Getting What You Need From a Cycling GPS

[PSm]

I was thinking of the auxiliary features and notifications like https://www.apple.com/healthcare/apple-watch/, but maybe you already are aware of these (or they're not necessarily useful in your situation).

Good luck, and all the best.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Yes, I have an Apple Watch 6, so it has the fall detection feature; although it was enabled, it did not activate when I blacked out and toppled over. Apparently, I have a trifisicular block, which means my heart does not always pump as well as it should. I am having a pace maker fitted which will smooth things out. But thank you for your suggestion.

usually its too sensitive I have it go on in my woodworking shop all the time. once the nI was hammering a piece with my other hand.

 

[Prairie Dog]

My wife moved the location of her phone mount from the stem to a more discreet location on the cap. She’s paired it with a set of Garmin Rally pedals together with her Fenix watch.

 

[PSm]

Just got the Wahoo Bolt v2 up and running, and really like it. The colors and visibility is great, and I prefer the layout and font size of the data screens (and ease of changing) over the Garmin Edge 830 I returned. Nice that it syncs up with Strava over wifi, but too bad you have to connect to it via Bluetooth for the workout to show up in the Elemnt App (unless I'm doing something wrong). Worked great with my starred Strava segments, as well, telling me to "Go" when I reached them. And my HR and cadence sensors synced right up, no problem.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

I had one of those!
What peed me off though was every time I went over a bump the receiver would jump out of the cradle and hit the ground.
My kids loved it though, they said it was "off the hook"!

At least it was connected to the cord so you didn't have to stop to go back to retrieve it. CN

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Just bought and configured a Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt v2 (it is nowhere written it is v2 but I will list the features).

Pros:

• Much smaller and slim compared to the Roam. It is fully readable, and the small size simply looks cool!
• Very sharp screen with better colours than in the Roam
• USB-C charging
• Far more memory (16 GB) compared to the Roam (4 GB)
• The Bolt v2 maps store the elevation information (sadly missing from the Roam)
• Louder beeper in the Bolt v2.
• For new users: cheaper than the Roam.

Cons:

• Up to 9 data fields in the Workout page (Roam holds up to 11 fields)
• No vertical row of LEDs in Bolt v2.

These two deficiencies are totally unimportant to me.

It supports Varia, right? CN

 

[Vewlix]

I wish there was a cycling navigation app that showed if the country trails in the UK had stiles, gates etc as it’s impossible with a heavy ebike lifting it over a stile.

The amount of times I have had to backtrack as one side of the forest trail has a big gate but the exit has a stile.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It supports Varia, right? CN

I don't own a Varia. All sources claim it does and it can be set for right- or left-hand traffic.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

(unless I'm doing something wrong).

You're doing it right. Just a feature. Wahoo computers are depending on the smartphone but of course you need no phone on the workout. My female friend has just completed a 1090 km tour on a traditional recumbent bike using my Wahoo Roam. No issues and it is the first her tour fully documented, with all the climbs

 

[ebikealex]

I wonder if somebody can help me with a conundrum I have (actually several)? I have a Specialized Creo and use a Wahoo Elemnt BOLT v2 but my Creo is derestricted and as such gives a constant reading of 17kph which means when I connect the BOLT to LEV mode via Ant+, I get inaccurate readings. Is there a way to take the speed reading from GPS but still get the other data from the e-bike?

Also is anybody else disappointed with the Wahoo Elemnt App on iPhone, mine crashes constantly, especially when loading maps to the device?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Your derestrictor makes it impossible (what make and model?) With a derestrictor such as PearTune 3.0,your Creo would deliver all proper data to your Wahoo as it does on my Vado SL.

My ELEMNT Companion App does not crash. It is depending on a smartphone used for sure.

 

[mschwett]

I wonder if somebody can help me with a conundrum I have (actually several)? I have a Specialized Creo and use a Wahoo Elemnt BOLT v2 but my Creo is derestricted and as such gives a constant reading of 17kph which means when I connect the BOLT to LEV mode via Ant+, I get inaccurate readings. Is there a way to take the speed reading from GPS but still get the other data from the e-bike?

Also is anybody else disappointed with the Wahoo Elemnt App on iPhone, mine crashes constantly, especially when loading maps to the device?

can you just connect only to the power and cadence sensor output, rather than the LEV profile? then it won’t transmit speed and the bolt will presumably use the GPS, as it would without a sensor.

 

[rayray]

I wonder if somebody can help me with a conundrum I have (actually several)? I have a Specialized Creo and use a Wahoo Elemnt BOLT v2 but my Creo is derestricted and as such gives a constant reading of 17kph which means when I connect the BOLT to LEV mode via Ant+, I get inaccurate readings. Is there a way to take the speed reading from GPS but still get the other data from the e-bike?

Also is anybody else disappointed with the Wahoo Elemnt App on iPhone, mine crashes constantly, especially when loading maps to the device?

I don’t know how to fix your speed readings with Wahoo units, but if your Creo is a 2021 or earlier model I believe you could use the BLEvo app to get GPS speed readings.

 

[rayray]

It supports Varia, right? CN

The Wahoo Element units do support Varia radar. I have an Element, and it works perfectly, showing it vertically on the left side of the screen. If I’m not mistaken, the Bolt shows it horizontally on the top of the screen……I think.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

If I’m not mistaken, the Bolt shows it horizontally on the top of the screen……I think.

Not really. Bolt just displays the incoming car symbols directly on the screen, vertically. Left side for right-hand side traffic or opposite for the left-hand system.

 

[PSm]

Btw, have any of you verified how accurate the speed and mileage readings are, with your GPS Nav unit? I don't have the speed sensor add-on for Wahoo Bolt v2, and wondering if the GPS values are reasonably close to accurate.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Btw, have any of you verified how accurate the speed and mileage readings are, with your GPS Nav unit? I don't have the speed sensor add-on for Wahoo Bolt v2, and wondering if the GPS values are reasonably close to accurate.

The GPS readouts match the Strava Maps very accurarely. If you can connect your e-bike to the bike GPS computer and calibrate the Wheel Circumference against Strava Maps, the match is perfect.

 

[peterh_nz]

The GPS readouts match the Strava Maps very accurarely. If you can connect your e-bike to the bike GPS computer and calibrate the Wheel Circumference against Strava Maps, the match is perfect.

Yes, with careful wheel circumference calibration, ebike odometer readings can very closely match the distances shown on maps such as OpenStreetMaps (most Strava maps are based upon OSM) and as displayed by GPS units.

In my experience, GPS recorded distances have very good accuracy. Of course it depends upon recording interval and a clear view of the sky.

So one can use either, or both, to check bike odometer calibration.

Cheers

 

[mschwett]

Btw, have any of you verified how accurate the speed and mileage readings are, with your GPS Nav unit? I don't have the speed sensor add-on for Wahoo Bolt v2, and wondering if the GPS values are reasonably close to accurate.

there's a bit of a question here of how to determine what "correct" is. to perfectly calibrate a wheel sensor requires an accurate fixed circumference, which is dependent on inflation. obviously the same tire at 60psi has a larger circumference than it does at 30psi. a wheel sensor will also include the "diagonal" distance up a slope, whereas a map based distance would not, and GPS elevations are so inaccurate that any vertical component can't be taken into account even if the software intended to, which it usually doesn't.

i've found a difference of around 1% with a properly calibrated wheel sensor vs GPS, with the wheel sensor reporting a higher and likely more accurate measurement. at very high speeds around corners, the GPS sampling rate of 1 per second underestimates distances by quite a lot. for a straight route, this wouldn't be significant, for a very windy or zig-zagging urban route at high speed, it can be a percent or so.

real world though, the biggest difference i ever observed with a properly calibrated wheel sensor (using a runout measurement) was one percent.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I mapped out a 60km ride on the Ride with GPS site.
The Garmin Edge 530 was right on the money at the end.