‘Dream big’ is a frequently used line when brands are pushing an ambitious new product. Wahoo doesn't tell you to do this, because with the Elemnt Ace there’s no need to dream. In real life, the US brand’s new head unit is big. In fact it’s huge. When Wahoo launched its largest and most powerful cycle computer, it said it wanted to “change the way riders think”. As we all know, cyclists are a tough crowd. They are notoriously resistant to change and they don’t like to be told. But could they be persuaded by the Elemnt Ace? Could I be persuaded? Is it just too big?
If you want to read the full launch story and my first ride impressions you can do that, but if you want to stay on this page I’ll sum up what the Elemnt Ace is all about, and how and why it wants to change the way riders think. First of all, it has a 3.8in touchscreen and claimed 30-hour battery life and aims to combine the “size and usability of a smartphone with the fit-for-purpose form factor and features of a bike computer”. It’s the biggest in its category: by comparison the Garmin 1050 has a 3.5in display that is a little narrower while the Wahoo Elemnt Roam, formerly Wahoo's biggest head unit, is a tiny 2.7in. Additionally, the Elemnt Ace has a feature not seen before in a standard bike computer – an integrated wind sensor which measures air resistance in real time and allows you to quantify post-ride how wind and drafting are impacting your ride. It’s not for aero testing at the moment, but Wahoo doesn’t rule this out for the future.
The Ace has Wahoo’s first touchscreen – but keeps the signature three buttons underneath. Although there are many more colours than before (the Roam v2 has 64 and the Ace has 16 million) it sticks to the same muted palette that Wahoo users are accustomed to.
There’s an external speaker so that for navigation you can now enable turn-by-turn voice prompts instead of beeps and, not to be outdone, just like the Garmin 1050 the Ace has a digital bell, activated by double-tapping the screen.
And finally, the Ace uses the Wahoo app instead of the Elemnt App, which has always been used for its head units up to now. It says a new version of the Wahoo app – not yet released – will be able to navigate users to a POI (such as a cafe or bike shop) shared from Google Maps.
The price – £549.99 compared to the Roam v2’s £349.99 and the Bolt v2 at £249.99.
Unboxing
It’s not only big but it’s also twice the weight of the Roam v2 at 210g on my scales compared to 94g. However, Wahoo told us at the launch that the Ace wasn’t intended for racing. Its sponsored pro teams will still be using the smaller units: Tadej Pogačar used the Bolt when he won Strade Bianche. But in training, when it’s useful to see more data fields, a better map and when you might want to look at drafting strategies in a pace group using the wind sensor, the Ace should come into its own. Build quality is great – it looks and feels like the flagship product that it is.
In the box you get an aluminium out-front mount for a 31.8mm round bar. It’s designed to be stronger and sturdier than the regular plastic mounts. Wahoo told us that third-party mount manufacturers such as K-Edge and KOM would also be making their own and had been given the dimensions/specs.
Initial setup out of the box is as easy as with any Wahoo computer in the past. You scan a QR code with your phone, it takes you to the Wahoo app (not the Elemnt app any more) and you’re taken through all the necessary steps such as connecting the device to a WiFi network, updating the firmware if applicable, until you’re ready to pair sensors and ride. As before, you customise via the app so that you’ve got the data fields you want to see in front of you for each page, but for the first time the Ace also has profiles for different types of riding – you could set up a separate one for your gravel bike, for example, which might have mechanical shifting whereas your road has electronic and so you want to see different data fields.
Startup is no quicker than it was with the earlier devices – in fact, I timed the Ace at 45 seconds from the press on the side button, which is five seconds slower than the Roam. I’ve needed about another minute on top of that before the Ace acquires GPS.
Pairing with sensors is straightforward, and especially satisfying if you’re using Wahoo sensors, because the device will display cute little pictures of them. I used a set of Wahoo Powrlink power meter pedals, for example. It obviously doesn’t store graphics for other brands – when I used a Garmin Epix 2 to broadcast heart rate I just got a plain heart.
Each paired sensor is displayed on the home screen and, as long as it’s a Wahoo sensor, you can access more details such as battery level. I used Bryton's radar as well as Garmin heart rate and Wahoo power, and had no issues adding sensors or pairing them. I didn’t experience dropouts either.
Ride impressions
I wear glasses day-to-day but my eyesight isn’t bad enough to bother with contact lenses for cycling, so for me the Ace’s big screen is literally a revelation. You can have 11 data fields on one screen and read any of them with a quick glance. I suspect there are going to be a lot of glasses-wearers like me who are relieved that they don’t have to squint at their computer any more. As for the look of the Ace in situ on the bike, it’s not at all out of place. It’s no more shocking than seeing a deep-section rim if you’re used to looking at an Open Pro. The weight – OK, it’s 100g heavier than a Roam but that only equates to a swill of water in your bottle.
The TFT touchscreen works as well as any cycling computer’s screen – they’re not quite as sensitive as smartphone screens but the Ace’s responds well even with gloves. Touchscreen performance in rain is always slightly hit and miss and I’d say the Ace’s is no better or worse than any other. With the three familiar Wahoo buttons at the bottom of the screen, if you’re a regular Wahoo user you might not even use the touchscreen. In fact, the Ace switches between riding screens slightly faster by pressing the right-hand ‘page’ button than with a touchscreen swipe – but doing that you can only cycle through the screens in one direction.
The bell feature is a nice idea and very authentic sounding (and loud). It works if you tap anywhere on the main workout page and if you tap the footer just above the buttons on any other activity page including the map. If you haven’t read Wahoo’s instructions you won’t know this.
However, even though I read all the instructions I was still stumped when the Ace refused to sync a commute to Somerset House where Rouleur’s office is. I tried everything, including switching Bluetooth off and on, restarting, even unpairing and setting up the Ace from scratch, but it stayed stuck on the device. When I arrived home later, the ride I’d just finished and the one that earlier wouldn’t sync both popped up immediately. I’ve since been informed that this is a known issue that Wahoo is working on and it relates to WiFi connection – at the moment the Ace and the Wahoo app/Wahoo cloud need WiFi to sync an activity but a fix should be imminent.
Navigation
Navigation is where the Ace is really… well, ace. Not only does the big screen mean better detail but the mapping is also upgraded. Wahoo told us it built the ‘map feeling’ four times before settling on the final version and the result is a London A-Z look and feel with sharp lines and muted colours and obviously with less writing, although now there are some street names.
Summit Freeride gives you information about a climb that’s not pre-loaded onto the device – which is a useful feature. Syncing with a third-party app like Strava means you get all your starred routes on the Ace. You can also navigate on the device to a saved location or use the mapping to find a location, zoom in, select it and then let the Ace take you to it turn by turn. You can’t zoom out to view the route it has created, as you would with Google Maps, or edit it. At launch we were told a new version of the Wahoo app – not yet released – will be able to navigate users to a POI. This will be the real gamechanger if/when it happens.
Wahoo has also added voice turn-by-turn navigation. This is switched on in the app. It’s a softly spoken male voice – the only available voice at the moment – and I found it more relaxing than Wahoo’s signature beeps. It’s true it’s not so easy to hear the actual words if it’s windy or if you’re in traffic, but the cue window still pops up on the device and, thanks to the generously sized screen, it’s easy enough to solely use that – and does anyone actually rely solely on voice navigation anyway?
As for GPS accuracy, looking back at a completed route I can tell you it’s spot on, even in the areas of London with tall buildings.
Wind sensor
The new wind sensor is interesting, but for the majority of riders it’s not particularly useful in its current state. I do actually quite like being able to look at Wahoo Wind Dynamics data after a ride. Just as you can check time spent in heart rate and power zones, you can see time and percentage spent in five airspeeds, from ‘Heavy AirBoost’ (which equates to howling tailwind or drafting being a bus), Light AirBoost, Neutral Air, Light AirDrag and Heavy AirDrag (ie a block headwind). Wahoo says this can help teams with drafting strategies and how to more effectively shelter a leader. If that’s not relevant, it can still give you some facts – if you felt as though you were riding into a headwind all the way round, for example, as I often do. But obviously, if it could work with a power meter and estimate CdA, that would be much more useful. Wahoo said at the launch that this would be possible, but that it doesn’t have a tool to leverage all the data itself.
Battery life
‘Up to 30 hours’ is the official line on this, and we’ve been told that one of the reasons why the Ace is big is so that it can benefit from a decent battery. In my experience I’d conclude that you might get 30 hours out of it if you didn’t use the backlight, navigation or sensors, but I’ve been losing 10% in a ride of 1.5 hours with everything enabled, which makes 15 hours in total. I don’t remember the last time I did a 15-hour ride without charging my computer so I don’t have a problem with this. It’s not 30 hours but Wahoo does explicitly say “up to”.
Conclusion
I have nothing but admiration for Wahoo for being bold enough to launch a computer that would inevitably upset some people because of its size and weight, and for including a feature – the wind sensor – that we haven’t seen integrated into a mainstream head unit before. The brand was originally a disruptor and earned a lot of respect for its fresh new approach, and although the Ace isn’t completely flawless I think it continues that ethos very nicely. I'm perfectly prepared to change the way I think, as Wahoo wants us to do with the Ace, and I think it's mostly the case here that bigger is better. Sure it divides opinion, but progressive things generally do that and if they don’t, they’re probably not progressive enough. And, as we know, progress isn’t linear, so even if the software still has a bug or two, or the wind sensor isn’t being used to its full potential, I’m satisfied that that hardware is excellent. I’m also certain that it won’t be long before Wahoo’s software catches up, so on that basis I can recommend the Elemnt Ace.
Wahoo Elemnt Ace specs
- Screen size: 3.8in
- Battery life: 30+ hours
- Dimensions: 126 x 71 x 24mm
- Weight 208g
- Screen resolution: 480 x 720
- Water rating: IPX7
- Storage: 64GB
- GPS type: Dual band
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+, WiFi
- Sensors: GPS, Glonass, Galileo, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, compass, gyroscope, dynamic wind sensor
- Price: £549.99/$599.99/€599.99
