The new guy and his family
The older brother, the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, was a kind of generic to the Garmin 820 for racing cyclists – without the possibility of independent routing, but with many other advantages. Including the fact that it reliably does exactly what it promised and is absolutely simple and logical to use. Road cyclists in particular were happy to switch to the Bolt, which itself was the aero version of the larger, first Elemnt model.
And now the new Elemnt Roam. It fights for the favor of racing cyclists, gravel and mountain bikers with the higher Garmin device class. How successful remains to be seen.
Wahoo Element Bolt Review: Everything is possible, little must
Test: A GPS computer that can do too much and confuses the user with excessive complexity can be quite annoying - but so far the not great alternative was only a device with absolutely basic functions. With the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, a bike computer is now available that combines clear usability with the option to simply […]
Advantages over the road bike blockbuster Elemnt Bolt
- The display is 2,7 inches (Bolt: 2,2)
- you can also enter navigation destinations without a mobile phone. The Elemnt Roam then navigates with turn-by-turn directions, similar to a car navigation system.
- It brings you back to the route (depending on the default settings) if you have to detour due to construction sites or if you have made a detour from the route to visit a cafe.
- if you wish, it will navigate you back to the starting point of your journey using the quickest route.
- It has a color display, but uses colors sparingly: for example, large roads such as federal highways or motorways are displayed in yellow - which surprisingly helps with quick orientation. Certain displays are also shown in color - for example when measuring the watts (such a sensor is available).
- The Gorilla Glass display is even slightly easier to read in all conditions than the Elemnt Bolt - which is already a paragon of clarity.
- The battery lasts extremely long with (specified) 17 hours. Our practice: After 15 hours of use, our model actually showed 17 percent remaining charge.
- Various modes for indoor cycling
- The data fields for the saved segments can also be configured by the user.
setup and adjustment
Still very user friendly. Anyone who has downloaded the Element Companion app can use a barcode to identify their roam and then configure it. Registering sensors, arranging the information on the displays, etc. – everything is almost self-explanatory. However, some base maps have to be deleted so that the necessary detailed maps can be used for the respective area of use - the memory is quite small at 2 GB for the now very detailed maps.
The display of almost all data can be adjusted. 11 display spaces per display page allow countless variations: "Do I need the current incline on the first page or not? And what about the time driven?” etc.
In practice
Thanks to the Element app, the Roam playfully accepts gpx data from all sorts of portals such as Gpsies, Komoot, Strava and the like. Reading in the route sometimes takes up to half a minute - depending on the length of the route. Once it's in, the device asks if it should navigate to the starting point - and does so flawlessly when making the appropriate selection. In contrast to the normal route, the route is not displayed in black but in purple. However, there are no turning instructions in this case - you simply have to follow the route to the starting point.
Hint to the next hint
Arriving at the starting point, the black markings take over and offer turn-off instructions 250 m before the next change of direction - this merges perfectly. Who
We found the continuous display “next clue in XXX meters” somewhat superfluous. It can of course be replaced by another data set. However, if you turn off the beeping that is supposed to announce the appearance of a direction indicator, this display is a useful advance notice of the next turn.
The system almost always counts a bit too slowly: once you have reached the junction, Roam thinks you still have about 20 meters to turn; an appearance that most other navigation systems also have. However, this is hardly disturbing, because in contrast to this announcement, the arrow on the display shows the respective position very precisely - so you don't run the risk of making a wrong turn "system-related".
marginal motivation
A nice thing for racing cyclists: the display of the current speed in relation to the average speed. It is indicated by LEDs on the left edge of the display. The middle, white LED shows that we are currently driving at exactly the average speed. The bottom three (blue) indicate that you are traveling below average speed, the top three correspondingly higher speed. Even those who are not a fan of such "gimmicks" can be motivated by it within a very short time. If you don't want it, you can also link the LEDs to other functions.
bathroom vibes
On rough pavement, the original Aero mount that comes with Wahoo is not convincing: Unlike the Bolt mount, it vibrates and thus blurs the display a bit. However, if you use the small handlebar holder anyway or drive from a third-party supplier (Hidemybell), you will not have these problems with the Elemnt Roam either. By the way, the Hydemybell is compatible with Roam like Bolt.
According to a report, Wahoo has stepped up and strengthened the aero holder so that the display blurring on rough surfaces is history.
Look left and right
What also works now: In contrast to Bolt, you can not only zoom in and out of the maps, you can now also move them. While this is a bit tricky to do with almost all of the available buttons, it's doable and occasionally - "how far away is this or that place now?" - also useful.
He talks too much!
In our test, Element tended to give significantly more information than we wanted: if the cycle path deviates slightly, this is displayed as "turn slightly left". This is confusing at first, but you quickly get used to the fact that the arrow pointing diagonally does not usually indicate a turn in the route, but only a small, mostly imperceptible detour in the route.
"Hybrid" - and the route mixes.
Setting the device to the alternatives cross, hybrid or road has a much clearer effect - a setting that was only made possible by an update in July or August. Routes that are planned directly in the device do, it seems, take this code into account to a certain extent. We have not yet been able to make an exact determination of how big the difference in the choice of path actually is. However, if the route planning actually works the way it looked in our tests, that's a big plus for gravel bikers and touring bikers in particular - also because unpaved roads or paths are highlighted on the Elemnt Roam map system.
press again!
And again something negative: With winter gloves it is very difficult to click through the display with the three rubber-protected buttons - for example to get from the map display to the general data overview. Even with your bare fingers you have to hit the middle of the front area of the rubber field in order for the button underneath to really respond.
Can it get any steeper?
Like Elemnt Bolt, Roam also shows an elevation profile of the next few kilometers of the route on an extra page. Roam should also be able to do this with the routes that he plans in the device. This hasn't worked for us so far - however, Wahoo is constantly delivering further updates, so the feature should be available soon.
Incidentally, the display is a good thing for dividing your strength on an unfamiliar route - you can see the elevation profile over the next few kilometers and can decide how many grains you need to cover for the next climbs.
Automatic upload
Once the route has been completed, you press "Stop" and answer "To be recorded?" with "Yes". As soon as you come within range of the paired WLAN, the Elemnt Roam immediately loads the current tour data and map on platforms such as Komoot or Strava, if you have enabled it to do so. On the side and absolutely reliable. If the WiFi at home is far away - for example on vacation - the upload to these portals takes place via the companion app as soon as it is opened and connected to the device via Bluetooth. Must for map downloads and updates
However, WiFi must be available.
Wahoo Element Roam data
- Dimensions: 58,4 x 89 x 17,8 mm
- Display size: 2,7 inch color display
- Interfaces: ANT+, Bluetooth, WiFi
- Internal memory for maps: approx. 2 GB
- Altimeter: barometric
- Compatibility: Strava, Komoot, Trainingpeaks and others
- Battery life: 17 hours
- Weight: 93 grams
- Price: € 349,99
