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TECH NEWS
wahoo elemnt roam mainWahoo launch the Elemnt Roam GPS computer, their first with a colour screen
Wahoo Fitness have unveiled their new flagship GPS device, the Elemnt Roam. It adds expanded navigational features and a colour screen, which will appeal to both road and off-road riders.
Review: Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
15 of the best cycling GPS units
The Roam is sleeker and smaller that the original Elemnt but a little chunkier than the Elemnt Bolt; we measured our test unit that has just landed in the office at 8.5cm long x 5.5cm wide and 95g, compared to 7cm x 4.5cm and 62g for the Elemnt Bolt.
The unit shares many of the same features as the Wahoo Elemnt and Elemnt Bolt, charging via micro USB and getting both out-front and stem mount options in the box. The mount is specific to the Elemnt Roam, but has a very similar appearance to their others.
Customisation of the data fields in done via Wahoo's recently revamped app for both iOS and Android, and it's simple to use with three big buttons on the front, scroll buttons on the right side and an on/off button on the left. The screen can be zoomed in or out, and it can connect to any ANT+ and Bluetooth devices such as power meters and heart rate monitors.
The new features include an ambient light sensor that automatically turns the screen backlight on or off and adjusts screen brightness according to the light conditions, inside or out.
The new Smart Navigation includes the option to automatically reroute you on to a planned route when you go off course, create new routes on the go and a 'take me home' option. The 2.7” colour display should make the maps easy to follow, and the battery life is a claimed 17 hours with all the features running, more than enough for a full day's exploring and more. Wahoo say the Elemnt Roam was made to answer demand as more cyclists are exploring "lesser trafficked" areas nowadays, so in response their new unit has much improved navigational features.
The Elemnt Roam comes at a levy compared to Wahoo's other computers, and at £299.99 this is their priciest device yet. We'll be testing our unit thoroughly over the next few weeks to bring you our verdict, in the meantime if you already reckon it's the one for you we've seen it for sale on Wahoo's website and Evan Cycles.
Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story).
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29 comments
I've watched the reviews on this and right now it is rubbish, I don't know what Wahoo was thinking bringing this out right now. Firstly you would only buy this if you wanted mapping, routing and proper turn by turn directions.
Mapping check...
Routing... well sometimes, maybe, depends on source, maximum length if calculated by device
Turn by turn... maybe, if you are lucky, doesn't do turn by turn if you get lost (seriously !!!!), doesn't do turn by turn for most route downloads, it is absolute rubbish...
Yes Yes Yes.. they say these things will come, but come on Wahoo... what makes you great over Garmin is your stuff "Just Works", Garmin are the people that you have to jump through hoops with to donwload routes etc., you are turning into Garmin.. well you get Turn by Turn unless you download from Strava, then you don't, of RideWithGPS as long as you have cue card option (whatreve that is), for one Garmin wins, thr routing just works, you always get turn by turn navigation, the rerouting (when you go off course, such as a Cafe stop or Road Closure.. which is often in the summer months when they are redressing roads) works perfect on the Garmin, but is still rubbish on thwe Wahoo, nobody would buy a car SatNav with crap rerouting, so wht accept rubbish rerouting on a bike computer that costs WAY MORE than a car SatNav.
Wahoo have done a really bad job here, the Edge 530 blows this device out of the water
It does sound a bit like getting a new toy for Christmas with a note saying the batteries will come later. Wahoo gained a big market with the Bolt, and justifiably. As you put it, "it just works". It sounds now as if they have, er, shot their bolt?
I use a Teasi One3, the new '4' model was released Decwmber and can be had for around £150 from a quick skeg.
I'm not seeing much/many differences between the big names and those not so well known except for a massive price differential.
I've used my Teasi across the U, in France, Germany, Jersey, even the isolated wilds of the East Riding and it's been nothing buy flawless.
I suppose one small downside is that the screen may not be as fast to react to your finger but on the go its a fantastic bit of kit. Was lucky enough to get my one3 for £70 as new boxed.
They don't support ANT+, nor any BTLE fitness profiles as far as I can see - so they'd be unsuitable if you want it for training etc as well as navigation. As a navigation aid they look decent enough in the pictures, but then again there's plenty of choice at that level of functionality and cost. Price-wise, good fitness oriented head-units can be had for a similar price with half-decent navigation, so not quite understanding 'massive' price differential - more, yeah... generally, although stuff like the Lezyne Mega XL at ~150 quid would be worth looking at depending on your sensor vs navigation priorities .
Well done Wahoo - welcome to the 1980's and colour screens. So you've now shown your colours and it's worse than Garmin for more wedge. Genius.
So what did you find wrong with the B&W screen?
But yes, it has now effectivley become a Gamrin clone. Wonder if Wahoo will also build in the reliability of a Garmin?
Let's hope not. Last year before buying my Bolt I did a straw poll on numerous cycle forums, specifically asking for feedback on reliability. I was besieged by disgruntled Garmin owners suggesting I buy a Bolt! Quite happy with it thanks.
It's pretty
I have to amit history here, seen so much on these boards slating Garmin (because millions more had them) and calls of the Bolt doing everything a Garmin does but cheaper... Yeah, but it doesn't have a colour screen... don't want one, well I don't want 350bhp on my car but my metro isn't better than your Audi...
The market needs a shake up, Wahoo started to do this and I hope others do too. But their step into premium seems somewhat flawed.
looking to replace a 4 year old garmin edge 1000 that is dying on its arse, and would happily abandon garmin altogether... but I do like the live strava segments. Do any other head units have this function?
The Hammerhead Karoo is the only other comparable unit. They're pretty open about where their aiming to go with updates (see https://www.hammerhead.io/pages/karoo-product-road-map), but AFAIK only the Garmin Edge and Wahoo Elemnt have it right now.
As far as I can tell from current and previous reviews, Strava docs and Wahoo - the Elemnt, Elemnt Bolt and Roam all support Strava Live Segments.
Yeah, the Wahoo Bolt has this. Easy to turn off via your phone if needed.
I just ordered an 830 to replace my 1000. After reading DC Rainmakers review oft this Wahoo I am glad I did. I was worried for a sec when I saw the announcement.
I would be interested in a basic gps for navigation only. Don't need or want hr, cadence, strava, power etc. Just the ability to program a route and which can be operated on the move also when wearing motorcycle gloves, i.e not touch screen but big chunky buttons. Possibly some sort of repeater unit for an app running on a phone would also work.
Does such a thing exist?
Not sure about the chunky buttons, but it sounds like you want a map
squirrel-definitely-not-a-chipmunk-reading-map-boston-area-55538231.jpg
That's what I currently use, was hoping for an upgrade which did not involve a squirrel (or even chipmunk) shaped map holder.
My Lezyne Mega XL is solid, uses buttons only, has good navigation if you don't mind a bit of initial fiddling with the app, has an exceptionally clear (albeit monochrome) screen, 30+ hour battery life and costs half as much as the new Wahoo. It's still expensive but a much better value proposition IMO.
What Joe said
My Lezyne Super GPS does everything that does with the exception its a bit more fugly and a monochrome screen for £99. What are Wahoo smoking?
Why do people keep buying this stuff?
I still use an older Garmin Etrex; AA batteries, can use open source mapping, if it's on - it's logging, simultaneous back-up of gpx log to SD card, no ANT+ etc. However, it's discontinued (ebay) & a bit heavier.
Not sure how one can be happy with that feature set and that average attempt at a colour screen for the price. Not when Garmin just released the Edge 530. And this is coming from a disgruntled Edge 820 owner who wishes to depart the Garmin universe. Not sure why cycling head units have screens from the dark ages when we are using OLED’s in mobile phones that are HD. Not to mention an OLED is more power efficient. I’m not saying that’s the answer but maybe something like Hammerhead are trying with the Karoo is more appropriate in 2019.
Is it just me or does the screen not feel centered to the device?
Those bezels are outrageously huge. Oh wait, hang on! They are slimmer on the marketing shots
Disgraceful behaviour Wahoo
I wish they'd make something simpler, and hopefully less expensive, purely for navigation, with maybe speed and distance. I'm not getting a power meter any time soon, and I'm not interested in heart rate, provided it's above zero, cadence, Strava, training schedules, or any of that stuff, nor do I care how far down the list of people that previously rode the route I've just ridden I am; or in my case, how far up from the bottom of the list I am.
I just want to be able to plan a route and follow it on something waterproof and that won't drain my phone battery, so that it stilll works should I actually need it to make a phone call.
Unfortunately all the things you are not interested is are simple and available on way cheaper devices. Navigation is tough to get right. You can bet wahoo invested man many man days into getting it to market. Hence more expensive
Did you hear the one about the guy in the sports car showroom who said to the salesman "I wish they'd make something cheaper, with 5 seats, a hatchback and a towbar"
If you don't want a full function cycle computer, don't buy one. Simple!
I'm guessing the 'back to route' funcionality won't be made backward compatible to the Bolt via a firmware upgrade. At least nothing on their site to suggest that it will; anyone know differently?
For the love of god, my savings
. Pssst... anyone wand to buy an Elemnt Bolt witha little over 4,000 miles on it?
It's okay. You know your Bolt won't suddenly stop working just because something newer has been released . My Elemnt still works great.
Before you blow any money on this, spend 30 minutes reading
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/05/wahoo-element-roam-cycling-gps-in-de...
If the venerable DCR says "...it just feels out of date. The display and slowness of the unit simply doesn’t match 2019, nor do the feature sets..." I'll keep my cash.