Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $699, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
3
Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
4
My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
5
The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Any chance of pioneer opening up their private ant protocol or are they still keeping it a secret with this change being they are sharing with Wahoo?
Would indeed be nice if they let platforms other than CycloSphere use the pedaling data as Ray says but would prefer that they open up both their private ANT and the format of their activity files with the pedaling data to everyone.
I talked to them about it this afternoon. They aren’t opposed to it, once finalized by the ANT+ TWG.
Aren’t opposed to opening up their private ant or only when the new ant+ protocol comes out they aren’t opposed to using the new ant+ protocol? (meaning their private one will always be secret)
Nice to see this partnership. I like my Pioneer PM, but not much of a fan of the head unit. It’s clunky and the touch interface is often frustrating to use (i.e. scrolling). My only real use of the pioneer head unit is to perform the occasional firmware update. Are you aware if the Wahoo computer will be able to do these firmware updates?
+1. I’d be interested in that too. That’s the one thing that prevents me from getting Pioneer crank arm.
Obviously not applicable to previous Pioneer PMs, but the new ones will support bluetooth, so I would think you should be able to update the firmware using the phone app.
Correct on the new ones.
For the old ones I haven’t heard any rumblings there, but something I can ask about.
It’s great to see this integration across brands. I was recently in the market for a new power meter and was considering the Pioneer. I liked the idea of their analytics but wasn’t a fan of their head unit so decided to go with Stages LR which doesn’t have these options. Had this been available I think I would have gone with the Pioneer.
Since cycling dynamics is open source now, any word on whether Wahoo is looking at adding it as a feature?
My understanding is that adding ‘cycling dynamics’ is really up to the power meter companies (Stages, Pioneer, Cycleops, etc.) to implement first. That is, wahoo can add it, but there’s no way to make use of it without the PM having the firmware to do so. I only know of Garmin Vectors having the ability to make use of cycling dynamics (…My knowledge may be out of date).
I’d guess that a partnership with wahoo means that Pioneer is less likely to implement Garmin’s cycling dynamics in their own products (to help sell wahoo head units).
They need to agree on a standard before anyone implements it. Notice the ANT+ bike power TWG Meeting? link to thisisant.com
cycling dynamics isn’t open or you would see it here: link to thisisant.com
Sorry, I should have been more clear in my question… I’m curious if Wahoo has any plans to support reading cycling dynamics information transmitted by a compatible power meter such as the Garmin Vectors. My concern (if you can call it that) is that their partnership with Pioneer means they are betting on Pioneer’s solution, and that they may never support cycling dynamics.
Interesting. I had thought it was finally agreed on. I stand corrected!
It has been agreed upon, it just hasn’t been published.
Hang tight…
So why the big meeting? Seems too much secrecy
Does it have all the data that pioneer currently broadcasts in the new standard? anything else? anything not there?
It’s the same meeting that’s been on the calendar for every ANT+ Symposium. Most of the TWG’s meet in person during the Symposium, been that way for a decade.
That also meet as often as every month too, if needed.
Seems like everything get upgraded as I’m in the market for things. I was looking into the P1 pedals, but had a feeling something better was coming out soon. Currently not riding on 11s, but these have definitely moved up on my list.
All pedal pms has cool power metrics except pt. Its sad :(.
I’d always hoped that Wahoo would display the Garmin cycling dynamics ( I have an Elemnt and Vector 3s). With this announcement, I’m guessing that won’t happen now.
Any idea when Wahoo will support Assioma’s advanced pedal metrics?
Assioma does not have advanced power metrics…
…it’s not been released yet, but has been discussed that they’ll be included in the next firmware update, based on the ANT+ TWG work.
Please, can you elaborate? Are you talking about Favero or Wahoo?
Favero
Hi Ray,
Have you tested it with a single-leg Pioneer power meter? I’d be interested to know what new metrics are available for that. Does it do the force vector chart for just one side?
I’m also interested in this question — are there any new features for those of us who own Bolts and left-side-only Pioneer power meters?
Maybe now Wahoo will concentrate on fixing some of the Elemnt Bugs, in particular for me, the having to bluetooth off to upload workouts via wifi.
I do hope some work is going into a replacement for the Elemnt (Bolt is fine for now) if they truly want to eat into Garmin’s market share. For the last 18 maths it seems it’s been all about trainers.
Hi Ray just to clear things a bit up do you know that if the firmware update is also going to work with previous ant+ pioneer models??? I mean if with my only ant+ pioneer power meter I am going to be able to see the advanced pioneer metrics in the elemnt.
Also if the new CA600 will be compatible too and will show the advanced metrics with the older models.
Thnks in advance
Is your photo freely available?
I found your shots below site
link to biciclettadimattino.com
Seems that update just rolled out. Is there anything you need to do on the power meter to get it to broadcast in over the private ant protocol? My bolt only seems to be picking up the standard ant+.
Yup, you’ll need to change your Pioneer unit back to the default of the Pioneer broadcast variant.
Hi Ray, I have single leg pioneer power meter and changed the mode to pedal mode using the wahoo bolt head unit. Now the bolt doesn’t pick up the meter at all. Should this have happen or do you need the dual sided system to use the pedal mode function. Thx
How do you do that exactly? Thanks
You do need the dual sided meter for the pedaling metrics. You will also need to use the magnets that are supplied for this to work properly.
From the Bolt, use the button on the left (power/menu button) to see the connected devices. Scroll down to the Pioneer PM and select “more” or “more options” (don’t have the unit on me currently). There should be a mode switch option in this menu. Choose pedal metrics from this list.
Keep in mind that if you lose the connection, you will have to do a battery reset (remove battery, wait a couple minutes, reinstall battery) for the unit to connect again. If you have single side only, stay there. If you are not using magnets, stay with the option that matches your PM (L,R, both). Only choose pedal metrics if you have a dual sided PM and are using the magnets.
Opinion, unless you have the need to view this info and treat power balance and pedal smoothness as gospel, don’t even worry about the metrics. There is more evidence supporting that your body is more efficient than ideal technique anyway. In short, the top professional riders don’t even worry about it. It might make more difference for triathletes, but you might want to do some research and form your own conclusions before further confusing yourself with more needless data
Hi there. Do you know how the pairing works with the pioneer? I already have it paired with the pioneer in ANT+ prior to this update… do I need to pair using the Pioneer proprietary signal now? There is no option to change the PM to this at the moment with the Wahoo so I guess I’ll need to do it with the pioneer head unit first?
Once paired will the Wahoo let me change in either direction (ie both pioneer -> ANT+ and ANT+ -> pioneer)?
Ta :)
Col
Having an issue with this. When I updated my Elemnt Bolt last night, it asked me if I wanted to put my power meter into Pedaling Monitor mode, which I did. It seemed to work fine and I put it away for the night.
Today when I went to ride my computer wouldn’t pair with my with my computer, so I decided to unpair it and re-pair it, should be simple, right? Wrong. Now it when I go to pair my power meter and computer, it won’t even show up as available to pair.
I have taken the batteries out and let the PM reset, and have also attempted to change it manually via the button inside the crank side part of the PM, but it will not change out of pedaling monitor mode.
Any suggestions? Anyone else having issues with this?
Same issue with a left side only
Flashing green light suggests it changed modes
But won’t pair now
Same issue. Seems the PM went into pedal monitoring mode on both sides and won’t or isn’t broadcasting to re-pair with either my Bolt or computer with ANT+ adapter and Trainerroad.
With the new firmware updates to the PM themselves the push button to switch modes no longer works it seems either.
Hopefully we don’t have to find a Pioneer computer to change the mode and then re-pair. If so I hope there is a software/computer with ANT+ fix released as well.
From my research last night, it looks like we need a pioneer head unit to get it out of Pedaling Monitor mode. I think this is a major flaw in the update on Wahoo’s side to allow people to move it into pedaling monitor mode when they won’t be able to get it out if without the Pioneer head unit.
Ray: I think you should call this out that you should NOT move it to pedaling monitor mode if you don’t have access to a Pioneer head unit
Look at page 15: link to pioneerelectronics.com
Update: Spoke with Wahoo and Pioneer.
Pioneer says that it should work in Pedaling Monitor mode and are going to try and test it on their end via the steps that I gave them of how mine failed. They are also working to figure out a solution so that we do not need the Pioneer head unit to fix it.
Wahoo says that this is a known bug that has been raised by a few people already and is being actively worked by development.
Waiting on follow up from both but I will update when I hear back from them.
I think it’s worse than that Jeff! I have borrowed a friends Pioneer head unit and the behaviour is as follows:
*The bolt will connect to the PM in ANT+, but even without my intervention the PM will switch to pedalling monitor. This has been repeated many times (by using the pioneer head unit to convert it back)
*Once in Pedalling monitor mode the bolt will not connect to the PM
*If immediately on connection I use the menu on the bolt to request pedalling monitor mode the bolt says it is trying to do this, but it never confirms. After this it still won’t connect to the PM. Using the pioneer head unit confirms that the PM is now in pedalling mode.
So there is no way for me to get power data now. As soon as the bolt talks to the PM it will make it go into pedalling monitor mode, but there the bolt will then no longer talk to it.
What a load of rubbish!! Major fail by Wahoo :(
Please Wahoo – don’t become Garmin :( :(
That’s good to know. I tried to take my bike to the shop last night but the owner who handles all PM stuff is out of the country so I wasn’t able to even attempt.
If you haven’t, I would call Wahoo or at the very least reach out to support online (link to support.wahoofitness.com) and let them know your experience. Hopefully they can get a bug fix within a few days as I’m sure we aren’t alone in this.
One thing I haven’t tried, is a factory reset on my Wahoo. I’m extremely hesitant to do this as I’ll have to re-configure all the pages from memory and that sounds both annoying and daunting.
I’ve raised a wahoo ticket as below. Really annoying. I was really looking forward to using the extra screens – now I cannot use the PM at all!!!!!
The new firmware is advertised as providing additional functionality with pioneer power meters, but it is quite the opposite – it renders you unable to to use it at all :(
I have borrowed a friends Pioneer head unit and the behaviour is as follows:
*The bolt will connect to the PM in ANT+, but even without my intervention the PM will switch to pedalling monitor mode. This has been repeated many times (by using the pioneer head unit to convert it back to ANT+)
*Once in Pedalling monitor mode the bolt will not connect to the PM at all (but pioneer head unit will connect to it just fine)
*If immediately on connection I use the menu on the bolt to request pedalling monitor mode the bolt says it is trying to do this, but it never confirms. After this it still won’t connect to the PM. Using the pioneer head unit confirms that the PM is now in pedalling mode and works fine with this head unit.
So there is no way for me to get power data now. As soon as the bolt talks to the PM it will make it go into pedalling monitor mode, but then the bolt will then no longer talk to it.
When will this be fixed? I am left with no power data now!!
I’ve talked to Wahoo in-person today about it (their CEO), and their staff should be posting here shortly on the current status and plan going forward. :-/
Thanks Ray. If ever you chat to him again could you ask if they’ll ever get the ‘max average power’ fields to work correctly. I frequently see awesome values whilst out riding, only to be cruelly denied when I upload and STrava and Training peaks both confirm I am still decidedly average. Example attached for amusement (I cannot really do 414W for 30 minutes, only about 350W in reality!!!!)……
Col.
While Wahoo works hard to test and ensure any updates release as smoothly as possible, there’s always a chance that a small portion of users may experience issues. Soon after the October 1st update for the ELEMNT and ELEMNT BOLT, we were alerted to a limited number of failures when updating the ELEMNT BOLT and quickly identified the root cause. The update for the ELEMNT BOLT has now been pulled to prevent any further problems while we work to resolve this issue. If you’re having trouble after the October 1st update with either your ELEMNT BOLT or Pioneer Power Meter, please contact Wahoo support at link to wahoofitness.com
Wahoo Fitness sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience.
Is that a reference to the issue reported in link below where people’s devices are ‘bricking’ in a limited number of cases rendering the bolt completely useless and needing to be sent back?
link to groups.google.com
Are you also aware of the issues reported here whereby although the device has updated successfully no one actually seems to be able to communicate with a pioneer power meter following the update?
Is there a timescale for when this will be fixed?
Ok so I have two Pioneer single sided PM’s (left crank) on different bikes. After this big wahoo update they both could not be found by my wahoo bolt. I tried everything, changed batteries, rest my bolt and repaired everything but no dice. Thankfully I have a friend with a pioneer head unit that I borrowed and used to switch modes and got both to work with the wahoo again. I have no idea what to tell you if you cant find a pioneer head to use with the single sided left crank PM’s. The right crank units have a button that lets you switch modes but the left aide does not.
Ability to use the button inside to switch modes was removed in a Pioneer firmware update.
This was the first thing I tried.
Still no reply from Wahoo online support from my request yesterday.
Collin,
Wahoo support is on top of the situation and can answer any questions by contacting us at link to wahoofitness.com
Chris,
Please allow one business day for a response via email.
We’re sorry again about the experience and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve these issues.
Wahoo is sending me a new unit with the update properly installed.
Reason is that apparently it’s a big update and if the update doesn’t fully install it causes this problem of being unable to recognize the private ANT. So until I get it, I’ll still use my Wahoo but don’t have power or cadence data.
Jeff, did the new unit fix the issue? Thx Paul
Still waiting on the new unit, should come on Tuesday and will test then.
Hi Jeff. Have you had something to confirm your replacement has shipped? I’ve provided proof of purchase and shipping details etc, but not heard anything back :(
yeah they sent me a tracking number
Thanks Jeff, I have contacted Wahoo and I’ll see what happens. Pretty impressed with how they are handling your situation.
Got my new device last night from Wahoo and it paired with my PM in pedaling monitor mode. Good luck guys
Great news. Mine is on its way. Must say great service from wahoo to resolve their issue so quickly.
My replacement unit arrived today – good news is that it connects fine to the pioneer. The really disappointing news is that the replacement unit is clearly a used unit. The front of the unit has fine scratches, and the back of the unit has some really obvious damage!!
I’ve been really careful with my original unit, but now I’ll end up with one like this! I attach a photo of the damage. Hopefully the previous owner was careful, especially when you see issues like the buttons wearing through and leaking being reported….
:(
Colin,
Thanks for letting us know. We saw your ticket and are taking care of it.
Thanks Wahoo.
An incredibly quick and awesome response to the ticket this evening – I feel a bit bad now for posting the picture here!
On the plus side the pioneer stuff is working flawlessly and the display of extra data is awesome. Really pleased to have all this in the bolt now so I can get the full data from the pioneer!!
Thanks.
Col.
It’s a real shame they aren’t supporting cyclo-sphere, it makes the integration worthless for me.
I do check the pedal monitoring during the ride, but most of the value comes from post-ride analysis, which is lost when you swap head units from the Pioneer to a Wahoo.
That is the plan though, to upload to CycloSphere (as noted in the post).
Sooo… has this been added yet? 1.5 years later, I don’t think they want to add it. Is there any other way to upload Pioneer’s data from Wahoo to Cyclo-Sphere? Or can I upload directly by keeping my phone on and recording to the phone as well during the ride?
Same here. But the support of wahoo is awesome. Credits on social media i will give if they fix my issues very soon!
You’re not alone in thinking this useless. I’v been trying to convince people in the industry the opposite of that for years. For road and tri, sure, it’s probably not necessary.
There is absolutely a need for these metrics in high power short races like BMX and track. Seeing high def detailed torque values of the first three or four pedal strokes of a gate start would help people I coach tremendously. It would also be nice to use in cyclocross races where most powermeters can’t catch all of the data due to operating at 1hz and not even activating during a lot of very small efforts.
Help! I’m having great difficulties in getting my Element Bolt and Pioneer dual sided power meter to function properly. All was working well up until Tuesday last week after which the Bolt reverted to “pedalling mode” and the power meter switched itself to pioneers pedalling mode. I went into the local bike shop who switched the power meter back to Ant+ dual sided and was briefly able to connect the power meter noting that the left and right side efficiency display wasn’t working properly. A new screen page also appeared on the Bolt (as shown in your article). The bolt will now not detect the pioneer power meter. My initial thoughts are that there are some major glitches with the software upgrade and integration with Pioneer. It would be interesting to know if other riders have encountered the same issues.
Hi Chris – did you read any of the earlier posts on this page? A number have people have already reported this issue, Wahoo have responded and people are now awaiting resolution (a new unit having registered the issue with Wahoo and provided proof of purchase….)…..
Hi Colin – yep – wahoo have already responded and will be shipping a replacement unit with full software update. Now I’ve just got to find my receipt…
I’ve been following the posts here, and I get that people are having issues, and that sucks.
Just wanted to add, for those who may be worried about updating, that after waiting a couple of days and reading this thread, I updated my Bolt to use with my left-side-only Pioneer PM, and haven’t had issues. The key might be that, based on the issues other are reporting, I didn’t try to do anything to activate any new features — I didn’t try to disconnect/re-pair or activate any new modes, just kept on using it. It seems like it works as it always has — no new fancy pedaling metrics or anything, but at least it broadcasts power to the Bolt, which is a better experience than some are having. So far, so good.
I’m hopeful that those of you with issues are getting your issues addressed, I had good luck the one time I had to deal with Wahoo customer service.
Hi Mike – good to know yours is still working! Wahoo did suggest in my support ticket that it was an issue to due only a partial download / update of the pioneer functionality causing the issue…
I don’t think people can update at the moment anyway as wahoo pulled the pioneer update on the 3rd October, so any anyone trying to update after that point will get the prior version (ie without pioneer functionality….) so shouldn’t;t have a problem….
Pulling the update was probably for the best, given what I’ve been reading! Good luck.
Hi Ray, are you aware of people having problems between pioneer power meter and newly firmware updated wahoo elemnts? My bolt is up to date firmware wise, and my new power meter (left side pioneer) was initially found by the bolt, but it keeps changing it to the pedalling monitor mode or pioneer ant protocol, and then drops out – it seems my bolt is not able to read the pioneer ant signal. Once it drops out I have to go to the shop to borrow a pioneer head unit to switch it back to power meter mode. Very frustrating. I’m waiting on responses from both Pioneer and Wahoo but wondering if I’m the only one affected or not. It makes it
If you look at the earlier messages Scott there’s lots of discussion on this very issue…
When I try to mode switch, it just spins & does nothing until the Pioneer power meter (dual leg) eventually falls asleep. Manually changing the power meter to Pedaling Monitor mode (Private ANT) makes it invisible to the ELEMNT. I opened a ticket with Wahoo, but is anyone else having this issue?
Many people who posted previously have had this issue, discussed its cause and resolution. Wahoo support also posted too…..
i have the Bolt and the r8000 Pioneer PM. I can’t pair it to the Bolt in the Pioneer broadcast mode, only ANT+. Very disappointing. The only way i can get the PM to pair with Bolt is to set it to dual leg ANT+ and the dual leg doesn’t even work.
I am having the same problem with a bolt trying to pair as pedal monitor but the dual leg is working for me. I did a firmware update on my pioneer but it did not impact anything. I have a service ticket into Wahoo to see if they have any ideas. Would like to get the pedaling analytics going. Right now I don’t even get the balance.
I’m having the same issue. I can only get it to pair in Ant+ mode, and I only get total power.
I tried pairing my Bolt with my Pioneer after the Nov 7 Bolt firmware update. The PM pairs and the pedaling monitor data page showed up on the Bolt, but none of the analytics (except total power and cadence) are showing anything, which I assume means the Pioneer is not in pedal monitoring mode.
Before I try switching to this mode using the Pioneer head unit, thought I would see if switching to pedal monitoring mode can be done using the Bolt with the latest firmware update and if anyone has been able to get the pedal monitoring mode analytics to show up on the Bolt with the latest firmware update (not by getting a replacement unit like the posts prior to the firmware update). I am guessing no, and also wanted to see if anyone has any updates from Wahoo before I submit a ticket. Thanks.
It turns out the Bolt I bought shipped with a version of the firmware that wasn’t working right with the Pioneer. I opened a ticket with Wahoo and in less than a week they sent me a new unit with the proper firmware flashed on it. Now everything works perfectly. I can pair my PM in any of the modes, I can switch modes, I can perform a manual zero, and I see the full pedaling monitor metrics on the head unit.
Great customer service from Wahoo by the way!
Hey all, what’s actually the difference between modes? Looking at Pioneer manuals it says pedaling monitor mode maximizes functionality.
So does this allow it to broadcast as much data as possible?
And putting it to single power meter mode, will only broadcast power and that’s it. Guess uses less battery.
And anyone know any reason why power / weight ratio (watts/kg) would be showing up as n/a? All other power fields working for my ELEMNT.
Thanks!
Paul,
Wahoo released updated firmware to fix this yesterday. Try updating.
Cheers.
?
Legend, thanks!
Has anyone found a good way to plot the Pioneer Pedal Monitoring data after the ride? I tried uploading the .fit file from Wahoo to Cyclo-Sphere, but that doesn’t seem to work. Thanks!
Just updated my Bolt and Element with the current software and unfortunately did not see this post and comments until now. My problem is somewhat like comment #79. I have a dual sided Pioneer power meter and a Pioneer head unit so I know I am in pedaling monitor mode, but also have “transmit ant+” checked via the Pioneer head unit. The Element paired with the Pioneer private ant, but not the Bolt. Somehow the Bolt got the “pedaling monitor metrics” data page (like Ray’s photos), but never gets any data obviously since it never paired via the private channel. Sometimes the Bolt will pair via normal ant+ with a different ant ID than it should have via the private channel. I did not see anything like this in any of the comments, but of course may have missed it. So, bottom line, the Bolt just does not see the power meter on the private ant channel. Anyone else having this issue? So far no help from Wahoo on a telephone conversation, so I just sent in a support ticket.
does anyone know how to view the metrics the on the pioneer cyclo sphere site when uploaded from a Wahoo device?
Still not seeing Cyclo-Sphere as one of my upload options on the Wahoo Elemnt phone app. Anyone else?
They haven’t added this functionality yet. You can only see the pedalling graph while you ride. Kind of defeats the object of it really. Hopefully they will add the functionality at some point in the future….
I’m currently using a CA500 head unit and wanted to upgrade to something a little nicer while still using Cyclo-Sphere for all of the detailed metrics it provides. I tried a friend’s Bolt as I had heard such good things about Wahoo. It did work flawlessly, however there is no way to actually get the data out to analyze it.
I contacted both Pioneer and Wahoo, and both declined to provide any timeline for allowing analysis of the Pedaling System metrics – either within the Wahoo ecosystem or sending it to Cyclo-Sphere.
To me this seems like a half finished project, and makes no sense for those of us that want to use the full potential of the Pioneer system. I think Ray mentioned that they had a plan to complete it and that was back in November I think. I don’t know if that has changed now, which is a shame as everything else about the actual Wahoo hardware was great.
My Pioneer SGX-CA500 has some serious issues (best comparable with a laptop’s driver issue). Wi-Fi won’t turn on and it keep stuck in the charging mode … becoming unresponsive. So hopefully I can initialize the factory reset in a bit. ;-)
Otherwise I need to get me a new head-unit. But what do you do with an end-of-life platform/system. The Wahoo ELEMENT BOLT would be a rock solid and newer replacement, however it doesn’t provide the advanced metrics. Question remains what Shimano will do with the Cyclo Sphere platform anyway.
Wahoo ELEMENT BOLT or second hand SGX-CA500 unit …. :-)
The Pioneer Power Meter still works rock solid, so I’m not ready yet to completely swap out the complete system. And in the current challenging COVID period I wouldn’t know what power meter to go for. ;-)
Hi
I would like to buy the Bolt, does anyone knows the Bolt is compatible with Polar H7 or H10 HR sensors?
Yup, totally compatible with both.
Thank you DCR.
Is this really the new Elemnt Roam? Ray, when will you be able to talk about this, I assume you can’t discuss that either.. LOL?
link to boerkopcykler.dk
I being using the Bolt for two years with the cadence/speed sensors from Wahoo. When the file from my activity gets upload to the Wahoo app is lower in all the fields (cadence/speed/distance) compare to Strava, Ride with GPS.
Why the discrepancies? Strava and RGPS are almost identical
Thank You!
Hi J,
Please be aware that the data collected during a workout is often analyzed differently by different services and affected by certain options in the app (specifically, the counting of zeros in speed and cadence data which can be toggled in the ELEMNT app’s setup tab). Some services will scrub zeros from the data while others integrate them into their metrics. Additionally, some services smooth certain data or cross reference and integrate data with known values (especially with elevation, for example), or even use different calculations entirely. These differences in calculations, smoothing, and the inclusion of zeros are the most common reasons behind the data dependencies when a workout is uploaded to different services.
If you have any further questions or need additional details, we invite you to reach out to our customer service team at link to wahoofitness.com
i wonder if Pioneers CA600 which looks to be a coloured screen Bolt uploads to cyclosphere?
please post the favero assioma duo’s IAV cycling dynamics on wahoo bolt on youtube. i already received an email yesterday from favero about it.
thanks!
What email did you get from Favero about Wahoo?
Unfortunately, the Elemnt only displays Pioneer pedal dynamics and does not save the data in Pioneer .db format.
That means that there is no way to analyse the pedal dynamics after the ride, even in Cyclo-Sphere.
As of January 5, 2020, Wahoo has no plans to add the Pioneer .db file for analysis. I’m sure that the code is there, just locked out. Would be simple to differentiate what file type to save; .fit for open ANT+ and BLE and .db when Private ANT+ is used.
So, if you want post-ride analysis, it’s not going to be had with the Elemnt or Bolt. You’ll have to buy the Pioneer SGX-CA600. Something Wahoo fails to make clear in any media.
Anyone want to buy a lightly used Elemnt?
Can you record the data with their CycloSphere iPhone app instead during a ride? That should be able to upload to CycloSphere website, no?
After two months back the firmware upgrade (WR20-14720) “pedaling monitor system view” disappears as soon as Pioneer goes to sleep. And after Pioneer wakes-up, pedaling monitor appears like the last page with the default set metrics. Factory reset of ROAM and Pioneer’s batteries renewing has not helped.