Wahoo Elemnt Bolt error

[TwoWheelsDC]

I’d take it outside to an area with a clear view of the sky, turn it on, and just let it sit for like 10 minutes for the GPS to lock. I know that when I travel somewhere outside my normal area, it always takes my GPS some extra time, so if the unit is new it may just be something like that. Maybe also make sure the firmware is up to date?

[Hancockbs]

Thanks for that advice and I’ll give it a shot. However, it had that opportunity before I started riding and it had over an hour of riding to lock on. I don’t think that’s the issue.

Wahoo sent a suggestion to set my wheel circumference to “automatic” so the Bolt could use it as a cross reference for speed. They also commented that Strava used internal distances rather than raw GPS data, so a variance is expected. Neither of these make any sense to me. First off, I don’t have a wheel speed sensor and secondly, if Strava used internal distances, there would be no variance between the two recordings. Certainly not 12 miles difference.

I’m not very impressed thus far!

[LhasaCM]

@Hancockbs 186996 wrote:

Thanks for that advice and I’ll give it a shot. However, it had that opportunity before I started riding and it had over an hour of riding to lock on. I don’t think that’s the issue.

Wahoo sent a suggestion to set my wheel circumference to “automatic” so the Bolt could use it as a cross reference for speed. They also commented that Strava used internal distances rather than raw GPS data, so a variance is expected. Neither of these make any sense to me. First off, I don’t have a wheel speed sensor and secondly, if Strava used internal distances, there would be no variance between the two recordings. Certainly not 12 miles difference.

I’m not very impressed thus far!

I’d make sure you’re using the latest firmware and see if that helps.

However, looking at the Strava track: it doesn’t appear that it really missed anything so it doesn’t seem that the GPS is off – it’s just reporting the wrong distance traveled from A to B for the total of the ride. However, each segment looks like it was captured correctly (e.g., you did the 3.16 miles from the CCT Head to Dalecarlia in 13 minutes, but the overall ride shows that as only 1.3 miles). Does Strava give you the option to “Correct Distance?” when looking at it on the website? If so, does that “fix” the data issue for at least this ride, or does it not change things at all?

Also – how did the ride show up in the Wahoo software or on the device? Was it a 19 mile ride or just 7?

[Hancockbs]

@LhasaCM 187002 wrote:

I’d make sure you’re using the latest firmware and see if that helps.

However, looking at the Strava track: it doesn’t appear that it really missed anything so it doesn’t seem that the GPS is off – it’s just reporting the wrong distance traveled from A to B for the total of the ride. However, each segment looks like it was captured correctly (e.g., you did the 3.16 miles from the CCT Head to Dalecarlia in 13 minutes, but the overall ride shows that as only 1.3 miles). Does Strava give you the option to “Correct Distance?” when looking at it on the website? If so, does that “fix” the data issue for at least this ride, or does it not change things at all?

Also – how did the ride show up in the Wahoo software or on the device? Was it a 19 mile ride or just 7?

Updating the firmware is the first thing I did out of the box. I agree with your logic that it seems to have recorded the whole track, just not correctly. Right now, I don’t want to play with the starve data so it stays intact for trouble shooting. Wahoo has asked for and I provided the FIT file for analysis. We’ll see where that goes. It is annoying to me that their first response didn’t even bother to take the time to understand the problem.

[Hancockbs]

I played around with it enough to figure out the problem is related to the cadence/speed sensor. When I delete that sensor, it seems to record properly. I’ve always used it for cadence only and never installed the speed magnet, because I used GPS for speed and distance. This was never problem for my Garmin Edge units (500 and 800). It appears that Wahoo’s algorithm overrides GPS speed and distance with the speed sensor data. This makes zero sense to me since it ls has an inside/outside setting that disables the GPS function for use indoors. I’m waiting on Wahoo to reply, but it looks like my options are to install the speed sensor magnet or stop using the cadence sensor. Neither of these is rational t me. I bought a GPS unit to use GPS functions nd data, not to have it overridden by other data .

[josh]

@Hancockbs 187017 wrote:

I played around with it enough to figure out the problem is related to the cadence/speed sensor. When I delete that sensor, it seems to record properly. I’ve always used it for cadence only and never installed the speed magnet, because I used GPS for speed and distance. This was never problem for my Garmin Edge units (500 and 800). It appears that Wahoo’s algorithm overrides GPS speed and distance with the speed sensor data. This makes zero sense to me since it ls has an inside/outside setting that disables the GPS function for use indoors. I’m waiting on Wahoo to reply, but it looks like my options are to install the speed sensor magnet or stop using the cadence sensor. Neither of these is rational t me. I bought a GPS unit to use GPS functions nd data, not to have it overridden by other data .

I’ve been too lazy to move my speed sensor from my lone cross wheelset to my other wheelset on my cross bike since the season ended, and I have a cadence sensor mounted on the crank. I haven’t had any of these issues (viewing rides on the Bolt itself, the Wahoo app, or whatever gets uploaded to Strava), so I wonder what the difference is. This is the Elemnt Bolt with the Wahoo sensor pack (cadence, speed, heart rate).

[Hancockbs]

@josh 187026 wrote:

I’ve been too lazy to move my speed sensor from my lone cross wheelset to my other wheelset on my cross bike since the season ended, and I have a cadence sensor mounted on the crank. I haven’t had any of these issues (viewing rides on the Bolt itself, the Wahoo app, or whatever gets uploaded to Strava), so I wonder what the difference is. This is the Elemnt Bolt with the Wahoo sensor pack (cadence, speed, heart rate).

Interesting. So you do read and record cadence the way it is currently set up? My sensor is a Garmin ANT unit. The Bolt reads it fine, but perhaps being Garmin is part of the problem. I have one on both of my bikes and I didn’t want to go to the expense of replacing them both. Wahoo has offered to send me a Wahoo sensor.

[Hancockbs]

I found and installed a spoke magnet for the speed sensor this morning, which seems to have corrected the problem. The distance was ever so slightly off, 16.9 v 17.4 on Strava, but I can live with that. I still don’t agree with them setting the algorithm this way though.

[TwoWheelsDC]

The solution to this problem is to just blow a bunch of money on a power meter. Cadence/speed/GPS conflict solved!

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