New Wahoo Bolt replacement

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cyclespeed
Posts: 1120
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:45 am

by cyclespeed

3 days later, mine is still not showing steady speeds, regardless of where i cycle. And temperature is still 4 to 5'C below everyone else.
Coming from a V1, this is a real step backwards.
So I will buy another one, try it and keep the one that works best. Other one goes back for full refund.
If both crap, then not sure what next.....

by Weenie


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seaneT1
Posts: 372
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:08 am
Location: Thessaloniki, Greece

by seaneT1

About a week ago, my v1 bolt died after 4 years of working perfectly. The reason was it took in water, the plastic covering the buttons had a little opening and water crept in during a training ride in heavy rain. Because I was pleased with v1, and because I own a 3d printed mount specific to bolt, and changing head unit company would also mean buying a new mount for my venge, I went ahead and bought v2 yesterday. First impression was good, it looks a lot bulkier than v1 and doesn't fit perfectly in the 3d printed mount, but looks way cooler than the v1. Setting it up was almost the same, but noticed that it was really slow when opening. Also, the gps signal was terrible, v1 had impressive signal, even inside my house, v2 had to be outside and away from walls and balconys too acquire gps, so first major downgrade here. First ride was today, sensors worked fine, speed indication was a litlle slow, especially when coming to a stop, temperature was accurate to what the forecast said, wasn't affected by being hit directly by the sun all day, unlike the v1, and the screen was amazing. Battery went from 58% to 36% after 5 hours on, 4 and a half hours riding time with HR and power sensors, plus phone connection for half an hour, so as good as v1 I guess, but I would rather have it without colours on screen and a little more battery life. The maps seemed really cool, an improvement from v1, and strava live segments worked a little better than v1, and here is actually the only use of colours that I liked, which was to show the incline on the climbs. Probably forgot some things, but still early for a good review, will probably post again in about a month with more details and such.

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cyclespeed
Posts: 1120
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:45 am

by cyclespeed

Received my 2nd Bolt V2 today and this one is 5'C OVER reality, so I guess that fits with Wahoo's stated 10'C tolerance, but quite frankly you can get better thermometers in a Xmas cracker. Really poor.
Speed stability maybe a bit better but still worse than a V1.
The buttons are better and some colour is nice, but I would have my V1 back if I hadn't sold it. For me, the V2 is a downgrade.
(N.B. some say who cares about temperature? But I find it important because in the heat it helps you guage effort and hydration, and in the cold, what to wear, and risk of ice, etc.)

Lina
Posts: 1060
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:09 pm

by Lina

And even if you didn't care about temperature it does say something about the product if they can't get an accurate temperature reading from what is a 300 euro head unit.

RDY
Posts: 2358
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:31 pm

by RDY

cyclespeed wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 1:55 pm
Received my 2nd Bolt V2 today and this one is 5'C OVER reality, so I guess that fits with Wahoo's stated 10'C tolerance, but quite frankly you can get better thermometers in a Xmas cracker. Really poor.
Speed stability maybe a bit better but still worse than a V1.
The buttons are better and some colour is nice, but I would have my V1 back if I hadn't sold it. For me, the V2 is a downgrade.
(N.B. some say who cares about temperature? But I find it important because in the heat it helps you guage effort and hydration, and in the cold, what to wear, and risk of ice, etc.)
I've seen a few units. There's definitely variability, but I've yet to see one that doesn't have lagged data and very poor GPS signal (and speed problems as a result). They're just crap.

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TheDoctor
Posts: 195
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:56 pm

by TheDoctor

The variability is what puzzles me. My unit works perfectly fine - temperature is precise and constant, GPS works well, speed is ok, routing too... and this in an area which has densely spaced bicycle paths and roads. No problems whatsoever. "They're just crap" is not my experience...

Poddle
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2022 12:16 am

by Poddle

TheDoctor wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 9:05 pm
The variability is what puzzles me. My unit works perfectly fine - temperature is precise and constant, GPS works well, speed is ok, routing too... and this in an area which has densely spaced bicycle paths and roads. No problems whatsoever. "They're just crap" is not my experience...
This is my experience too.

A firmware version from last year was a bit suspect but following an update, mine has been consistently good.

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cyclespeed
Posts: 1120
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:45 am

by cyclespeed

I'm wondering if because of the much publicised semi conductor / chip shortage, some of the later production have different / inferior chips?

Another ride this morning and GPS very unstable compared to V1, and temperature 5'C over. I mean how hard can it be to make a thermometer accurate to +/- 1'C?!

RDY
Posts: 2358
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:31 pm

by RDY

cyclespeed wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:12 am
I'm wondering if because of the much publicised semi conductor / chip shortage, some of the later production have different / inferior chips?

Another ride this morning and GPS very unstable compared to V1, and temperature 5'C over. I mean how hard can it be to make a thermometer accurate to +/- 1'C?!
The early units have the same problem. I assume the antenna design is bad, re GPS / speed, for it to perform so consistently poorly. You'd think "how could that possibly happen with something that relies on GPS in 2021" ... but it's not unheard of with big brands. The Fitbit Charge 5 is so bad that you can't use GPS / HRM at the same time, because if you wear it tight enough for HR to work, then the GPS signal attentuation is so bad that GPS fails to work. Other problems probably all software, besides temperature.

seaneT1
Posts: 372
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:08 am
Location: Thessaloniki, Greece

by seaneT1

Temperature in mine is down by at least 5 degrees every time, and today I had a problem with the elevation. Lowest 56, highest 170, total elevation gain 5 metres, total loss 0 metres in 80 kilometres!!!!

jayjay
Posts: 395
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:07 am
Location: Germany
Contact:

by jayjay

seaneT1 wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:43 pm
total elevation gain 5 metres, total loss 0 metres in 80 kilometres!!!!
Sounds like one of my regular routes here in Hamburg :mrgreen:

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cyclespeed
Posts: 1120
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:45 am

by cyclespeed

This morning it took the V2 5 minutes to lock on and acquire GPS, so lost 1.5km of my ride. And temperature showing 30'C instead of 25'C.

I ordered a Garmin 530, arrives tomorrow, so I have gone full circle.....

The good thing is I bought them all on Amazon which allows 30 days returns no questions asked. A bike shop would suck through their teeth and say, 'well, we can send it back to Wahoo to have a look and see what they say....give it 4 weeks or so'. And be without a computer. Amazon assumes the customer is right and let's the manufacturer deal with it, which is the way it should be.

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willvousden
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:34 pm
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by willvousden

Wahoo also has a 30-day no-questions-asked returns policy, even if there is nothing wrong with it… if you buy it direct from them.

darrydonds
Posts: 192
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 1:04 am

by darrydonds

It's 20% off direct at Wahoo right now. So tempted but I have the v1 and it works fine for me. Based on some comments, v2 seems to be a hit-or-miss.

MoPho
Posts: 767
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:48 pm
Location: NorCal

by MoPho

Mine seems to have developed an issue, when I plug it in to charge, the light comes on suggesting it's charging but it doesn't. Seems to have even discharged after. Today went to use and battery was completely drained. Anyone seen this happen?

by Weenie


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