I think I'm one of several who recently purchased a Wahoo Element Bolt.  

I'm posting this to crowdsource knowledge on setup and usage.

I decided I'd ride with both units on my bike for a week to compare how they work.

I started by replicating the screens I have on my Garmin Edge 500 onto the Wahoo and kept the screens that came programmed in.  I haven't found the first two screens Wahoo created as defaults helpful thusfar.  I'm either going to turn them off or change them.  

They have a climbing page which shows a course profile.  I haven't yet figured how much of my recent past shows on the profile yet.  Is it a mile?  more? less?  Can it be adjusted?  Is it synced with the map page?

Wahoo has one metric I'm liking which I think I'd like them to have more of.  For power and speed, you can have an arrow point up or down next to speed and power which shows if you're using more or less power than average or traveling faster or slower than average.  I'd like to see it for heart rate and cadence as well.

Their IF measurement doesn't seem to be calculating correctly.  I entered the same FTP I have on the Edge and yet the Wahoo calculates my IF is at 1 when the Garmin calculates it at .7.  I have a query in to Wahoo on this.

I just did a mapping test.  I created a simple route in RideWithGPS, and put it on both units.  Wahoo gives you more warnings, both on the screen, with LEDs, and sounds.  The Wahoo tells you when you're 750 feet from a turn, and then after you make the turn, it tells you how far to the next turn.  The Garmin doesn't seem to warn you how far to the next turn, though I can go to a screen with the turns to find out that info. The Garmin told me I was off-course twice when I wasn't, but quickly corrected.  The Garmin correctly told me I was off course when I deliberately rode off course faster than the Wahoo did, but the Wahoo had flashing red LEDs when I was off.  And both sometimes told me when to turn at the proper moment and sometimes told me to turn after I had executed the turn.  They did it at the same times.  I also don't know how to turn off the fictional pacer feature on the Garmin, but figure it should be easy.

I'm not crazy about the mount.  It might be aero, but it seems to get in the way of smooth cable routing.  If it was a little less bulky, my concerns would probably be resolved.

Anyone else have experiences to share?

I'm curious about battery life for others.  The Wahoo should get about 15 hours on a charge.  I'm assuming that's with most of the connectivity off.  Keeping the connectivity off is fine with me.  I've turned off all I could, and I don't think I'm going to get 15 hours.  

Jules, I think the 20ft of snow you're getting out there is really messing with your head.

JP - I did not get a Bolt but am curious to hear your eventual long term review and comparison to the Garmin.

FYI, I found a few Elemnt/Bolt mount options

http://www.racewaredirect.co/shop/wahoo-elemnt-bolt-bar-mount/

https://www.f3cycling.com/formmount-and-accessories/

https://barflybike.com/product-category/road-bike-mounts/

https://k-edge.com/product-category/computer-mounts/wahoo-mounts/Jules said:

@Jules
     I think we might have to rename you MN Snowmaker.

hi,

I have a barfly that I haven't used yet, but should be fine for either. Garmin mounts should work with bolt, you just have to move the mount 90 degrees.

For the cross bike I have this mount -- it might help you as it mounts on the right side of the stem:
https://amazon.com/Wahoo-Elemnt-handlebar-KOM-Cycling/dp/B0759TZQTR/

Generally, I've found the bolt to be infinitely better than the Garmin 500. The fictional pacer on the 500 can't be turned off.

I keep a usb charger and cable where I store my shoes and helmet (and road bike) the bolt is always plugged in to it.

For example, after riding (with some connectivity on, text, power, hr) about 3:30 hours on Sunday Battery ended at 80% -- extrapolate that and it should end at more than 15 hours. Tons of connectivity and GPS/Mapping and would be less, but 12 hours should be possible.

A couple of notes on this, on long rides I almost always carry an extra battery on my jersey pocket. I also have battery life as the lowest priority field on one of the bolt screens.

-- and yes, most of this stuff is kinda awesome, but sometimes I miss riding with an Avocet, getting lost and trying to figure out how to get back home (by buying maps and asking random people for advice/help)

eloy said:

-- and yes, most of this stuff is kinda awesome, but sometimes I miss riding with an Avocet, getting lost and trying to figure out how to get back home (by buying maps and asking random people for advice/help)

Part of my interest in moving to the Bolt has been the ever-increasing difficulty of finding paper maps of places I'm visiting.  I used to buy one wherever I went and rode with it inside a plastic bag in my jersey pocket.

I loved pulling them out and getting a sense of where I was, and how to get back to where I started.  It was also fun setting the map out on a table before going and sketching out a route.  

On recent travels, I've relied on my phone's map, and it is really hard to navigate with that tiny screen as reference.

Guess I could order paper maps online.  

Ride with GPS is the alternative to those maps, and must confess I find as cool as setting up the map out on a table -- with the same interactions, of showing Dad, Aunt, or whoever is around "this is what I'm planning, what do you think?"

I'm probably going to buy a Bolt soon. Do we get a team discount on electronics from Redbeard by any chance?

Sorry if this question is answered elsewhere already. I was poking around trying to find the team benefits list I saw previously and couldn't find.

John - yes, you get the standard Redbeard discounted price on anything they carry or can order.

I may need one of those soon as well

I've been using the Bolt for a few months now.

First, the "standard" screens that Bolt comes with, save the map one, I don't use at all.  Probably should turn them off.  The "profile" screen is of very little value unless you're following a route.

Mapping was one of the reasons I got the Bolt.  Working with RideWithGPS, it's actually pretty good.  A big plus is you can put a route on the Bolt, ride somewhere, then go to the route page and turn on the route, start following the route there.

Ride with GPS isn't perfect.  It occasionally adds a few extra turns, like a few rights to end up going left.  I did one map where the route took me off a main road to a small road that was supposed to parallel it.  When I got to the spot, it was a bank driveway that ended in grass.  I figured that was wrong, and kept going down the street.  The computer told me I went too far.  So I turned around...and saw a guy ride into the driveway without slowing down.  Then over the grass to a road, which is where the route went.  

The mapping capabilities are good but also not perfect.  I did a ride where I tried to just base where I went on what I saw on the map screen.  The resolution was either too small or too big to determine when I should have made a left turn to get off a major road to a smaller road that would go somewhere.  

Battery life is good.  I don't think I've gone over 15 hours on a charge, but over 14, and I typically go 12+ before charging.  I don't use the LEDs, except for when I'm following a route.  

Navigating the computer with the buttons is definitely easier than Garmin.  The power button is what you use to get to features like calibration, turning on and off the backlight, turning off the GPS.  It's also where you check and upgrade the firmware, which my unit seems to do automatically.  I guess I set that up without thinking.

The top three buttons make sense.  The only problem is that with thick gloves it sometimes is hard to locate exactly where each button is.  When you stop the unit for a nature break, the screen tells you "ride paused" in huge letters.

There's an ability to add/remove metrics from a single screen while you're riding.  I find I rarely use those buttons to do that.  

When you end your ride, my suggestion is to pause it at your building's front door, but end it when you get within range of your wifi.  that seems to make a difference in terms of uploading to the cloud.  However, if you keep your phone's bluetooth on and your Wahoo's as well, it will upload once it's in range of your phone, and from there can go to the cloud.  

Still don't like the standard mount.  It seems too bulky.  Haven't decided on which one to try.

I'm also still annoyed by the fact that they don't have a lap feature based on coordinates.  This is a great feature for racing.  I'm not sure why they haven't added it yet, as I'm certain lots have asked for it.

Great comments! I mostly want it for the mapping features and because I'm not willing to pay $50 more for the Edge 520. In DC Rainmaker's review, he said that the basemap that comes with the Bolt is superior to the one that comes on the Garmin unit and that changing the base map on the latter wasn't a great experience (if at all possible).

I had a 510 for a while before the mounting tabs broke off (wasn't able to fix) after the warranty ended. I went back to an old Edge 500 which still works like a champ and does everything I need, but doesn't have maps (obviously).

@JohnMalcolmson It's been a few years since I had the 510. I tried a similar solution, but it just didn't stay on the unit. Decided it wasn't worth the hassle and sold it.

Like JP, been using the Bolt for a few months now. 

It is fun, and kinda interesting, that my experiece mirrors JP.

I too don't use any of the default screens, just have a few of my own. Which are stupid easy to make/configure via the iphone app. I too kept the map screen, duh. I find the strava segment screen a bit annoying.

Using Ride With GPS, had not had any issues whatsoever. So far, I've planned and followed routes in Hawaii, Miami, Connecticut. I've also used the "take me there now" feature a little bit, and unlike what has been reported, got turn by turn directions.

mugwump said:

Ride with GPS isn't perfect.  It occasionally adds a few extra turns, like a few rights to end up going left.  I did one map where the route took me off a main road to a small road that was supposed to parallel it. 

Of course, this is not a bolt thing. I had it very similar issues, generally, I have found that the less dots you use while creating routes in ridewithgps.com the better, of course, asking someone local "what do you think?" is often helpful. Sometimes, I check google maps and strava heatmaps too, and also, I have learned, part of the fun of trying new roads is to be willing to hit the unexpected dirt path. 

 Same.

Use it for workouts too. Which works, with some small caveats -- mostly, I miss Garmin's "Start when Lap button is hit", which one can replicate using the pause/back/next bolt buttons.

Ride with GPS sent me here yesterday, it was awesome!

oh and obvs: get your bolt thru Redbeard. You'll get the discount.

eloy said:

Ride with GPS sent me here yesterday, it was awesome!

I thought I'd been there.  (then I checked your route.  I've done some of the paved roads on this ride.)  Nice.

Mark Taylor said:

http://www.velonews.com/2018/04/bikes-and-tech/exclusive-peter-sagan-runs-aero-k-edge-for-wahoo-elemnt-bolt-at-roubaix_462887

Not just a bike computer - and EXCLUSIVE article on a bike computer... SMH

Jules said:

Mark Taylor said:

http://www.velonews.com/2018/04/bikes-and-tech/exclusive-peter-sagan-runs-aero-k-edge-for-wahoo-elemnt-bolt-at-roubaix_462887

Not just a bike computer - and EXCLUSIVE article on a bike computer... SMH

Not a bike computer.
A computer mount.
That can also be found on the company's website.

Well , Excuse me !

Yes JP I stand corrected. An EXCLUSIVE story about a bike computer mount.

Ah, bike press. So much suck.

Well this is disappointing. I just picked up my Bolt from Redbeard today. Got it paired with my phone and set up; super easy, went like clockwork. I plug it into a USB charger and then the unit start alternating between temporarily showing a screen that says "wahoo" then lighting the first LED. Back and forth endlessly.

I tried holding down the up + down + power buttons to do a hard reset, but it won't stop.

Not a great introduction to Wahoo products. I'm not impressed so far.

Any suggestions? Anyone else have this problem?

I am assuming you disconnected it from the USB cable. 

If all fails, simply get it back to redbeard, and grab another unit. 

Same problem briefly this morning, except I noticed it would charge only while the unit was on. I set the time out to over an hour and left it plugged in. Once it got above 60% (unit was at 50% out of the box), the problem appears to have gone away.......

JohnPowell said:

Same problem briefly this morning, except I noticed it would charge only while the unit was on. I set the time out to over an hour and left it plugged in. Once it got above 60% (unit was at 50% out of the box), the problem appears to have gone away.......

Whew!

FWIW, the unit, when turned off, seems to charge pretty fast.  At least faster than my Garmin 500.

Yacks wants one....how does Yacks get one?

twoyacks said:

Yacks wants one....how does Yacks get one?

Go to redbeard.