Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt 2 Review

The new Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 2 and Garmin Edge 530 are the best-performing bike computers, and every review from real cyclists/triathletes says that. Both have all the features you need, but the Wahoo Bolt 2 offers a better rider experience, although perhaps Garmin edges it for the few of you who have complex navigation needs.

A pertinent fact to ponder is that the original Bolt is now a whopping 4 years old and still sold well last month. Why? There is an excellent reason for that. You will find SURPRISINGLY FEW cyclists who buy a Wahoo and then switch away to another brand. Wahoo ELEMNTs have the “just works” factor, so do what you want them to.

If you’re looking for a button-operated, small-format performance bikenav or want to upgrade from your original Bolt v1, get the Visa primed for action; start smiling and get one directly from Wahoo tomorrow.

Here is my short review of the new Wahoo Bolt with some further thoughts and 30 interesting & unusual BOLT facts below. I’ve used my Bolt 2 extensively throughout H2.2021 and beyond as my primary bike computer, and, FWIW, it’s still on my bike.

new Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 2 Review – Is it worth the upgrade?

These are four key reasons to upgrade from your old Bolt, and it’s pointless to upgrade from the Wahoo ROAM 2 (review here).

• Superior speed – processor speed, display rendering speed, re-routing speed and speed of battery charging.
• Superior maps – pre-loaded TBT capability and DEM elevation intelligence
• Superior colour screen with durable Gorilla glass
• The age of your current Bolt, wear and tear.

Speed

Internal components have been upgraded and are faster, including the processor, battery tech and presumably the screen processor. Whilst the startup time is still relatively slow, the in-ride experience is quicker & smoother, from changing screens to zooming in on maps. I specifically appreciate the much speedier charging time via the upgraded USB-C port.

Superior Maps

The old Bolt was somewhat hit-and-miss when it came to turn-by-turn directions. You were unsure if they would be displayed or if the source had included them. Now, you can load ANY route, and the new Bolt should create its own TBT directions.

The same principle applies to elevation profiles that are also used to come with your route file. The Bolt has elevation information pre-built into its internal maps, so you will get a forward elevation profile when following any route.

The maps are also simply superior because they are colour-augmented and more detailed. Because the Bolt is a medium-sized device, you are not buying it as a navigating workhorse, and I find its maps are great for occasional navigators…just like me.

Superior Colour Screen

The new colour maps and colour-coded data fields are excellent, but the latter border is gimmicky. That said, colour has been implemented discretely and functionally. It’s also worth noting that the new screen is now Gorilla glass, which is nice, although I’ve never scratched a bike computer screen (Edit: Garmin). But you may have if you put yours in your pocket with keys.

Wear-and-tear

Both the old and new Bolts quote a 15-hour battery life. It seems reasonable that the new screen gobbles more juice and that the battery has improved, but with no net change to battery life that Wahoo wants to declare. The batteries in most electronics these days start to degrade noticeably after about three years. So, if you bought one of the first Elemnt Bolts, you will probably now be down to 10 hours of battery life which is still perfectly fine, but it could be an excellent time to sell the original while there’s still some life in it.

It’s also worth considering the condition of your twist mount, buttons and USB cover flap, as those are the weak points of the original design. If they are loose, Wahoo might even replace your device, but if you’ve had yours for a while, you could use that as a somewhat paltry reason to upgrade 😉

Q: Upgrade?

A: Yes! It’s a worthwhile upgrade but not a necessary one. The improvements justify the £50/$70 price hike.

What’s Changed

• 64 colour screen for colour maps and colour data fields (was 8+1 colours on ROAM, monochrome on Bolt v1)
• 16Gb of storage for pre-loaded intelligent maps
• Fully re-routable mapping with on-device TBT and on-device elevation
• Faster processors, faster device
• Gorilla glass (was plastic on Bolt, Gorilla on Roam)
• USB-C Charging and faster charge time
• Imperceptibly larger and 8g heavier than the original, the mount is different but included with a new Bolt.
• App notification support includes WhatsApp and others.
• Various hardware/software tweaks – raised convex top buttons, new style side buttons, fonts, subtle menu changes, subtle & a new rubber USB cover design, new Wahoo Elemnt Bolt – more than a review, here are some Top facts, uses and features!

• The new Bolt has a proprietary aero mount, which appears compatible with a generic Garmin mount (twisted 90 degrees). Technically, it’s not compatible, and you might break your Wahoo twist mount like I did if you repeatedly use a Garmin-compatible mount!
• The Bolt V2’s new aero mount differs from the old Bolt as it has to accommodate the slightly larger new Bolt. You can use the new Bolt on the old bolt mount but not the old Bolt on the new bolt mount, and you cannot use the new Bolt on the new ROAM mount. The Roam physically attaches to the new Bolt mount, but there isn’t enough clearance with my bike handlebars to fully twist it. Confused? Me too!
• New and old Bolt mounts have two clever but tiny rubber grommets upon which the Bolt rests. This reduces vibrations a tad.
• Underneath the mount is a tiny hole. If you search again through the Bolt’s packaging, you will find a small bolt (haha), and you can bolt the Bolt Gen 2 to the mount. It won’t prevent your bike from being stolen, but will prevent your new Bolt from being opportunistically removed.
• Underneath the Bolt Gen 2 is a strange-looking hole near the USB port. This is for attaching a handy tether for looping over your bars to ensure your pride and joy never inadvertently bounces off down the road in search of a car tyre.
• Bolt 2 has onboard map intelligence, so it can re-route you if you turn incorrectly. Subtle colourations to your route errors and history and plan help you get back on track.
• If you don’t like re-routing or are worried about the battery hit, re-routing can be turned off on the Elemnt app.
• The new Bolt will support the display of Turn-by-Turn (TBT) instructions even if you have not supplied them. It uses its built-in instructions! Cool!
• Google Maps route workaround: Create directions on your phone using Google Maps. Mail those directions to yourself on your phone. When you get the email and link, open the link with the ELEMNT app, and the link will sync the route to your BOLT. That’s cool. A similar process might work for Apple Maps.

Here’s some more

• A unique screen on Bolt 2 is only shown for Strava subscribers, where your favourite segments pop up when you are about to race them. In real time, you can check your progress against the KOM or your PR/PB. This is separate from the link-up that everyone gets for their completed rides to be sent to Strava.
• The original Wahoo Elemnt Bolt was sold partially because of its aero savings. I remember fellow bloggers and DC Rainmaker quantifying the savings by a third of a watt compared to the claims of 1.5w (hmmm!). Marginal gains and all, but 1.5w always sounded a lot. I’ll go with Ray on that one.
• If your Bolt is linked to your WiFi, then when you power up, it automatically and seamlessly pulls a list of your structured workouts/plans and routes from all of the 3rd party platforms you have connected with, like RwGPS, Todays Plan, Komoot, Strava, Training Peaks and more.
• Only starred segments on Strava will be synced to your new Bolt against which you can compete. It IS possible to mute segments as you ride, and it is possible to ride segments that are sub-sections of more significant segments.
• The new Bolt still has three side buttons and 3 top buttons. That’s a lot of buttons! But it is a design that works well. The two buttons on the right-hand side have a cool feature that lets you zoom in and out of your current screen – e.g. you can zoom from one metric to 7 and back again…and then change screen.
• Those same ‘zoom’ buttons also have subtly different uses on different kinds of screens. For example, they were zooming in/out on the map screen or paging through the cues on a cue sheet.
• You can page to another screen with Di2 and zoom in too. If you have the latest Di2 buttons on your levers, you can configure the buttons to take a lap on your Bolt 2 or page to the next screen. Technically, the Di2 buttons replicate the current behaviour of the top left and top right buttons on the Bolt 2 and a long press on the Di2 buttons replicates the zoom up/down actions.
• Bolt 2 nicely supports the Garmin Varia radar. Various ways to configure Bolt 2 include flashing LEDs and graphics indicating how far cars are behind you. Garmin Varia is a good safety purchase for all bike owners…get one, and don’t die; I want you to come back and buy a Bolt 3 here in a few more years 🙂
• An excellent screen metric is the forward elevation profile. If you follow a route, the Bolt 2 can give you a graph showing your progress up the current hill. The side buttons let you zoom in/out on the current hill.
• To execute complex structured workouts, you must either follow a 3rd party digital plan that sends them to the Bolt 2 or create them yourself. A workaround is to use the free version of Training Peaks, where you can create workouts for today/tomorrow and have a library on TP that is no bigger than five workouts. You pay TP for a proper service, but that’s worth knowing as a freebie!

and yet more

• You must have a smartphone to configure a Wahoo Bolt Gen 2. You can’t change the screen layout during a ride without your smartphone, but you can pair a new sensor or calibrate a PM mid-ride without the app.
• The ELEMNT app/Bolt supports live tracking via your smartphone, where your position is relayed to someone you have granted access to.
• The ELEMNT Bolt 2 works very nicely with the RIVAL triathlon watch to offload your bike stats from the Bolt to the Rival as you enter T2 in a triathlon. Bolt 2 can also use the HR broadcast from RIVAL.
• Completed workouts should be uploaded over WiFi. For some reason, mine don’t. They need to sync to my iPhone first. You may have more luck.
• Your Bolt 2 will display essential phone, email and app notifications from your smartphone.
• I’ve done an 8-hour navigation on a Wahoo ROAM following a TBT route and not getting lost too much. There are loads of battery life left, like half the battery. Expect the Bolt 2 to perform similarly when new.
• Wahoo’s maps are of mixed quality when it comes to accuracy. I think they are generally good in the major countries, and I’ve had no issues in the UK and France – The USA is OK, too, but problems are reported elsewhere.
• On the ROAM, you must manually download the routable map for your country over and above the maps already there. You do not have to do that with the new Bolt. The routable maps come pre-loaded and can be changed over WiFi if you travel.
• Best Bike Split files are supported. Where you can plan your ideal race day performance and follow it on race day. You can also follow FIT file routes with the Bolt 2 controlling your Kickr and Kickr Climb to simulate your favourite TdF climb if it’s raining.
• ANT+ and BLE sensors are supported, as is FE-C. Pretty much any sensor will pair up. When you first pair a new sensor type, Bolt asks you if you want to put the associated data metrics on the screen. That’s cool! E.g. power fields to display if you have just paired a power meter.
• Wahoo’s ELEMNT app was originally just a device admin tool, but it has progressively become more powerful, and you now get some decent workout stats reported, too – nothing fancy. But Wahoo assumes you want to analyse or play with your workout data in another 3rd platform. They facilitate you getting your data out of the Wahoo platform and into partner platforms like TP or STRAVA.
• ELEMNT bike computers have the following pages with 9 data fields per page max: lap page (visible only after lap pressed), workout page (multisport page), climbing page, map page, kicker control page, planned workout page, and strava live segment page. As far as I know, you can put most metrics on any page and display four extra metrics on the map page.
• The map page can be configured to point with your direction heading up (otherwise I think it’s North-up)
• When pairing to your home WiFi network, the Bolt won’t work with a 5Ghz signal on channels 1-9, just 2.4GHz. Your high-speed WiFi should be OK with that, but…

Please share any more Wahoo ELEMNT tips or facts to impress and delight us in the comments below!

New Wahoo Bolt vs Wahoo Elemnt ROAM – What’s the difference?

The key difference is simply the size; ROAM is bigger than Bolt, with a bigger screen slightly more suited for navigating.

There are several less significant differences, as the ROAM has a slightly better battery life, and the new Bolt has slightly improved map intelligence with pre-loaded TBT/Elevation information

new Wahoo Elemnt Bolt vs Garmin Edge 530 – What’s the difference?

The new Wahoo Elemnt Bolt competes with the Garmin Edge 530 and the Elemnt ROAM against the Garmin Edge 1030 plus.

The essential differences between Wahoo and Garmin are that Garmin has a pedigree in mapping and map intelligence; Garmin has an app store (CIQ); Garmin are fully configurable as a standalone device and doesn’t need an app, but as a result, they are complex to administer; Wahoo devices become quick to use and their interface seems ‘obvious’ once mastered; both Garmin & Wahoo tend to control retail prices as best they can; Wahoo tends only to allow online dealers who also have a physical store presence;

Most cyclist and triathletes will be perfectly happy with either a Garmin or Wahoo.

Those of you with highly complex sports tech and immersive routing needs will already own a Garmin Edge and won’t be reading a review like this for guidance! You know who you are and are probably an expert in your tech field.

I need Garmin devices to run this site, but as ‘me’ the cyclist and triathlete, I prefer and usually use Wahoo/Hammerhead Karoo 2 bike computers for cycling.

new Wahoo Bolt 2 Technical Specs vs original Elemnt Bolt

Here is a comparison of the technical specs of the Wahoo Fitness Elemnt Bolt and Wahoo Bolt 2

new Bolt Accuracy

I will circle back on this at some point in the future. Here are some pertinent GPS results in various conditions and an elevation track over some Surrey hills.

Elevation – here, the Bolt started too high and maintained that discrepancy. Had it started correctly, it probably would have given a good result. I’m surprised that the inbuilt digital map elevation is not leveraged, as it wasn’t, and I was following a route.

GPS – GPS, on the other hand, looks pretty decent, although even less decent bike GPS tracks are fine. The behaviour under trees is fascinating, which was an uncommon criticism of earlier Wahoos. These images show good GPS performance in many conditions but slightly underperformed when zoomed into the Box Hill tree zig-zag. This error level is of no concern to me, but it might be to others of you, and the errors could well be more pronounced through more closely packed trees when trail riding. Roads are generally too easy to challenge a bike computer’s GPS.

GPS looks mildly improved over the original Bolt.

Take-outs from my Review of the new Wahoo Bolt

This is one of those upgrades where little seems to have changed but where the reality inside the bike computer is VERY different as there are many new components.

Compared to the original Bolt, this is an entirely new piece of improved hardware with a few extra meaningful software goodies thrown in as mapping improvements. Highly detailed issues like hard-to-press buttons with gloves and flappy charge covers have been fully addressed; usability improvements have been made with colours & new fonts on the interface, and a faster processor powers the ride experience.

What more could we have expected? Answer…not a lot. This is a VERY sensible evolution of the Wahoo Bolt.

If you are unhappy there, the new Wahoo Bolt is worth the upgrade, and you should switch from a competing brand.

Bolt is widely available at £250, Eu280 or $280 directly from Wahoo Fitness and my partner, Competitive Cyclist, via the blue image immediately below.

Please support the reviewers’ work by using their affiliate links. Our reviews are all labours of love, and we need your support as much as the bike shops do!