VIDEO: Hands-On The New Wahoo Elemnt BOLT v2

The ELEMNT BOLT hasn’t been updated since it was first released in 2017. Wahoo finally updated one of their most popular bike computers, the ELEMNT BOLT.

WHAT’s NEW: The new BOLT or BOLT v2 or Bolt 2021, has the following updates:

New display with anti-glare gorilla glass.
64-colors screen with zone-specific color-highlighted data fields.
Smart navigation.
USB-C charging and 15 hours of battery life.
16 GB internal storage.
Convex buttons.

NEW DISPLAY

The BOLT is fitted with a new anti-glare Gorilla glass; a much tougher glass with an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen based on your surroundings. So whether you are outside or training indoor in a dark room, the BOLT will adjust brightness in all conditions. The new Bolt is also a tiny bit longer – precisely 2mm longer than the original Bolt

The top is now fully covered with anti-glare Gorilla glass with the iconic LED lights on top and Wahoo logo on the side.

The screen is a 240×300 pixels 64 color display with an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen based on the surroundings. Even though the screen size is the same as the original Bolt, the new one looks bigger because of how the glass sits on top and covers the whole top surface.

Wahoo utilizes colors in navigation, elevation, notifications, workouts, power and heart rate zones as well as data fields.

The new updated interface shows color-highlighted data fields which you can customize within the Wahoo ELEMNT app on your phone.

But the most significant upgrade to the BOLT is its improved navigation that is similar to the ELEMNT ROAM. I went into a little more details in the video above so make sure to watch that.

NEW NAVIGATION FEATURES

Get Me Started : Navigates cyclists to the start of their route. When your cycling friend send you the route for their Wednesday night group ride and you are new to town or just need some help getting to the start location, the BOLT will ask you if you want to create a route to the start location.
Back On Track: Navigates cyclists back to their route if they take a wrong turn or run into construction.
Take Me To: Allows cyclists to select a location on their BOLT using the new pan and zoom functionality, and get directions to that location. Or you can use the ELEMNT companion app to search for a specific location by business name or a specific address. You can also import routes from third-party apps such as Strava, Best Bike Split, Ride With GPS, Komoot, and MTB Project.
Saved Locations: Save a location, like your home, Airbnb, or hotel if you are traveling. You can then easily generate turn-by-turn navigation to your location.
Route To Start: Find the shortest route back to the start of your ride.
Retrace Route: Reverse your route to navigate back to the start along the original route.

EASY TO CONFIGURE & EASY TO USE

Like all Wahoo ELEMNT bike computers, the new BOLT can be configured using the Wahoo ELEMNT companion app on your smartphone and integrates with the entire Wahoo Fitness Ecosystem, including KICKR smart trainers, TICKR heart rate monitors, and RPM Speed and Cadence sensors.

The BOLT is ANT+ and Smart Bluetooth compatible. It works with other ANT+ and Bluetooth sensors such as speed and cadence sensors, heart rate monitors, and power meters.

Just like the previous BOLT, the new ELEMNT BOLT is compatible with the KICKRs smart trainers, and other ANT+ FE-C smart bike trainers such as trainers.

SMART TRAINER CONTROLS

Level Mode: Allows you to set your resistance level (0 to 9). Just like riding on a fluid or wind trainer, the faster you go, the harder it gets.
Resistance Mode: It allows you to set resistance (0% to 100%).
Passive Mode: In this mode, the ELEMNT will not control your smart trainer. Passive mode is good when you want to use your trainer with a third-party app like Zwift or TrainerRoad and use the ELEMNT to record your ride data.
ERG Mode: Allows you to set a target power and the trainer will adjust resistance and keep you at your target power regardless of your cadence.
Sim Mode: Allows you to select a route, and re-ride it.
Workout Mode: You can sync your BOLT to your TrainingPeaks or Todays’ Plan account to automatically send workouts to your ELEMNT. It will sync the next 5 days and the last 2 days of planned workouts. The ROAM also comes with a number of pre-loaded workouts.

For the complete review and how the BOLT v2 is different than the original BOLT, make sure to watch the full video above.