sirkaos

I wanted to check in with the Wahoo Bolt owners on the recent firmware updates on the v2. I have the original Wahoo computer and I read a lot of pretty negative reviews on the v2 on poor GPS reception, lots of bugs with the general functionality. I am hopeful that Wahoo is getting their bugs worked out, but from the original reviews, I am not going to buy one until they get it sorted out.
What is the story out there??

Koyote

Following. Same Q.

bmwpowere36m3

The latest SW update [WA27-13917] hasn't changed its performance in my recent thread regarding turn navigation cues lagging. It also randomly auto start/stop once on my ride today.

Not sure what the update addressed, but not my issues... I sent Wahoo a support inquiry with photos and video of my issues.

sirkaos

If you could loop us in on their reply, it would showcase if they are taking these issues seriously. When I went on a very big Internet web page and read the reviews, I was shocked. 10 reviews, average rating was 2 out a possible 5 stars. The comments show a common thread that the Wahoo Bolt v2 has some serious issues that make it almost usless.

bmwpowere36m3

Useless is a bit strong... I would say. When I asked around, almost every recommended it over the Roam. Wahoo vs. Garmin vs. Karoo is another topic.

Bassmanbob

Wow! The guys I know who have the Bolt V1 love it, but that's not what's being asked here. I was ready to purchase the Bolt V2, but now I'm going to wait. My Garmin 830 is beginning to lose battery power. I've heard that once that starts happening, the battery dies relatively quickly. I hope I can get another month out of it before I replace it with (hopefully) a Bolt V2 or a Garmin 530. I'm just tired of the Garmin not communicating with my phone reliably. Everyone I know that has a Garmin bike computer has these issues-- for years.

bmwpowere36m3

Below is Wahoo's response, which at first was minimizing this as "normal" GPS unit performance...



XXXX (Wahoo Fitness Support) Dec 6, 2021, 7:57 AM EST

Hi YYYY,

Thanks for your follow up. After passing along the issues you're having and consulting with others, I've confirmed that your Bolt 2's GPS functionality is performing below expectations. Since your Bolt and ELEMENT companion app are both up to date, we can look to see if there's an update available for local maps through the ELEMNT companion app. Instructions on that below:

Updating maps, viewing map size or deleting maps:

Select Update local maps under the MAPS ON ELEMNT section to receive the latest map versions. Updating maps also enables ELEMNT ROAM's smart navigation features. Installed maps and their file sizes are displayed in the MAPS ON ELEMNT section (highlighted in the image below). Select a location to view detailed file size info or to delete maps for a specific area.

If this fails to resolve your issue, please let me know in your reply and include:

- Proof of purchase for the Bolt
- A photo of the Bolt's serial number (on rear of device) - Preferred shipping address
- Current phone number

and we'll be happy to look into replacement options for you.

Best,
XXXX
Customer Support Representative

Bmwpowere36m3

Dec 4, 2021, 7:48 PM EST

To me its poor performance, when my phone does a better job at navigation cues, on average only 25’ delayed and updates to next cue while in the turn. Sure, the bolt gets there’s eventually, but its delayed by a good margin. For a device, whose main feature (one of) is navigation... To be staring at a tiny screen looking at cross streets while on the road... please. Just give me a turn cue at the proper time. I’m hearing from others the same issue with delayed cues.

I suspect the Roam is no different? Maybe need to look at Karoo or Garmin and return this unit within the trial period. Too bad, otherwise a decent unit. ~ YYYY

XXXX (Wahoo Fitness Support) Dec 3, 2021, 10:59 AM EST

Hi YYYY,

Thanks for your follow up. In the attached video, the distance to the turn goes from > 100 ft, to ~ 75 ft, to ~ 35 ft in a matter of seconds- as I said, this is within an acceptable range of performance for the Bolt's GPS functionality as GPS is inherently limited and cannot be hyper-precise. Using the Bolt's navigation function in areas where you have to turn onto one of several cross streets can get tricky (I've taken a wrong turn myself a few times). It's best in these scenarios to have the navigation screen zoomed in as much as possible to magnify the cross-sections and reduce confusion- the Bolt is not able to provide exact and instantaneous distance reading (down to the foot) to the next turn.

Best,
XXXX
Customer Support Representative

Bmwpowere36m3

Dec 2, 2021, 10:12 AM EST

Hi XXXX,

The video is to illustrate that when approaching a turn... while the unit is correctly indicating the direction of the turn. At the point where you must start the turn, the ubit is suggesting the turn is still up the road by ~75’. In reality you’d be making a decision even sooner that this to turn.

Where it’s burned me, is when there multiple close cross streets and I took a late turn.

[img]file://localhost/Users/Mike/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0clip_image002.png[/img]It’s also always lagging the distance to turn and never ahead... if it was positional error, it should be late and early within some error band.

Why is it when stopped at the turn point it’s off only 20-ish feet, totally acceptable. But when your rolling up to the turn, at the same point its 75ft off?

Finally it does update “post” turn, but it takes a number of seconds... so your way past the turn only to find that maybe you’ve taken the wrong one.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 2, 2021, at 8:27 AM, XXXX (Wahoo Fitness Support) <support@wahoofitness.zendesk.com> wrote:
>
>

XXXX (Wahoo Fitness Support) Dec 2, 2021, 8:27 AM EST

Hi YYYY,

Thanks for contacting Wahoo Fitness Support. I appreciate the included video. In response to your concerns:

- In the video you've sent, I'm assuming the 'mark's are meant to indicate you're making the turn. If this is the case, it would appear the Bolt updates the route almost instantly and re-orients to reflect that you've turned. The GPS marker also seems to correctly indicate your position in relation to the turn.

- This can happen as a result of inherent lag involved with GPS speed tracking. It can take the computer several seconds to 'verify' that you've come to a complete stop, and 5 seconds is within an acceptable range for the computer to auto-pause. For more accurate auto-starts and pauses, we'd recommend using a speed sensor, and changing your 'Speed' data source in the ELEMNT companion app from GPS to the dedicated speed sensor.

- This issue is very much related to the previous point. Because of the inherent imperfections in GPS speed tracking, riding at low speeds can trigger inadvertent auto-pauses. Again, we'd recommended a dedicated speed sensor, or disabling auto-pause altogether.

We apologize for any inconvenience. Please let us know if you have any other questions!

Best,
XXXX
Customer Support Representative

Bmwpowere36m3

Dec 1, 2021, 10:29 AM EST

Experiencing the following issues with the Bolt v2

During navigation, turn prompts are late by 50-100 ft while on the road. Meaning, when I should start to turn, the navigation cue is showing I still have 50-100 ft to go till the turn.

When coming to a stop it will take a number of seconds (at least 5) for it to pause the ride.

When riding slow, sub 4 mph, usually on a trail it'll randomly auto start/pause. Sometimes even when stopped.

Version WA27-13671

Images attached are when STOPPED at the start of the turn. Video shows response when approaching turn without stopping.

Steve B.

Sell it, get a Hammerhead Karoo 2. Rock solid navigation, terrific TBT, great screen and maps, effortless port from RWGPS. Better TBT than my Garmin 1030, which was never terrible.

bmwpowere36m3

A consideration... at the time battery life, touchscreen usage with gloves, lack of phone integration were some negatives.

Steve B.

- Battery life is typically 12 hrs, same as the original Bolt, slightly less than the 15 of Bolt 2. If doing a really long ride over that, you can add a USB stick battery...

- Touchscreen with full finger gloves is not an issue I've had and there are 4 buttons that do everything the touch screen does.

- Phone integration is a non issue as there's no real phone app that does anything other than BT connect and pushes text and other notifications. If you want full time connection you install a SIM card for a cheap wireless cell connection, that really only gets you LiveTrack and you can alternately connect via a phone hotspot.

sirkaos

I would be curious if anyone has ridden with both the Bolt v1 and the Bolt v2. Some videos and real world experiences would be helpful.

maartendc

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but any news on the software updates on the Bolt V2?

I am in the market for a GPS unit with good navigation, but the mixed reviews on the Bolt V2 give me pause. Especially the DCRainmaker review, saying that in densely populated areas, the GPS unit goes haywire. I live in a large city, so that would be an issue I would likely run into.

Should I get a Hammerhead Karoo 2 instead? It is significantly more expensive. Garmin 530 is another contender, but the screen reflectivity and lackluster software (reportedly) are dealbreakers for me. Also not a big fan of touchscreen controls for a cycling device. Physical buttons are a bit less fiddly in my opinion.

Thanks!

chaadster

I’ve been getting updates on the Bolt v.2 quite often, seemingly weekly since I picked one up about a month ago. I’ve not experienced any of the problems reported by some users, but cannot say whether that’s a function of the updates or simply luck.

It could be I haven’t hit that combo of factors to trigger a system fault/freakout, but I also kinda figured in upgrading from an original Bolt to the new one that, with so many units out there and there not being universal condemnation, that it was worth the risk. Many reviewers and established publications really like Bolt v.2, and I checked with my LBS for feedback on it before buying and they were positive as well, with at least a couple of the folks there using it. Based on that stuff, I figured the odds were in my favor, and also figured that if things went to hell in a handbasket, probably Wahoo would do some kind of warranty replacement. Fortunately, mine has been working well.

I wanted the v.2 primarily for the TBT nav, so that I didn’t have to keep a constant eye on the map like I have to do with the v.1 when following a route. I’d followed bmwpowere36m3 thread and watched their vids complaining of the function of the nav, but didn’t really see anything unusual based on my experience using a variety of GPS units over the years. I mean, I see the issue they’re talking about, but didn’t see it as a Bolt problem per se, and rather more a shortcoming of GPS performance generally. Maybe it’s to do with the fact that I use nav in rather more rural settings, but any relatively small imprecision in distance-to-turn reporting doesn’t cause a problem because there’s usually only one road to turn onto. I can see how in more dense urban environments or perhaps on trails that could be an issue, but again, it’s the kind of issue I see in standalone GPS units, GPS built-in cars, and phone GPS units, so it didn’t seem unusually problematic.

Anyway, I’ve been happy with it, and don’t regret choosing it over the Karoo2, which I also very closely considered. Ultimately it came down to me not wanting to be so involved with my bike computer, and not wanting to learn another operating system; I know what features I use, and I want them to work easily, so having the existing Bolt v.1 experience, I felt I could do all I needed to do with the v.2 without needing to learn a new way of doing things, which was appealing to me. The Karoo 2 was also rather bigger and just more complex, just more bike computer action than I think I really wanted or needed.

I used to have Garmin GPS, but always hated the user interface on both the unit and Garmin Connect, so I jumped ship to Wahoo when the Bolt came out. I guess they’re better these days, both in terms of looks and function, but I didn’t give one serious consideration because I didn’t want to be messing with two different head unit operating systems; I still use the original Bolt on another bike, so it’s much easier to manage 2 Bolts versus Bolt+Garmin.

fonzenio

i can say i bought a bolt v2 on may 2021 and i got to send it back after few weeks: gps connection always failing, climbing data page very inaccurate. a real pity as it was looking absolutely great

fgeneral

I have been using my Wahoo V2 Bolt for about 1k miles so far. I'm very happy with it so far, its gets kind of laggy since im so use to the quick response of the iphone. Not having to charge every ride is my favorite thing so far about it.