Wahoo ELEMNT ACE Review

My Garmin Edge 530 was a temperamental device. On more than one occasion it would freeze, reboot, and lose portions of a ride. Garmin rarely updated maps. And, for one reason or another, Edge devices have a user interface that is largely inscrutable.

For those reasons, I switched to a Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM v2. Despite having fewer features than the Edge, it excelled in its core functioanlity. Maps, navigation, and both the software and physical user interfaces were (and remain) superior to the Edge series in every way.

The challenge for the ACE is to best the ROAM. In some ways it does; but it others it comes up short.

ELEMNT ACE Setup, Wahoo App

Inside the rather spartan ELEMNT ACE box is the ELEMNT ACE, a USB-C cable, a mount with various fittings, a tether, and a selection of important manuals.

When turning on the ACE you're greeted with the same 16-bit character that you see on the ROAM followed by a higher quality bike loading animation. You're then invited to scan a QR-code and complete the setup process with the Wahoo app (not the ELEMNT app, which is being retired).

While setup was relatively smooth, I have had several ongoing connectivity issues with the Wahoo app (see Software Issues).

By moving device management from the ELEMENT app to the Wahoo app, Wahoo X—your all-in-one membership for personalised, immersive workouts designed to make you a more complete athlete—gets a more prominent push. You'll see a raft of Wahoo X related workouts under your Recent Activities on the app. It's not obstructive, but it's not entirely welcome either, particularly for users who have been using the ELEMNT app exclusively.

ELEMNT ACE Hardware

Device Size, Materials

Physically, there's no getting around the fact that the ELEMNT ACE is a big unit.

The size of the device will pose a problem for current mounts.

• You need at least 2.6in between the centre of your mount and the handlebars to allow for a clean rotation. I'm using the large (pre-ACE) variant of this Framesandgear mount and it has just less than the 2.6in clearance required. Luckily, the ACE has a rubberised edge that lets it rotate into place with a bit of force.
• Mounts need to be able cope with the weight of the ACE and any other devices you have mounted. This hasn't been a factor in my rides as the mount is aluminium and can cope with both the ACE and a BOOKMAN Volume 1500 front light.

Touchscreen, Physical Buttons

The new screen is a significant improvement over the ROAM. It's brighter, clearer thanks to the higher resolution, more colourful as a result of the expanded colour range, and, while it's a touch screen, it's not smartphone quality in terms of responsiveness. Swiping left and right works as you'd expect but it's slower to respond to those gestures than a modern phone. That said, swiping left to go back a page instead of having to cycle through all configured pages is a frustration-busting win.

There is welcome consistency in the ACE's physical button layout as it is the same configuration available on the ROAM—we want things to be better, but we don't them to be different. Brooking no argument, physical buttons are a necessity in rainy weather.

Strangely, while Wahoo has slimmed the bezels on the sides and the top—there are no LEDs on the ACE—the bezel between the bottom of the screen and the bottom button array is huge. I assume there's a good reason for its existence because it's really quite ugly.

Battery Life

Wahoo advertises the ACE's battery life as lasting up to 30 hours under optimal conditions. That claim is only achievable if you use the 5-second backlight timeout mode. On early morning rides, when it's dark and the display needs constant backlighting, that mode is unusable as the screen is unreadable when the backlight is off.

I have been using the stock Auto setting—to my eyes, I haven't seen the backlight turn off or go below 100% brightness—and after several two-hour rides the battery is consistently in 85-88% range (only slightly less if screen recording is active). Assuming a linear depletion all the way to 0%...that's ~17 hours.

Is 17 hours OK for a bike computer? I think so. Only on very rare occasions would you be in the saddle for that amount of time.

The Mount

The aluminium mount provided is of high quality. I've attached it to my city bike and it performs well with no discernible shakes, creaks, or anything else that would cause concern.

ELEMNT ACE Software

Wind Dynamics

The ACE comes with a wind sensor that is designed to measure headwind and tailwind. The theory (courtesy of Wahoo):

When coupled with bike speed ('regular' speed) data, the ACE can estimate the approximate speed impact of wind conditions (headwind, tailwind, or drafting benefit) and present a Wind zone –

AirBoost (Heavy (dark green) / Light (light green))
When bike speed is aided by a tailwind or reduced air resistance from drafting behind another cyclist
Bike speed is > Air speed

Neutral Air (blue)
When there is little to no headwind, tailwind, or draft benefit
Bike speed is  = Air speed

AirDrag (Heavy (red) / Light (orange))
When bike speed is hindered by a headwind
Bike speed is < Air speed

In practice, it works broadly as advertised. Leading at the front of a pack, or when you're on your own, you'll generally see Neutral Air or AirDrag (unless you have a tailwind); whereas if you tuck in behind you'll generally see AirBoost. If you tuck in behind, and there's still a strong headwind, you'll now have the AirDrag data to prove it. (If you've been out on a fast ride and most of the data is AirBoost then that indicates strategic thinking and laziness.)

Though the Wind Dynamics data is included in .fit files, no third-party I am aware of (e.g., Strava, intervals.icu) is using it. For the moment, beyond seeing the benefits of being closer to the rider in front of you via the ACE or the Wahoo app, there's not much more you can do with this data right now. (I have rolled my own clunky solution to get Wind Dynamics data from Wahoo to Strava.)

Workout Pages

Workout pages are, broadly speaking, a huge improvement over the ROAM. Data fields are crystal clear thanks to the larger, higher resolution screen. (Tip: if you've configured 11 data fields and you're wondering why you're seeing less than that on screen, use the physical up and down buttons on the side of the device to display more or fewer fields.)

Similar to the ROAM and the BOLT, workout pages continue to be to configured via your smartphone. I don't understand why this needs to be the case: the ACE has a touchscreen bigger than the original iPhone, why do I need a second device to configure it?

Connectivity Dashboard

The new Connectivity Dashboard is a solid step-up from previous models. Each connected device has its own logo and you connect to a new device by tapping the + button.

Maps

As you'd expect, maps look much better on the ACE than they do on the ROAM or the BOLT. They have a higher resolution, a wider range of colours, smoother animations, and support pinch-to-zoom and panning via the touch screen. Map layers can also be added or removed: Points of Interest, Custom Waypoints, Street Names, Wind, Summit Segments, and Strava Live Segments.

The ELEMNT ACE has 64GB of storage and, by default, all maps are installed, leaving around 6GB of free storage.

Sounds, Alerts, and the Bell

As I have a Garmin Varia radar as my rear light, there's usually competition for what audio the device should be playing: traffic alerts or navigation alerts, or both at the same time. If you leave the settings at their default, then the audio mix when you're out on a ride is similar to that of the ROAM. However, the ACE comes with some new features not heard before in a Wahoo device: voice-based turn-by-turn directions and a bell.

The voice-based turn-by-turn directions are good if there's no headwind. It really doesn't take much for the voice audio to become inaudible when you're travelling at speed. (I've gone back to using tone-based navigation alerts.)

The best feature is the bell. Double-tap (almost) any of the data screens and the bell will sound. It's useful when you're on slower rides, on pavements with pedestrians, or you're overtaking someone and want to give them a cheeky ring. You cannot double-tap the map to ring the bell.

Strava Live Segments

Strava Live Segments, added in 19th December firmware update, work as you'd expect. As you approach a segment, the ACE will automatically move to the Live Segment page and/or keep you updated on segment progress on other pages, dependent on your configuration.

If you've somehow got time to focus on it, there's a nice animation along the bottom of the screen with your current position, your current PR, and the current overall best time.

GPS Acquisition

I've always found Wahoo devices glacially slow when acquiring a GPS-lock. Unfortunately, the ACE does nothing to rectify this. Starting a ride from the same position on three different days, the lock time in comparison to other computers is abysmal:

I'm sure this can be improved through firmware updates. Crucially, GPS accuracy is excellent (though the below screenshot is also applicable to the ROAM).

Software Issues

It's not quite death-by-a-thousand-cuts, but there are issues.

• Setting up data fields via the Wahoo app is either close to instantaneous or requires you to make several changes before they are synchronised and the ACE displays them.
• I wanted to update my data fields when I was out on a ride, but the Wahoo app demanded that the ACE was connected to WiFi to check for updates before it would do anything.
• Sometimes the Wahoo app will upload workouts to Wahoo Cloud when WiFi isn't available, other times it won't and you need to connect to WiFi before it will sync. On one occasion, an error message appeared stating: "sync failed, please contact support".
• Wahoo Live Track is inexplicably missing in action. It should be considered a universal embarrassment for a flagship device to launch with fewer safety features than its predecessor.
• While you cannot filter routes, you can search for them using the on-screen keyboard. Unfortunately, the keyboard has a habit of dismissing itself while you're typing.
• On one ride, the Connectivity Dashboard wouldn't dismiss.
• The Shimano Force Vector page still has no dark mode.

Final Thoughts

While others will baulk at the size of the ACE, the only problem I have with the hardware is the bottom bezel. I would have gladly sacrificed a bit of battery life for a longer screen and a slimmed bezel. Everything else: increased screen real estate, resolution, and colours are all welcome improvements over the ROAM, and a solid response to the Edge 1040/1050.

Software-wise, there are simply too many issues for a device that costs €599. The silver lining is that software issues can be fixed and Wahoo does have a track record of keeping their devices updated.

Lastly, Wind Dynamics, worth it? Not yet. On-device, it needs to do more than it currently does; while off-device, the data needs to be utilised in more places than it currently is (Wahoo only right now).

If you want a ROAM with a bigger and better screen, I'd wait a few months to let the software in the ACE stabilise before making up your mind. Whether Wind Dynamics develops into a must-have feature is anyone's guess.