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I need to upgrade my 12 year old bike computer. I have been trying to research and compare but its like pulling teeth. After 5 minutes of youtube reviews the daydream kicks in and I haven’t learnt anything, other than how many items on my table I can balance on top of each other. I am leaning towards Wahoo bolt as it seems to be simple and do most things. Is there anyone on here who has one and likes it or knows anything about bike computers and could put it all in simple bullet points for an idiot with 0 concentration?
What do you want it for? Just tracking where you've been / current speed or mapping, fitness sensor compatibility etc as well?
Fir what it's worth, I have the full sized Elemnt and am very happy with it. I got the full size as I wanted more mapping real estate.
What features do you need?
If after a GPS with all the bells and whistles, including colour OS maps, etc. then the higher end Garmins are good.
My mate has the Wahoo and seems to like it, but I don't know what features it has.
If you're after a simpler GPS/computer style thing, with all the info you need including simple breadcrumb trail finder, then the Lezyne Micro is excellent.
I've got the watch version, and it's the best simple GPS I've used. Much prefer having it on the wrist too.
I'd start off with what you want it to do: Just record a track. Turn by turn navigation with a map. Planning on the unit itself / re-routing or just uploads from a GPX via wireless app. Colour screen or not etc. Road or off-road mountain biking use.
Fwiw, I own a Wahoo Elemnt and really like it. It does maps - road ones and main bridleways - and clear turn-by-turn nav based on a GPX route, though not re-routing or planning on the unit. I prefer the interface to Garmin units I've tried. It integrates with Komoot so you just plan routes / upload GPXs to that and it appears on the unit automatically via wi-fi. And it uploads to Strava automatically when you get home if you want it to. Good battery life too.
The new Elemnt Roam has a colour screen and on unit planning and re-routing and is probably what I'd buy now, but ime the Wahoo Elemnt stuff works really well. The Bolt is basically the same as the Elemnt, but smaller and aero, if that bothers you.
• does turn-by-turn road and some bridleway nav
• records tracks and uploads them automatically if you want
• follows GPX files though you need to uploads via Komoot
• good battery life
• won't re-route if you go off track, but the new Elemnt Roam does
• straightforward to use with button control
• doesn't do Ordnance Survey mapping
• Elemnt slightly bigger than Bolt, easier to read.
• Roam has colour screen
• I'll stop now
I'm sure someone'll be along shortly / already to tell you that there's a Garmin that does all this too, but personally I think the Wahoo is easier to use and Garmin software is horrible ime.
In a way, a road GPS unit is relatively straightforward, if you want Ordnance Survey maps for off-road mountain biking, it's a little more complicated and I'm not sure if there's anything that does turn-by-turn nav alongside OS maps
Hope that's some help 🙂
Great, very helpful replies, thanks.
I would like,;
navigation, as I’m new to the area. doesn’t have to be singing and dancing, as long as I can follow preplanned club routes
heart rate
cadence
easy to use
link to strava
good batter
tough enough for CX and
easy to read in sun, rain, dark
In that case I would get an elemnt. Choose whichever suits you budget. Although I don't know if its a good batter.
where do you get offroad routes from with the Roam and do they appear on a map with direction arrows or as breadcrumbs?
Switched from Garmin to ELEMNT a few years ago. Most people I've ridden with are making the change too. My ELEMNT has been utterly faultless from a software point of view. They've just added radar support too, although only because DC Rainmaker called them out on it earlier in the year.
I would shortlist the Wahoo Roam and the Edge Explore, though if the latter doesn’t serve your cadence/HRM needs (not things I use so I’m not sure) then shortlist the Edge 830 instead.
My Edge Explore has been spot on so far. Software is vastly improved.
I'm about to receive a bike comp for my birthday, and after much deliberation have decided on the Wahoo Roam. Being an IT guy, bugginess and unreliability hold a particularly special place in hell for me, and whilst the Edge 530/830 is better on paper - I'm not willing to take the risk!
Plus the Wahoo sounds so easy to get on with, so I'm going for that. Don't have it yet though!