Long gone are the days when your bike computer only showed you how long, far and fast you were riding. It’s all about bells and whistles (or maybe beeps and flashes) these days.
In the last few months, Wahoo has once again moved forward with a series of updates that allow riders to control bike lights, music and GoPro from Elemnt (frustratingly, the brand’s attack on vowels remains) Bolt and Roam. The company has worked closely with SRAM, which means you can use the auxiliary buttons on the new Red AXS to control your Elemnt without leaving the safety of your levers.
The final part of the update, the GoPro integration, is rolling out today. We couldn’t get access to all the features to test, but the ones we were able to push were nice and reliable.
Intelligent light control
If you have ANT+ compatible lights, you can now connect and control from your Elemnt.
This includes switching between different settings and automatically starting and stopping at the end of your ride. If you’re one of those people who turn on their lights at the start of a ride and turn them off at the end, you probably won’t be too excited about this integration. However, if you often ride off-road and tend to switch modes to optimize see/be seen and ensure you have enough light to get home, this feature will make your life easier than fumbling for switches in the dark. .
Wahoo Elemnt light control
(Image credit: The Future)
Music control
Tired of stopping and pulling out your phone to skip that annoying song? Don’t be frustrated anymore; the music control screen shows what’s playing on your phone (whether via a music app, YouTube or a podcast) and gives you all the basic functions you need: volume, skip, rewind and play/pause. It’s beautiful in its simplicity, and I’ve found it to be faster and more responsive to control than directly through my phone, even when I’m sitting at home, let alone driving.
GoPro control
Integration development star guest Wahoo was fashionably late to his own party; The GoPro control has now arrived.
By connecting your GoPro to the Elemnt as an additional sensor, you can now directly stop/start, shoot and change modes, all directly from your head unit; everything is much easier and more reliable than taking out your phone or looking for a button somewhere on the top of the helmet/chest/elsewhere on the bars.
Probably the most useful factor in this is being able to see the settings on your Element so you know you have the camera in the right mode, avoiding shooting snippets after you’ve wanted to stop the camera and inadvertently miss the main action. turning off the camera.
There may not be a ton of riders who use both Elemnt and GoPro, but for those who do, it’s a really valuable integration.
Wahoo Elemnt GoPro control
(Image credit: The Future)
This feature uses GoPro’s public API, so it’s only available if you have a Hero 9/10/11/12 camera (not a Mini). Cory Pittman, senior product manager at Wahoo, explained to us that this is because each camera works in a slightly different way, meaning the software is tailored to each model. Users will need to pay attention to the specific settings of their model. Wahoo has promised compatibility with future GoPro models and is also working to develop software to integrate with older GoPros as well as cameras from other companies.
We weren’t able to test this feature before today’s launch (we’re behind on our GoPro models), so we’ll update as soon as we get a feel for it and can report on its reliability.
Integration of the educational program
If you don’t use Wahoo X or Training Peaks, you’ve probably been frustrated by the lack of integration between training programs and Elemnt to stream workouts directly to your head unit. Wahoo has improved the API functionality to make it easier for third-party apps to integrate with its system.
Humango, FinalSurge, and more have already been added, and several more platforms are expected to join in the near future.
