I stumbled across this review as I'm considering divorcing Garmin! I suddenly recognised you as we met a couple of weeks ago at the top of the Tudons climb in Spain! My wife and I (from Holmes Chapel) briefly chatted to you and your Saint Piran team mates. Thanks for the review and good luck this coming season. Jonathan Green.
Hi Jonathan! Yes I remember. We were waiting for my team mate, right? Can honestly recommend the Wahoo. Was great to chat. Hope you enjoyed the remainder of your time in Spain.
I went out and bought my Bolt after you gave your opinions back in Spain, due to old Garmin file corruption. Totally endorse your comments in this vid. Very happy with how it performs in all aspects of everyday riding. I also am now a convert to Wahoo. Hope to see you when you are back in Calpe for your next season. Next time i'll come over and say hi. Technology astute too for a guy who's 5 months off retiring.
Well done Cam! ... I couldn't have said it better. You already know that I love my Bolt. I've only had it for less than a week, but I can already tell that it beats the Garmin Edge 510 and 820 that it replaces - for all the reasons you spoke of, and more. Just the slightest differences in user interface can make a world of difference, and Wahoo has created something that just works well. That said, it wasn't the difference in functionality that made me switch, it was the fact that the Edge 510 and 820 that I've been using for about 3 years, have become to unreliable. As for the 'older generation' using their smart phones... I'm one of those old guys, and I love the fact that I don't have to mess with that little device, and it's little screen, to do things that really don't need to be done on the device itself. I also design software, so I'll point out that it's a huge advantage for Wahoo to be able to add or tweak functionality by updating the phone app versus updating the firmware on the unit. I absolutely love the Live Segments and the info that it provides. It's early in my ride season for me to be smashing PRs; but when I do try, I will have the kind of info needed to do so. I also use the Live Tracking, and did so on the Edge 820; and, my main 'tracker' loves the interface provided by Strava/Wahoo. I have not actually seen it, so I'll have to take their word. With the issues that the 820 had with locking up, if anyone was tracking me, they wouldn't know if I had been smashed by a dump truck, or the device just locked up again - so it was unreliable, and basically useless. One final note - regarding the touch-screen: generally, I would go for the latest and greatest technical options - which would be touch-screen, over buttons; but, I agree completely with you on that - having the (well placed) buttons is much easier to use - especially under the conditions that we ride in sometimes. With a small screen, the swipe and touch area is just too small to make it effective. I think Garmin had better get it together, or Wahoo could just do some damage. I'll stop gushing about Wahoo now. Oh, and by the way, this is 100% my own opinion - I was not paid in any way to make these statements (but I'd be happy to take Wahoo's money if they'd like to send me a check) :-) LOL. Cheers.
I have had issues with my Garmins in the past.. crashing and not recording rides so it's not a myth, atm im on a Garmin 520 and *touch wood* it still works fine. I will probably switch to the Wahoo if my Garmin does break tho.
My 510 has shut down twice in the last month costing me two metrics. I'm leaning towards the Bolt. Wondering if this a new problem w/Garmin. Seeing comments like this a lot lately.
Good review. About the app requirement, the Bolt is like Apple Watch - I think I'm used to having a dependent/companion operating device. I bet we'll see other developments like this. It works. Thanks for putting so much effort into your vids.
Three areas were breezed over. LEDs, Turn-by-Turn Nav and Battery Life. LEDs: Blink in sequence to help indicate an approaching left or right hand turn. I find this very useful, removes the need to take a hard look at the screen and read any text while riding. TURN-BY-TURN NAV: Strava will not provide true turn-by-turn nav. You must use another route builder, I use Ride GPS. Routes built via Strava only show the route. It does not alert to when a turn is approaching or offer up the name of the street etc. BATTERY LIFE... It is fantastic! Even while running true turn-by-turn nav and running the back light you can expect 8 hours of run time.
My Garmin 1000 has been running perfectly for the past 3,5 years. No need to change it. It can do all of the things you mentioned in your video too. I'd probably buy the Bolt if I didn't have the Garmin 1000 though, since it is cheaper. The maps and the screen on the Garmin 1000 is quite superior though. No one beats the Garmin with maps.
Hördur Hreinsson I read that a bloke had trouble with the maps due to being colour blind, so the Elemnt allows d him to read the maps easy and zoom in and out. The black and grey maps of Elemnt are much simpler for reading and saves battery
I use Google maps on my fully charged iPhone8 with a battery case (6000Mh/A) that will recharge my phone at least 3 times from 5%. I don't own a Garmin so I dont know how good Garmin maps are, but Google Maps is a heavy weight. Zoom in/out, map picture quality, scrolling, quick redirecting, notifications...etc. As for all of the other cycling data, it's all very similar. Which gets us down to Battery life. The Bolt it a heavy hitter here. Does the Garmin 1000 have a better battery life than the Bolt?
Tobias Dahlhaus he is still young and easily influenced by other youtubers. Spent some time calling people brother because of maven doing it.. It will wear off.
Love my Bolt as well! The only thing I’ve experienced is that it went to sleep during a ride if ride is stopped (flat tire, mechanical issues etc.), but that can easily be sorted in settings and turned off.
I have had the 810 for about 3 years and it does all of the live segment, live track and various features you described for the Wahoo and it has been spot on and never missed a beat. I was tempted by the Bolt but until either my 810 fails or either Wahoo/Garmin really bring out something game changing with their next generation of computers I will stick with the 810. Still an interesting review though.
Swapped from a Garmin 520 last year because the navigation sucked. The Elemnt Bolt is years ahead of the Garmin, it's what the 520 should have been if Garmin weren't resting on their laurels. Enjoyed your review and delighted that you're enjoying your Bolt.
About to order one of these now that my Garmin 510 battery lasts 2 rides. I've always hated touchscreens on cycling computers. This Bolt seems perfect.
Idk, i bought the 820 through my employee purchase and I really think its pretty good. I really enjoy the color screen. However, I think that it's overpriced for full price. That said, I was originally going to buy the bolt, but the employee discount was crap... like 15% off instead of 45%. It'll be interesting how Garmin reacts with their next generation. Personally, I think that Garmin is going to spend a lot in R&D and kill everyone else off. We will see.
Excellent review and insight. Thank you for posting. I'm about to buy a Bolt (I wanted SRM but just can't justify the $$ when Bolt appears to be pretty solid) and I like the idea that functions/set-up is changed via a phone app. And I'm "old and tech savvy" (uh, I think). App control is far, far better than some non-intuitive series of button pushes to program a device. Again, great job on the review: Direct, to-the-point, honest and interesting.
Fair play. I gave you some heat the first time you reviewed it because of suspicions around motive. However, this was a proper review and reminded me why I like your vlog, for a real and unfiltered opinion. Nicely done!
One thing the LEDs are good for is starred Strava segments. When you are riding a starred segment, the LEDs will indicate whether you are ahead of/behind your PR. The further ahead you are, the further to the right the lights will go. Pretty cool, IMO.
I love the lights on top, not just for roadcycling. I use the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt for both mountainbiking and beachracing (dutch sport) It's easy to just peek down and see your heartrate/wattage zones light up. Live tracking works great, Parents love to track me when it's dark out. I have had some issues in the forest with gps but thats a common problem with all gpses. Since I bought the Wahoo I also bought a Wahoo Kickr. The combination is great. With the combo you can ride the routes you have riden already on your KickR .
You're rather intelligent young English lad. Not many of like you live in UK. You seams to understand what's going on around you. Very conscious review. Well done 👌🏻👏🏻
I have the wahoo bolt was in the market looking Garmin 520 but the wahoo bolt had everything I needed and got muti pages set up for workouts and one for racing as well. The LEDs on the top where why I wanted it so I could see my HR zone during hard efforts.
I have just swapped from a 520 (that like my 810 decided not to function). I am an oldy and my phone is restricted (by work rules) so cannot download the app. However, i have a workaround via an ipod and despite my advanced years I have coped with using and app to sync sensors, set fields etc. We can cope with technology Mr Jeffers, even if we do not need to be permanently connected to social media.
After years of being a Garmin user I'll never touch anything other than a Wahoo for the foreseeable future. Ever Garmin unit I've had (200, 500, 810) always caused headaches from losing rides, crashing, crap battery life and unpairing themselves from ANT+ Devices. The device speaks for itself really and Wahoo's customer care is fantastic.
I understand what you're saying about the target time display on a segment messing with your head if you're behind, but I would recommend you think about it differently. Depending on the profile and your strengths as a cyclist, you want to schedule how you attack that segment in a way that best plays to your strengths. Pretty much any form of human-powered racing yields better results with negative splits, where the athlete finishes at a faster rate during the latter half or late laps and paced themselves out of the gate for the first half. For example, if you can bomb a descent but only average on a hill climb, you want to make sure that you don't leave yourself above threshold after attacking a climb, because then you may not have the capacity to fully bomb the downhill. Now you've actually hurt your time on both stages of the segment! Instead, know that you're going to take a hit on the climb but you'll be able to make it up and then some on the descent by managing your effort. Makes sense?
I switched from Garmin 1000 to the wahoo element. I looked at the bolt but wanted the bigger screen. The only thing I don’t like about it when it comes to the routes is that it does not recalculate the way my Garmin did. Other than that it was just a matter of getting familiar with a new platform.
What surprised me was that you cannot store more than one bike data (wheel circumference) and switch to it when you use another bike like the very simple bike computers could already years ago. Than the strap to mount the speed sensor to the hub does not fit when the hub has a larger diameter and there's no alternative strap available. But... I like my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt...
Good review. I would have gotten the bolt if it had been out when I got my 520. The original is fugly. No problems with the 520 in last two years. Keep us posted on how it's doing. How is your brother doing,haven't heard you mention him in awhile.
How is it for bike packing can I download a longish say 1000 mile tour and then ride individual sections and then incorporate all into the tour that would be cool especially if it can direct me through cities etc along the way. If I can't I guess I'll just stick with a cheesy computer. maps and keep a diary.
Quite like the LEDs showing power zones, means you don't have to stare at the screen the whole time. Issue is they aren't all that visible in bright light.
Tip: use komoot for navigation with the wahoo. It's pretty awesome and really accurate. The only thing that has frustrated me so far is that on very long segments, if it at some point thinks your went of track, you can't see your time anymore. This happened slightly too often. Not sure if they fixed it as I haven't seen a hill in months (Holland...)
Mitchell Steindler I've used rwgps too and it definitely works, however the ease of use with komoot leads in my opinion to the best experience. No need to select roads, just say where you want to go and komoot generates a great route.
Hi Cam, the problem is that you are comparing the wahoo with old Garmin, most of the advantages you say, like live segments, connection to indoor trainer, automatic upload to strava and other apps, strava routes, etc... all of that you have on newer garmin like garmin 820 and 1000 and 1030, I don't know 520...
You mention turn by turn navigation on Strava Routes. But on other reviews I hear that Strava Routes don’t get turn by turn, but only breadcrums on screen (so you have to be aware all the time). Can you tell me how you managed to get turn by turn navigation on the volt with Strava Routes?
How come do you get tbt direction on routes from strava on your wahoo? There have been complaints that routes from strava are not turn-by-turn when synchronised with and followed on wahoo.. thanks
Personally quite like my Bolt, pretty rugged, great battery life, clear screen. The companion app is a bit slow and buggy, particularly with the route planning, but it's useful as an option if you end up out somewhere you can't remember how to get back to. Haven't gotten to use any of the other data besides distance and location really because I don't own any sensors. Also the Wahoo app if you go out with the phone paired with the bolt it drains the battery super fast as I imagine it's just constantly communicating, so switch off your bluetooth if that's a concern.
I have a question and I hope I get response asap. ON the Strava segments, you mentioned you can either target your personal times or KOM times as goals, but can you set your friends personal best time as a selected goal to beat?
Ive got a cheap meilan m2 which has been flawless tbh, i do need turn by turn now though, as my rides are getting longer, do you think this is the best option at the moment, also is it permanantly connected to your phone, so no need to upload to strava ?
Hi, sorry for random question. I have a edge 520 , it's playing up so looking for a new device. On the Garmin it has "intervals " section, does the wahoo have the same ? Or is it only available with the training plans?
On any of your preplanned downloaded routes have you had any issues of it not telling you about a turn? I've noticed more and more that on my Garmin 520 that it doesn't say anything about a turn, then suddenly after I pass a turn it pops up an alert stating I've gotten off track. Have you noticed any issues of this arising with the Bolt? Thanks.
I had the same issues with my Edge 510 and Edge 820 - just one of the reasons I switched to the Bolt. I've only used the Bolt for about 100 miles of riding last weekend, so I don't have as much experience as Cam, but I LOVE it so far.
I had this issue with 520 & 810 but found you will only get Turn-by-Turn if you build the route with Ridewithgps and copy the file onto the unit. You need it to have the cues and Strava doesn’t do it.
The Bolt beeps as well as shows you the next turn in a count down fashion. It has an 'error beep' as well and flashes red if you go off course too so no mistaking it.
Great honest review. I have the ELEMNT for me I like the size just my preference though features are the same . Its a wee bit like cameras you are either a nikon or a cannon fan. Like you say either way if you love your Garmin they need to step up to the plate with something better. But I love my Wahoo. #wahooligan. Nice one cam 👍
Barry Daniel do you have the elemnt standard or bolt, I was thinking of the standard as my eyesight is poor and preferred the larger screen, I understood both elemnts were the same apart from the leds but he said he struggled with the standard
A couple of things on live segments... Live segments pop up well within a mile of their start, I would say it’s more like 50-100 metres, if you imagine how many segments there are on Strava now, this was get very annoying, it will also only pick up segments in which you would go down on the direction you are travelling, so if you happen to be doing a starred segment the opposite way, of will not prompt the start of the segment when you get to the end of the road if that makes sense? Also, on the ‘race against your time’ feature, the explanation over the lost time and managing to make up time after is probably not down to not looking at the numbers, this is calculated by taking your average speed over the segment when you posted your best time, it doesn’t know the speed you were going at various points of the segment, so for example if you had a segment which was 1 mile at 6% up and then 1 mile at 6% down, you will find that when you race against yourself again, you will lose lots of time on the climb but gain it back on the decent? I use the standard wahoo and I think it’s brilliant, really easy to use and reliable, great video as always Cam
Might need to look into this! Especially the turbo thing with chemo and not being able to ride on the road when connected or raining 🤔🤔 good review 🙌🏼🙌🏼
The bolt is unmatched in usability, which is exactly what you need on the bike. No touch screen, no colored screen means long battery life. Big buttons means easy to control. Instant strava uploads means never thinking about it. It's just perfect.
I was very tempted to got it, but the black friday price of the 520 budle was unbeatable. Really. But I'm really looking ahead of this brand to see what's ging on. Main problem I have? I don't like the idea of 'programming' my screens on the phone. I just want to be able to do it on the devide, and not depend on the app to do that.
Hi Cam, I have a Garmin 810 currently, and would switch to Bolt in a heartbeat after the same Garmin issues you have/had. I do have a question regarding the map feature - when I was in Majorca, one of the roads was closed due to roadworks. With the Garmin 810 finding an alternative route was no issue due to the zoom map feature and just following an alternative road. Could you or anybody seeing this confirm how this can be done with the element bolt, and not having to stop start or reload the route via the element app??
Had a faulty rear facing camera on my iPhone for about a year, which meant I couldn’t scan the barcode for the companion app. The bolt was therefore useless for that year. 😂 but I love the thing now. The live segments are sick.
Cam you mentioned the Bolt has turn by turn guidance with your Strava routes can I just confirm are you sure this is the case? Wahoo had previously confirmed that turn by turn was only available via Map My Ride due to the text based instructions it creates. I was told with a route built anywhere else it will simply show you on a map with a line to follow but no turn by turn.
So as expected no turn by turn. I get this is a great unit and maybe the simplicity and software is awesome but without proper turn by turn guidance I really don’t see how this is even competition for a Garmin. One is a proper satellite navigation unit capable of dynamic turn by turn guidance the other just repeats a cue sheet and even then o lying it was created in one of two specific programmes.
Thanks for sharing great review mate,I've had 3 Garmin the 200 which is great and bomb proof ànd had 2 Garmin 520s hated them both so much so the 2 and one which was replaced after faults the replacement was shocking I ended up smashing it with a hammer then drowning it lol🤣🤭😅 . Just sent for the Bolt 👌👍
My Bolt kept dropping out every minute or so whilst out on the road. I was ready to ditch my G3 and the bolt but had the bright idea to use my Garmin 1000. This was perfect with no drop outs. Therefore data from the G3 was good. My Bolt only started going crazy after I had added my Tacx Neo as a power source. I therefore deleted the Tacx on the bolt and all is well again. Very strange. I have to use the garmin on the trainer now; Not good.
I've never had a problem with my Garmin 810 in the 4+ years I used it...I think it shut off on me maybe twice during a ride, but that's about it. I upgraded to the 1030 recently, and soooooo much better - I love the size of the display, and works a hell of a lot better with GPS as well. I almost went with the Wahoo Elemnt (the Bolt is way too small), but got the 1030 for a killer price - plus I like the setup/layout/display/GPS better anyway. I really did want to give the Wahoo a whirl, but they're just not there yet.
I love my Wahoo Bolt BUT I did the last update (April 2019) and I have been experiencing problems with the head readings on my SRM. Don't update if you are using an SRM and there is no new update.
Not gonna lie, the phone interface pisses me off a little bit. I have a Leikr watch right now that works that way. The settings can only be configured through their website. The only way to download the training history is to upload it to Strava (or similar), but their APIs have changed and the people at Leikr haven't updated it, so now I have a nice paper weight (for which I thankfully didn't pay much). I still use it as a heart monitor, and speedometer, but that's all it is useful for nowadays... I might still might the bullet with the Wahoo Bolt though... :/ :S
I had had some issues with Garmin in the past, so I gave the Bolt a try. After almost a year I was really happy with it, until I told my sister to get one. And she did. After a few weeks, the screen went all black. So she sent it back and got another one. Tree weeks later, the screen went death again! Wahoo told her it was her Iphone charger the one causing the problem. So she bought a new android charger, sent a pictures to Wahoo, and they said that that one was OK. NOW, AND I KID YOU NOT: the third replacement's screen, after two weeks, got some stripes and shaded areas. It worked fine, but who wants a defective screen on a new device? Wahoo service has been very responsive, and is now sending a fourth one. But it is clear that Wahoo Bolt is having serious quality issues. I mean, what are the odds that 3 replacements go bad???? I checked the internet and apparently theses are the two most common problems with the Bolt. So unless they solve this problem i would not recommend it.
Can anyone tell me whether you can sync Wahoo activities with Garmin Connect? I've got a Garmin device already and planned to get a Garmin Edge device, but I like the Elemnt Bolt's features for the price(also it's more available where I live). I've looked into it and apparently you can link Garmin Connect and Strava, but I'm not sure how well and comprehensively that is working.
I have a lezyne super gps. It's not as good as the bolt, but it's quite a bit cheaper. Definitely a better value than garmin. They're quite popular here in MN.
I went from an 810 to an Elemnt - for the size mostly, the bolt i tiny. Wahoo dont have Sunrise/Set ;/ The reliance on an App. is a BIT crap. (THE WEIGHT OF A 500gr MOBILE !!!!! in your back pocket!) ESPECIALLY if you want to go to a place yet dont have your phone - THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE. The Grade field isnt as accurate as a Garmin. The auto-wifi upload is very good. Other than them major things, its ok! OH and slightly scrape the opening of a garmin turn-mount and it'll fit ;)
My long term review. 1. They work flawlessly apart from.. 2. Cadence reading is very inconsistent, all over the place. 3. GPS only speed is unreliable. 4. Navigation is compromised by inability to scroll around the map. 5. Fantastic customer service. Garmin are full of bugs
I have had around 7 Garmin since 2012 everyone became faulty the last one was doing ok edge 1000 but after 15 month the screen developed a fault and Garmin wanted to charge me £175 never again let's hope the bolt is trouble free happy riding ps dose anyone know if the bolt will turn if in a Garmin mount landscape and portrait I have turned this setting on but not sure if I have misunderstood what it dose
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I stumbled across this review as I'm considering divorcing Garmin!
I suddenly recognised you as we met a couple of weeks ago at the top of the Tudons climb in Spain!
My wife and I (from Holmes Chapel) briefly chatted to you and your Saint Piran team mates.
Thanks for the review and good luck this coming season.
Jonathan Green.
Hi Jonathan! Yes I remember. We were waiting for my team mate, right? Can honestly recommend the Wahoo. Was great to chat. Hope you enjoyed the remainder of your time in Spain.
Wow, I'm just finishing up my own review of this bike computer and I found your review and channel. So good. Keep up the good work here sir! 👌
I went out and bought my Bolt after you gave your opinions back in Spain, due to old Garmin file corruption. Totally endorse your comments in this vid. Very happy with how it performs in all aspects of everyday riding. I also am now a convert to Wahoo. Hope to see you when you are back in Calpe for your next season. Next time i'll come over and say hi. Technology astute too for a guy who's 5 months off retiring.
About time Garmin had a rivalry to keep them honest, like you say competition breeds progression. Good review Cam.
Well done Cam! ... I couldn't have said it better. You already know that I love my Bolt. I've only had it for less than a week, but I can already tell that it beats the Garmin Edge 510 and 820 that it replaces - for all the reasons you spoke of, and more. Just the slightest differences in user interface can make a world of difference, and Wahoo has created something that just works well. That said, it wasn't the difference in functionality that made me switch, it was the fact that the Edge 510 and 820 that I've been using for about 3 years, have become to unreliable. As for the 'older generation' using their smart phones... I'm one of those old guys, and I love the fact that I don't have to mess with that little device, and it's little screen, to do things that really don't need to be done on the device itself. I also design software, so I'll point out that it's a huge advantage for Wahoo to be able to add or tweak functionality by updating the phone app versus updating the firmware on the unit. I absolutely love the Live Segments and the info that it provides. It's early in my ride season for me to be smashing PRs; but when I do try, I will have the kind of info needed to do so. I also use the Live Tracking, and did so on the Edge 820; and, my main 'tracker' loves the interface provided by Strava/Wahoo. I have not actually seen it, so I'll have to take their word. With the issues that the 820 had with locking up, if anyone was tracking me, they wouldn't know if I had been smashed by a dump truck, or the device just locked up again - so it was unreliable, and basically useless. One final note - regarding the touch-screen: generally, I would go for the latest and greatest technical options - which would be touch-screen, over buttons; but, I agree completely with you on that - having the (well placed) buttons is much easier to use - especially under the conditions that we ride in sometimes. With a small screen, the swipe and touch area is just too small to make it effective. I think Garmin had better get it together, or Wahoo could just do some damage. I'll stop gushing about Wahoo now. Oh, and by the way, this is 100% my own opinion - I was not paid in any way to make these statements (but I'd be happy to take Wahoo's money if they'd like to send me a check) :-) LOL. Cheers.
Dear Wahoo,
Can you also pair the top LEDs with cadence? Not asking this because I want to feel like a Formula 1 driver
Regards,
Niels Heldens I literally just saw shift lights 😂😂
You can
James Taylor awesome!
Dermot M you can do them against watts as well but not cadence
Great idea
I have had issues with my Garmins in the past.. crashing and not recording rides so it's not a myth, atm im on a Garmin 520 and *touch wood* it still works fine. I will probably switch to the Wahoo if my Garmin does break tho.
My garmin 510 lost one too many rides. I'm loving my bolt as well.
My 510 has shut down twice in the last month costing me two metrics. I'm leaning towards the Bolt. Wondering if this a new problem w/Garmin. Seeing comments like this a lot lately.
Just got my Wahoo bolt....I had finally had it with Garmin issues....Looking forward to the BOLT
Good review. About the app requirement, the Bolt is like Apple Watch - I think I'm used to having a dependent/companion operating device. I bet we'll see other developments like this. It works. Thanks for putting so much effort into your vids.
Three areas were breezed over. LEDs, Turn-by-Turn Nav and Battery Life. LEDs: Blink in sequence to help indicate an approaching left or right hand turn. I find this very useful, removes the need to take a hard look at the screen and read any text while riding. TURN-BY-TURN NAV: Strava will not provide true turn-by-turn nav. You must use another route builder, I use Ride GPS. Routes built via Strava only show the route. It does not alert to when a turn is approaching or offer up the name of the street etc. BATTERY LIFE... It is fantastic! Even while running true turn-by-turn nav and running the back light you can expect 8 hours of run time.
My Garmin 1000 has been running perfectly for the past 3,5 years. No need to change it. It can do all of the things you mentioned in your video too. I'd probably buy the Bolt if I didn't have the Garmin 1000 though, since it is cheaper. The maps and the screen on the Garmin 1000 is quite superior though. No one beats the Garmin with maps.
Hördur Hreinsson I read that a bloke had trouble with the maps due to being colour blind, so the Elemnt allows d him to read the maps easy and zoom in and out. The black and grey maps of Elemnt are much simpler for reading and saves battery
wish I could agree with you ,my garmin 1030does not record my rides at times when I needed the most.
I use Google maps on my fully charged iPhone8 with a battery case (6000Mh/A) that will recharge my phone at least 3 times from 5%. I don't own a Garmin so I dont know how good Garmin maps are, but Google Maps is a heavy weight. Zoom in/out, map picture quality, scrolling, quick redirecting, notifications...etc.
As for all of the other cycling data, it's all very similar. Which gets us down to Battery life. The Bolt it a heavy hitter here. Does the Garmin 1000 have a better battery life than the Bolt?
Had the bolt for a few years now... absolutely love it. Also bought the wahoo kickr bike recently as well. Really like Wahoo products.
Lol that drawing opening scene. Are you Casey Neistat?
Tobias Dahlhaus he is still young and easily influenced by other youtubers. Spent some time calling people brother because of maven doing it.. It will wear off.
Or he hasn't watched Casey enough. He wears me down, so I can't watch him frequently.
Casey Nestait made vlogging what it today. Before casey, vlogging was just camera in the face and thats it.
Casey bike shed
Competition = innovation, the power meter market is a good example of this. Products from £250-£2,500.
Love my Bolt as well! The only thing I’ve experienced is that it went to sleep during a ride if ride is stopped (flat tire, mechanical issues etc.), but that can easily be sorted in settings and turned off.
I have had the 810 for about 3 years and it does all of the live segment, live track and various features you described for the Wahoo and it has been spot on and never missed a beat. I was tempted by the Bolt but until either my 810 fails or either Wahoo/Garmin really bring out something game changing with their next generation of computers I will stick with the 810. Still an interesting review though.
Swapped from a Garmin 520 last year because the navigation sucked. The Elemnt Bolt is years ahead of the Garmin, it's what the 520 should have been if Garmin weren't resting on their laurels. Enjoyed your review and delighted that you're enjoying your Bolt.
About to order one of these now that my Garmin 510 battery lasts 2 rides. I've always hated touchscreens on cycling computers. This Bolt seems perfect.
Haters gonna hate. Garmin are just not up to scratch anymore.
Idk, i bought the 820 through my employee purchase and I really think its pretty good. I really enjoy the color screen. However, I think that it's overpriced for full price. That said, I was originally going to buy the bolt, but the employee discount was crap... like 15% off instead of 45%. It'll be interesting how Garmin reacts with their next generation. Personally, I think that Garmin is going to spend a lot in R&D and kill everyone else off. We will see.
Excellent review and insight. Thank you for posting. I'm about to buy a Bolt (I wanted SRM but just can't justify the $$ when Bolt appears to be pretty solid) and I like the idea that functions/set-up is changed via a phone app. And I'm "old and tech savvy" (uh, I think). App control is far, far better than some non-intuitive series of button pushes to program a device. Again, great job on the review: Direct, to-the-point, honest and interesting.
Fair play. I gave you some heat the first time you reviewed it because of suspicions around motive. However, this was a proper review and reminded me why I like your vlog, for a real and unfiltered opinion. Nicely done!
One thing the LEDs are good for is starred Strava segments. When you are riding a starred segment, the LEDs will indicate whether you are ahead of/behind your PR. The further ahead you are, the further to the right the lights will go. Pretty cool, IMO.
Excellent informative review and comparison to garmin etc . Keep it up
Thank you
I love the lights on top, not just for roadcycling. I use the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt for both mountainbiking and beachracing (dutch sport) It's easy to just peek down and see your heartrate/wattage zones light up. Live tracking works great, Parents love to track me when it's dark out. I have had some issues in the forest with gps but thats a common problem with all gpses. Since I bought the Wahoo I also bought a Wahoo Kickr. The combination is great. With the combo you can ride the routes you have riden already on your KickR
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Good review Cam - I lost three rides in the Pyrenees last year on my Garmin 810. BTW I’m 50 and well able to mange devices from my phone😂😂
50! Still young Phil!!
You're rather intelligent young English lad. Not many of like you live in UK. You seams to understand what's going on around you. Very conscious review. Well done 👌🏻👏🏻
Thank you for the great honest review.
2 vlogs from now Cam will wear a pair of casual shades during the entire vlog and dye his hair blonde
Michael Gallagher no need to punch Cam in the face to mess it up 😂
I noticed the inspiration too...I could tell Cam knew what he was doing by the slight smirk on his face as he tore up the paper
haha nice spot
I love how you edited the comment so we'll never know what the op was
I have the wahoo bolt was in the market looking Garmin 520 but the wahoo bolt had everything I needed and got muti pages set up for workouts and one for racing as well. The LEDs on the top where why I wanted it so I could see my HR zone during hard efforts.
"More bang for your buck". My old Garmin never let me down but I switched to a Bolt a few months ago for a change. I like it. Its a keeper :)
I have just swapped from a 520 (that like my 810 decided not to function). I am an oldy and my phone is restricted (by work rules) so cannot download the app. However, i have a workaround via an ipod and despite my advanced years I have coped with using and app to sync sensors, set fields etc. We can cope with technology Mr Jeffers, even if we do not need to be permanently connected to social media.
Re social media. So true, just because we don't, doesn't mean we can't. But we are sly enough to let the millennials out there think that 😉
After years of being a Garmin user I'll never touch anything other than a Wahoo for the foreseeable future.
Ever Garmin unit I've had (200, 500, 810) always caused headaches from losing rides, crashing, crap battery life and unpairing themselves from ANT+ Devices.
The device speaks for itself really and Wahoo's customer care is fantastic.
Good stuff mate, looks like a decent piece of kit.
Brilliant review, agreed with everything you said, love my bolt 👍
I understand what you're saying about the target time display on a segment messing with your head if you're behind, but I would recommend you think about it differently. Depending on the profile and your strengths as a cyclist, you want to schedule how you attack that segment in a way that best plays to your strengths. Pretty much any form of human-powered racing yields better results with negative splits, where the athlete finishes at a faster rate during the latter half or late laps and paced themselves out of the gate for the first half.
For example, if you can bomb a descent but only average on a hill climb, you want to make sure that you don't leave yourself above threshold after attacking a climb, because then you may not have the capacity to fully bomb the downhill. Now you've actually hurt your time on both stages of the segment! Instead, know that you're going to take a hit on the climb but you'll be able to make it up and then some on the descent by managing your effort. Makes sense?
Best GPS I've ever had is the Bryton530 Battery Life is insane!! Did a 24hr solo race and still had about 2/3rds battery left at the end!!!
thats an insane battery life. I'll have to check it out.
Interesting... my Garmin Edge 520 hasn't glitched even once in the 18 months or so that I've had it.
I switched from Garmin 1000 to the wahoo element. I looked at the bolt but wanted the bigger screen. The only thing I don’t like about it when it comes to the routes is that it does not recalculate the way my Garmin did. Other than that it was just a matter of getting familiar with a new platform.
What surprised me was that you cannot store more than one bike data (wheel circumference) and switch to it when you use another bike like the very simple bike computers could already years ago. Than the strap to mount the speed sensor to the hub does not fit when the hub has a larger diameter and there's no alternative strap available. But... I like my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt...
Good review. I would have gotten the bolt if it had been out when I got my 520. The original is fugly. No problems with the 520 in last two years. Keep us posted on how it's doing. How is your brother doing,haven't heard you mention him in awhile.
now its 2020 the bolts still here, what do you now recommend?
I ended up with the garmin 530 as bolt doesn't do full nav
They have a new one out.. the route or something - like the bolt but color screen and better maps stuff.
@@syrus3k yea the roam. I debated that I ended up with garmin 530
@@roadbikeman why did you change? do you recommend buying the bolt now? looking for a new one!
@@fabrice6847 I bought a garmin 530. I reckon its time for a new bolt to get released?
How is it for bike packing can I download a longish say 1000 mile tour and then ride individual sections and then incorporate all into the tour that would be cool especially if it can direct me through cities etc along the way. If I can't I guess I'll just stick with a cheesy computer. maps and keep a diary.
Quite like the LEDs showing power zones, means you don't have to stare at the screen the whole time. Issue is they aren't all that visible in bright light.
Got a red limited edition Bolt to match my CAAD12 frame colour.
It is amazing!!
Hi, how is the Wahoo Bolt holding up 2 years after this video? Are the cosmetic defects such as buttons that fall off etc?
Tip: use komoot for navigation with the wahoo. It's pretty awesome and really accurate. The only thing that has frustrated me so far is that on very long segments, if it at some point thinks your went of track, you can't see your time anymore. This happened slightly too often. Not sure if they fixed it as I haven't seen a hill in months (Holland...)
DeXe or just use ride with GPS which works perfectly every time
Mitchell Steindler I've used rwgps too and it definitely works, however the ease of use with komoot leads in my opinion to the best experience. No need to select roads, just say where you want to go and komoot generates a great route.
You can actually control all Ant+ smart trainers with Elemnt, not only Wahoo Kickr's.
Yes it can control my Neo
Honestly, great review. Does it support Strava Beacon?
Hi Cam, the problem is that you are comparing the wahoo with old Garmin, most of the advantages you say, like live segments, connection to indoor trainer, automatic upload to strava and other apps, strava routes, etc... all of that you have on newer garmin like garmin 820 and 1000 and 1030, I don't know 520...
You mention turn by turn navigation on Strava Routes. But on other reviews I hear that Strava Routes don’t get turn by turn, but only breadcrums on screen (so you have to be aware all the time). Can you tell me how you managed to get turn by turn navigation on the volt with Strava Routes?
How come do you get tbt direction on routes from strava on your wahoo? There have been complaints that routes from strava are not turn-by-turn when synchronised with and followed on wahoo.. thanks
Personally quite like my Bolt, pretty rugged, great battery life, clear screen. The companion app is a bit slow and buggy, particularly with the route planning, but it's useful as an option if you end up out somewhere you can't remember how to get back to. Haven't gotten to use any of the other data besides distance and location really because I don't own any sensors. Also the Wahoo app if you go out with the phone paired with the bolt it drains the battery super fast as I imagine it's just constantly communicating, so switch off your bluetooth if that's a concern.
I have a question and I hope I get response asap. ON the Strava segments, you mentioned you can either target your personal times or KOM times as goals, but can you set your friends personal best time as a selected goal to beat?
not that i am aware of mate.
👍🏻 Wish list updated
Ive got a cheap meilan m2 which has been flawless tbh, i do need turn by turn now though, as my rides are getting longer, do you think this is the best option at the moment, also is it permanantly connected to your phone, so no need to upload to strava ?
Hi, sorry for random question. I have a edge 520 , it's playing up so looking for a new device. On the Garmin it has "intervals " section, does the wahoo have the same ? Or is it only available with the training plans?
On any of your preplanned downloaded routes have you had any issues of it not telling you about a turn? I've noticed more and more that on my Garmin 520 that it doesn't say anything about a turn, then suddenly after I pass a turn it pops up an alert stating I've gotten off track. Have you noticed any issues of this arising with the Bolt? Thanks.
I had the same issues with my Edge 510 and Edge 820 - just one of the reasons I switched to the Bolt. I've only used the Bolt for about 100 miles of riding last weekend, so I don't have as much experience as Cam, but I LOVE it so far.
I had this issue with 520 & 810 but found you will only get Turn-by-Turn if you build the route with Ridewithgps and copy the file onto the unit. You need it to have the cues and Strava doesn’t do it.
Yes files were directly downloaded from ridewithgps.
The Bolt beeps as well as shows you the next turn in a count down fashion. It has an 'error beep' as well and flashes red if you go off course too so no mistaking it.
Great honest review. I have the ELEMNT for me I like the size just my preference though features are the same . Its a wee bit like cameras you are either a nikon or a cannon fan. Like you say either way if you love your Garmin they need to step up to the plate with something better. But I love my Wahoo. #wahooligan. Nice one cam 👍
Barry Daniel do you have the elemnt standard or bolt, I was thinking of the standard as my eyesight is poor and preferred the larger screen, I understood both elemnts were the same apart from the leds but he said he struggled with the standard
A couple of things on live segments...
Live segments pop up well within a mile of their start, I would say it’s more like 50-100 metres, if you imagine how many segments there are on Strava now, this was get very annoying, it will also only pick up segments in which you would go down on the direction you are travelling, so if you happen to be doing a starred segment the opposite way, of will not prompt the start of the segment when you get to the end of the road if that makes sense?
Also, on the ‘race against your time’ feature, the explanation over the lost time and managing to make up time after is probably not down to not looking at the numbers, this is calculated by taking your average speed over the segment when you posted your best time, it doesn’t know the speed you were going at various points of the segment, so for example if you had a segment which was 1 mile at 6% up and then 1 mile at 6% down, you will find that when you race against yourself again, you will lose lots of time on the climb but gain it back on the decent?
I use the standard wahoo and I think it’s brilliant, really easy to use and reliable, great video as always Cam
cheers for the insight regarding estimated time. Makes more sense now!
Might need to look into this! Especially the turbo thing with chemo and not being able to ride on the road when connected or raining 🤔🤔 good review 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Love my Garmin 820
I love my bolt have you tried the workouts ? They will be mega useful to yourself
Casey Naistat Jeffers ;-) Good Review
The bolt is unmatched in usability, which is exactly what you need on the bike. No touch screen, no colored screen means long battery life. Big buttons means easy to control. Instant strava uploads means never thinking about it. It's just perfect.
Ditto
I was very tempted to got it, but the black friday price of the 520 budle was unbeatable. Really. But I'm really looking ahead of this brand to see what's ging on. Main problem I have? I don't like the idea of 'programming' my screens on the phone. I just want to be able to do it on the devide, and not depend on the app to do that.
Hi Cam, I have a Garmin 810 currently, and would switch to Bolt in a heartbeat after the same Garmin issues you have/had. I do have a question regarding the map feature - when I was in Majorca, one of the roads was closed due to roadworks. With the Garmin 810 finding an alternative route was no issue due to the zoom map feature and just following an alternative road. Could you or anybody seeing this confirm how this can be done with the element bolt, and not having to stop start or reload the route via the element app??
TheXEMini it automatically reroutes when you miss a turn to gets you back on the original route.
Hey dude! After 2 years are you still satisfied? Can you advise to buy this wahoo in 2020? Or it will be outdated?
Had a faulty rear facing camera on my iPhone for about a year, which meant I couldn’t scan the barcode for the companion app. The bolt was therefore useless for that year. 😂 but I love the thing now. The live segments are sick.
Cam you mentioned the Bolt has turn by turn guidance with your Strava routes can I just confirm are you sure this is the case? Wahoo had previously confirmed that turn by turn was only available via Map My Ride due to the text based instructions it creates. I was told with a route built anywhere else it will simply show you on a map with a line to follow but no turn by turn.
Rob Freshwater the bolt will not produce tbt nav with routes created in Strava. However routes created in MmR or Kamoot will be tbt.
Turn by turn guidance is with Ride with gps or Kamoot. They provide a cue list where as Strava do not.
So as expected no turn by turn. I get this is a great unit and maybe the simplicity and software is awesome but without proper turn by turn guidance I really don’t see how this is even competition for a Garmin. One is a proper satellite navigation unit capable of dynamic turn by turn guidance the other just repeats a cue sheet and even then o lying it was created in one of two specific programmes.
The only Garmin that will do turn-by-turn from Strava routes is the 1000/1030. But they are more then double the price!
Thomas Smith wrong! My 810 does turn by turn!
Great review. If you don't like the Wahoo Elemnt send it my way it must be better than none:)
Thanks for sharing great review mate,I've had 3 Garmin the 200 which is great and bomb proof ànd had 2 Garmin 520s hated them both so much so the 2 and one which was replaced after faults the replacement was shocking I ended up smashing it with a hammer then drowning it lol🤣🤭😅 . Just sent for the Bolt 👌👍
My Bolt kept dropping out every minute or so whilst out on the road. I was ready to ditch my G3 and the bolt but had the bright idea to use my Garmin 1000. This was perfect with no drop outs. Therefore data from the G3 was good. My Bolt only started going crazy after I had added my Tacx Neo as a power source. I therefore deleted the Tacx on the bolt and all is well again. Very strange. I have to use the garmin on the trainer now; Not good.
I've never had a problem with my Garmin 810 in the 4+ years I used it...I think it shut off on me maybe twice during a ride, but that's about it. I upgraded to the 1030 recently, and soooooo much better - I love the size of the display, and works a hell of a lot better with GPS as well. I almost went with the Wahoo Elemnt (the Bolt is way too small), but got the 1030 for a killer price - plus I like the setup/layout/display/GPS better anyway. I really did want to give the Wahoo a whirl, but they're just not there yet.
Dana Rouleau "I've never had a problem with my Garmin in 4+ years..." Proceeds to tell us it shut down around three times during a ride. Haha
I love my Wahoo Bolt BUT I did the last update (April 2019) and I have been experiencing problems with the head readings on my SRM. Don't update if you are using an SRM and there is no new update.
still got my edge 500, simple, effective.
gotta say i have the wahoo elemnt after previously having had a gamin which broke and i love it and would never go back
Any use if you don't have a power meter though?
What your recommend, wahoo elmnt bolt or garmin 520 ? I will buy that
100% I have a bolt. Used to have Garmin. Wahoo is in a different league.. they've created a decent device.
How do you find the battery? I have noticed mines down to 40% after 7 rides. Not even 9 hours
Not gonna lie, the phone interface pisses me off a little bit. I have a Leikr watch right now that works that way. The settings can only be configured through their website. The only way to download the training history is to upload it to Strava (or similar), but their APIs have changed and the people at Leikr haven't updated it, so now I have a nice paper weight (for which I thankfully didn't pay much). I still use it as a heart monitor, and speedometer, but that's all it is useful for nowadays... I might still might the bullet with the Wahoo Bolt though... :/ :S
I had had some issues with Garmin in the past, so I gave the Bolt a try. After almost a year I was really happy with it, until I told my sister to get one. And she did. After a few weeks, the screen went all black. So she sent it back and got another one. Tree weeks later, the screen went death again! Wahoo told her it was her Iphone charger the one causing the problem. So she bought a new android charger, sent a pictures to Wahoo, and they said that that one was OK. NOW, AND I KID YOU NOT: the third replacement's screen, after two weeks, got some stripes and shaded areas. It worked fine, but who wants a defective screen on a new device? Wahoo service has been very responsive, and is now sending a fourth one. But it is clear that Wahoo Bolt is having serious quality issues. I mean, what are the odds that 3 replacements go bad???? I checked the internet and apparently theses are the two most common problems with the Bolt. So unless they solve this problem i would not recommend it.
Check out Bryton. No one talks about them. I've had one for over a year and I love it. By the way it's less than half the price of Wahoo and garmin
Shane n. Bryton is terrible compared to wahoo lol. I used to have one
Can this be used by an iPad instead of a phone because I do not have a phone.
does strava supply turn by turn in the files now for the bolt ?
Can the Elmnt be used with the actual Garmin mounts???
If you get a converter, yes.
Can anyone tell me whether you can sync Wahoo activities with Garmin Connect? I've got a Garmin device already and planned to get a Garmin Edge device, but I like the Elemnt Bolt's features for the price(also it's more available where I live). I've looked into it and apparently you can link Garmin Connect and Strava, but I'm not sure how well and comprehensively that is working.
Cam, have you been watching too much Casey Neistat 😂
I'm wondering if you can download someone's root in your area and follow it ?
I have a lezyne super gps. It's not as good as the bolt, but it's quite a bit cheaper. Definitely a better value than garmin. They're quite popular here in MN.
Hey, can you make a video about your pages on your wahoo
I went from an 810 to an Elemnt - for the size mostly, the bolt i tiny. Wahoo dont have Sunrise/Set ;/ The reliance on an App. is a BIT crap. (THE WEIGHT OF A 500gr MOBILE !!!!! in your back pocket!) ESPECIALLY if you want to go to a place yet dont have your phone - THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE. The Grade field isnt as accurate as a Garmin. The auto-wifi upload is very good. Other than them major things, its ok! OH and slightly scrape the opening of a garmin turn-mount and it'll fit ;)
Just bought one myself, can't wait to change from the old buggy Garmin.
My long term review.
1. They work flawlessly apart from..
2. Cadence reading is very inconsistent, all over the place.
3. GPS only speed is unreliable.
4. Navigation is compromised by inability to scroll around the map.
5. Fantastic customer service.
Garmin are full of bugs
Still rate this Cam?
Garmin for me, they have always been good and once you get into old age you need the bigger screen to see it
I have had around 7 Garmin since 2012 everyone became faulty the last one was doing ok edge 1000 but after 15 month the screen developed a fault and Garmin wanted to charge me £175 never again let's hope the bolt is trouble free happy riding ps dose anyone know if the bolt will turn if in a Garmin mount landscape and portrait I have turned this setting on but not sure if I have misunderstood what it dose
Good review. Did you ever review the PowerTap P1’s? Saw the video when you scuffed the bottom of one but no review
what about Bryton ?