Wahoo Element Bolt

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glepore
Posts: 1408
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:42 pm
Location: Virginia USA

by glepore

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/03/wah ... eview.html

Didn't see this coming-solves my only complaint about the ELEMNT, it's brick like size. See one of these in my future...
Cysco Ti custom Campy SR mechanical (6.9);Berk custom (5.6); Serotta Ottrott(6.8) ; Anvil Custom steel Etap;1996 Colnago Technos Record

jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Just ordered one. Lower price than the 520 and Elemnt std. I wonder how they're gonna sell all the remaining Elemnt units?

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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jeffy
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:51 pm

by jeffy

Competitive Price. Personally prefer the "look" of the Garmin display of units, but if I was in the market i would probably prefer the Element Bolt over a 520

commendatore
Posts: 273
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 1:51 am
Location: North Carolina

by commendatore

I think garmin has made solid hardware for a long time. But without a real competitor, they've just been phoning it in on the software side. The bugs, glitches, etc are enough to make me crazy. Bluetooth sync and upload was a big step forward but about 10% of the time mine fails. A few restarts of phone and garmin and it may work, or it may work the next day, or not...

I don't see a reason to replace my 520, but if I were on the market I would buy a Bolt almost out of spite alone!

glepore
Posts: 1408
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:42 pm
Location: Virginia USA

by glepore

I've messed around with the ELEMNT, and the zoom feature alone is almost worth the price of admission. Plus, as noted, the connectivity works. It took a bunch of annoyed RFLKT users to get it that way, but it pairs pretty much perfectly now. Sharper graphics make up for no color. The only edge Garmin has is rerouting, and most of the time it sucks anyway.
Cysco Ti custom Campy SR mechanical (6.9);Berk custom (5.6); Serotta Ottrott(6.8) ; Anvil Custom steel Etap;1996 Colnago Technos Record

JackRussellRacing
Posts: 243
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 4:32 pm
Location: USA

by JackRussellRacing

I have Garmin 1000 units, which are just obscenely large and heavy. If the BOLT has significantly better real-world battery life, I'll be a buyer. But, I'm not keen to be a beta-tester in this first batch of production units. I'll give it 120 days in the market, then look carefully.

antonioiglesius
Posts: 290
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:08 pm

by antonioiglesius

I didn't click on this thread earlier because I thought it was about screwing/bolting the Elemnt onto its mount.

When my 800 finally dies, I'ma gonna buy this!

jever98
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

Another long-time Garmin 800 user here - 6 years and it still works. I must also be one of the few Garmin users without glitches and crashes (touch wood).

I am curious about how the ELEMNT (and I assume the Bolt, seems to have the same firmware) stand up in terms of reliability and glitches these days. Does anybody care to comment?

Cheers
Jever
----
No longer in the industry

Atmos312
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:37 pm

by Atmos312

jever98 wrote:Another long-time Garmin 800 user here - 6 years and it still works. I must also be one of the few Garmin users without glitches and crashes (touch wood).

I am curious about how the ELEMNT (and I assume the Bolt, seems to have the same firmware) stand up in terms of reliability and glitches these days. Does anybody care to comment?

Cheers
Jever


I've had an Elemnt since it first came out and this fixes pretty much every complaint I have with it.

Software wise it's the exact same as the Elemnt, and while very rough in the beginning it has improved immensely with tons of updates/bug fixes/new features thanks to awesome support from Wahoo. I've heard there are still problems with people who own SRM power powers and connecting via ANT+ but I don't have a PM so I don't know. For me the Elemnt has been extremely reliable and the constant software updates only make it better. Had some bugs in the first few months but those were taken care of very fast by Wahoo. Been smooth sailing for a while now.

My main complaints about the original Elemnt are the size/shape, low LED brightness (get washed out in direct sunlight), and the beeping for notifications/navigation is very quiet and hard to hear while moving at speed.

According to my friend who is a tester for Wahoo, the Bolt has fixed this all. Obviously the thing is much smaller, the LEDs are a lot brighter (although only a single row this time to keep the size down), and the speaker is a lot louder (he says it's borderline annoyingly loud, which is better than too quiet IMO).

The smaller screen doesn't really bother me so I might look into replacing my Elemnt with a Bolt.
Last edited by Atmos312 on Thu Mar 16, 2017 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

benzebub
Posts: 354
Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 1:24 pm

by benzebub

How old? Where are you located? Price?
But I could be wrong

jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

I've had the 500 and it's been a decent bit of consumer electronics . My only gripes were the temp sensor and that it had a tough time locking onto GPS if you hadn't used it in a while, traveled to a new location, or upgraded the firmware. I'm looking to upgrade to wireless syncing, GLONASS GPS, bigger screen (I use 7 data fields), phone notifications, BLE, new battery, strava segment notification, some mapping, and maybe a better temp sensor.

On the screen front: the 520 isn't the best for its intended purpose. That was the differentiator for me.
Garmin 500 30 x 37 mm (1.87") 128 x 160 pixels 8 fields Med Contrast, Easy to read in sun

Wahoo Bolt 33 mm x 44 mm (2.2" - 17% bigger) 240 x 320 Pixels 9 fields High contrast
Wahoo Elmnet 35mm(?) x 58mm(?) (2.7" - 44% bigger) 240 x 400 Pixels 11 fields High contrast
Garmin 520/820 35 x 47 mm (2.3" - 22% bigger) 200 x 265 pixels 10 fields Med Contrast, Glare

Other differentiators (from DC Rainmaker):
+Garmin: Weather updates, color (maps), cycling dynamics power meter functions, less buggy software, Strava Popular Segments & Starred, Internet backend communication to 3rd party apps other than Strava, structured workouts, crash detection, Apps (Weather, pretty dashboards)
+Wahoo: Screen quality, UI, trainer mode, lights, Bluetooth Smart, Strava Starred only, Strava overlapping segments, Strava/RideWithGPS Routes, Wifi
Last edited by jfranci3 on Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:58 pm, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
kkibbler
Posts: 905
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 9:30 am

by kkibbler

You left out ConnectIQ for Garmin which could be a big deal for some users, although personally I don't use it.

jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Delete

jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Image
Got my new Wahoo Bolt unit yesterday. I've only played with it a bit. Only comments (not complaints by any means) so far: 1) beeper may need to get a volume control, I could probably hear it under the El train in Chicago here. 2) the plastic on the unit is very glossy and oily feeling, probably the only lesser quality feeling thing about the experience. It probably won't matter once I get spf 30 on it. Compliments: I imagine it's damn near impossible to launch a product like this... the packaging is very nice, the setup is very nice, and the product gives the impress that its the best on the market.

Weighed in at 60g. No word on the 1.1w saved :wink: or how it plays in the real world.

jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

Played with the Wahoo unit today. Life is much better.
Going for ride with Garmin 500
1) Start unit
2) If I synced it, it would say 'working' for like 5 minutes.
3) If I hadn't used it or it isn't where I shut it down, it would take 2-3 min to acquire sats. Longer if I just started riding.
4) Check to make sure ANT+ bridge is talking to phone.
5) Start Strava.
later
6) If I sync'd t, I'd have to delete all the duplicate rides on Strava.

Wahoo unit
1) Start unit

No waiting. No syncing.


Haven't used it for long rides yet, but seems to work flawless for a new product. One more detail that bugs me, the standard mount has the attachment bolt and the bulk of it is visible. It just looks unclean. The could have easily have moved it out of sight like everyone else does.


EDIT: Missing fundamental feature- No odometer/bike profiles. You can't track accumulated distance on your equipment.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



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