tagaproject6

You may want to ask Wahoo. They love answering questions that get people to move from Garmin to them.
Swapping From a Garmin to a BOLT | Wahoo Fitness Blog

ksryder

What he said. Wahoo support is very responsive.

FWIW, I think any ANT+ power meter should work. According to Wahoo, that includes the Vector: https://support.wahoofitness.com/hc/...ith-the-ELEMNT

Zach0317

I'm having to replace the battery in my cadence sensor about every 10 days. Is this normal?

ksryder

No.

Drew Eckhardt 

I returned my ELEMNT because it didn't accurately record data, and the maps didn't work well for cycling. The minor roads used by cyclists disappear when you zoom out, you can't pan the maps to follow them zoomed in, and there are no street names for you to orient yourself.

After 2 years they still have data problems with some power meters, and haven't fixed the map issues.

JohnJ80

No. Mine last at least one year and usually almost two. Two things: 1. You have bad batteries which is not at all uncommon or 2. your sensor is consuming too much power.

Since so many things on or associated with my bike now have CR2032 batteries, I just replace them all in the spring every year on all of our bikes. It's just easier that way.

J.

ksryder

Truth. I'm genuinely surprised by the amount of CR2032 batteries that are bad fresh out of the package.

Magnil

Yes, return it while you can. I did not do it in time which I regret. It might be ok if you only ride road and add a speed sensor. Without speed sensor it reports to low speed.

For mountainbiking it is really bad. The GPS accuracy tells you you are of track and segments don't stop recording until you passed end point with 30-40 meters if you are in the woods. Garmin, Iphones, android phones all work much better.

Steve B.

As much as I liked the reliability and ease of setup on my Bolt, as well as the seamless integration with RWGPS, I thought the maps basically sucked. I realized quickly that the devices are road centric and the maps would be useless for any adventure cycling off a paved road.

One advantage in this type of use to a Garmin, is the ability to install different maps that are more useful for other-than-Road trips.

Maybe Wahoo pays attention to this and will change its format. Not likely though.

Falchoon

If you buy brand name ones such as Energizer you generally don't have this problem but if you buy the cheap ones off eBay or Aliexpress you do.

JohnJ80

Ummm. No. I have had this problem with brand name batteries too. It’s inherent to the technology. Testing disposable batteries is like testing firecrackers.

Marcus_Ti

Amazon is known to be indifferent to fakes of CR2032 and other std battery sizes. The fakes are so pervasive, and the copying of packaging so perfect at this point, that honestly the only way to be 100% sure of authenticity is to get them directly off the loading dock of Energizer/Duracell etc.

JohnJ80

My experience was with a franchised distributor to Sony. They buy direct from Sony so doubtful they were a fake. I think the industry as a whole is not that great on outgoing quality.

Machoman121

Would you think the Bolt be too small a screen size to use for a 54 year old cyclist eyes? If i have to use the GPS i would put on my bi-focal sunnies - dualeyewear. It's got a +1.5 diopter correction at the bottom.

I have the magellan Cyclo 505 - a brilliant piece of navigating GPS unit but it's pretty heavy to be toted around unnecessary. I'm hoping the Bolt could be my go-to GPS unit for not so heavy navigation requirements.

JohnJ80

Marcus_Ti

I tired the 505...I found the screen hard to read...the Bolt is monochrome LCD and quite readable in direct light. How many data fields do you think you'd want? Remember with the Bolt you can zoom in/out on the fly changing the number of data fields and making them bigger or smaller.

Machoman121

Agree 100% - the cyclo 505 (brilliant navigation) is not always clear to read - there's a dullness to the screen which does make it hard to read when you are on the bike.

No - I don't use a lot of data fields - just need the occasional navigation to tell me where the turns are for the infrequent routes that i often use.

my theory is that for something small like the Bolt monochrome should work better- provided the TBT's prompts are clear too. I mean you'll want to be able to easily see the TBT's countdown to a turn. From what i gathered the TBT countdown's font cannot be enlarged.

I want something much lighter than the Cycl505 to use and yet still provide navigation. So i'm looking at the Bolt or the new (not out yet) edge 520 Plus. I wonder if the Bolt's monochrome would still have the better readibility screen over the newer Edge 520 Plus.

wnl256

I have 56 year old eyes and I generally don't have a problem with the display. Can I see everything on it? Well, not really. But the turn prompts are easy to read and they are reinforced with both audio and LEDs. The audio is different for left turn, right turn, and straight ahead, and the LEDs flash in a pattern that makes the direction of the turn clear.

Steve B.

There's audio ?.

Actually I have 63 yr. old eyes and 95 yr. old ears, thus the audio prompts on all these devices are wasted on me.

Marcus_Ti

Sounds like you're in the market for a Thumper:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...throne-thumper

https://drumsonsale.com/pearl-throne-thumper.html

Machoman121

Not owning it yet but there's quite a few things i already like about the Bolt already:

1. the ability to switch off the back light completely
2. ease of zooming (maps and data) - this is a big plus
3. monochrome screen - i believe this is a huge factor in the readibility of the screen in all conditions while on the bike. Color screens are over-rated on the use of the bikes

I'll have to think about the lack of re-routing.....if the monochrome maps are way superior.....i don't mind sacrificing the re-routing features.

JohnJ80

Marcus_Ti

Yes...but IIRC you need data service on said phone. No cell data--no rerouting. A frustratingly large portion of the USA has basically no cellular service for most carriers. As a rule, the further you get form Interstate corridors the less likely you are to have data.

Steve B.

woodcraft

Recently got a Bolt, & I'm having trouble with the app.

It struggles & crashes on my iphone 6. It worked at first, then worked when getting best cell reception.

Now, not really, even after rebooting phone, unpairing/repairing head unit, & uninstalling/reinstalling app as recommended by Wahoo support.

I have little other stuff running on the phone.

Suggestions?