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Review The Wahoo Elemnt

Just pointing out that "I" and "a" are vowels.

Sincerely,

Vowel Police

I think the vowel police might have a thing about the sensuality of the Y shape. Otherwise, it might have been included there as a vowel.
 
Soooo....

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt arrived. Unpacked. One short ride under my belt using it. Here goes...

1. Set up was a breeze. Scan the identification code from the unit into your phone and you're connected. Setting up pages exactly as you like them is intuitive and SOOO much easier than with the Garmin since you do it on the phone just like you'd set up a playlist of songs. Lots of data points to choose from.

2. I'm really enjoying the zoom feature that makes it easy to increase or decrease the amount of information you see on your data page. Also the feature allows you to zoom in or out on the map with the touch of a button. Far better than Garmin's system that required lots of fiddling with buttons and pages.

3. The live track feature is free and it works well (or at least it did for today's ride).

4. Quality of build... well... it is a bit more 'plasticy' than the Garmin, more like a plastic you'd expect on a toy gun. And the plastic piece that covers the power port is already looking like it isn't up to long term use. That is a bit worrying since I'm sure that sooner or later I'll be in the rain with the unit. Have to see how that goes.

5. Loading routes and workouts from Strave or Ride With GPS is also easy. Just authorize those apps and the routes appear on your phone and on the unit. Select the one you want, and you're good to go.

6. I was out for 2 hours and 45 minutes today and the battery was at 78% when I got back. Looks like, even with the phone connection talking to the unit a lot, it beats my old Garmin. My Garmin would last about 8 hours without using phone connection. With the phone connection, looks like I'll get 10 or more hours with the Bolt. I'll update this next time I go on a longer ride.

7. My phone went from fully charged to 7% in 2hrs 45 minutes. Not sure why. Phone data says it is the background apps from the Wahoo fitness app. If there is no way to reduce the battery draw by the app, that is a bit of a bummer. I'll change some phone settings and see if this helps. (Had some trouble with my phone the other day, so it may be that my phone is about to go FUBAR on me). I'll see. Update to follow.
 
8. Forgot to mention that the Bolt comes loaded with maps. You can delete or add the ones you need by selecting/deselecting them on your phone. Much easier than having to load street maps on the Garmin. Plus, if you're traveling and need maps for a different country, it's easy to load whatever you need when you need it.

That's all folks...
 
Soooo....

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt arrived. Unpacked. One short ride under my belt using it. Here goes...

1. Set up was a breeze. Scan the identification code from the unit into your phone and you're connected. Setting up pages exactly as you like them is intuitive and SOOO much easier than with the Garmin since you do it on the phone just like you'd set up a playlist of songs. Lots of data points to choose from.

2. I'm really enjoying the zoom feature that makes it easy to increase or decrease the amount of information you see on your data page. Also the feature allows you to zoom in or out on the map with the touch of a button. Far better than Garmin's system that required lots of fiddling with buttons and pages.

3. The live track feature is free and it works well (or at least it did for today's ride).

4. Quality of build... well... it is a bit more 'plasticy' than the Garmin, more like a plastic you'd expect on a toy gun. And the plastic piece that covers the power port is already looking like it isn't up to long term use. That is a bit worrying since I'm sure that sooner or later I'll be in the rain with the unit. Have to see how that goes.

5. Loading routes and workouts from Strave or Ride With GPS is also easy. Just authorize those apps and the routes appear on your phone and on the unit. Select the one you want, and you're good to go.

6. I was out for 2 hours and 45 minutes today and the battery was at 78% when I got back. Looks like, even with the phone connection talking to the unit a lot, it beats my old Garmin. My Garmin would last about 8 hours without using phone connection. With the phone connection, looks like I'll get 10 or more hours with the Bolt. I'll update this next time I go on a longer ride.

7. My phone went from fully charged to 7% in 2hrs 45 minutes. Not sure why. Phone data says it is the background apps from the Wahoo fitness app. If there is no way to reduce the battery draw by the app, that is a bit of a bummer. I'll change some phone settings and see if this helps. (Had some trouble with my phone the other day, so it may be that my phone is about to go FUBAR on me). I'll see. Update to follow.


Been on with the Bolt for a while now, the above reflects my experience by and large.

Used live tracking only one when it was new and "on" and discovered it was what was draining my phone battery (like lickity split). Haven't used it since, I see that problem hasn't been dealt with yet.

Plasticy and smooth, feels not exactly cheap but not super premium either. Operation-wise makes my Garmin 510 feel and work like something from Fisher Price.

Not having to deal with cords or PC at all is great for PC retarded people like me.

One problem I had was with a hardware problem with the screen, slight yellowing in the corners - contacted support and the sent a new one pretty much right away so happy with how that issue was dealt with.

Can't seem to turn it off mid-ride and restart, mine ends the ride and starts a new one. Not really an issue so far because the battery lasts all day even if it's on all day but I don't do mega 24 hour touring so... this may be a problem for those who do that and can't carry an extra battery.

It was pointed out a few weeks ago by another guy with one that on the ""Climbing" page it shows the hill profile but not meters remainng - he had a Garmin that did that ( I wouldn't know since I couldn't load maps on my 510 because it was so fucked up inside) - I said to him that I could see physically how much was left more or less from the 2D hill profile but I can see how it would be better if it did.

Anyways just a few more things to add to the pile.
 
When you turned off the live track, did your phone go back to pretty much normal battery usage (or at least did you get a few hours of use before drained)?

For me, the ease of programming the pages is the biggest improvement. I finished the setup in about 5 minutes and had it just the way I wanted. Garmin... had one for 8 years and still hated trying to change the data on the pages. Can't see myself going back to Garmin and giving up that feature & the zoom.

Hopefully I won't need customer service, but sounds like they really are responsive.
 
When you turned off the live track, did your phone go back to pretty much normal battery usage (or at least did you get a few hours of use before drained)?

For me, the ease of programming the pages is the biggest improvement. I finished the setup in about 5 minutes and had it just the way I wanted. Garmin... had one for 8 years and still hated trying to change the data on the pages. Can't see myself going back to Garmin and giving up that feature & the zoom.

Hopefully I won't need customer service, but sounds like they really are responsive.

Yeah it was shocking the time it happened, could almost literally watch the phone lose charge.

Turning off the live tracking if I remember correctly, was what solved the problem for me. Not exactly sure anymore what "live tracking" is anymore as well, but it's something I can live without so no problem for me. This might be a big deal to others though.

Yeah doing pages through the phone is handy dandy.

One other thing is the turn by turn gets confused sometimes it seems when there's quick left right turns in succession - notifications get delayed. Don't know if this is the case for other units.
 
Thanks for letting me know. I haven't used live tracking much since it just never seemed to work well on my Garmin. But it is a nice feature so my wife can see where I am if she wants to. But, if it is going to drain the battery like this, I'll have to shut it off. Hope they can fix that.

I never used turn by turn. It was annoying and unnecessary for me. I could just follow the line on the map and figure out where my turn was w/o the 'help.' Also turned it off on the Bolt. I haven't had a chance to use the map yet, but I hope it is as easy to follow as on the Garmin.

I tried to use the LED lights for monitoring my HR but in the strong sun, it was pointless. Couldn't see them at all.
 
Thanks for letting me know. I haven't used live tracking much since it just never seemed to work well on my Garmin. But it is a nice feature so my wife can see where I am if she wants to. But, if it is going to drain the battery like this, I'll have to shut it off. Hope they can fix that.

I never used turn by turn. It was annoying and unnecessary for me. I could just follow the line on the map and figure out where my turn was w/o the 'help.' Also turned it off on the Bolt. I haven't had a chance to use the map yet, but I hope it is as easy to follow as on the Garmin.

I tried to use the LED lights for monitoring my HR but in the strong sun, it was pointless. Couldn't see them at all.


Ye-p, tried that too.

LED's at this point = gimmick.

Not so disappointed tbh.

Speaking of gimmicks, feel the awesome AERO benefits yet?

Ah, I should stop trashing it. It's a nice little machine and it works and it's easy to use. Details, but no real complaints from me.
 
Right! Much less drag on with the new aero design of the Wahoo. :) Probably accounts for a 0.00001 second increase in my speed over a day's ride.o_O

Went out again yesterday. Turned off the live tracking feature but still lots of battery drain. Next step is to turn off wireless entirely.
 
That's the kind of corporate BS ing that I really dislike. Make a bunch of features they can advertise then make them utterly impractical in real world usage so you just have to turn them off.
 
Been trying to load routes. Pretty FUBAR. Routes are on iPhone app but don't make it to the E. Routes I don't want on the E, that I've since deleted from Strava & Ride w GPS, still appear. No way to delete. It picked up all my routes the first couple times I used it, but now it seems to be refusing to update any additions or deletions. This doesn't appear to be a new issue w the Elemnt Bolt. Not good.

(But my LED lights are working perfectly.... ) smh
 
For anyone who purchased a Wahoo Elemnt or Elemnt Bolt, there is a hack that easily allows you to convert your Garmin mounts to work with Wahoo Elemnts. All you have to do is enlarge the opening on one side of the mount by a millimeter or two on each side and the Elemnt fits perfectly. Saw this hack on you-tube so thought I'd pass it along, in case you haven't already seen it. I used a file on mine. Took about 30 seconds, and voila... works great.
 
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