doesn’t support your hardware….*sigh*
–Donnie
Is SRM integration to Bolt still an issue? If so, what is the nature of the problem?
Does this make the original ELEMNT pretty much obsolete or am I missing something?
There will be a few people who like the bigger size (better visibility etc.), but other than that small niche, is there a reason to spend $330 on ELEMNT when the ELEMNT BOLT goes for $250, with more features/functionality?
The Bolt seems to have exactly the same features/functionality as its bigger brother but I take your point that most people will probably go for the smaller and cheaper model.
Personally, I really like the larger screen size of the ELEMNT because of its legibility so I’m in the small niche.
Only other ELEMNT feature I can think of that this is missing is the second LED strip – the ELEMNT can show power/HR zone/segment progress (and probably a couple other things I’m forgetting) on the side LED strip at the same time as navigation indicators on the top strip. The BOLT only has the top strip, which can do all the same indicators as the ELEMNT’s strips, but only one thing at a time. Like the screen size though, that’s probably a relatively niche audience.
and +2 hrs stated battery life on the ELEMNT. I actually get nowhere near the 17 hours they suggest for the ELEMNT – more like 8-10 – not sure why. So that would be my main concern with the BOLT which states 15hrs – not that I often do rides over 8 hours, but it has been known, and will definitely be doing some this summer :)
Yeah, I was impressed with the battery life on my nearly 8hr ride. I’ve got the photo I took at the end of the ride showing the battery percentage just below 50%. Even more notable because I specifically turned off Auto Pause, and also left it on 100% of the time.
So vs. your Elemnt review it suggests the bolt has better battery life, 15 hours to the original Elemnts 10, is this correct?
I saw another review that suggests 20 hours with LEDs off, could you test this?
Yes could you clarify Ray – the Garmin web site states 15hrs for Bolt and 17hrs for Elemnt. I get about 10 hours on the Elemnt, which I think was in line with your testing? But are you saying the Bolt is actually much closer (ever better) than the stated 15hrs?
Cheers
Ian
I’m interested in battery life while using navigation and turn by turn. Do you have any idea if navigation depletes the battery faster? (I’m thinking of getting one for 150 mile gravel race)
(This time, right-side up)
Correct, based on my 7hr 32min (and 20 second) ride, with GPS on, navigation on, LED’s enabled, ANT+ connect to multiple sensors, and Bluetooth Smart connected to my phone sending out a live tracking link. Basically, there’s nothing else to enable.
I started the ride around 95% battery, and finished with 47% (I took about 5-7 mins to get photos/etc before I ended, so a bit more).
Photo at finish attached.
*As a minor point of interest, the LED’s actually take up equal amounts of battery as the display. Though, to put that in perspective, the display takes up almost nothing. It’s GPS that hurts ya.
That’s a deal maker for me. Think I may sell the ELEMNT and get a BOLT. Battery battery life and size, and every thing else I need. (I’ll miss the lights on the side a bit, but having the top set is probably enough). I have a week in the Pyrenees coming up where I expect to be out for 10-11 hours on some days and was considering a battery pack arrangement for the Elemnt, but the Bolt would solve that and save weight.
My only concern is that (unbelievably!) I appear to have more sensors connected than Ray – so I have DI2 and Speed and Cadence (though I don’t really need that because the Vectors do it, but I keep it on for when I am on a turbo). I also leave the Kickr sensor in the list.
Could those settings by what is hurting the battery life for me? Could I get better battery life on the ELEMNT if I cut those sensors to Tickr X, Power and DI2? If I leave them in would the BOLT also degrade in battery life?
Does this have GLONASS?
Yes on GLONASS. I didn’t see this info anywhere so I asked Wahoo & they confirmed.
Hi Ray!
Thanks for the review, amazing job as always.
This unit seems like a better deal than the Edge 520 now, do you expect Garmin to lower their price?
Do you know when/if it will be available on the European clever training site soon?
I would not expect them to lower the price.
I don’t know how soon it’ll be on the CT UK site. I know they’re still sorting out getting Wahoo products listed there.
Been looking around for the specs on the screen (as well as the original Element screen) and cant seem to find any besides the size, do you know any more about it? Is it E-Ink? I have the 810 and while color and touch screen are nice at times (and can be frustrating at other times), I could probably do with without, this looks really nice and fairly straight forward to use.
Has the speaker been improved as on the original ELEMNT it can barely be heard
Was wondering this myself. Often miss the notification beeps on windy rides.
Can you set the Bolt to display your 3/sec power averages without zero’s? I had the Elemnt and I couldn’t figure out how to set it up where it would display my power without zero’s.
This looks like a nice improvement over the original. I’d love to move away from Garmin and their buggy products. Although, having said that the 520 has been pretty faultless recently. I’m also an avid Varia Radar fan now and the current lack of support is a massive deal breaker on this, that, and having to buy 3 new mounts for the various bikes. Still, this should make Garmin sit up a bit. You can’t stand still on innovation and this seems to close the gap massively, it works well, looks better and the app seems a much better way of setting up the device verses the slow and painful Garmin setup.
Can you measure the width of the ‘strap’ that goes around the handlebar? Just trying to see if the mount will fit on my aero drop bar w/o modification.
Hi Ray (or anyone that cares to discuss!),
A few people have hinted at this but I thought I’d ask explicitly:
With the software being identical as the original ELEMNT (Right?) will subsequent updates be applicable to both units – released as a single update? Or will we now see more focus on the BOLT, and a slower schedule for the original ELEMNT? I won’t confess to having in-depth knowledge on these sort of issues but I’d of thought there would be nuances in their construction that would make it difficult to apply the same update to two different units.
Thanks,
Rob
My understanding is that updates will be concurrent for units. That’s actually what’s been going on behind the scenes for updates for a while now. :)
That’s good news – I bought the original ELEMNT a few months back.
Thanks for replying!
Anyone else just see a white space where the video is supposed to be?
Try link to youtube.com
Looks like embed is set to false.
Thank you!
I don’t see that it integrates with Campagnolo EPS V3 to provide gear selection data?
I’m looking for a new computer as my 510 doesn’t give me gear selection data from EPS.
EPS supports the ANT+ Gear Shifting standard, which is also what eTAP supports. The only caveat would be if Wahoo implemented some sort of early eTAP beta thing, but I’m pretty sure they just did the ANT+ spec. Perhaps they can confirm here…
My Wahoo Elemnt shows my Campagnolo EPS V3 as “EPS gears” for the sensor.
I can display “Current Gear (visual)” and “Current Gear”.
I have a KICRK and use the various 3rd party software for custom interval training in erg mode. When I contacted Wahoo they indicated that the ELEMNT does not support the upload of custom workouts. Has the Bolt changed this? If so, then I will purchase today and get that free shirt!
Not yet.
Are the audible tones any louder on the Bolt than the Elemnt?
They seem pretty loud to me.
On the group ride I did at the press event, it was like being in a casino every time we came up upon a turn. Dinging from everywhere in the huge group.
You need to test devices wearing full gloves. Those of us who live in colder climates need this feature. Can the buttons on the Bolt be used while wearing full gloves? Heavier lobster claw gloves?
Yup. I think I covered it in one of the two videos.
But actually, that’s one of the key design changes between the original ELEMNT and this – super easy to use wearing gloves. I mean, maybe not full on mittens, but no bike computer really is. But for normal cycling gloves (even of the cold winter variety), it’s good.
I’ll have to go watch it. The ELEMNT is fantastic with gloves as-is. The Bolt doesn’t look as tactile, but will have a go.
Can the Wahoo head unit be used with the usual Garmin quarter turn mounts? Both my bikes have aero bars with integrated Garmin mounts.
Technically no. Officially no. But it kinda works. It’s just not good for the ELEMNT or the other mount, as you have to wedge it in there. Long term I’m guessing it’d break something.
But I occasionally use it temporarily in a pinch.
I’ve been using my ELEMNT on Garmin mounts since the ELEMNT was introduced. Been through some significant mountain bike crashes with it (hard enough to knock the mount around to the side of the stem). Haven’t seen any damage or problem yet.
–Donnie
A quick little filing on the garmin mount makes it fit like a charm, got this hint from the Wahoo users group where there are pictures
I use my ELEMNT on a plastic Garmin mount all the time – no issues for me :)
Well, using the Garmin mount works as far as you can turn it 90 degrees as the mounting tabs (at least for the original ELEMNT) are not on the same direction. Some third party mounts allow you to turn it, some do not.
I have the K-Edge XL Garmin mount. Ordered the Wahoo Elemnt puck to replace the Garmin puck on Friday and already have the new Elemnt puck in the mount – link to k-edge.com Way to go K-Edge!
What I don’t have is a Bolt as of yet. LBS says mid April as of today per their Wahoo rep. Wahoo online site now says 4/5.
Anyone know if Wahoo missed the demand of an alternate to Garmin or missed the shipping date with manufacturing delays?
Does anyone know if you can see your power on the Strava live segment screen? On my Garmin 520 I love the live segment tracking but I would love to be able to have power on the screen as well.
Thanks!
I don’t think you can add a field to the Strava Live Segment page, but there is a setting called “Notification on Other Pages” which basically shows the Strava Segment on whatever page you are on, and that could have power, so you can work round it like that. More details here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Sadly no power on the Strava page but the information there is useful.
If you want to see power hit the page button once to go back to the main screen and use the LED’s to monitor segment performance.
I just don’t get why power and HR is left out and not possible to add! Just basic data to have visible when pushing for a PR/KOM.
On the garmin you can put the fields “Time ahead” and “dist to go” on any screen. This way I see the segment info and power on the same screen.
Still no Android phone control (phone,text,music). I want to spend the money but I guess I’ll stick with my phone case garmin mount mod
I wear a smartwatch, which takes care of the control aspect.
Where is the micro USB charge port located? Would it be possible to top up the power on the go while the unit is on the mount (for rides in excess of 15hrs)?
On the bottom, the little blue stripe. Good point, I didn’t add a photo of it charging.
This is possible with the ELEMNT. It’s out of the way enough for the cable to be plugged in.
Wahoo rep did verify your can charge while the unit is in operation – bring on the battery packs :-)
You can NOT plug in a micro USB into the device and charge while using in the front mount.
I even tried a 90 degree micro usb, does not work either.
Noooooo! That sucks. I bet theres a right angle that has a lower profile, no?
Maybe this is crazy, but can you shave down the back? I bet that rubber/plastic shell is thicker than it needs to be……
Joe, in the image I posted I filled the unnecessary plastic already. In the meantime I got in contact with K-Edge and they say you should be able to insert a micro USB. I’ll have on in orde, I’ll let you know. I’ll receive it tomorrow.
I know, this is maybe not an issue for mainstream users, but I’m riding ultra distances and attach my electronics to a power bank attached to my hub dynamo.
Many of us use one of these GPS bike computers for our stable of multiple bikes. I might have missed it in your video, but can you nickname the bikes and input the odometer for each bike. My Polar V650 can only name the bike as “Bike 1”, etc., and cannot input the existing odometer reading. This is a shortcoming – as it would be nice to keep track of mileage for each bike for maintenance (how long before you had to replace the chain, etc.).
+1 – I was going to ask the same question – how many bike profiles can be supported?
None … the unit doesn’t allow profiles.
You can do this in Strava … no need for it to be on the device.
No sir, the unit is the system of record. Strava, et all, are social media platforms where records are selectively shared. The unit is responsible and needs this data.
For me, profiles are a must in the device. I have two very diferent road bikes with very different weights and different tires and I also have a tacx. With garmin I can simply load my desired profile and for the fuji it only searches h for heart “and” cadence sensor, for tarmac searches heart “and” cadence “and” speed and for tacx it searches “heart” and power and cadence / speed sensors. It’s kinda tricky to be setting each time different sensors, weights and tires for each bike.
I was very close to buy bolt three days ago. Now I’m reading ¿many? issues about altitude gained data… Is it really an issue? And secondly, how are we sure wich device is measuring that information correctly?
Martino,
Why do you need profiles for multiple bikes? With ELEMNT/BOLT you just pair ALL your sensors, jump on whatever bike you want and go. No need to switch profiles, change settings or anything, just ride. ELEMNT/BOLT will connect to the active sensors and record your data.
Elevation Data, The problem these guys are having are when using the BOLT for hiking. Elevation data is very noisy and changes in weather/pressure when climbing a mountain makes things even harder, as a result we use algorithms to filter the data in real time, this is optimised 1000’s of miles of data we collected cycling, not walking. For normal every day use, including MTB biking we find our elevation data to be very good.
My elevation has been correct at least as close as my Garmin 520 was. +-40-80ft at the end of a ride vs what Strava thinks is pretty accurate. Some are saying the instant readout can be off but my edge 520 was not always accurate on the instant read out so I just ignore it
Thanks for the reply, Murray!
When it’s said that element bolt will have integration with FC-E smart trainers in the fall 2017, does that mean that it will be through a software update? I mean, if I buy now the bolt, there will be a software update to control a tacx smart trainer or I should have to wait to a new version of element bolt with some kind of new hardware? Also I’m very interested in the interval training mode. As i do a lot of indoor training, those two features are very important for me (interval training and FC-E integration.
Thanks in advanced.
Hi Wahoo Murray,
I don’t need ELEMENT/BOLT to store bike specific stats (odometer, etc. However, I would like it to automatically recognize which bike I rode, so that I don’t have to manually select the bike after uploading to Strava.
Thanks!
Love the Bolt but came across a sensor issue today. My ride partner borrowed from me a speed/cadence sensor (we’ll call it ‘her sensor’). At start of ride I had connected to my own sensor but after the ride started I noticed I was picking up her cadence. I stopped and erased her sensor but then couldn’t connect to my sensor at all. After we got home I switched everything off and back on again and all was good, but this was with her sensor deleted. So, although I like the ability to jump from bike to bike, there is an advantage of having bike profiles. I’m just going to leave ‘her sensor’ deleted for now (I’m not using it), but I suppose WAHOO don’t expect both sensors to be running at the same time.
Looking to upgrade my Garmin 800 and really like the general functionality of the Wahoo unit. Unfortunately, the lack of Live Tracking features is a deal breaker. Wonder if the Garmin 530 is coming this Summer?
I really wish Strava would have a good API so Garmin and Wahoo tracking could talk. The “see others riding with [your device]” is great but seriously limited.
That’s exactly why I’ve built an open live tracking service this winter. The existing live tracking services are all very closed. If Wahoo reads this. You are welcome to use my services. Is all open source. Of course, everyone else can use it. Currently only on Android with IpBike… link to livetracking.io
How does the unit deal with multiple bikes? Is it a sensor pool concept like Garmin uses in the 520/820/1000 or a profile-based system like the older Garmins?
I use my Elemnt on three bikes and it uses a sensor pool. You just pair all the sensors with the Elemnt and get on and ride. It uses whatever sensors that are present and happens automatically. I never even think about it. There are no bike profiles so you can’t keep track of different odometer readings or things like that. But Strava does that for me so I don’t miss it.
Thanks for the info! Ray – please add this info to your reviews going forward!
A couple of comments:
1) In the comparison table Ray has “No” for “Records Temperature” for both the Bolt and the Elemnt. They both record temperature. It shows up in Strava on every ride. The temperature is measured by the internal sensor that is used to compensate the altimeter.
2) According to Wahoo, the Bolt will fit onto ANY existing Elemnt mount. Although it won’t be as aero as the new mount. So, if you already have a TT mount or something like that for the Elemnt it will also work for the Bolt.
Actually, it says ‘Yes’ for records temperature. There are two rows. One for internal sensor, and one for external sensor. The Wahoo units only record from their internal sensor, and can’t connect to an external sensor.
Right you are. Apparently my ability to read has deserted me today.
Great review! Can’t the Elemnt connect to a, for instance, Garmin Tempe? In case you really want a external thermometer.
It looks like the charging port is accessible for use while mounted. Do you know if this supports using a lipstick USB battery to charge while riding? Yes, I do rides well in excess of the documented 15 hours and can not use a device that doesn’t let me charge while riding.
Hi Craig – Yes, you can charge the BOLT while in-use.
while holding in your hand then? Not in the front mount…
Ray can you confirm that you actually get notifications of calls/texts with an android phone? I don’t believe the original Elemnt you can, only iPhone.
Mike – Yes, you can get call/text notifications from Android phones. On both the ELEMNT and BOLT.
Great, thanks. Are music controls definitely out? I know everyone looks down on it but what’s the difference between reaching up and touching a button to change song or changing a page on the display?
Not at this time. Concentrating on a few other features.
Hopefully a media player on the device lol… thanks for all the info. Undecided if it’s worth it.
How about WhatsApp? No one uses text these days
+1 for music control – would be a no brainer for me to buy with that feature
All kinds of notifications or only SMS and calls?
What about the issue described by DCR here, is it solved/implemented yet:
“The singular downside however is that unlike Garmin, Wahoo doesn’t show people you follow (friends) on Strava as a competitor, whereas Garmin does. In my case, I don’t actually follow that many people on Strava, so it’s not a huge deal. But if you’ve got a close-knit group of riding buddies, then that’s definitely a Debbie-downer moment to not be able to seek out your friend’s PR. Though, Wahoo says this is coming soon”.
Is there any “remote” like the Edge Remote that can control moving between screens on the Bolt? I’ve found that the little remote is quite handy as you can operate it without moving your hands from the handlebars – especially useful while MTB or descending quickly on the road bike. Seems like this would be easy to support. Wahoo??
Di2 Hood buttons are the only “remote” for the ELEMNT/BOLT.
Hi Ray
genuine question Literally an hour before you posted this blog i purchased the elemnt, now reading this im not 100% sure if I should send it back or stick with what I have ordered? Is it just size difference as im not super concerned about the size or maybe I should be as its going to go on my TT bike.
I believe the elemnt comes with a TT mount but it looks like the bolt doesnt is that correct?
thanks again for the really great post.
thanks
Correct on mounts.
For my personally, size was important, so I’d have swapped them if in your shoes. But if you don’t care – then go forth and enjoy what’s on the way!
Are there plans to support Garmin’s Varia Radar at any point, or is that locked down to Garmin? I rely on it heavily, and it has me locked into the Garmin ecosystem…(Not particularly complaining, it’s a nice jail cell.)
I agree, I might jump to this wahoo system because I hate what Garmin did with Garmin connect, trying to make it a Fitbit style thing. But I can’t live without the varia radar at this point, so I am stuck with Garmin
+1 on integration with the Varia Radar. That is one Garmin device that just works. Of course they had to buy up the company that came up with the design ;-)
I agree about the need for Varia radar support. That and cold weather use with gloves are why I bought the Garmin 520. Not sure either is addressed here?
I spoke to Wahoo about Varia support about one month ago. At that time they said they had no plans to support it.
However, you can use Varia via the dedicated Varia head unit. I happened to get one when I bought my Varia radar unit so I may make the switch as I too am fed up with Garmin’s products.
Also the rear vary radar still works in standalone mode – it will increase the lights when a car approaches from behind, you don’t get any warning on the Wahoo head unit of course, but you have increased your visibility to the car.
Agree on the Varia Radar. I got one last year and am shocked by how well it works and how much safer it makes me feel. I can’t imagine riding on open roads without it now.
I’d make the jump from my Edge 1000 to this Bolt in a heartbeat if it were supported. As it stands, the benefits of the Varia (safety) outweigh the benefits of the Bolt (battery life, no touchscreen, better GUI, high contrast screen, easier screen configuration, aero).
I think there are 2 questions to ask, regarding Varia Radar support –
1. Does Garmin even allow other head units to interact with the Varia Radar?
2. And then, if yes to question 1, are there any other head units that do interact with the Varia Radar?
I agree. The added safety of the Varia radar is important. Yes I could use the Varia head unit and the Bolt but I like the quick easy integration of both on the Garmin. I hope that Wahoo after seeing posts like this will look into it or come out with their own product.
+1 for Varia integration as I’ve also come to rely on it. The Bolt also needs structured workouts. My Edge 520 works well and no real issues with firmware upgrades, but its a hassle getting RWGPS maps onto it and forget about changing a route mid ride. Garmin doesn’t seem to understand its a smartphone world, while Wahoo has embraced the idea. Interested to see what Stages Dash will bring to the market. I’d sell the 520 for a head unit that better integrates with my iPhone, RWGPS, and helps me stay on track with training.
Varia Radar support is the only thing stopping me from moving over to the Bolt. Its perfect (and now indispensable) for where I ride. I hope Wahoo are listening – add the support or make a better radar.
Props to Wahoo for erasing pretty much all the primary objections to the ELEMENT, which was way too big and bulky. I have an edge 520 and 820. The 520 has been great, the 820 has been extremely disappointing. The touchscreen is slow to respond and awful in glove/rain conditions even with the latest firmware. (which I”m surprised was never a topic for the review on this site)
Is there a patent preventing wahoo from making the Bolt compatible with Garmin quarter turn? I would totally sell my 820 now and get a bolt, but I don’t want to change mounts every time I use a different device.
Easily fixed with a sharp knife in the mount
I guess what Alex is asking is if there is a way to use both Garmin and Wahoo on the same mounts (in case one has 2 bike computers). To my experience the answer is no.
I have the original ELEMNT but for some rides I prefer the Garmin (for example in come more complex structure workouts) ant that is a pain to change it every time.
Additionally for some specialty mounts (like canyon mount for integrated stem/handlebar) I could not really get it working well.
A really good way is to use a “DOG EARS” mount…just convert Wahoo to Garmin mount…
Mounts from third parties, like K-Edge and Cycliq, have swappable pucks that allow you to go between Garmin, Wahoo, etc… See link to youtube.com and link to k-edge.com
Now that Shimano Di2 Syncro Shift is out, is it possible to use the two unused levers to changes pages on the Bolt (when using full syncro setting)?
+1
Great question!
Been wondering what Shimano could utilize the left shifter for since enabling synchro shift – great idea.
Thanks for the review Ray!
Quick question: Is there a way for the BOLT to default all loaded Strava segments to either KOM or PR goal times?
On the Garmin units, it always defaults to something strange like the people you follow and no way to change all without going through every single segment.
Yes, when you hit your first segment it will have defaulted to “PR”. The middle button can be pressed once and then this will switched to “VS” which is the KOM version.
My recommendation is keep on “PR” and set goals in Strava for your favourite segments as the integration is brilliant. Smashed so many PR’s this week just through having clear information.
Trying to understand whether this supports L/R power measurement from Watteam’s powerbeat.
Yes it does.
As far as I see, my Edge 520 has Crash detection.
So this doesn’t have cycling dynamics and probably will not show platform center offset from Vector2?
Ahh, good point, that was added in a bit later in a firmware update. Updated.
Correct on the others.
Is it compatible with Garmin mounts, or rather those made by K-Edge? ;)
Yes, it’s compatible with the K-Edge ELEMNT adapter plates. I have one, just didn’t have time to get a photo of it.
they are compatible but to my experience not easy to use interchangeably between a garmin and a Wahoo computer as the mount orientation is different.
K-Edge sells the inserts for both Garmin and Elemnt at link to k-edge.com
It takes 30 seconds to change from one to the other.
Also, since others are reporting you can actually use the Garmin insert with the Elemnt, just a tight fit, you can also rotate the inserts in the K-Edge mounts. The inserts are held to the mount by two screws. The mount has screw holes at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock so you can rotate the mounts in increments of 90 degrees to meet your needs.
I have the K-Edge Garmin Combo XL mount (Edge 1000 and GoPro Session) link to k-edge.com and ordered the Elemnt insert, swapped the inserts in the mount, and can know use the Elemnt or Bolt.
$5 solves your issue.
Here are picks go the K-Edge Combo XL mount being converted from Garmin to Elemnt insert.
insert removed – note 4 screw holes…
Elemnt insert installed and rotated 90 degrees.
Great review! Would a Garmin HR Watch like Fenix or Forerunner be detectable on this through ANT?
Yes. Ray showed it in the full in depth video
Probably a long shot – but can this work with the Garmin Edge sensors? The one’s that don’t use magnets such as these: link to buy.garmin.com
Cheers.
It should work fine with those sensors. I have the cadence sensor and it works with every computer I have tried it with including the Elemnt. The speed is supposed to be the same.
Thanks very much for the info.
Correct, works fine with those. They adhere to the ANT+ Speed/Cadence combo standard. The same standard Wahoo uses for their BlueSC units.
Great review !!! I was awaiting launch of this unit couple of weeks/months. I found it as a product/function combo which exactly meets my needs (as a current Suunto Ambit 3 user incl. cycling – any cycling specific unit yet, but it´s time to change). BUT…, as a owner of new Canyon Ultimate with their H36 integrated aero cockpit, I don´t have any idea if there exists some way for my purpose. Would you please give me some hint ? Thank you in advance ! I´m sure there must be an answer within this great platform & community :-)
Any better idea than this ?
link to amazon.com
The link is for Garmin…. it could work if you can rotate the insert, should work but you may have to drill new holes as the screws are in the corners….. I saw there is one for wahoo but it looks like it is not available.
link to amazon.com
DOG EARS!!
Hi Ray, trainer control is a big feature for me (kinda just putting this to spur on any wahoo people reading). I know the BOLT doesn’t have ANT+ FEC trainer control, but can it do it over bluetooth?
Currently my use case is building workouts in trainer road (I don’t really use their plans) as I like the interface and the power matching feature (I have P1s and a Tacx Bushido), but I’m essentially paying a subscription for no reason.
My ideal situation would be to plan a workout on my phone and then have the head unit take me though it either on the trainer or outdoors. Currently it seems like Garmin would be the better option for this, but it feels like Wahoo has more potential for growth and improvement.
Essentially my questions are:
1. Can it control my bushido over bluetooth?
2. Are there any plans for powermatching?
3. how far away is the ability to quickly build a workout (ideally on my phone) that can be followed on the road or on the trainer?
Great review as ever!
(Also, a possible error, you used “concurrently” twice in one setence when talking about how you use your head units)
I really wish Wahoo make a stem bolt mount since it’s the only way to mount it (out front) on my Enve road bar which doesn’t leave any space for bar clamp type of mount.
like this one from rec-mounts.
link to amazon.com
k-edge makes one, yeah? Not precisely “bolt” mount, but they have three different stem and top cap mounts.
F3cycling.com has you covered. Garmin and Wahoo inserts and stem-bolt mountable. I have not received my two mounts yet, but they have been shipped. #fingerscrossed
I HAD a 520 (sold it cos mapping & nav was garbage), I HAVE an 820, but that screen winds me up SO much.
So I was looking at the Elemnt a while back, and now this! However, during winter I ride a lot in the dark, how does the Elemnt deliver in the dark, do you just hit a button to light it up? I think I know it has a daylight inverted display but just wondering about actually getting to the data?
Despite the Bolt’s cool size, i like the idea of the lights telling me when I’m turning, so I think the Elemnt may just be getting the vote. ANyone with first hand experience of night riding’s opinion would be much appreciated
thanks
I ride in the dark with the Elemnt all the time. You can either set the backlight to be on all of the time or press any of the buttons to have it come on for a programmable amount of time. Having the backlight on all the time uses more battery life but I didn’t have any problem for rides a couple of hours long. It used up maybe 25% of the battery (I don’t remember exactly since it wasn’t a problem). However, most of the time I leave the backlight turned off and just push a button when I want to read the data.
Thanks David. If you are following a course in the dark and the screen is OFF, does it light up with the turn direction as well as the top edge LED lights?
I think actually the bigger screen size will be a benefit to me, so I may jump on an Elemnt rather than the ewbie!
When the Elemnt gets a notification or a turn-by-turn instruction the backlight turns on for the programmed amount of time.
Yes with the back light set to ‘Auto’ it lights up for the user defined period when the turn notification occurs (around 250m prior). The directional led repeat at a higher frequency as you approach the turn point. Then immediately after the turn it will give you the distance and instruction for the following turn, as well as one iteration of the Led signal. However I don’t recall it lighting the display for this pre-emptive info.
My ELEMNT with light set to on, using TBT and with HR and SC (both ANT+) connected uses approximately 8.5% battery per hour. I now set the backlight to on for night time riding, whereas with previous touch screen devices I’ve always had them set to auto.
thanks to both above – trigger pulled on Elemnt! I think it will finally do all I can do, even this morning, a clear spring day (if a misty start) in the UK, the touchscreen on my 820 was winding me up on arrival at work…Think I’ll hang onto it though, as I’ve loaded OS coverage onto it, so there will be times when it might be needed…
Thanks all
JON
Interesting unit but the aero thing seems a bit of marketing thing – 12 secs in an hour at 21 mph (according to Chip Hawkins in his video on it) but that’s going to be without aero bars which will clearly save you more than 12 secs wherever you then put the unit! Also B&W is mostly fine for bike computers but I feel maps work so much better in colour.
Thanks for the review Ray!
Just wanted to add that being able to screw the unit to the mount could be appealing for the transition area – I am always nervous that leaving a bike computer on a quarter twist mount is too tempting and easy for someone passing by, so typically hide it somewhere then fit it while desparately trying to take a wetsuit off! Having it permanently attached is one less thing to worry about :)
Very good point!
Yes. Very good point. I want to love the BOLT for triathlons, but it won’t fit with an X-Lab torpedo, for example.
>> it won’t fit with an X-Lab torpedo
I’m not that familiar with the torpedo, but looking on the web it seems it would work because you can easily force a Wahoo into a Garmin mount (I do it a lot) – or is there something else that stops it working?
I just meant it won’t work with the aero mount that allows you lock it down in transition as you wisely noted above.
Thanks for clarifying David :)
If I had a nit to pick, it would be the way these so-called “low profile” mounts can be so hard to retrofit with existing cables routed under handlebar tape.
As much as I like the stability and durability of my K-Edge combo mount, it has the exact same problem.
Making a mount where the horizontal extension is level with the **top** of the handlebar would be a lot more useful for a lot more people, and not that much less aero than this design.
Totally agree with this John, my bike with mech ultegra doesn’t allow the out-front mount to be installed as the shift and brake cables are in the way… what did you do to get around this John? Perhaps I’ll need to trim and clean up the cables? See attached picture.
This wouldn’t be an issue with Di2 bikes or handlebars with integrated routing though!
It would fit if you cleaned up that messy cabling job. Your housings are too long and the cables should be routed under the bar, not along the front of it. Aerodynamics aside, it would look so much better and likely improve shifting performance as well. There’s no downside to a clean cabling job with quality cables and housings.
Thanks for the excellent review Ray. The million dollar question is what next and where does this leave the Edge 1000?
The app configuration is a great addition by Wahoo and Garmin would do well to intro this as well. Battery life, now for the edge is a real downside etc……….
Completely unrelated, is there any new on whats next for the Garmin Vector?
Many Thanks
Adrian
Another really complete review. Quick question: Just looking at the bundle option. With my stages powermeter I don’t need those sensors but I wonder if my garmin heart rate strap would work on the wahoo elemnt/bolt?
A standard Garmin strap works fine. I have used Garmin, Wahoo, and CycleOps and they all worked fine. I have a Stages meter and use it for power and cadence. I have the Wahoo Speed sensor for speed when GPS signal is poor (trees, etc) but I have ridden without it also. I have also used a Garmin speed-cadence combo sensor and that also works fine.
Would this serve as an ANT to Bluetooth bridge? If I want to use Zwift and I have a Quarq with ANT will the Bolt allow Zwift to pick up my data? Was thinking of buying an ANT to Bluetooth bridge but maybe this is the push I need to replace my old garmin edge 500
you mean having Bolt stream data back to Zwift? Pretty sure that’s not possible.
I asked that question to Wahoo a while back about the “full size” ELEMNT, and the answer is no.
It will not work as an ANT+ bridge.
http://www.peripedal.com supports ANT+ bridge on any bike computer.
Superior training tool.
you could simply use a ant usb antenna in a pc or laptop to transfer data to Zwift. With the ant antenna, there’s no need for a head unit as it transmits data to Zwift from all of my sensors and is then logged in Strava, if you set it up to do so.
I’m curious to see how the “bolt to the mount” thing will work in UCI races when a bike change for a mechanical is necessary – the rider is always quick to grab their PC8 or Garmin and move it to the new bike before they throw a leg over to rejoin the race. Having the ability to do this seems more important than saving 61 grams on UCI’s scale, no?
Or can they remove the bolt while racing and just re-install it before putting the bike on the scale?
why not just have another Bolt bolted (see what I did there?) onto the replacement bike? It’s not like they’ll have shortage of devices…
So we learn that Ray is blue/green color blind :-p
Any chance of a side by side image of the BOLT, ELEMENT and the Garmin competition.
Like the ol’ rolling pin photos of watches!
check his youtube videos. it’s there.
Can you choose data fields when using strava live segments? I’d like to be able to see power along with how far ahead or behind i am.
The Strava page does not allow field customization.
If you are on a page with your chosen fields, you can get banner notifications of Strava segment progress at 25% of the segment distance, 50%, and 75%, and if you are close to besting your PR, a large popup will appear as well, encouraging you to push for the PR.
On the “full size” ELEMNT, the side LEDs can be configured to show power zones. I’m not sure how that would work with the BOLT top LEDs.
That’s an annoying thing about the Strava page- I lose the HR LEDs. I want to go into the red, but I want to know how far I’m into the red.
I’ve read that Wahoo has been using “average segment speed” to calculate Strava Live Segments. Has that changed? I know in the Wahoo Elemnt user forum there have been some discussions regarding how that doesn’t really make sense when a segment changes grade and consequently speed. If I’m doing a segment and the information on how I’m comparing to a PR or KOM is based on the average speed then it’s pretty useless if the segment changes grade… which is true of every segment near me. I know Garmin uses data from my specific location to tell me where I stand on the segment so it’s much more accurate and useful.
It would be great if you or someone from Wahoo could confirm just how Live Segment data is currently calculated and if they are using the average speed from the segment, are there are plans to either change it to something that’s useful/accurate or at least offer the option to have Live Segment data calculated with real-time speed as compared throughout different points on the segment.
Thank for the great review. I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time before I dump my Garmin 510 for the Bolt.
I have the same question
I have also heard that Wahoo includes zeroes when they calculate average cadence. So I get the average of my pedaling and coasting, but not the average cadence when I’m pedaling.
It would be great if either Ray or someone from Wahoo could verify if this as well as the “average speed” in Live Segments is the case.
I know Ray said he thought Wahoo did Live Segments better than any other computer, but frankly, if they are using average speed for the segments then I’d respectfully disagree… It certainly looks well done, but looks can be deceiving. That’s what I usually like about Ray’s reviews, the attention to detail. I hope we get an answer.
I just tested this out and yes, the ELEMNT (and I assume the BOLT) Strava Live Segment screen uses average speed.
So looking at this segment:
link to strava.com
On the ELEMNT at the start of the segment which is flat, it was showing me 55 seconds ahead (if only!), and as I climbed that fell until at the top it was 35seconds.
If you look at the way it is shown on the Strava web site, then you see that in reality I was only ever 5-10 seconds ahead for most of the climb, and I made the most progress at the top section where I picked up 20 odd seconds.. The ELEMNT sort of gave the complete opposite impression while riding!
So definitely room for improvement, but still fun and nicely implemented up to a point.
Cheers
Ian
Ian,
Thanks for the follow-up! Since Ray and no one from Wahoo replied I figured that was the case. While I agree it is fun, I’d expect a higher level of execution there as well as in calculating average cadence (without using zeroes) on the bike.
Thanks again!
Agreed.
Looking at the Strava API for segment efforts (link to strava.github.io) it seems they don’t actually expose enough data to show anything other than an average speed currently. They do state on this page that “The object is returned in summary or detailed representations. They are currently the same” so I guess the detailed representation has not been completed yet.
Not sure if or how Garmin are doing it in that case – they either have privileged access to an API not publicly available or they are doing their own estimation on the device based on gradient perhaps (or they are not doing it at all – I haven’t actually checked – they may use an average too)
Scratch that! You can use effort streams from the Strava API link to strava.github.io – I guess it’s down to Wahoo not putting the effort in to complete that yet :)
Ian,
Thanks for doing the research into that! I had suspected as much regarding Wahoo not taking the extra steps to get the segment stream set up properly. I guess I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have that done. It would seem like low hanging fruit along with proper cadence calculation. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation, but it seems like they are avoiding the issue altogether when no one seems to want to address it. I appreciate that there is someone else out there that see this as something worth asking about! :-)
Correct, currently average but that will change very soon
Nice, so you can confirm real comparison will be used very soon? Any time horizon?
Hi Murray.
I got a reply from Wahoo customer service today saying this is NOT changing. Could you please shed some light on this issue? Thanks
Hi Christian, our customer service team may not yet know about changes to this feature and as a general rule we don’t like to talk about unreleased and unannounced features as things can change but we making this change, I can’t give a date but it will be in our next major release.
GREAT!
Do you plan to support Strava Beacon? Seems a much better alternative to the live share link from Wahoo. Much more functionality.
No plans right now, but improving live tracking is important to us.
Great! Would like basic features like:
– Current speed
– Course travelled
– Heart rate
in the app, you can set it to not include zeroes.
Guy from clever training leaks new Garmin forerunner 935-while reviewing new Wahoo Bolt
link to youtu.be
You sure about that? It’s honestly hard to tell. I had also thought that in Ray’s most recent video Ray’s watch’s glass section seemed to fill much more of the front than the Fenix 5 with it’s big bezel, but it’s also hard to be certain.
This video he’s either wearing a black/black Saphire Fenix 5, or a forerunner of some sort it looks like: link to youtube.com
Pretty sure. Looks exactly as previously seen leaked pictures link to appelmoessite.wordpress.com Don’t about what Ray was wearing though..
Sorry, the previous link didn’t work. I have attached the picture now.
On second thought there’s a great flat-on shot of the watch Ray is wearing at 3:58 (link: link to youtu.be ), and I’m pretty sure I see the Fenix bezel. Dang, it looks good/thin in black/black if that’s actually the Fenix 5. I’m not sure why, but having used various similar sized caps to simulate the Fenix 5 based on the thickness/diameter dimensions listed for it (from cumin to ketchup to milk), it seems ENORMOUS compared to that. I think it must just be a quirk of how the dimensions are measured exactly.
That said, the Clever Training vid you linked DEFINITELY has a round forerunner-looking watch in it with yellow non-circular-holes band (not sure how I missed the great shot of it right at the beginning). So unless it’s a non-Garmin with a VERY Garmin-esque logo at the bottom and Garmin-esque time font or he switched out the bands, then it’s a new Forerunner. There are 3rd party replacement bands for Forerunners that look very similar to that though: link to amazon.com and I don’t know if they’re compatible but if they are he could’ve replaced them with Fenix 5 bands if they fit for quick-fit compatibility.
– Nevermind, they can’t be Fenix 5 bands because they have slots the whole way up the band.
Look at my previous post. It shows the watch worn by the Clever Training guy. From what people are assuming it is the new 935.
Yeah looking at the video again, it doesn’t have a flat-tire on the screen – it’s a full circle. That pretty much clinches that it cannot be an old forerunner with new/3rd party bands. So almost certainly a new one then.
I was wearing a Fenix5.
Reminds me of Jesse: link to youtube.com – no offence intended :)
Right link should be:
link to appelmoessite.wordpress.com
And that Clever Training video has now been pulled, which might just confirm what has been speculated above. . .
Brilliant plug from Garmin. To get people talking about your product while a product of a rivaling company is reviewed.
As aerodynamics are getting more and more important for those on TT bikes, is there a TT mount available as well?
otherwise the benefits they are referring to in the presentation are not exist in TT world ;)
* the reason is that on the TT bikes you hide the EDGE devices by either using the elastic bands or the TT mounts (the bottom part to be covered as well). For road bikes is another story though.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for another fantastic review. I’m still using my Edge 800 without any issues but I want to buy a Wahoo Bolt as an upgrade. For me Turn by Turn nav is one of the most important features I use. I created a lot of routes in Strava which work flawlessly on my Edge 800. TbT nav is almost perfect for me. I just want to ask you what you mean by “Note that the Strava routes won’t give you proper turn by turn” talking about the Bolt. Is the Tbt nav similar to what I have right now on the Edge? Thanks a lot
The Garmin 820 has routable maps so the GPS itself can work out a route and provide TBT directions with street names, such as “Turn left onto Main Street”. The maps on the Garmin itself therefore contain street names to generate this type of TBT instruction.
The ELEMNT does not have routable maps. In other words, if you want to follow a route, you must load the route onto the ELEMNT from an external source – the ELEMNT itself cannot generate a route.
I’d therefore quibble with the Navigate section in Ray’s product comparison table that has “Routable/Visual Maps (like car GPS)” as “Yes” for the ELEMNT and BOLT.
The maps on the ELEMNT are visual, but they aren’t routable as I understand the term, in that the ELEMNT can’t generate a route itself using its map.
So for the ELEMNT to display TBT directions, the TBT directions must be included within the route loaded on the ELEMNT.
Routes generated by RideWithGPS include TBT directions such as “Turn left onto Main Street” provided by RideWithGPS and you can actually edit the TBT directions on RideWithGPS before importing the route onto the ELEMNT.
Routes generated by Strava don’t include the TBT directions within the route so when imported into the ELEMNT, they don’t have TBT directions such as “Turn left onto Main Street”.
Yeah, I agree there are some nuances there between those definitions in the table. Eventually I kinda get to the point where trying to explain those itty bitty differences is tough in a broadly understandable way. Hence, the text of the review. :)
I don’t envy the task of explaining this stuff! To get my head around what the various mapping applications were doing I ended up looking at GPX and TCX files in an XML editor… and then there is the Garmin “Turn Guidance” feature as well…
I spot a Pinarello bar tape in some pictures. Show us the rest of the bike! :-)
Just spotted this on the Wahoo web site, but can’t work out why you would want it? Security in addition to screwing the bolt to the mount? Or is it just so you can swing it around on your wrist as you walk to the coffee shop whistling a happy tune?
link to uk.wahoofitness.com
It’s a tether in case the GPS gets knocked off the mount after a crash.
Lack of a tethering point for the ELEMENT has been a complaint on the unofficial forum and some people have put together DIY solutions involving superglue or replacing some of the screws in the case so it is interesting that Wahoo seem to have addressed this in the BOLT.
Thanks Michael – makes sense now :) I’d never even considered the need for something like that, but yes I can see my Edge has a tethering point, and the Elemnt doesn’t, so I guess that is good news for Bolt users.
Yes, the lack of a tether was a minor nitpick I had with the original ELEMNT – Glad to see it addressed.
I see there is a tether for sale on Wahoo’s site – but It’s not clear if one is included in the box. Does anyone know?
Ah it’s to bad the teether was not included in the box
I agree and then to charge $9.99+sh for it? That being said I’ve never had any issues with any of my Garmins, as far as mounting them anyways.
Nice review.
Question: how many data fields can be pictured on the map screen simultaneously?
I believe it’s 9 for the BOLT – 11 for the standard ELEMNT
Thanks DCR for a fantastic and thorough review. I’ve been delaying my computer upgrade to see how the BOLT stacks up and you’ve nailed all my queries in this review. It’s out with the ageing Garmin 510 and in with the BOLT. Really appreciate the effort you put into educating and helping a regular cycling punter.
Great review Ray, spelling/typo error on ‘acquired’ (last section on Navigation, before Strava).
I’m kinda kicking myself as my ELEMNT is only a month or two old (but still really glad I switched from the 810 to it!). A colour screen would be the logical next step for the ELEMNT ‘v2’ as although initially I missed the touchscreen of my Garmin now I don’t really feel it adds anything to the unit.
Only thing I really want from my ELEMNT is Bike/activity profiles (done very well on Garmin) to switch between 2 bikes (indoor/outdoor usage). Not really something you’ve mentioned in either your BOLT or ELEMNT reviews (but I’d be surprised if you hadn’t used it on Garmin?!).
Actually…that’s correct. ;)
Acquihired is a term where a company effectively acquires by hiring. ;)
So can you set up different bike and activity profiles as per the garmin? If you cant then thats a deal breaker for me as its nice to have all the different sensor data saved for different bikes/bike profiles and easily switch between them.
I know I am gonna come acros as a huge weirdo :-) but I am still gonna ask – is there any chance this thing could get a windows phone app? I mean the elemnt is pretty useless if you don`t have an ios/andorid device… or at least is it possible to configure the elemnt via desktop/laptop?
Cheers, A.
Windows phone aside, this is an important question:
How useful is the device if there is no suitable smartphone around?
Not everybody is carrying a smartphone or matching smartphone around, for whatever reasons.
Phone is not needed while riding. It’s pretty much required for setup.
Often I never pair my phone/start the ELEMNT app when riding. Especially because I can’t figure out how to do the “on the go” map routing.
So just to be clear if I don’t have an iPhone or Android I can’t setup the bike computer? Not even with a computer/laptop?
Great review!
Clears a lot of things up! Since my edge 800 is dying i’m gonna replace it with the 820 because of the “offline routing” (routable maps) – abilities. (don’t like the smartphone & data connection requirement of the Elemnt & Bolt)
I felt the same way you did prior to buying my Edge 820. I now own a Bolt. I guess we’ll be seeing you back here in 6 months when you get tired of missing or inaccurate data, unrecorded rides and a frozen, unresponsive head unit while the group is waiting for your Garmin to calculate the route. I’ve always used RideWithGPS to do all of my turn by turn routing as I’ve found it to be the best so I would need a phone or computer anyways to create and load a route. Strava and in general GPX routing is horrible if you’re not really riding in familiar territory. TCX is far superior and should be utilized whenever possible. As Mr. Miller pointed out in his review, if you need to do on the go routing, it’s easier to just use Google maps to figure out where you are and where you need to go as it’s too many steps regardless of the unit. And if you’re riding without your phone, what do you do in case of emergency or catastrophic mechanical failure?
Hello Ray,
what about the Elemnt Mini ?
Technical details
sizw 41 x 58.4 x 17 mm
display size 1.8″
weight 31 grams
ANT+ yes
Bluetooth yes
battery time approx. 12 months (round cell)
mount stem
included sensor Wahoo RPM Speed
thanks !
source : link to bike24.com
Blimey – is that for real? 90 Euro’s? Can’t see it on the Wahoo site anywhere though…
I think bike 24 made a mistake (should be available in may .. )
However it’s not GPS-enabled as far i understood … very basic, so i do not think Mister Maker will do a review or sthg similar.
(and tbh if it’s not on strava it did not happened .. :) that’s why we need the gps)
Could be an interesting option for those who just want live data while riding though, or maybe those who keep a phone in a pocket for Strava and want a head unit on the bike at the same time…
Has been taken off the site now by the way…
I saved a pdf with all the description.
Now i hope they’ll do the same mistake for the 935XT
If it’s non-GPS this could just be their “refresh” to the rflkt line; something that’s reliant on a smartphone for GPS/etc
Great catch, I will wait as the RFLKT+ had media control. We will see.
You mean this one…
link to hibike.de
Looks like something is coming.
Q2.2017
link to wahoofitness-shop.nl
Looks like an interesting, small bike computer. I am wondering if Wahoo also includes some kind of turn-by-turn navigation, perhaps via the app and then sending messages to the screen.
Can you use this device also without GPS recording (sometimes)? So it just uses the speed sensor and other sensors to track distance and speed, but does not record a track. I don’t want to record all my commutes to work, but I still would like to have them added to the total distance. If possible, how many hours would the device last (compare to GPS enabled)?
here is what i get (raw text don’t blame me for the lack of clarity).
Description of Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Our price:
89,99 €
Price incl. VAT excl. Shipping & Handling
for shipment to Germany.
PriceGuarantee
Focused on the essential
Because controlling your bike computer shouldn’t be the most complicated part of the ride
Wahoo Fitness is breaking the bike computer stereotype! Equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 and ANT+ dualband technology, ELEMNT MINI pairs seamlessly with all of your cycling sensors. Using a smartphone it is possible to expand the MINI’s functionality.
Riding without Smartphone
Connected via included RPM Speed sensor the Wahoo ELEMNT MINI informs about data for speed, distance and time.
Connecting to ANT+ sensors without using a smartphone.
Data summary at the end of the ride. Smartphone mode with advanced functions Connection via ANT+ and Bluetooth 4.0 sensors. Receiving of popup messages from calls and text messages. Live tracking Look for fellow Wahoo users to meet up with nearby or let friends and family track you remotely on long rides. Complete ride summary incl. total route, elevation gain etc. Transferring of data to platforms such as Strava, Training Peaks and much more.
Fact Sheet of Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Product Name: Wahoo Fitness ELEMNT MINI Bike Computer black
Manufacturer: Wahoo Fitness
Item Code: WAF317015
Year: 2017
Manufacturer item code: WFCC2
Weight: approx. 31 gram (manufacturer’s specs)
Included in delivery: ELEMNT MINI unit incl. stem mount and RPM Speed sensor
Color: black
Auxiliary equipment (optional): ANT+ Stride Sensor
Balance Bluetooth Smart Scale
Blue HR Heart Rate Strap
Blue SC Speed and Cadence Sensor
Cycling ANT+ Speed/Cadence Sensor
Key ANT+ Dongle
TICKR ANT+ and Bluetooth 4.0 Heart Rate Strap
Wireless: Yes
sorry, did not understood that you were not talking about the elemnt mini. forget my comment.
link to webcache.googleusercontent.com
So it doesn’t require a phone to be connected, but will only record GPS tracks if the phone is connected, so it kinda sits in between a cateye and an edge 25.
We are talking about the Element Bolt here, which has GPS built in
The Bolt, since it uses the same software as the ELEMNT, can be put into “indoor mode” to turn the GPS off.
But does it record a ride normally in that mode (i.e. distance and elevation, just without GPS)? I don’t think so unfortunately.
There is another reviewer who found that if you create a course using RideWithGPS that the Garmin 520 will give you turn by turn directions. Haven’t tried it but it might be something to check.
The comparison table has a row for “Built-In Cellular Chip (No Phone Required)”
Are there actually any such cycling computers?
I’d really love to leave my phone at home, not just because of it’s size/weight, but also so I don’t break it while mountain biking.
Any such device would need to provide some text messaging style facility for coordinating with friends and calling for help.
I’ve been looking at the new LTE based Android Wear smartwatches, but it sounds like their GPS tracking is really crappy without a phone. If you were to pair the Bolt to one of those via Bluetooth, would it be able to utilize the LTE connection for group tracking, etc, or does it require an app running on the phone?
Man, I’d love an Android based bike computer with LTE :-(
Not at present. There have been in the past (Bia, Timex, Android Wear of course, and someone else I’m forgetting). The backend database for bike computers and GPS watches is shared (those tables), since many times people compare them (i.e. deciding between a dedicated unit and a watch). Hence why some of those fields are there.
Nice review!
One more thing though, which a lot of non windows users might care for. As its pretty much a deal breaker for those:
Is the device accessible as a mass storage device via a standard file explorer?
Is it possible to copy the .fit files via a standard file explorer?
– Added support for GPX, TCX, and FIT routes from USB (plus wirelessly)
Does this mean i can copy custom GPX routes onto the device? Again, via a standard file explorer
it is accessible as a mass storage device – I’m pretty sure he mentioned this in his video review – I use it all the time to grab the activity files for various purposes.
OSX users need to use the Android File Transfer util to access the Elmnt/Bolt file system.
That would mean it’s not a “USB mass storage” device :-(
Yes you can access them via usb on a pc
If using android you can save them to anywhere you damn like from the app
You can also automatically share to drop box
Soooooo much easier than Garmin
Thank you very much for the excellent review!
What does it mean the BOLT supports SRAM RED eTAP System (via ANT+ Gear Shifting Profile)? Is it possible to monitore the gearing behaviour when riding?
THX
Christian
Depends what you mean by “behaviour”. You can see the gear selection (front/back) and get battery status.
Thank you, tedder. That it was, I would like tike to know.
Ray, great review. One item for your attention – the product comparison table lists “ROUTABLE/VISUAL MAPS (LIKE CAR GPS)” and yes for Wahoo and a qualified yes for Edge 520. From what I read in this review (and your 2016-06 Wahoo rolls out turn by turn article), the mapping and navigation during a ride is equivalent on the 520 and Wahoo. Only difference appears to be how courses are loaded.
Anybody know if the Elemnt software includes the ability to control Kickr power using an external power meter? It’s what TrainerRoad calls PowerMatch. Not sure what Wahoo calls it, but they have the functionality on their iPhone app.
Yes it does
Hi Ray,
Glad you enjoyed Australia recently at TDU. My question on the above is do they make a mount for aero road bars like on the Canyon Ultimate road bike? Thanks
Thanks for the review. This definitely looks like the bike computer I’ve been waiting for.
But 68k turns in 84 miles, that’s roughly a turn every 2 metres?
I believe that’s called a joke. ;)
Is the bundle part the same on both ELEMNT and Bolt? I only ask as on UK pricing it adds £60 to the Bolt solus price but only £50 to the ELEMNT.
I do a lot of out-there mountain bike rides on gravel roads, forest service areas, etc., where I don’t get cell coverage. I’ve found that OpenCycleMaps content is useful for this, and I use the Gaia app on my phone to download map content ahead of time and have it handy for on-the-fly routing. I can even overlay multiple GPXs on the OpenCycleMap content to reference like a trail map. If I’m planning ahead, sometimes I’ll lay out a route in RideWithGPS. Other times, I just use the Gaia map on my phone and reference it from time to time. However, battery life is always a concern and I’ve several times gotten myself into trouble by running down my phone battery from checking the map too frequently while out in the middle of nowhere and had trouble navigating back home without it.
My question is, how well would this device work for viewing map data like that, either through the RideWithGPS integration or some other means? If I want to divert from my planned RideWithGPS route, is there any way to view a decent map of my current area and zoom out/in, etc.? What about overlaying GPX routes on an OpenCycleMap base map?
Thanks for the help! Your site is awesome!
Maps on the ELEMNT are based upon Open Street Map but then Wahoo do their own processing to get them onto the ELEMNT so there currently isn’t a way to load your own maps onto the device.
If you plot a route using RwGPS then load it onto the ELEMNT then the ELEMNT will display the route overlayed on top of the map but at the moment there is no way to change the map if it doesn’t have the detail you want.
Personally, if I’m worried that battery life for GPS or phone will be an issue for a long ride, I take a small external battery with me.
Is the mount compatible with deda 35 handlebars?
Thanks for this review. I finally have one question: As far as I understand Wahoo allows navigation to a single point from the phone app. Do I have an influence on the kind of route the app chooses? Is it the shortest one? Can I choose between a route suitable for road bike or suitable for mountain bike? Thanks in advance
_allez_
Don’t think you can. It just does it’s own thing in creating a route, and not always the best one in my experience.
You can use the “EasyRoute” app though to create a multi-point route (link to iosnoops.com) then you can use Share > GPX which offers open in other app > Elemnt app, and it will import the GPX for you which is then synced to the actual device. Actually surprisingly easy.
Did someone say the chap who wrote EasyRoute has been employed by Wahoo? If that’s right I guess we will see that functionality in the Elemnt app sometime soon.
Hey Ian, thanks for the info on EasyRoute. I used it this afternoon to create a route home. You are right, surprisingly easy.
I’m sure this is old ground but what’s their thinking around he black and white?
Seems mental to me!
Visibility and legibility.
I find the ELEMNT far more legible than the colour screen on my previous GPS (Garmin Edge Touring) particularly in bright sunlight.
The one other thing I haven’t seen discussed anywhere is how much riding data can the BOLT store?
The ELEMNT has 2.77GB of total addressable storage space, of which 279MB is free in a default configuration (i.e. with all the maps installed for major continents).
An average ride takes .1MB per hour (with full sensors & GPS enabled)), so 10 hours is 1MB. So that leaves you 2,790 hours of recording time before you need to offload/sync. That’s 116.25 days of riding, assuming riding 24 hours/day. Alternatively, that’s 348 days of riding non-stop at 8 hours per day.
Or basically, you’ll die of exhaustion first. :)
Perfect, thanks! :) Gearing up for my 348 day non-stop ride now.
You mention that the Bolt is available as of today on Clever Training…however, the Bolt page is showing Pre-Order – late March Shipping (pic attached). Did they already sell out of the first batch or is the release date still a few weeks off?
Yeah, they had a set of initial units and blew through them.
I’ll find out exactly when the next set is due to arrive (and get the wording updated to ‘backorder’).
Is the front mount much more reliable than the one from the mio 505? Because that one breaks all the time :( and this one looks a better option with the screw thing? Also about the duration of the battery its said that it will remain for 15 hours? But thats with everything on basic/low backlight and so on i suppose?
Thank you Ray for all the effort you put into these reviews. Your insight has been invaluable. Keep up the
great work. And thanks to all the readers who contribute to the knowledge base.
Sounds like navigation on the BOLT is going to be a little different from the Garmin 800 I am SO accustomed to using. Before I make the paradigm shift, I have a few questions about the navigation that I haven’t seen answered anywhere.
1. Does the BOLT alert you when you’ve returned to the course?
2. What is that the reason the maps don’t have street names? Storage? Speed? Battery life? Priorities?
I understand from all the comments, that the maps on the BOLT are not routable and that street names come from the course file. But it is very reassuring when I can confirm the route by matching street names on the map with street names on the signage. Does that mean that you only get streets (no names) when you use the BOLT without a course?
3. If the answer is “priorities”, any idea when this might be addressed?
Thank you.
Can you see heart rate while doing Strava Live Segments?
Hi,
I went to buy this through clever training and I am a DCR VIP customer and no 10% discount? is that right?
From what I understand, Wahoo does not allow a direct discount on their products, so you will get points with Clever Training towards your next purchase, so if you order the Bolt for $249 you will get $24 off on your next purchase.
Nice review. I was leaning to Garmin edge…but when I kept seeing the same problems in reviews I started looking at other computers. Your review along with others has convinced me to go with the Bolt. Thanks for your work.
Thanks for your detailed review Ray.
Up untill now, whilst deciding which bike GPS to buy, I have used Strava on iPhone to plan and keep me on route in areas I don’t know. Clearly not ideal for many reasons, but just about functional while the power lasts!
Usefully (or not and possibly not very accurately) when reviewing the ride later Strava offers an estimate of the Power used throughout the ride. (If no power meter is present)
My question – is that Power estimation still provided in Strava if a third party unit (wahoo or garmin) is used to collect the data ? Is it calculated within the app/device alone or estimated based on the data that the app/device the provides ?
Thank you
It’s a pitty you can only open .gpx files when connected to a wifi network. (Routes in the Strava/RwGPS can be opened)
Any remarks/comments on that?
Thanks for this great review!
Ray: Have you tested it with a Bluetooth Smart Power Meter?
In the comp. table it says:
Bluetooth Smart power meter capable Yes, for both ELEMNT
Which sensor did you use?
I have tried my Polar Look Keo and it fails.
(I can use my iPhone and Wahoo Fitness app with the Polar Look Keo power meter pedal, but I want to use my ELEMNT.)
I’m pretty sure I paired to the Quarq D-Zero via Bluetooth Smart at least once or twice.
When it comes to dual left/right units, that’s where things get really messy – due to everyone not playing nice in the sandbox.
Can’t pair my Stages power meter via Bluetooth. Only shows up as ANT+.
Wahoo Fitness app on iOS picks it right up. Doesn’t make sense. Please enable this, Wahoo
We actually detect and merge the connection parameters. We can do this as Stages (like Wahoo) use the ANT+ ID in the Bluetooth Advertising name.
ELEMNT will prefer to connect over ANT+. We do this for three reasons.
1. It leaves the bluetooth connection available for phone apps (e.g. using Zwift on iOS at the same time).
2. ANT+ has eaiser support for L/R power meters
3. In general, we have found ANT+ to be more stable and connection stronger.
Wahoo murray is there really no way to force stages power meter to work via blue tooth? as i have had very bad luck with ant+ my current computer garmin edge 520 randomly gets 0 power drop outs when over ant+ while Bluetooth signal is fine. so if theres no way to force it i may just have to return the bolt before i even open it… and spend the extra for stages own headunit was hoping since this was advertised as a dual ant+ and Bluetooth head unit id be able to use bluetooth but i may have got my hopes up
Is there any way to display power on the main screen of the Bolt? I know you can use the LED’s but I want to see the number on the front page!
thanks,
steve
If I understood your question, the answer is: YES. Use the Companion App to configure your Main Page (any page or create a new page) and add any of the power options provided (they’re several)
Questions answered by Wahoo
1. Does Auto Pause only kick in when you come to a complete stop or can you set a minimum threshold? When I come up to a light, I tend to just cycle in circles until the light changes so I never really stop.
Answer from Wahoo: You can set a auto pause threshold
2. Do we have any hope of future support for the Garmin Varia Radar? Or of a competing product from Wahoo? This is a big help for safety and I don’t want to have to have a separate head unit for it.
Answer from Wahoo: We will not be pairing to Varia and have no plans for our own system right now.
3. As a long time RFLKT user, it was nice to be able to stop/start music using a button on the RFLKT. This is especially helpful in the winter when riding with gloves. Can the Elemnt/Bolt do this now? If not do we have any plans for adding it in the future?
Answer from Wahoo: The ELEMNT and bolt will not control your music, we do have plans on adding this in future updates
4. Does the Elemnt/Bolt have the ability to show battery levels for Wahoo sensors like the cadence and speed sensors? I hate getting on my bike to ride and finding out one of them is dead.
Answer from Wahoo: Right now the Bolt and ELEMNT will not be able to check battery level but this is something that is in the works.
I couldn’t really find the autopause threshold… there are options for the auto lap and backlights but not for auto pause apparently.
Hey Ray,
Can you clarify: after a ride can you upload the ride to Strava without being on wifi (using just cellular data)? For mountain bikers, it’d be nice to be able to upload it at the trailhead and not wait until after you get back home.
Thanks!
Yes, definitely.
I wanna know if it has time in heart rate zone, like Garmin Edge 520, 820 and 1000. Thanks
Maybe I missed this, but is there a DCR discount code for this? I’m a VIP member, but in the cart the only discount seems to be on the free shipping.
You get points equivalent to 10% (I think) of the purchase price. Those points can be applied to a future purchase. I think they’re doing it this way to avoid restrictions on selling certain products below prices set by the manufacturers.
Yup – that’s correct. I appreciate the support!
Does the Bolt use a dedicated mount or will it work on a Garmin-style mount? I understand that doing so defeats the purpose of the aerodynamic innovation, but my Madone 9 only comes with a Garmin attachment and I can’t use a handlebar-wrap style mount. Alternatively, will Wahoo produce a Madone 9 compatible mount? Thanks.
Bunch of choices. Screw a K edge wahoo adaptor (5 bucks) onto the top of the blendr garmin mount. Or search bud hammerton on shapeways (where’s waldo user name on weight weenies, check cycle chat forum for 3d printed parts). He has a wahoo mount for madone, I believe, and he sells an adaptor that clips into gamin mount and makes it edge. His bontrager style garmin mounts are set up so the slots are at 45s to do either landscape or portrait, and I suspect if you nipped the corners a bit you’d have a cross compatible mount. I did that and it still works great for my 800, still waiting on my Bolt.
One thing I would love to see, and would probably be super easy to implement is:
On the “Climbing” page, lets put an option of:
If GRADE is greater than ___ % for ___ seconds auto switch to climbing screen.
Have the ___ be simple spin wheels.
It should take someone 15 minutes to do and would be pretty awesome. We already have auto switching for Strava segments if we want. I like the climbing screen but hell if im going to be pushing buttons while i’m wanting to puke my guts out because I made a poor decision to tackle that mountain. (50ft hill)
You’ve got bigger problems if you puke your guts out climbing a 50ft hill.
Awesome review thanks so much. Question. Does the new Bolt have a screen like the Garmin Edge 820 that shows you where you are on a climb? I like that graphic especially in an area climbing some mountain that I’m not familiar with. Thanks so much.
Yup, it does. I believe I show it up above in the review, but I definitely show it in the ‘Bolt Everything’ video.
When are we going to see the fenix 5 in depth review ray???
Thanks
Next week. I was waiting for units to start shipping and have final firmware, which happened last Monday.
I enjoyed the review.
Even after living with a wobbly Wahoo Snap (aka Scrap, that was a joke Ray), I think I’m going to purchase the Bolt as I don’t have a head unit and just getting into cadence and power stuff.
Sweet price point and enough features for me. Not sure I will great the lack of color and good navigation.
The software aspects of my Wahoo Snap (vs the disaster I had with a Kurt Kinetic “Smart Control) lead me to believe this will be sound from the software side. PLUS there are NO ROTATING COMPONENTS!!!.
I reserve the right to the nickname Dolt if my experience does not live up to the promise found in the review.
Thank you for what you do for all of us Ray.
Peace.
David
So enormous storage and awesome battery life (two our of three things that wind me up about my 520).
Have you had a chance to check the altimeter out in less than perfect conditions? My 520 is terrible in anything even slightly damp, just losing hills completely!
If that was also better then the only thing stopping me swapping would be the lovely Barfly Direct mounts I’ve got on two bikes. Would those Dogears things really work so I could keep the Garmin mounts?
Many thanks
The lovely mount in the first photo on here:
link to dcrainmaker.com
I have a Between the Arms hydration bottle. Any pics of how to mount on a tri bike with a BTA hydration?
About the Elemnt Mini,, I found the user manual here:
link to fccid.io
Looks like a RFLKT+ with leds and Strava segments.
Which is good value.
I use the RFLKT+ and have a huge number of annoyances when it comes to start a ride (need to decouple, pair again, remove from bt devices EVERY single ride. I think it’s bluetooth issues, and had many rides lost cause I just moves like 10 mts from the bike and the device could non connect any more… but mine is from KS campaign, so very very old).
If they have solved all these things with the mini, which I believe, it’s gonna be a pretty nice device.
One question;
Will it monitor left/right power percentage from Garmin Vector pedals?
Thanks,
Jason
I have the elemnt and it does have data fields for left right power
Yes, no issues with left/right balance from Vector.
You won’t however get Garmin Vector Cycling Dynamics recorded however. But you will get:
Total Power
Left/Right Balance
Cadence
Torque Efficiency
Pedal Smoothness
All of those are standard items.
I have a Bolt and Vector 2 pedals. I see power and L/R power % but Torque Efficiency and Pedal Smoothness do not show up for me (I just see N/A on the Bolt).
Can someone confirm that these do indeed show up on the Bolt when paired with Vector 2 pedals?
Thanks,
Brad
I have the same issue. I get no readings for smoothness or torque from my Vector 2 to the Bolt.
I have looked for any definitive info from Wahoo, but can’t find any. Can someone from Wahoo post here to let us know what we should be seeing, if anything?
Wow given the amount of ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ comparison with the 520 – I think the BOLT has definitely fallen short of the mark. Will definitely stick with the 520 for the considerable future.
As for the mount, I can’t help but think the small grapefruit segments will fill up with water when it’s pouring down or when you wash your bike.
Really interested which functionalities you’re so wow’d about which the Elemnt is missing. I think the difference between functionalities is very small. The only thing I would really miss on the elemnt are personalized work-outs.
I haven’t seen any issues with mounts filling with water on rides.
As for which items are missing, certainly Garmin has some – yet there’s also a lot of ‘No’ when it comes to Garmin too – such as BLE sensors. Whether or not those No’s mean anything will depend greatly on the person.
Can the unit be charged while being used?
Yes, it can be charged without stopping an activity.
Hi Ray,
Really [I hope!] quick one – and thanks for the review – Bolt, Element or Edge 1000; if you had to pick only one for navigation, which would you go for?
Literally lost my Garmin 810 today on a ride, so wasn’t in the market until, ooh, 10.54am :-/! I can see the usefulness of those damned tethers…..but, the 810 was distinctly average, frustrating at times when you had to turn around or it kept beeping at me. Thanks!
Great review as usual.
My wife and I travel a lot, so download maps from openstreet map to our Edge 520s.
I believe you cannot do that in this? Are the built in maps good enough, or atleast as good as what openstreet maps give us?
Great review as usual.
My wife and I travel a lot, so download maps from openstreet map to our Edge 520s.
I believe you cannot do that in this? Are the built in maps good enough, or atleast as good as what openstreet maps give us?
Hi Rao,
ELEMNT Maps are based on open street maps, so should in general give the same roads as these. Wahoo processes the maps quite heavily, so they won’t show anything apart from roads (no woods, houses, anything), but roads are there down to the smallest MTB singletrail.
Thanks
Ray lists “ANT+ Speed/Cadence Capable”, yes.
Does anybody know if that means a single sensor for both, or can it accommodate separate speed and cadence sensors?
David
The elemnt can use either separate cadence and speed sensors or the combo sensors. I use both options on different bikes and it all works fine.
Thank you David W!
Why is the ELEMNT $80 more expensive than the BOLT? Seems like they are identical save 2 more hours battery + the BOLT with it’s fancy streamlining…. am I missing something?
It’s got a bigger screen, and some folks want that. Plus the LED’s, plus more data fields per page, plus an aerobar mount, plus more battery.
Whether or not it’s worth $80 more, I’m not sure (Ok, I don’t think it is, I think $30 more is fair). Either way, that’s why.
Perfectly answered – thanks! BOLT to be ordered as a 1000 replacement I think
No Aerobar Mount with the Elemnt?
More data fields on the Element? What does this mean then: – Increased from 9 data fields to 11 data fields per page
On the Elemnt if you zoom out all the way the screen is large enough to display 11 data values at once (although the text is pretty small). On the Bolt, because of its smaller screen, you can only display 9.
The camera control would be a hard piece for me to break with my existing Garmin setup. The ability to turn on/off my cameras so easily from my bike computer is so handy right now. Hopefully they will work out some level of open standard and can get multiple camera companies to buy into it…
Just received mine (ordered directly at wahoo).
It’s really tiny and well made. Very easy to configurate from my phone.
I’m really impressed. Just have to wait saturday for a good trial during 220 km on belgian cobbles (Gent Wevelgem)
Looks pretty intriguing. I may have missed this so apologies if already covered. But, I do a few 24-48 hour continuous rides a year and need a GPS to last the whole ride. Can I intermittently plug in and charge this from an external USB battery while riding to make the battery last longer for these really long rides? If the battery dies mid ride, you immediately notice and plug in an external battery to charge while riding can you continue the same ride or did that ride end and now it will be 2 separate files?
Thanks
Looking closer at the unit looks like the charge port is at 6 o’clock and the micro USB cable used to charge would probably not be able to be plugged in while mounted due to handlebar interference anyway. Maybe an aftermarket mount could get around that, but that’d be a huge bummer if I’m right. It otherwise seems perfect
You can buy right angle micro usb cables that might fit depending on clearance to the bars. Like this: link to staples.com?
I think that’ll do the trick thanks man!
I have the Elemnt and was just wondering: How I can see other Elemnt riders on the maps?
Thanks for the review!
Two questions:
a) Can I use the Bolt for two different bikes? I mean different settings like other pages, different weight, different total km etc.?
b) Can I calibrate (zeroing) the PM with the unit (in my case on bike 1 Stages and on bike 2 Quarq)?
The answers to your questions are:
1) Not the way you want. You can use the Elemnt and Bolt with however many bikes you want in terms of different sensors on different bikes. But other than that ithe Elemnt has no concept of a bike- there is no odometer, weight, etc.. You can have custom pages and turn them on and off manually in the app when you switch bikes but you can’t change a single “bike” setting and have a bunch of other things change. I use Strava to do all of that so it isn’t a big deal to me.
2) Yes you can calibrate the PM from the unit. You simply select the PM you want in the sensor list, and (assuming it is connected) hit “calib” and it will calibrate.
OK, thanks for your answers.
I thought, weight is needed to calculate the kJ (when not using a PM).
I’m adding energy during a ride after consumption of 345 kJ each
With a powermeter kJ comes from the measured power and the weight doesn’t matter. Without a powermeter heartrate is used and I think (not sure) your own weight from your profile. If you were riding a 50 pound bike it might be off quite a bit. But the only accurate way to do it is with a PM. Everything else is an estimation.
How do you set crank arm length for PowerTap P1 pedals on a Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt?
You can click on the PM from the list of connected sensors on the phone app and set the crank length.
Sorry I don’t see the option to set the crank length in the Elemnt iPhone app when I click on the PowerTap P1 sensor.
Only “Forget Sensor”, “Rename Sensor” and “Wheel Circumference” options are available.
Where can I do it?
Hey Ray … any ideas why some fields are black background with white font and others the other way around? Is this something you’ve found a way to amend in the settings?
Ignore me … sussed it … it’s linked to the LED’s. Makes sense now. :)
Ray,
Firstly thats for another great in depth review. I’m thinking of going for the Bolt over an Edge 520 but I have 4 Garmin mounts that I’d still like to use with my Garmin Edge 1000. There are hacks to modify the mounts which I’d rather not do, but has anyone tried a Garmin in a Wahoo mount, and if so is it secure? It would possibly be a lower cost route for changing the ‘pucks’ in my K-Edge mounts from Garmin to Wahoo.
Just took the unit out for a test ride this morning and I must say, goodbye Edge 520! The software on the Bolt is so much more logical and easier to use. Menus are much easier to navigate and none of the Garmin glitchy software bloat. Love the buttons on top for screens and the setup was a breeze. Screen is super easy and nice to read but the LEDs are useless if the sun is out.
Also, found out that it does not fit a standard quarter-turn Garmin mount. Well, I should clarify: It does fit into the mount and rotates just fine but the Bolt is then 90º rotated from where it needs to be on my old mount.
Looking forward to it in the long-term!
Ray,
Does Wahoo support manual input for wheel calibration? This is the only way to get precise speed and distance.
Yes, you can set the wheel circumference in the Wahoo Speed sensor attached to your wheel, via the Element app on the above mentionned sensor’s option menu
Thanks for the review, appreciated
I’ve been training with heart rate because power meters are a bit out of my price range. Is it possible to make a Heart Rate Zone page with overall time and lap time? What does that look like? How do the LEDs indicate heart rate zones? By number? By color?
I had many GPS units (starting with a Garmin Geko 201 that I bought in 2004) in my life (so many that before getting to know this website I felt almost a bit bad about it), but reading this review was the first time I felt really something different inside of me. I always had Garmin units, concerning the cycling range I walked the Edge 500-800-520 road so far, and they were not perfect, but I was OK with them. Although I kind of liked the hardware Garmin produced (especially my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx that is 11 years old now but still works perfectly as a hiking GPS, with some amazing capabilities and great rugged built), but the software always made me want to cry. Garmin Connect is a piece of (insert crap emoji, but no smiling) – so I only use it as a backup besides Strava and Golden Cheetah -, the menus on many devices are illogical, and there is always something that bothers me. So many bad memories I don’t even want to talk about it. But to close this with a positive note, at least I never had a crash mid ride or a corrupted file, so I guess I should be thankful for that.
So I read this review, and I knew that even though I was not going to buy another GPS this year (because I love gadgets, but I am also not the kind of a person who gets a new iPhone every year), I will have to get this. It seemed like everything I wanted from a cycling GPS. Don’t have to navigate endless horrible menus on the device itself but I can use a great phone app to do it?!? CHECK! Awesome. (Also, a phone app that does not hurt looking at unlike the Garmin apps? Cool.) Seriously, change fields, set up custom pages, anything you want from the phone? Route transfer from other accounts directly to the device? I WAS SOLD. Also, zoom-in on the data fields: great idea! So I registered at one of the large Belgian/Dutch online shops a few days ago to let me know via email when the unit becomes available, yesterday afternoon came their mail, 30 seconds later I placed the order (2 hours later they were sold out), and today I got the unit.
Tomorrow morning is my first test ride, but the setup was awesome. Paired my phone, my sensors, my accounts in a second (without any issues), and everything just worked. (It is just an extra that the colours math my bike perfectly, unlike the white of the Edge 520.) If the data recording is at least as good (and it should be) as it was on my Garmin units, I will be 100% satisfied. The out front mount feels great, and the aero design looks very sleek. Looking forward to the long-term experience, and hopefully the battery lasts as long as advertised, because the Edge 520 was really doing badly when you spent a lot of time on the map screen…
Two very minor issues: 1) is it just me, or there is no 10 second power option? I see …,5,20,30,… but the 10 seems to be missing. It is what I would normally use, and it feels weird to have such a big gap between the 5 and 20 second option. If it is not just me, then I guess a software update could easily solve this. 2) My OCD is a bit bothered that the clamp of the out front mount should be 1-2 mm further to the side from the unit, because now it is a bit too close, so even when I put the clamp tight against the stem, the unit is not lined up with the centre line of the stem (which is also visible in your photos, the unit being slightly off centre to the left; it is worse on your Giant bike and better but not perfect on your Mallorca rental).
Wish I had never read your post. Now my OCD will get me on every ride :-)
Switching from a 520 to the Bolt next week.
lol its pretty close to being lined up on my bike,or at least close enough that the 1mm off doesn’t bother me on my cannondale stem . I am really enjoy the zoom feature to be able to change if i want more or less data fields by just pressing a button. if you decide to use strava live segments 2 months of premium come free. I checked on the 10 sec power and its not just you. I like using 3 sec or 5 sec my self so it doesn’t bother me but its worth shooting them an email if its a feature you want. wahoo has been pretty good with updates so its possible to get it added specially since its a easy thing to add. I am waiting for the big update when they add work out plans you can follow on the device its supposed to come some time this fall
How does one sync a route using ride with GPS through Bluetooth. I noticed the review said “Added ability to sync routes via Bluetooth (previously just WiFi)” but I can’t figure out how.
Select the route in the Phone companion app from the Ride tab, if its not on the ELEMNT it will send it over Bluetooth
When I tried this the wahoo app just crashed (iOS) and I had to do it over wifi instead.
Anybody know if you can change the name of the extra pages you’ve already set up? Cannot find a way to do this.
Also, battery percent foe phone is stuck at 50%
Firstly must say excellent and in depth review which is greatly appreciated. I have been using the Bolt for a few days now and mostly the experience has been positive, one thing that I have noticed is when pushing the front three buttons the lcd screen is often put under pressure causing a kind of lcd bruising effect. This doesn’t happen so much when lightly pushing the buttons towards the front of the unit but if pushing with gloves on you tend to put pressure on the rear section of the buttons which in turn pressurises the screen. I understand this is a relatively minor point but I am just thinking long term use and effect on the screen? probably just me :) ! but wondered if any other users had picked up on this.
Just to let you know that you are not alone, I have also noticed this. Even without pressing the buttons I can see some minor excess pressure in the bottom corners of the screen.
That is interesting, mine certainly looks OK unless I press the buttons. I have since been using an original Elemnt and the button placement/screen separation is far superior, screen is also significantly clearer to my eyes at least due to having a lighter background. I have mixed feelings about the Bolt but at the moment it is likely I will return it and keep the original Elemnt.
Does this work with aero bars? What does it mount like on the stem? I have another bar mount on the left of center handlebar just inside the aero bar mount (use it for a light mount) that would be in the way of this handlebar mount for Bolt. Could try to trouble shoot that. Just curious as to where this would mount if not out front. Aerodynamics not a big deal to me for my riding.
I’ve had the Elemnt sice it was released. Overall I like the unit but I have experienced 2 types of issues (quite often I bring the Elemnt and Garmin Fenix 3 and/or Edge 520 on the same ride to compare results)
1) ELEVATION/TOTAL CLIMBING – quite often the elevation/climbing is wrong, sometimes lower, sometimes higher when compared to two garmins or known elevation. Many times it shows much higher errors than gamin units when riding twice over the same mountain pass.
2) CALORIES – The total energy reported by Garmin and Elemnt (in kJ) are always very similar (I’m always riding with a Power Meter). The total calories, however, sometimes closely match the energy (as expected and as it always does on Garmin) but sometimes it is VERY different, like less than half calories when compared to energy.
Ray, have you experienced/tested for this type of errors? Did anyone find them?
I have the same Issues. Does any one find any feedback on this?
After 300 km, 12 hours of riding in mapping mode with phone, HR and PW activated it stays 31% battery ! This Bolt is definitively best gps device I’ve own.
Great screen in a sexy case ;-)
I recently upgraded to the Bolt from a Garmin 500. I’ve been pretty happy with it for the most part.
The fatal flaw: Missing odometer feature / bike profiles. For an item designed to track speed & distance, I should expect to be able to track how far I’ve ridden my gear.
Not so bad:
Housing is a little glossy, cheap feeling – like an old oily tv remote. You never touch the unit, so no biggie.
The silver bolt on the handlebar mount faces you, along with the bulk of the attachment housing. Seems they could have moved that out of sight. The stem mount is laughable. It’s a free-extra, they hit an aggressive price point, and there are aftermarket options.
Beeper can be harsh, would like a lower volume setting. No biggie
The Good: Everything else
-Packaging looks great!
-Setup is amazingly smooth and intuitive.
-Unit operates without hiccups in my limited rides.
Totally agree of fatal flaw of not having odometer, especially when a customer use Wahoo Bolt on multiple bikes.
Could you please check whether there’s an option to enter wheel calibration manually, like in Edge 500? See my post above with a picture of red Edge 500. Thanks!
Yes, you can enter the wheel circumference manually (selecting the speed sensor on the phone app).
Ray–Have you heard anything about expected shipping dates from Clever Training? Starting to get jealous of other people getting theirs. . .
Yup – they’ve been shipping. They shipped out a bunch the first week, and then have another shipment arriving middle of this week, and then they have another shipment early next week. They expect all existing back-orders will be fulfilled by early next week. They’ll also be sending out an update note to anyone who doesn’t make the cut for this week’s mid-week shipment, just letting them know it’s coming next week.
They note that the majority of orders were placed in those first few days in rapid succession, so it’s a bit tricky to give general blanket guidance on a specific cutoff-date for this week’s shipment.
Thanks for the support!
Thanks, Ray. Very helpful. Can’t wait to get mine.
Just got notification that my Bolt has shipped from CT! WOOT! For those playing along at home and waiting on theirs, I ordered at about 8:30am EDT on March 15.
Ordered mine on 3/19 from Clever….so far no word on it being shipped :(
I spotted on your YouTube review that there’s a field called “Heart rate zone (visual)”. Is that essentially the same as the heart rate graph on Garmin units? That is, a line chart of your heart rate zone over time.
I love the unit. Went from Garmin 510. Everything is better, Garmin seems DOS based compared to this. Really like screen clarity and ease of use. Only complaint is that elevation seems to be off. It is recording much lower ascents and descents compared to others I am riding with. I am certain the Bolt is getting the measurements incorrect. Hopefully this is software glitch that can be addressed.
Have you raised an issue with them on this?
I have the same elevation issue. Sometimes the total climbing is OK but the absolute altitude is way off. Today when I got home it was showing -60m!! It should be +14m and I think there is no way to correct for it.
Elevation is quite a way off on my Bolt as well, I have raised this issue with Wahoo, generally reading quite low by maybe 30% compared to Garmin and actual map values. Comparing to the original Elemnt I also find the screen to be darker unless the back light is running in which case the Bolt wins over the previous generation Elemnt. The Bolt somehow feels a bit cheap to me and led’s are not as bright compared to old Elemnt. Zoom function on the Wahoo units is a winner and customising from the phone app is so easy. Battery life also seems impressive so far.
When riding together, my son’s Bolt consistently records 15% more elevation than my Garmin Edge 820.
All other measurements are identical (time, distance, etc.). Is this a 820 or Bolt issue?
Anyone know if, on the Bolt, can you somehow load a topo map to overlay your route on, for mountain biking purposes?
Hi Ray,
You mention in the review that the ELEMNT can handle a GPX route side-loaded through the app. This is correct, but it won’t provide turn-by-turn directions, just the usual breadcrumb trail.
Really value your review though, my Edge 1000 is on eBay after reading the review and borrowing an ELEMNT from my local bike shop for a day.
It does if you use “ride with GPS to make the route, just not with strata.
I’ve decided to move on from the Garmin 520 and purchase the Bolt. The Garmin 520 was a good unit but the menu system and the phone pairing and dropping was a major issue for me. The one thing I will miss in regards to the 520 will be the open street maps that were on the unit. The maps allowed me to see the names of the local MTB trails that I ride in the area. I’m hoping that a future update to the mapping on the Bolt will allow me to see the trail names. I ordered mine on 3/28 and it’s showing the order is still processing.
Very well could be user error but is anyone having issues with notifications, specifically text messages, not coming through. Also my Strava live segments don’t work. I have them starred in the Strava app and nothing. I do have the app running when I am riding. Other than that I do like the Bolt. Coming over from the 820.
Socia, you might need to reset the Bolt to enable Strava Live Segments page, I found this on the Elemnt, it seems to have happened to other Wahoo users, once this is done and the Bolt picks up settings from the Wahoo phone app your Live Segments page should appear on the Bolt after the GPS/maps page :) – hope that works out if all else fails.
Thanks. Will give it a shot this weekend. The not getting notifications still has me puzzled though. It worked a few times and a few times it didn’t. I’m really hoping it is user error as I so want this to work over the 820. The touchscreen frustrates me to say the least. As far as elevation. I ran a couple rides with the 820 and Bolt side by side and the elevation results were respectable enough.
You’re welcome, resetting is not too much of a problem since the app does retain most of the settings, just scan the Wahoo from the phone and let it sort itself out for a few minutes. I will run some further comparisons against the Garmin 1000 to see how the elevation pans out but from what I’ve seen so far the Wahoo units on overall ride elevation seem good, see my reply a few down below for more information.
In addition to the above it would be worthwhile registering your elevation issues with Wahoo, the more people that do this the better hopefully and should push them to improve the sampling method for elevation. The support and responsiveness from Wahoo has been nothing short of excellent in my experience so far.
Does anyone else has also seen that the BOLT calculates the average time on the total time and not the active time? Not only during segments, but rather for the complete ride.
I have seen the same issue on my BOLT, not at an indoor training but during a normal ride.
While Strava shows an average speed of 29.9kmh after uploading the ride (which is currect), the BOLT bolt shows me an average of 25.6kmh which was definitely wrong. The BOLT is calculating the average speed on the total time, not active time. I’ve seen this also while standing a while during the ride and the average speed is getting lower and lower.
Garmin is calculating the average only for the active time, which makes more sense IMHO.
Experienced same thing with regards to average speed with my first outdoor ride yesterday. Noticed that the Bolt includes zeros for cadence calculation (and you can’t change this). Also had some power discrepancies compared to TrainingPeaks (NP, IF, TSS, L/R balance)… Emailed Wahoo but haven’t heard back yet.
To elaborate, I think the issue is how the Bolt handles slowing/stopping. From my ride yesterday Strava gave 2:53:36 moving time – Bolt app (and what gets exported to TP) gave 3:00:59. As a result my average speed and power on Strava were higher. I had auto pause enabled and had a wheel speed sensor paired but it took several seconds after stopping for the Bolt to pause. I would usually see 0.1 mph or so difference in Strava speed/810 speed but with the Bolt it was almost a full mph. Annoying.
BOLT uses distance/active time. Active time is when the device is not paused, so you need to have auto-pause enabled or manually pause the unit.
Strava sometimes uses distance / moving time (aka, non-zero speed), although I’m not totally sure if they show this if the speed data is from a bike computer.
Makes sense. Just seems like the auto-pause needs to trigger faster. Would be great if we could set a threshold value like on Garmin.
So, is anyone NOT having issues with elevation profile? Think this is something that will be able to be fixed with software updates, or an inherent flaw of the device? I don’t seem to recall so many elevation issues with the full size ELEMNT. Hope they can get this fixed, seems like kind of a huge deal breaker to me……
I’d like to know this as well before I pull the trigger.
JJ, I have raised this issue very recently with Wahoo and they stated it is something they are working on with a view to improve. Personally I find the original Elemnt to be pretty reasonable with overall ride elevation readings at around negative 10% on average, the start/finish elevation compared to actual map data is less accurate, maybe averaging negative 10-20%. The Bolt in my relatively short testing experience seems to be close to the Original Elemnt in overall ride elevation but reads quite a bit lower in the start/finish elevation data, maybe closer to negative 30-40%. I am hopeful that this can be corrected in firmware, from my reading into this subject it could simply be a case of the Wahoo sampling more data and more frequently from actual GPS map data in order to better estimate elevation.
Did DCR miss this?
I think a key here is did they use the same barometric sensor as the element or a different one, perhaps smaller, to help fit in the smaller size.
Anybody know the answer to this? Hopefully it is not the weak link that can’t be fixed.
So far I am getting very consistent values.
I was getting really consistent values, especially in my mountain rides actually.
I’ll try and pull together the data sets, as all of them have comparative data.
Just grabbing a really easy to parse file, here’s the comparative data:
link to analyze.dcrainmaker.com
You can see the elevation data looks virtually identical between the pile of units that day. I did no manual elevation overrides on any units, just simply let them figure it out via GPS/etc…
I haven’t pulled in my data from this past weekend yet, which does include the BOLT.
Thank you DCR. I get my Bolt Wednesday.
Any thoughts on the average speed calculation including idle time that people report? I guess if you are in a race that’s the real average speed!!
Thank you again Ray.
So here’s a question. Now that the edge 520 can be had for $250… which should I choose? And now I’m hearing about elevation issues with the bolt so really wondering.
I am in the same position… i bought a wahoo bolt fpr 239€ and yesterday amazon had a one day deal for the Garmin 520 … only at 179€!!! I got it and now I have the problem which one will stay which one should be send back? Which would you keep for MTB?
Best regards
Thomas
lol, i did exactly the same (bought the wahoo bolt and one day later the edge 520for 179€)
Since this will be my first bike gps, please help!! :D
The “route me anywhere” via app sounds nice on the bolt, but i’m not sure if the wahoo is as reliable and stable as the garmin 520(which should be a solid device now, right?)
Also, is the wahoo worth the price? (60€ more than the edge..)
thanks,
Mike
When I change the number of fields in a page using the up/down buttons on the side I can configure for 1,2,3,4,7 or 9 fields. What about 5,6 or 8 ? Are others able to configure for all the possible number of fields.
It’s a layout thing, when you are at 4 we add a entire row that fits 2 data fields. It also reduces the total number of layouts you toggle through. The idea is that you zoom in and out to see more/less data, not necessarily see 1 through 9 data fields.
If you really want 5, configure the page for 5 items and you will see Just 5
If we have questions or comments regarding hardware and firmware, where is the Wahoo website the best place to post?
We don’t have any public forums. Questions and comments can be directed through our support website, otherwise I monitor a few public forums when available. The ELEMNT google user group also has many of our beta testers that help out.
I’ve just raise a related issue via support but can summarise the response as ‘thats how it is’…
The zoom to 4 fields (and not 5) seems completely pointless as on the Bolt 5 fields would consume the same space as its using for 4 right now (and it turns out that the 4/5 zoom level on the bolt is just about readable for me so would be perfect if it made good use of the display and showed the 4th and 5th fields in the bottom row).
I suspect on the original Element 4 is perhaps displayed differently and therefore makes it a sensible option, but on the Bolt its just a waste of space.
Hey Ray,
I have the ELEMNT and there is no way of pressing the lap button while paused, this is very annoying especially in time trials when you want to press the lap button as you’re waiting on the start ramp. I emailed support over a month ago asking them to include this feature but there is still no update. Thoughts?
Hi Conner, this request is on our list to review but as you know all the button already have actions so it’s not a simple add. While we love feedback and try and include as many user requests as possible we need to make sure it fit into the overall product roadmap and priotized. Cheers
Is there a chance that the Element will mount with my Garmin mounts? On other bikes
I talked about it a bit in the review and the videos.
In short, the answer is ‘sorta’. It can kinda fit, but it’s not perfect and if you keep doing it (especially to the non-rubber mounts), it’ll likely break the tabs on the ELEMNT. But, if you shave the tabs very slightly on the ELEMNT it’ll fit better.
I found that if you just touched a hot soldering iron to the opposite corner of both cutouts on the Garmin mount, the ELEMNT Bolt drops in perfectly. You only need to remove about 1mm of material for this to work. It can be forced in, but as Ray says it’ll damage the unit over time.
Hi,
First comment here :-)
I have a sigma Rox 10.0 which is ok. After the initial review here I was convinced and made an order for this Bolt at Bike24 (they will have it from 22th april). But now it seems that some not all the units have the same accuracy! I only do MTB (even if I do about 10 000 Km a year in the road with my mtb bike).
The wireless part is the big difference compared to the Rox (TBT not important for what I do).
But the Sigma is a great product too (and no problems with altitude! I start at 17 meters and after 100 Km I end at 14 or 15 meter altitude).
Anyone switched from a Rox 10 to a Bolt?
Cheers from Portugal.
I ordered mine on 3/28. I received an email today stating that it had been shipped. It will be here on Thursday. I’m coming from a Garmin 520 and will go on a couple of rides and post a comparison after that.
Hi,
Thanks for the great review! On my Garmin 1000, I am able to tell it the distance of how many miles I want to ride, and it will give me a few different options. Am I able to do this with the Elmnt?
How do the Elements handle multiple bikes? I have multiple bikes, each with their own sensors. With my 510, I had multiple bike profiles with each profile set up to connect to the sensors on that bike. On my 820, Garmin uses what they call a “sensor pool” which basically means I connect all of the sensors to the unit and it automatically figures out which ones to use as I ride the bike and the sensors wake up. How does the Element and Bolt handle this? Thanks in advance.
You just need to pair all your sensors and Ride, ELEMNT will connect to any sensor that wakes up and return the best source of the data. Eg Valid Speed sensor trump’s GPS. No need to manually group or assign sensors to profiles.
Hi,
Just one question:
The new batch of Bolts will be any different (firmware, hardware, etc) from the initial batch?
How can I see (serial #) when a Bolt was built?
Thanks,
paulo
There have been questions about the Bolt in a aero position. Yesterday I had my first ride with this new toy. I attached it to the computer mount that comes with Profile Design’s Aero HC System (link to profile-design.com). I used the “interlocking mount” that comes with the Bolt. This setup works very well, as I had the unit at sight at all times.
I have no idea whether this position brings any advantage in terms of aerodynamics but honestly I don’t care. The unit is still most placed behind the bottle, and I decided to buy it because of the promise of delivering a good user experience using it and configuring/updating the software. I haven’t explored all the options yet, but my first impression from box to mount and first ride has been very positive.
What I wonder is… does Wahoo offer a website where I can share all the data that the Bolt shows at the end of a ride? I don’t care about the “social” features, I just want to share with my trainer all the numbers the Bolt offers about my rides. I know you can upload data to many 3rd party services (Strava integration works flawlessly, but it seems that Wahoo and Movescount won’t speak to each other) and I have also seen that you can export a .fit file (pity that Movescount won’t import it as far as I can see).
Hi,
are any plans to implement Training Load/Training effects (Firstbeat “metrics” or wahoo own…) on this device or on the wahoo app?
thanks
Ray, I’m currently on a completely Garmin setup and switching to the bolt. Does it sync back to garmin connect? Or would have to upload the fit file to garmin connect afterwards.
Hi, no, it does not sync to Garmin Connect (Garmin revoked permission to do this… clearly they are afraid of the competition…). But if you want to stick with Garmin Connect, the fit files can automatically exported to a dropbox folder, and you can still upload them manually.
Try the service at http://www.tapiriik.com
Auto-syncing between many services for $2 a year. Works fine!
I got the export to DropBox working and did the Import to Garmin Connect, but nothing shows up…wonder if they disabled that too?
Looks worth a closer look the next time my 520 packs up on me :) Just spotted that your comparison table says that the Edge 520 doesn’t do Emergency/SOS Message Notification. They added that a few months ago in Version 10 (I think) of the software, I’ve tested it and it works fine on my 520.
Hi,
I currently use an edge 510 and am liking what I see with this. A few questions though.
1. Is there a detailed list of ALL of the data fields available?
2. Is there an auto lap feature by time, distance, or location?
3. Do they use the same calculation as Garmin (Coggan’s formulat I believe) for normalized power and TSS?
4. There are not any preset profiles that save which data pages and data fields are set. Such as Trainer, Train, Race, MTB, etc. that you could configure on the Edge 510 and up.
Thanks for the great review as always.
Hi Jason,
1. Email our support and they can give you the list. I will also try and upload the list to our support site over the weekend.
2. For now, just distance
3. Yes, TSS and NP are trademarks of Training Peaks and we use their calculations.
4.No page profiles at this stage, Juat a single config.
Cheers
I posted earlier that I was going from the Garmin 520 to the Bolt. I received the Bolt and will echo some of the other first impressions.
1. The Bolt was super easy to set up. The Garmin is a chore at best.
2. The Bolt’s shell feels a little bit cheaper in quality to the 520.
3. I love that the main buttons are on the top of the unit. They offer really good feedback even while wearing gloves.
4. I do not miss the fact that the Bolt does not offer a color screen.
5. I like the mount, but the bottom of the unit is too close to the stem. I have to get really creative trying to accommodate the Bolt and my Bontrager front light. I may look for another option that extends out a little bit.
6. Moving from page to page is so much better than the 520. This is the reason that I decided to make the switch. On the 520 there were endless menus for other menus. It was a real pain in the ass.
7. Pairing of the sensors was easy, but not hard with the 520.
I’m going for a ride today and with put the route feature to the test. I’m also interested to see if I’ll experience any problems with the Autopause feature as others have noted. I’m using a Bontrager Duotrap BT unit for speed and cadence. I’ll post a ride report a little later.
I completed a ride today using the Bolt. Even though I new the route well, I uploaded a RWGPS route that I previously created. The turn by turn directions were flawless and dead-on. I never lost the GPS signal as I had in the past with the 520. I ran Strava on my telephone in an attempt to notice any discrepancies regarding distance or time. The distance was within .1 in regards to the RWGPS route and Starva on the telephone. The auto-pause issue that some has described in earlier posts was not an issue. The unit paused within 3 seconds of stopping. I did notice that the Bolt’s elevation was 200 ft. on the generous side. My 520 and RWGPS were almost identical no matter where or when I rode in the past. I really enjoyed my ride today with the Bolt. I hope this helps anyone with a future purchase in mind.
Update:
I rode the exact same route that I rode the other day. The first ride recorded an additional 200 feet of elevation. The ride I just completed was dead on regarding elevation. Completely in-line with the 520 and RWGPS. Any thoughts on the correction?
My Garmin 810 crashed again (as it usually intermittently does during courses). Sealed my decision to get a Bolt. Even better, Clever Training has it shipping in 1 biz day. So PSA – Seems to be back in stock.
I live in Singapore and it does not ship for free here but that does not matter. Signed up for the DCR – Clever Training VIP programme too contribute back to a site that I have relied so much upon.
Thanks Ray & community.
Thanks for the support Dave!
Hi Ray,
Great review as usual.
I have been running the elemnt bolt for a week and have also been using my old garmin 520 at the same time. I have noticed the bolt reads higher than the garmin on everything though.
Using the following sensors, garmin ant+ speed sensor, garmin ant+ cadance sensor (when not using power meter), garmin ant+ heart rate belt, 4iiii power meter.
On each ride, of varying distances from 20 miles to 60 miles, the bolt reads distance travelled higher than the 520 by up to 1/2 mile.
The cadence figures (max and average)are always 3 or 4 higher than the garmin.
The heart rate seems to be 2 beats higher than the 520.
The power (3sec, average, max, normalised) are all consistently 2-3 watts higher.
Seeing as they are picking up the data from the same sensors, any idea why there is this discrepancy? Which is likely to be more accurate, the 520 or the bolt?
Thanks
So the BOLT has Auto-pause on by default, whereas the Edge 520 does not. Any chance you left the defaults?
If so, that’s pretty easily explain all the differences noted above.
1. Check that you have the wheel circumference set to the same on both devices.
2. Auto-pause could be effecting your numbers (likely reason)
3. BOLT includes zero cadence in average, pretty the 520 doesn’t by default.
Cheers
Nope, I had auto pause disabled on both devices.
I hadn’t set the wheel circumference on the bolt – how do you do that?
Also any idea why the power readings differ?
Thanks
You set the wheel circumference from the companion app, just tap on the sensor and you will see the option.
Ok, thanks, will try this on my ride tomorrow.
Element bolt is everything Garmin edge 520 should be but is not. Easy to use, iPhone centric, simple to update, easy to add sensors, Bluetooth friendly. Garmin has blown the lead in pretty much everything they’ve done beginning with fitness watches. Now you can add bike computers to the list.
Already past 11 rides with the Bolt, still fully satisfied, but there is one additional thought to my previous comments above: for some reason the iPhone app reminds me to charge the Bolt just after the first ride is done with the previously fully charged device. It should remind me when the battery gets below a given level, not when it gets back up to almost 100 :) Since I see Wahoo personnel is reading these comments, I thought this could be useful here. Wondering if anyone else has encountered the same. (By the way, the battery life is awesome.)
I have also had the app remind to charge it when it is already at 100%. I thought it odd.
The review says that a mobile data signal is required for routing to an address so not ideal for traveling abroad. Can route to a pin point on the mobile map be done without a data signal?
Also what is the coverage of the included maps if purchased in the UK?
Thanks.
Selecting a point of the map to route to required a mobile data connection, this can’t be done offline. Pre-planned routes are stored offline.
BOLT comes pre-ijstalled with US, EU, Aus and NZ maps installed. All other regions can be downloaded free from within the phone app.
The Bolt is no Dolt. This is my first real bike computer, so I can’t compare it to Garmin. I was about to the pull the trigger on a Garmin 1000 for about twice the price of this thinking I needed a big color screen for navigation. Wrong.
I love that the setup is so easy, it’s light, it has great battery life.
It is very hilly where I live so I found the climbing page very interesting during the ride.
Elevation off?
I setup a new Strava route that had 3970 of elevation. The Bolt measured 4400. So which is correct? Man with two watches never knows the time. The ascent/decent totals were only different 2% on the 50 mile loop. 10% difference in Bolt measured versus strava estimate seems a little high.
The unit yelled at me a couple times when it thought I was off route and I was not, but once actually noticed that I was going off my route and got my attention. Sweet.
Some minor things
During setup my C1 chain rings paired as “power” instead of what I expected which was power and cadence. So I fished around to see if I needed to pair it again as cadence but found it worked as both.
The LEDs are not bright enough for me outside with tinted lenses on.
The case is a light plastic that some might not like. I’m ok with it.
For $250 this is a really great deal.
Appreciate DCR’s review which put this on my radar.
Hi,
Received my Bolt today.
No problems with synch, customizations it is really easy. I’m not in an iPhone here!
But:
– I saw a lots of maps from around the world. Since i would like to have Portugal and Spain loaded I started to delete the maps. I arrived to France and deleted. Then I thought, maybe I go there sometime soon so let’s downloaded again! No way because there is not enough memory!!!! What? The map was already there, I erased it with all, from A to France, so why there is not enough memory? Could you check this please?
One more question: when you “tested” the battery did you had the backlight turned on or off?
Thank you.
I have a question regarding my ride yesterday:
The Bolt displayed that I burned 1650 calories. This figure was also displayed on the Wahoo APP. When the ride was uploaded to Strava, it displayed 1100. I’m pretty sure that Strava doesn’t take into account HR for calorie burn, so it’s always on the low side. My question is why did it default to the Strava calculations for only that metric?
Because that’s what Strava does. It does it for all of the rides from my Edge 1000, too. Calorie numbers are only estimates, so it may well be that Strava is closer to the actual number than what your Bolt says.
Squid, the official line from Strava is shown below, I asked this question a week or two back:
“Strava uses your weight, your bike’s weight, your elevation data and your speed to estimate power output, then from that it estimates calories.”
Far from ideal in my view, Garmin, Wahoo and Polar all come out with calorie data higher than Strava, on average I would say 25% higher. If you have a power meter then Strava will work it’s magic, otherwise you have to make do with their estimate.
As far as I can tell, Strava still uses its own number even with a power meter. Garmin always just shows the number of kJ as the number of calories (at least for the modern devices; my Edge 800 showed a HR based estimate) when there’s a power meter. Strava still shows its own number.
I appreciate all the responses!
I do not think this is correct. If you ride withoutout a power meter Strava calls it estimated.
When riding with a power meter shows weighted average power. I think they are actually using data from your power meter if you have one
This looks like the computer I have been looking for but I have TREK Madone with aero bars. Any idea how I would mount it Mr Maker?
Update:
I rode the exact same route that I rode the other day. The first ride recorded an additional 200 feet of elevation. The ride I just completed was dead on regarding elevation. Completely in-line with the 520 and RWGPS. Any thoughts on the correction?
Hi,
First ride with my new Bolt and I’m surprisingly happy :-).
I compared with my Sigma Rox 10.0 and the tracking for the same route was better and the altitude ant start and finish was exactly the same (Rox uses a baro altimeter too). Uploaded to Strava as soon as I finished…nice!
For now very satisfied :-).
I would like to have (very easy to do in the software department):
– workout planning and uploading to the Bolt (this is a basic function! Even the Rox 11.0 have it)
– alarm with text (Eat Now every n mins…). Ok, I know everyone should know when to eat/drink!
– please make a sound volume button somewhere!
I will reports my findings here.
Cheers,
paulo
And I forgot: why do we need all those countries maps installed? I think it would be better to have more detailed maps of all the countries/regions and download te ones we need! If I go travel to Germany (just an example), I could download the map of that country, otherwise I don’t need it at all. I would prefer a more detailed map of Portugal, the country I live. But I thing this will happen :-).
Keep the good work.
Cheers,
paulo
Hi,
First serious ride today. Only have HR strap connected, LEDs ON, connected to my Note3 via bluetooth.
– 4h56 min ride – 32% battery used (so, about 15h30 min bat autonomy. Spot on)
– no problems with altitude! I ended at home that I know it is 17 m above sea and…Bolt readings was…17m! wow.
– Leds. Well I will turn it off (today they were ON and unless the bolt was at my shade…sun behind me, I could not see if the led were ON or OFF! So, for me, LEDs could go away in the next BOLT iteration. I live in a sunny country :-).)
– Uploading the exercise to Strava: well, when I came upstairs I received a notification from Strava that everything was done :-). Great, no more cables like with the Rox 10.0.
So, I’m happy with it.
Cheers,
paulo
After some serious testing in the past days in maybe not so standard conditions (starting rides at an altitude of 2150 metres, and doing 10% climbs and descents), I encountered a serious issue, about which here is the detailed report I just sent to Wahoo:
Dear Wahoo Support,
let me start by saying how much I love the new Bolt. there is not question about that. I have been using 3 different Garmin GPS devices in the past 7 years, and I don’t ever want to go back. I have ridden 13 rides (ranging between 1.5 and 4 hours) with the Bolt since 3/25, in various circumstances, and I had a very positive experience. On the other hand I have encountered a very serious issue, which I tried and managed to reproduce on three different rides during the past week.
I am currently working on top of the island of La Palma at an altitude of 2150 metres, and every afternoon I am riding around which means a lot of climbing and descending here. Here is a detailed description of the 3 separate occurrences of the issue with the altimeter (see attached the exported .fit files of these rides).
### 2017-04-04-130543-ELEMNT 6F03-6-0.fit ###
21 minutes into the ride descending a steep -9% slope at an altitude of 2027 metres the altimeter stopped working, displaying a 0 value. I stopped, thinking maybe switching on and off the GPS will solve the issue. This indeed seemed to help, but a few seconds after resuming the ride a huge spike occurred in the displayed altitude, peaking around 10000 metres. then the altitude dropped back to ~0 and exponentially climbed back to my actual elevation withing the next few seconds. After this I climbed back to the top and descended the other side of the mountain. Strangely, again, descending at a very steep -9 to -10% section at an altitude of 2005 metres the displayed elevation dropped to 0, and stayed there for the rest of the ride. The GPS displayed that I had an elevation gain of 29.959 metres and a descent of 30.072 metres…
Just after this ride I installed the latest firmware update, hoping that the mentioned elevation related improvements might also fix this issue. For a few days everything seemed to be ok, so I was happy, until yesterday.
### 2017-04-11-153147-ELEMNT 6F03-12-0.fit ###
A bit more than 20 minutes into the ride descending at a -10% slope, at an altitude of 2004 metres the elevation sensor produced a huge spike to almost 10000 metres (in the fit file it must be a slighly averaged value saved, because I definitely saw larger values on the screen), then immediately dropped to zero, and exponentially returned to the actual elevation after a few seconds. Soon I turned around and started climbing back again, but just before reaching 2000 metres, the elevation sensor stopped working and kept displaying 0 until the end of the ride. At the end, the displayed elevation gain and descent were 43.768 and 45.915 metres, respectively.
### 2017-04-12-154140-ELEMNT 6F03-13-0.fit ###
Today I went out trying to really reproduce this event again. 27 minutes into the ride, descending again at a steep -10% slope, just before reaching an elevation of 2000 metres (at 2021 metres) the same huge peak followed by a drop to 0 and slow exponential climb back to the actual altitude occurred. Unlike the previous days, the sensor kept working properly afterwards. At the end of the ride, the displayed elevation gain was 46.973 metres with a descent of 46970 metres.
### SUMMARY ###
1) Seems like the elevation related issues happened always when descending at a fast rate around an altitude of 2000 metres. there was always a large spike in the displayed value, after which the sensor either dropped to zero and stayed there, or dropped to zero and slowly recovered. After the possible recovery, within the next half hour the sensor likely stopped working.
2) The parts of the elevation profile outside these spikes (and the parts where altitude of 0 was recorded) look perfectly good, as expected.
Could you please get back to me ASAP and give an information if this is an issue that was already reported / being looked into as a high priority item? I really want this device to work perfectly, but if this issue is not going to be solved within a very short timeframe, I am afraid I will have to send it back, which I really don’t want to, because everything is just so much better than on my Garmin units… But being a data scientist, I really can not live with missing data.
– Additional notes: I also encountered quite a few spikes in power, (Garmin Vector S pedal), so probably the algorithm there could be also refined a bit. (Have not had any of these spikes using a Garmin head unit.)
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely yours,
Peter I. Papics
http://papics.eu
Peter,
Wow. Thanks for the detailed analysis. It’s pretty hard to say what’s going on, it’s not something ive heard of before. I will send you a email, we can get some verbose logging turned on and see what’s happening.
Thanks for the quick reply, curious to know what is going on… I am still up here on the mountain for two more days, and on the island for a week, so I can try to reproduce the circumstances in the coming days a few times again, but back in Belgium this will be a bit more difficult :) (Meaning the elevation of 2000+ metres above sea level.)
Got my Bolt about a week ago- very happy with it. My only (small) complaint is regards to data fields being dark and light. I’ve noticed when LED’s are on that the corresponding data field is dark- which I like. I use power on the top and it is easier I see when that field is dark.
However the 3s average power (which I prefer) turns the data field back to light- it seems only the power/average xxxx turns it dark, and only with LED’s on.
Is there any way to make 3s Power dark as well? That would really be nice.
1up for this. Really annoying that you can’t choose which fields to be dark. I want the upper, first, primary field to be black, either power or speed. Just like you see on the ads. Currently I use the led for heart rate zone, but i want the speed or power to be black.
I agree on this one. Only my heart rate appears dark.
So I’m in the market for a new bike computer bundle. I’ve been using a cateye padrone smart for 2 years and have nearly 5000 miles with it. To upload a ride with it, I have to connect the bike computer to my phone via Bluetooth, then the trip is tracked using the cateye app. To upload to strava, I always have to use my phone. If my computer lost connection with my phone, or if I didn’t bring my phone, I couldn’t upload to Strava.
So my question is:
With the Elemnt Bolt, do I have to be connected with my phone in order to upload to Strava, or can I plug the bike computer into my laptop and upload it through USB?. I don’t want my upload to be reliant on being connected wth my phone.
I believe once the unit connects to wifi, it will upload.
With Strava segments it seems like the “end time” and ahead/behind calculation is based on the average speed of the PR or KOM that you are competing against. Not very useful except on flat segments where speed is fairly constant. A waypoint to waypoint comparison would be more accurate. Not a complaint, or feature request, I was just surprised it worked this way, Never had a Garmin with Strava segments. Don’t know how they do it.
I have an edge 520 and that the calculation is better (actual time behind or ahead). Disappointed on the wahoo on this.
Hey thanks for the wonderful review! I am a new to this stuff and was wondering what my best options. I don’t have a smartphone i can use my wife’s to set up the elemnt but I feel like I would miss out on all the data the app provides. I like the turn by turn but I am worried that I will miss the app data. I see withe the edge 520 I can plug it into a computer. Do you know of any workarounds for the elemnt? Or is there another site that I can use to get this info?
Hi Bryant, one option in this case would be to initially setup the Elemnt with your wife’s phone, connect it to your wireless, configure a link to Strava and also RidewithGPS, this combination once running would allow you to view your ride data on the Strava website and also RidewithGPS, see which one you prefer of these two. RidewithGPS will allow you to create routes, once saved these will sync with the Elemnt automatically assuming the Elemnt can see the wireless network and is powered on, you can then pick a route from the Elemnt that you created in RidewithGPS and it will give you turn by turn directions :) – feel free to ask if you need any further information but having a smartphone once past the initial setup stage is not essential at all. Because the Elemnt has wireless built in it will sync your rides to Strava, RidewithGPS and several other popular sites for data viewing and analysis.
Thanks for the response. I have used strava and rwgps and I love the segments in strava, do you know a good website the elemnt can sync with the provides more detail?
I have only used Strava and Rwgps personally, Trainerroad is another which appears to go more in depth with the data, this is a paid only service from memory and not one I have experience with. Golden Cheetah is interesting but you need to export the .fit files from the Elemnt and this is easier with a smartphone to hand.
I received my Bolt a week ago – and will after three rides and 400km return it to Wahoo, because I am not willing to act as an unpaid device tester. Do not get me wrong, D.C., but I personally think that your product test is a bit too enthusiastic.
I live and ride in Germany, which might have an effect on maps, routing etc. The product might work better in other countries.
My issues are:
*Routing is a pain. Coming from an old Garmin Edge 705 I am used to comfortable route planning in Basecamp and by perfect turn-by-turn routing on the device. This is working since 2007. Importing a Garmin Basecamp gpx route on the device fails completely, while importing it as a track works fine. But turn-by-turn works only with a route, not with a track. Importing routes from strava works fine, but they also come as non-routable tracks. It might work with komoot, but I am not willing to pay another 20 Euros to get a routable map (or not, who knows). Routing with turn-by-turn for me worked only fine when planning in the Elemnt Companion App, but you do not really want to plan your ride in the App. Nightmare. Plus, the directions are in a very small font and are barely readable for me (riders with better sight might easily read them).
*When you zoom out of a map the Bolt does not display the track properly. It just get’s lost somewhere.
*Good luck if you end up in nowhere with a closed road ahead and no mobile access. Forget the map if you take a detour, as it will not reload due to the missing mobile coverage. Happened to me today, not funny.
*The GPS chip is very picky. While competing in a strava segment, the Bolt stopped displaying my segment in between. I looked at the recording afterwards, and the recorded track runs like 10-20 meters next to the paved and curved road. Yeah, it was a cloudy day and it was in a forest – but in cerntral Europe we still have some forests and I guess most serious strava segments have trees nearby. In today’s ride each segment worked, but I had a nearly blue sky. Not working for me. However, when the segment thing works it’s pretty cool (and a bit frustrating to me, as I I am not really competing somewhere in the top ten. Pretty interesting though, how far I am behind the KOM)
*Some not really important stuff:
– Who the hell needs SMS notification? My people send WhatsApp or Telegram. SMS is outdated.
– Map northbound does not work when routing.
– Companion App does not find the Bolt when Bolt is running before the app is started.
Overall, I am rather disappointed. After D.C.’s review I expected muchmuch more. However, if routing is not important for you it still might be a good product – after the next few software updates.
I will now try the Edge 820 as a replacement for my old 705. Bolt and me will not get friends.
Niklas
I am from Germany too, but I don’t know what this should have to do with the use of the Bolt? It is working the same way as everywhere else in the world. Map quality depends on Open Street Map coverage, and here in Germany in my experience, map coverage is very good. So no complaints from my side.
But I have to say that I don’t have a Bolt, but an original Element, but since software is the same this should not make a difference…
Also I don’t know what you are talking about being an unpaid device tester? Don’t get it! Might have been true a year ago with the original Element, but current status is quite stable, Garmin had bigger f..ckups.
Regarding routing: I had an eTrex 30 before I got the Element, and I totally do not get your affection for Garmin basecamp. In my experience this is one of the worst softwares out there to do route planning. I hated it from the beginning and was very pleased that I could get rid of it. Since I have the E I did not use it for a second and am pretty happy about it. So why do you want to stick to it? The Element clearly is not designed to use such crappy SW.
Also you do not need a paid Komoot account to get turn by turn, you can just sign in at ridewitgps with a free account and also get free TBT. I used it in the beginning, but since komoot is supported, I switched over to komoot since I believe that route planning for MTB is better in komoot. But both are miles ahead of the basecamp crap.
-What about the map not reloading when you take a detour!? Don’t understand what you mean! Maps are completely on the device, no reloading from the mobile will happen…ever! Everything already on the Elemnt.
Strava Segments: Works well for me. My experience is, that since I am so far away from KOM most of the time I prefer to ride against my Personal Record (PR), which can be set on the Elemnt while riding the segment.
Overall it seems you really should go 820, so you can stick to basecamp. I personally will not turn back as long as I need to connect a computer to the device to get a route onto it. This is just the best selling point I have for the E, saves so much time and for me it just works.
No reason to feel offended. It’s just about a bike computer.
Agreed, Basecamp has lots of useless features. But to me it is still a very good way to plan a tour, if you have the proper maps. One of the best options is to switch between topo maps (for mtb, no routing) and street maps (incl. turn by turn). IMHO the map quality is superior to the map of the bolt, which I cannot change. On the other hand, Garmin maps are very expensive.
This is also where my misunderstanding of “map reloading” came from: I planned my tour in strava, which showed all the small streets in that specific area. Strava obviously uses a different map than the Bolt, and the Bolt missed all the small streets. This might be rare in Germany, but it happened.
BTW: Wahoo support (which always reacted within only minutes to my requests, Kudos!) confirmed that for Komoot you need to buy the map of a region to import routes to the Bolt.
Leaves me mainly with the “picky GPS chip”. I maybe need some more rides in cloudy weather in forests to accurately judge its behaviour. Right now I feel that the old Edge 705 is much more accurate (although it takes an eternity to start the device). Would be good to hear if anybody else encountered similar issues.
However, you made one very strong point at the end: that you still need a USB port to get a route or a track on the Garmin device. I know this from my 705, which has no funky wifi or bt to communicate with a smartphone. I did not even consider that such a new device as the 820 could not get a route from the mobile device (although it seems to work with not supported workarounds). Clearly a minus for the Garmin.
I have ordered the 820, have not yet returned the Bolt and will run both in parallel for a couple of days. Good that Wahoo offers a 30 day return.
Thanks for your comment, Philip.
No worries,
one more thing about komoot: I got my home area for free when I signed up, so for testing this might be worthwhile.
But you should really test ridewithgps, as you can switch between different maps there too. (But komoot as well ;),
For basecamp I always used OpenMTB maps since they contained al trails in my area.
The Element map is based on OpenStreetMaps, so all bikeable roads from there should be on the Elemnt, though I don’t know how old the maps are on the E!?
On the other hand they are not so important anyway, since the won’t be used for routing at all, just as visual cue when navigating a breadcrumb or navigating without a route.
One more thing about komoot: if you have mobile data you can use the komoot app on the cellphone to plan or adjust a route and sync it via bluetooth from the element app to the Elemnt. Did this a few times when getting stuck or when I decided to take a detour. Works really well and fast and you have complete control over the rout, and you get TBT… alone from this point of view the komoot fee was worth it…
I’ll give the Bolt together with Komoot another shot. The 20 Euros for the world map are absolutely ok, compared to the Garmin maps pricing. Maybe I was too quick in my decision to return the bolt.
I will update this thread once I know. Again: Thanks for your advice, Philip.
So ? edge 820 ? or wahoo bolt?
I really interested to see if my local MTB trails are named in the Bolt’s map system. I followed DC’s guide in regards to my 520 and all of the trail names and routes were listed.
More 2 rides (mtb) with the Bolt!
-battery: 16+ hours (with BT connected)
-TBT works fine (route created with RWGPS)
-altitude: really great! I knew the real altitude of some points and checked the one displayed and I was happy with what I saw.
-synch to all my sites after I press “end of ride”. This via BT to the cell phone and the cell phone do the rest (data ON). Really nice.
Now for the GPS refreshing rate: Bolt displayed the distance to the next turn and refreshed it but I turned and it displayed 19 m until the turn!
Should I turn off wifi while riding? Any negative impact if turned on?
Based in a post I saw here, I paid the 20 euro fee for Komoot hopping that I could make any route, point by point, for my mtb trails! Wrong! Even if I knew that there was a trail (and we can see it in a satellite image) I could not make the trail with my cell phone! So I am a little disapointed! Works great if the streets are at the komoot map and the synch to bolt is fine too. I ended up to making the route in the laptop with RWGPS and it was 100% accurate. I did this just to test because I did not needed a route for this trail! So, it will be a great feature when one, can make a route in a cell phone based in satellite image and not only with a map, because maps (at least the ones I saw) don’t have all the trails.
It is all for now.
Cheers,
Paulo @ Portugal
Does anyone know if the Wahoo elemnt Bolt will pair better with wahoo’s cadence/speed and heart rate sensor than gamins? If it doesn’t matter, I was thinking of getting the Garmin speed/cadence sensor because the ratings are good but I would have the wahoo heart rate monitor. Does it drain the head unit battery more if connected to units that utilize both Blu tooth and ant+ instead of just straight Blu tooth or ant +? I am new to this stuff so I am not sure.
Bryant, I have used both the original Elemnt and the Bolt with Wahoo and Garmin sensors without problems, like yourself I picked up the Garmin sensor due to better reviews but have used the Wahoo cadence, the Garmin cadence sensor fitting method is not great (rubber bands not enough stretch) and I prefer the Wahoo zip tie fixings but otherwise I have no issue with Garmin speed and cadence, seem to work well. Couldn’t confirm if using mixed sensors impacts the battery life, I use Garmin Ant+ cadence and speed with Polar Bluetooth heart rate monitor and with LED’s and Strava Segments on, no back light, I will average 8-10% per hour when used for short rides of 40 minutes or less. Cadence takes a few spins to pickup, speed is virtually instant. I do find the Garmin cadence is a bit delayed when you stop pedalling, in the same way it takes a couple of spins to wake it up at the beginning of a ride.