Wahoo Comps

earth

Has anyone got one of the Wahoo cycle computers?

There is an Element and a new Element Bolt.

Just wondering if they are any good. I had a Garmin 800 and was disappointed. The Wahoo's appear to have a monochrome screen I don't think that bothers me except on the maps. I am more interested in how responsive they are and the resolution. That makes a difference when using it to navigate.

Then I'm interested in thing like if it can show me the profile of the hill I am climbing and where I am on it. This was actually a good feature of the Garmin when it worked.

Next, how many bugs are there in it?

And it appears you configure the thing using a smart phone but will an iPad work?

The Garmin had rubber seals over the USB and memory card port. These wore out after a couple of years and water got it. It was next to useless after that.

General fell of the thing. Are they competent devices or a bit flakey?

StillGoing

I had years of Garmins starting with a good old reliable 705, to a brilliant 810 (until the 520 came out and screwed up all the firmware) and a diabolical 820 (screen size is too small and again with the firmware issues, plus a touch screen with a mind of its own).

I've just bought an ELEMNT and its a doddle to pair and operate compared to Garmins. Over the weekend, Wahoo had issues with the Wahoo App, but sorted it inside 24 hours. With Garmin, you'd wait months for them to do anything and even then, it'd just create another problem. Wahoo's techs in sorting it ensured no data was lost and everything is how it should be.

Some whine about the black and white screen of the Wahoo devices, but personally I like it. Admittedly it could do with some colour for the map screen to differentiate between A and B roads and rivers, but for the data screens, it's perfect.

It will pair with any IOS device or Android. The construction is robust and comes with various mounts.

stevie63

Yes an ipad will work:

http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/HJA22ZM/A/wahoo-elemnt-gps-cycling-computer

earth

What about responsiveness? The Garmin 800 was very laggy when looking at the maps screen.

What about entering destinations? I'm guessing you have to do that via the phone app. So if you want to choose a new destination while out then you need to take a smart phone.

Are there any noticeable bugs in it or niggles? For instance the 800 had this habit of changing all the metrics on a screen so I had to keep reconfiguring it.

From looking at the photos it has the same rubber seals over the USB socket. They just don't last. an induction loop for charging. If you need to get at a memory card or have a USB socket for emergencies then a better design would be a removable bottom half of the casing with seals around the edge that is screwed to the top half. For charging an induction loop would mean you rarely have to open the unit. Then it would have no openings on the casing.

The_Wicker_Man

I bought the original Elemnt a couple of weeks ago (3 days before the Bolt was announced).

Was a bit optimistic after using garmin devices for the past 7 or so years. But bit the bullet and bought one. Such a great device and find it so much better than the garmin devices.
I was having problems with my Edge 1000 and was on my 3rd device within 3 years and garmin had quoted me £195 for a repair so decided to buy the bolt instead (got it from Sigma Sport for £210).
Not tried the maps or navigation side of things yet but going to Mallorca at the weekend and hoping to try it out.

StillGoing

earth wrote:

What about responsiveness? The Garmin 800 was very laggy when looking at the maps screen.

What about entering destinations? I'm guessing you have to do that via the phone app. So if you want to choose a new destination while out then you need to take a smart phone.

Are there any noticeable bugs in it or niggles? For instance the 800 had this habit of changing all the metrics on a screen so I had to keep reconfiguring it.

From looking at the photos it has the same rubber seals over the USB socket. They just don't last. an induction loop for charging. If you need to get at a memory card or have a USB socket for emergencies then a better design would be a removable bottom half of the casing with seals around the edge that is screwed to the top half. For charging an induction loop would mean you rarely have to open the unit. Then it would have no openings on the casing.

Responsiveness is fine and works with turn by turn indications via the LEDs and an audible tone, which is admittedly a tad quiet.

Rides are auto downloaded from Ride with gps or Strava. If you've created a route on there and synced your device, it will appear on the device. There is a function to add a new destination, but isn't something I do.

The Wahoo is another world compared to Garmin. Wahoo simply works. Forget the bugs of Garmin devices.

The rubber seal is harder than the Garmin and difficult to lift. There is no memory card slot, but there is stacks of internal memory that can be vastly increased by deleting some of the maps you don't want or will use. It comes with the world maps pre-loaded. You can re-install deleted maps should circumstances change.

You need to forget Garmin and their foibles. Wahoo do things differently.

cgfw201

im going to sell my 520 and buy an Elemnt Bolt when they are back in stock.

Eureka moment when I discovered I should never need to plug a usb cable into a computer ever again to get maps/routes onto the device. Garmins are comically antiquated in a lot of ways.

earth

I thought my Garmin 800 was rubbish from the outset and was quite vocal about it on here. Back then they were the current fad and everyone said they were great or maybe just ignored the faults. I'm just worried with all the hype that this might be another disappointment with everyone jumping off the Garmin wagon and onto the Wahoo wagon.

Something I can believe though is that anyone would be hard pressed to make a device that is worse than that Garmin 800.

I might have gone for a Polar because I trust them but they are Bluetooth only and the power meter on my wishlist is Ant+.

Which brings me to... The Wahoo is Bluetooth and Ant+ compatible but can you mix and match? A BT heartrate monitor with an Ant+ power meter?

cgfw201

earth wrote:

I thought my Garmin 800 was rubbish from the outset and was quite vocal about it on here. Back then they were the current fad and everyone said they were great or maybe just ignored the faults. I'm just worried with all the hype that this might be another disappointment with everyone jumping off the Garmin wagon and onto the Wahoo wagon.

Something I can believe though is that anyone would be hard pressed to make a device that is worse than that Garmin 800.

I might have gone for a Polar because I trust them but they are Bluetooth only and the power meter on my wishlist is Ant+.

Which brings me to... The Wahoo is Bluetooth and Ant+ compatible but can you mix and match? A BT heartrate monitor with an Ant+ power meter?

would assume so given their TICKR is ANT+ and BT.

The_Wicker_Man

earth wrote:

Which brings me to... The Wahoo is Bluetooth and Ant+ compatible but can you mix and match? A BT heartrate monitor with an Ant+ power meter?

Yes. I have a Wahoo Tickr X HRM (bluetooth) and a Stages PM (ant+), works without any issues.

StillGoing

earth wrote:

I thought my Garmin 800 was rubbish from the outset and was quite vocal about it on here. Back then they were the current fad and everyone said they were great or maybe just ignored the faults. I'm just worried with all the hype that this might be another disappointment with everyone jumping off the Garmin wagon and onto the Wahoo wagon.

Something I can believe though is that anyone would be hard pressed to make a device that is worse than that Garmin 800.

I might have gone for a Polar because I trust them but they are Bluetooth only and the power meter on my wishlist is Ant+.

Which brings me to... The Wahoo is Bluetooth and Ant+ compatible but can you mix and match? A BT heartrate monitor with an Ant+ power meter?

I've owned Garmins since 2009 when the 705 came out and been vocal in their support. But enough is enough. I too was bothered that Garmin, being the cycle computer "market leader", was never going to be bettered and anything from any other manufacturer, was going to be equally plagued with faults, or not do all the functions a cyclist wants. I took the plunge after getting fed up with the 820 and its faults. I wish I'd done it sooner and not bothered buying the 820. Seriously, Wahoo appear to be aimed at sport functionality and ensuring the end user isn't overly inconvenienced when things go wrong or could be bettered. Don't forget the Kickr came about because the man behind it tried to convince other turbo manufacturers to let him add his idea for connectivity and they refused. It took them less than 24 hours to rectify problems with the cloud over the weekend. You don't get service like that from Garmin.

And as others have already posted, it will connect to bluetooth and ANT+ at the same time.