"If you don’t have data from your ride, did the ride even happen?” is a popular saying in the cycling community.
Having a decent GPS bike computer isn’t just about logging ride data and bragging about your efforts on social media—it’s your partner in navigating routes, surviving the elements, and customizing the ride experience to suit your training needs. Whether you're obsessed with stats or simply trying not to get lost, having the right head unit can make all the difference.
Living in mountainous Colorado, I’m particularly attached to metrics like elevation gain—around here, bragging rights start at around 10,000 feet, and having a bike computer to back up those numbers is essential.
After years of scraping by with the cheapest bike computer I could find, a friend introduced me to the Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt, and I haven’t looked back since.
The top feature for me is its size. At just over three inches long and about two inches wide, the Bolt is a relatively small bike computer. As a triathlete who primarily rides on a time trial bike, it is small enough to fit snugly between my forearms while in the aero position without digging into them as larger bike computers do.
The Bolt is also quite a rugged little brick that has survived many dings from errant gravel or debris flying up from the road. The screen has remained mostly unscathed as well, despite my years of tossing it carelessly into my equipment bag or suitcase.
From a software perspective, the Bolt does it all, and paired with the Wahoo ELEMNT Companion App, you can completely customise your experience . YOu can create multiple bespoke data pages showing you as many (or few!) data fields as you'd like to see. Elevation gain, cadence, average power, speed, miles ridden, moving time, elapsed time and so much more. To be honest, it's got more features than I use.
The Companion App is stocked with maps of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Canada, United States, Australia, England, Scotland and Wales for download, meaning you will have access to the local roads and routes whenever you find yourself in unfamiliar territory.
Finally, the LED light bar across the top of the Bolt has multiple purposes and can be programmed to do everything from showing your heart rate or power zones to syncing with a Garmin Varia to show the speed of an oncoming car (the darker red the lights, the faster the car).
Though the Bolt v2 debuted in 2021, it remains a bike upgrade well worth considering even three years later. For the complete data package, pair it with Wahoo's heart rate monitor, speed and cadence sensors. Together this bundle is on sale for Amazon Prime Day, saving you $57.
Looking for a bigger screen? Check out the Wahoo ELEMNT Roam, currently on sale for $339.74.
