Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2 GPS Bike Computer Review
The Wahoo Elemnt Bolt V2 is an ideal companion for everyday riding, presenting enough information for performance orientated riders to train effectively but also navigate through tricky terrain that’s more your thing. It’s a pretty simple device in terms of setup and use which is a breath of fresh air in a world that’s becoming increasingly complex.
If you’re in the market for a GPS bike computer, chances are you’ll end up with either a Garmin, Wahoo or Hamerhead. The options from these three brands are dazzling; from devices that will just tell you where you’re going and how quickly to the other end of the spectrum of computers that could rival your phone for processing power.
As the name might suggest, the Elemnt Bolt from Wahoo offers a slightly more stripped back approach to on bike information but that doesn’t mean it left us wanting for more. We took Wahoo’s smallest computer on a host of adventures, from all day gravel epics in the Highlands to thrashes around our local loop to see if less really is more.
4.5/5
£229 | Buy from Wahoo
The Lowdown
2.2” 64 colour screen
16GB internal memory
Bluetooth, WiFi and ANT+ Compatible
On device route creation
Out front and stem mount included.
15 Hour battery life
Positives
Compact size yet feature rich.
Excellent integration with 3rd party platforms
Navigation prompts are clear.
Negatives
Larger screen would be welcome
Buttons could be more tactile
Small but Mighty
When sat next to the latest crop of GPS computers that seem to have taken the view that bigger is better, the Bolt does look tiny. Sporting a 2.2” screen with 64 colours; there’s no touch screen here, all navigation is done with the five buttons dotted around the device. The resolution of 320x240 means the display is crisp and with a selective use of colour, important information really leapt off the screen. The strip of LED’s running across the top of the screen can be configured to provide a visual representation of different fields such as average speed, power or heart rate.
Continuing our tour of the hardware, the on-board battery is good for 15 hours and is rechargeable via USB C rather than the antiquated micro USB of days gone by. It’s possible to recharge the battery while still using the Bolt so if you find yourself riding for more than 15 hours it’s just a case of strapping on an external battery pack and plugging it in. The Bolt is feathery light at only 68 grams and the included aero out front mount won’t undo the years of work in the wind tunnel. Wahoo have their own ¼ turn mount (what ever happened to standards eh?) but there are adaptors available to convert Wahoo to Garmin mount.
Turning our attention to the internals, the Bolt supports all five major GPS satellite systems to enable accurate positioning at all times which is a huge bonus when it comes to navigating in built up areas with high rise buildings or deep in the wilderness where mountains and trees can obscure the device’s view of the sky. It’s also packed with the ubiquitous combo of WiFi, Bluetooth and ANT+ to enable connectivity between your phone, heart rate and power meter. The Bolt is capable of displaying notifications from your phone such as emails, calls or texts which some user might find handy but we prefer to leave our phone in our pocket when riding and deal with the real world when we get back.
After powering some devices on, they greet you with a ‘home’ screen to choose between different bike profiles and delve into menus etc. There are no such formalities here, the Bolt dives straight into a screen of data fields ready to record your ride. The fields are adjustable via the app or you can display more or fewer fields using the two buttons on the side.
Getting Set Up
Boot the Bolt up for the first time and you’ll be directed to scan a QR code to continue setup on your phone. Download the Wahoo Elemnt companion app and input your details and it’s ready to go. The app also allows routes to be uploaded to the device and manage more mundane tasks such as firmware updates and adjusting heart rate and power zones.
Loading routes onto the Bolt is a breeze; you can connect any number of training platforms to the Wahoo app, in our case this was Strava. Routes that you’ve made in Strava will appear in the Wahoo app and it’s just a case of hitting ‘send to device’ where it will then appear on the Bolt ready to be used. With 16gb of internal storage, there’s plenty of space for a huge number of routes. At the end of your ride Wahoo will automatically share your activity to the platform of choice so there’s no need to mess about exporting and importing activities between platforms.
Real World Performance
The choice to use a non-touch screen might baffle some but as we’ve previously discussed on The Gear Loop, touch screens rarely play nicely with gloves or wet hands so we’d prefer physical buttons every time. We know when we’ve pressed them and means we don’t end up with a smeared screen from tapping and swiping through menus. The screen remained highly visible even in direct sunlight and the ambient light sensor kept the brightness at a good level when moving between open roads and heavily shaded trails.
Out of the box, the Bolt has four data screens; ride metrics, Live Segments, elevation profile and a map. The Live Segments page didn’t get much attention as it requires users to ‘favourite’ segments on Strava to then get a real time comparison between the course KOM; we are rarely troubling the upper reaches of the Strava leader boards but it’s an interesting feature. The elevation profile was handy for reference on longer climbs to estimate how much longer we had to endure but unlike the Karoo 2 or some Garmin offerings, this feature will only work when using a preselected route rather than on the fly.
UPDATE: As of 4th May, Wahoo have introduced Summit Freeride which will provide on the fly information about the climb regardless of whether you’re following a predetermined route.
The mapping capabilities of the Bolt really impressed us, especially given the small size of the screen. Offering clear guidance with a fully-fledged map rather than a breadcrumb trail and turn/junction instructions with road names it really was a joy to use. Even when we did get lost and stray from the route, the Elemnt will reroute you via the best path for cyclists rather than having a meltdown and just insisting you do a u turn to get back on route.
It’s also possible to save frequently visited locations and the Elemnt will generate a route to the location on device, so there’s no need to even get your phone out.
The included maps are good for road riding but we found only a smattering of off road trails and gravel tracks were marked on the map so if heading off piste it’s worth carrying a backup with your intended route marked. If you’re following a preselected route, the trial will still be shown but you won’t get turn by turn directions.
The Wahoo Elemnt Bolt is an ideal computer for every day riding; some offerings pack detailed mapping and more data fields than you know what to do with (we’re looking at you here Garmin) but Wahoo have gone for a more paired back approach. The judicious use of colour really helps lift information off the screen and we found the mapping deceptively advanced for such a small device.