Review: Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt GPS Bike Computer

For a few weeks, I have been thinking about using a bike computer to help me improve my fitness training when riding my Specialized FSR S-Works mountain bike at Almaden Quicksilver County Park (and other parks & trails).

Until now, I have been using my iPhone 10 with an Apple Series 3 watch to record my rides using the Strava app on my iPhone. The Strava app recorded my GPS position and heart rate but not instant speed or cadence. Did the knowledge of cadence or speed really help?

I decided to purchase the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt bike computer bundle on Amazon ($330), which included the following sensors:

• Heart Rate Monitor (TICKR)
• Cadence
• Speed

After installing the cadence sensor on one of the pedals and the speed sensor on the rear hub of my mountain bike, I also attached the bike computer hold on the front handlebar. 

Installation difficulties:

• No manuals showing how to install the sensors were included. I searched for YouTube videos to figure out the proper installation procedures.
• The speed sensor was troublesome to install on the rear hub. It took a few minutes of viewing YouTube videos to install.
• The cadence sensor was easy to install on the right crank arm.

The Bolt computer is configured using a Wahoo Bolt app (downloaded from the Apple store). I configured it and also enabled access to Strava. It was ready for use after a couple of firmware updates and reboots.

Today, Friday, May 15, 2020, I could finally test the Bolt bike computer on my usual Almaden Quicksilver bike ride. 

I put on the Heart Rate monitor, turned on the Bolt bike computer, and pushed the "start" button. I also started the Strava app on my Apple watch (as a reference).

When I started paddling, the Bolt reported: "N/A" for my heart rate and cadence. I was disappointed that it had not already found the active sensors. It took about 5 minutes to see reliable numbers on the Bolt display.

The primary usefulness of the Bolt was to see my heart rate, speed, and time on the trail. Cadence was not very useful.

When I completed the ride, I paused the Bolt computer and thought it would immediately upload data to my Strava account. Unfortunately, it does not do so until it's connected to WiFi.

After arriving home, the Bolt eventually synchronized and claimed to upload my data to Strava, but nothing showed up on my Strava account.

Overall, the Bolt is not very useful for my training. The Apple Watch works just as well and without worrying about charging it, syncing it, or wearing a separate heart sensor.