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New Wahoo bike computer leaked that appears to have a built-in wind sensor

A new device called the Wahoo Elmnt Ace, if leaked photos are to be believed, will also feature a 3.8” touchscreen, claimed 30+ hours of battery life and an audio speaker

A new Wahoo bike computer, which looks like it will be called the Elemnt Ace if the photos are to be believed, has been leaked online, with some blurry details giving away a few clues over what the new unit might offer. 

Wahoo Elmnt Ace r/wahoofitness

Appearing on the r/wahoofitness thread on Reddit and first reported in the media by Cyclingnews, the poster claims to have ordered the mysterious new computer from eBay international, although we cannot verify this claim at the time of writing. 

The Wahoo Elemnt Ace - assuming this is the real deal - is described as the cycling tech brand's "most powerful bike computer", and seems to be a completely new device, rather than an update of the popular Elemnt Roam V2 or Elemnt Bolt V2 released in 2022 and 2021 respectively.

Based on the details we can make out from the packaging, the Elemnt Ace will feature a larger 3.8" touchscreen. That not only exceeds Wahoo's current offerings (the Bolt V2 has a 2.2" display and the Roam V2 is 2.7") but is also larger than the supersized 3.5-inch wrap-around liquid crystal display on the Garmin Edge 1050

Wahoo Roam V2 summit climb pro feature

To make room for the larger display, the bezels no longer appear to house any coloured LEDs that have been used to show metrics such as heart rate, power or speed on existing Wahoo units, like the Roam V2 shown above. Wahoo has, however, retained buttons on the side and upper face of the device.

This mystery computer does have an additional trick up its sleeve though; if the box is to be believed, then Wahoo will be combining touchscreen and button functionality on a cycle computer for the first time. This is by no means a first in the industry, as Garmin, Hammerhead and plenty of others are now several generations deep into using touchscreens on their flagship models.

Built-in wind sensor 

Wahoo Elmnt Ace r/wahoofitness

Potentially the most intriguing feature to be leaked from the blurry info we can make out on the box is the inclusion of a wind sensor on the Elemnt Ace, something that would be a first for a mainstream cycling computer brand. This is presumably going to be used alongside the accelerometer, altimeter and gyroscope to measure wind speed relative to the rider in order to calculate drag.

Could Wahoo be bringing DIY aero testing to bike computers? It certainly looks that way! If you haven't heard about DIY aero testing then we've written a couple pof articles on the topic that might interest you:

> The future of going fast? Why live drag sensors might be cycling's next big tech craze
> What we learnt using the "world's first real-time aerodynamic drag force measurement system for cyclists"

Given the expense of wind tunnel testing and the importance of aerodynamics on performance, DIY aero testing could be the next big frontier of amateur cycling performance; think of it as the sequel of power meters.

Despite this, its inclusion on a head unit does come as a bit of a surprise, if these pictures are to be believed. At-home aero testing is a notoriously hard nut to crack, especially in something the size of a bike computer head unit (albeit quite a big one!)

Battery life 

Wahoo Elmnt Ace Reddit user HenkStubbe

Bigger screens mean more power, but according to the leaked pictures of this box, the battery life of the Elemnt Ace could be considerably more than any of Wahoo's current bike computers. In fact, the claimed life of over 30 hours doubles that of the Elemnt Bolt V2 (15 hours) and it's also considerably more than that of the Elemnt Roam V2 (17 hours).

This is also more than the Garmin Edge 1050, which offers up to 20 hours of battery life in "demanding use" but less than the current king of endurance, the Coros Dura, which boasts a whopping claimed run time of 120 hours.

Bye bye bike bells?

One of the most talked about features of the latest Garmin Edge 1050 is the inclusion of a "bell function", which makes use of the device's built-in speaker. The Wahoo Ace box indicates that the Garmin rival will also feature a built-in speaker, which would suggest that a bell function is possible like on the new Garmin. 

What will it cost?

Wahoo Elmnt Ace Reddit user HenkStubbe

Wahoo's current flagship computer is the Elemnt Roam V2 with an RRP of £349.99. Plenty of consumers are clearly prepared to spend more though; the Garmin Edge 1050 and Hammerhead Karoo 3 are priced at £649.99 and £450 respectively.

Judging by the size increase and additional features, it's pretty safe to assume that the Elemnt Ace will command a price far higher than we've seen from previous Wahoo computers.

A roundup of what we know so far:

  • 3.8" Touchscreen
  • Wind, Accelerometer, Altimeter, Gyroscope sensors
  • 30+ hours of battery life 
  • 64 GB of memory
  • USB-C charger 
  • Premium Aluminium mount 
  • Audio speaker

When will it be officially unveiled?

Wahoo Elmnt Ace r/wahoofitness

There was no official release date leaked, but given the pictures of the device and box, we'd say that this is a production-ready sample rather than an early prototype. We'd therefore expect this to be hitting the virtual shelves very soon, although we can't verify 100% that the pictures are genuine and Wahoo doesn't appear to stick to a hard and fast schedule for releasing new product. 

For reference, the first Elemnt computer was released in February 2016, the Roam V1 in April 2019 and the Roam V2 in October 2022, so there appears to be no pattern as to when Wahoo releases its latest flagship devices.

Intrigued by this supposed new Wahoo bike computer? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Emily is our track and road racing specialist, having represented Great Britain at the World and European Track Championships. With a National Title up her sleeve, Emily has just completed her Master’s in Sports Psychology at Loughborough University where she raced for Elite Development Team, Loughborough Lightning.

Emily is our go-to for all things training and when not riding or racing bikes, you can find her online shopping or booking flights…the rest of the office is now considering painting their nails to see if that’s the secret to going fast…

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10 comments

Avatar
hand0j1n | 3 weeks ago
0 likes

Hopefully the new device is a big success, but wahoo do have a lot work to do in terms of convincing that their quality control has improved.

After the screen delaminated and fell off my 3 year old Roam V1, I am just not a believer in the build quality of wahoo head units (2018 kickr is another tale entirely).

Best of luck Wahoo.

Avatar
mdavidford | 1 month ago
4 likes

I think you've all misunderstood - it's to detect how much runtime it's got left.

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mdavidford replied to mdavidford | 1 month ago
1 like

(Either that, or it pairs with a sensor in your shorts...)

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Secret_squirrel | 1 month ago
1 like

Im dubious about the wind sensor being useful for anything more than how hard and in what direction the wind was blowing.

There was a wind based power meter a few years ago that was notoriously flakey IRC.

Avatar
riggbeck replied to Secret_squirrel | 1 month ago
1 like

If my boys found out I had a computer with a wind sensor they would find a non bike related use for it!

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Paul J replied to Secret_squirrel | 1 month ago
0 likes

I had a powerpod, and it was fairly accurate in the right conditions. Cross-winds are an issue though.

It was very useful information though.

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Rendel Harris | 1 month ago
3 likes

If the computer is able accurately to detect wind speed and direction, presumably adding that together with gradient, speed and rider weight and height would produce at least a ballpark figure for rider power? A head unit that could do that without the need for other sensors really would be a game changer. 

Avatar
PRSboy replied to Rendel Harris | 1 month ago
4 likes

I was just wondering that... it would certainly be good enough for my uses and I would be a buyer.

I would also like the wind sensor to prove once and for all there is no such thing as a tailwind!

Avatar
IanMunro replied to Rendel Harris | 1 month ago
2 likes

I think one of the problems with wind speed and direction measurement on a bike is that in most use cases the local air turbulance produced by nearby obstacles means the number from the sensor isn't great for indicating the actual overall force of air hitting the bike and rider.  That's not to say it can't work, but would still need very controlled conditions for useful data imo.

Avatar
Paul J | 1 month ago
1 like

Wind sensor would be very very cool.

Though, wind sensors are not easy to make reliable in outdoor conditions.

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