Wahoo add custom multisport profiles | Rival

Bear with this to the end. It’s more important than you think.

Wahoo has just added custom multisport profiles to the ELEMNT app and this feature, by its nature, only applies to the Wahoo Rival multisport watch.

Also added is the ability to create and change RESTs in pool workouts. All good stuff.

In Detail?

Well, there’s not too much to talk about. I created a custom multisport profile and was able to add 10 legs to the custom profile then save it with a name of my choice.

This seems to nail one of the missing features from the recent launch. But…

Opinion

Generally, the omission of a CUSTOM multisport profile is ‘no biggie’ for most pseudo-triathlon watches. There are workarounds to the lack of a custom multisport profile on most watches. Plus, even when a custom multisport profile exists I suspect only a small minority of triathletes will use it for training and racing.

However, in my opinion, custom multisport profiles are a #1 feature for credibility. Without this feature done properly, you don’t have a ‘proper’ triathlon watch. It really is that stark, IMO.

If you, the manufacturer, don’t want to implement this hard-to-implement, seldom-used feature then, fine. Don’t. Most people won’t care. But then just don’t expect people like me to take your product as seriously as you think it should be taken.

I am mostly happy with what Wahoo has done. This WILL cover almost all of my personal needs. However, it won’t cover all of them. In the week before any ‘serious’ multisport race, I almost always have one session where I practice transition. For anyone who has been trained by me, you will have also had the exact-same session. Run-bike-run-bike-run-bike…starting slow and getting quicker with each iteration and only briefly get up to 80% of race pace before returning to transition to start again. Setup. Repeat. Again and again and again. Did I say ‘again?’, that’s in there somewhere. You only stop once you’ve nailed T1/T2 at race intensity.

Funnily enough, I’m normally quite good at transitions. Give me some pyro platforms and on quite a few occasions I have been #1/#2 ranked on the combined transition times of all competitors. It’s just those pesky swim, bike and run bits that let me down 😉

So, on 5 or so times a year, I want more than 10 legs for a custom multisport profile. That’s it for me. Would that stop me using the Rival? Probably NOT.

Oh. You do Otillo SwimRun? Well, clearly it’s not good enough for you either. Unless you do a very short, very easy Otillo. Hint: that doesn’t exist – this ‘sprint’ Otillo still has 13 legs.

Take Out

Hey Mr Wahoo. We love you. It’s good. But it’s not good enough. Garmin does this properly.

This is a minor feature but…death by a thousand cuts, and all. You seem to have taken the decision not to do multisport properly either because the implementation team don’t understand the needs of triathlon training/multisport racing or because it was too hard to implement. Either way: #BitOfAWorry.

More info in this properly critical, properly praising review of the Wahoo Rival. (it’s actually a more positive review than most others and similar to what triathlon.com said)

Techy Update Details:

ELEMNT App for iOS 1.37.0 – 22 December 2020

• Added: Custom Multi-sport profiles
• Added: Ability to add and edit Rests in Lap Swimming Workouts
• Added: Workout filters in the History tab
• Added: Translation improvements for RIVAL
• Added: Stability improvements
• Added: UI improvements in dark mode
• Fixed: Route line colours

Return to the full Wahoo Elemnt Rival Review