I just got a Wahoo element roam v2 and the gps really sucks even with minimal tree coverage, I was just riding in a straight line and the gps now looks like this, on the trail it gets confused too sometimes.
Is the gps on garmin devices any better? Thinking of getting a 1040…
219MTB on
I love my Wahoo but my Elemnt Boltv2 is so slow to pick up satelitte when it first boots up I sometimes miss a mile of my ride and going through tree’s it’s not this bad. Speed is just all over the base and rubber bands. Probably comes out to the right average but not consistent in moderate tree cover. I’ve switched to my Apple Watch Ultra for MTB. Way more accurate somehow then a dedicated GPS;
barriedalenick on
I used to get some wild glitches on my old 530 model but that was in London so a bit expected. I have had a 1030 for a few years and it has never done anything like the above but I do mostly ride in the countryside now..
atypical-name on
DCRainmaker is the guy for this. When he’s doing a GPS review he’ll take several devices and see which ones wander off course when he’s going under trees, past buildings etc.
Honestly though, I’m surprised the Wahoo is this bad. There should be some sort of GPS setting for accuracy vs battery life, maybe play around with that before getting something new (unless you want to).
TryingNot2BLazy on
Cateye AirGPS is so much better <3
change my mind then, downvoter… I don’t have $700+ for a bicycle TomTom but I do have $80 for Strava subscription and another $80 for a new cateye speedometer on my newly built bicycle. It literally has the same input to strava as both Wahoo and Garmin, and I don’t need to carry around my cellphone. It even has that useless dual band GPS tracking if you want it so bad.
Pasta_expert on
In terms of route my Garmin 530 doesn’t wander, but I also use gps for my speed tracking and as soon as I get underneath any sort of tree cover I drop down to like 12mph lol. At the end of the ride the speeds are all fine, but in the moment it’ll tell me a depressingly low number.
theultrainside on
Strangely, my Edge 530 was way more accurate compared to its successor (in my collection), the Edge 840. The latter being a wanderer in remote areas or even simple forest areas not being located far away from civilisation. Still, friends with a Wahoo complain a lot more than me.
Just the difference between the 530 and 840 is striking.
drinkingmymilk on
That’s not normal for a wahoo. I’d reach out to customer service. You may just have gotten a bad unit unfortunately or there is an update you may need.
Old_degenerate on
That’s a great route 😅
negativeyoda on
Those are bonus miles. It’s a feature, not a bug
Orinoko_Jaguar on
I use a 12 yr old Garmin 310xt and it is better than that. I have to assume the GPS chip in the wahoo isnt worse than a 12 year old Garmin chip. Did you check your settings for smoothing or accuracy? Maybe it set to use the Russian satellite system instead?
StevenNull on
Seeing as that’s a new Wahoo device, it’s almost certainly defective – even my Garmin Instinct Crossover (smartwatch) is far better than that!
attomsk on
My Garmin is quite accurate but I’ve never owned a wahoo to compare
Desperate_Formal_781 on
If this problem is always present, there might be something external causing the issue.
Gps signals are captured by antennas inside your gps unit. If there are objects near your gps, it may disrupt the gps signal quality?
Do you have any sort of metal objects or electronic gadgets close to your device (as in centimeters close)? They may be causing interference with the signal? Do you keep the device inside a metal box of some sort?
15 Comments
I just got a Wahoo element roam v2 and the gps really sucks even with minimal tree coverage, I was just riding in a straight line and the gps now looks like this, on the trail it gets confused too sometimes.
Is the gps on garmin devices any better? Thinking of getting a 1040…
I love my Wahoo but my Elemnt Boltv2 is so slow to pick up satelitte when it first boots up I sometimes miss a mile of my ride and going through tree’s it’s not this bad. Speed is just all over the base and rubber bands. Probably comes out to the right average but not consistent in moderate tree cover. I’ve switched to my Apple Watch Ultra for MTB. Way more accurate somehow then a dedicated GPS;
I used to get some wild glitches on my old 530 model but that was in London so a bit expected. I have had a 1030 for a few years and it has never done anything like the above but I do mostly ride in the countryside now..
DCRainmaker is the guy for this. When he’s doing a GPS review he’ll take several devices and see which ones wander off course when he’s going under trees, past buildings etc.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/06/garmin-edge-1040-with-solar-in-depth-review.html
Honestly though, I’m surprised the Wahoo is this bad. There should be some sort of GPS setting for accuracy vs battery life, maybe play around with that before getting something new (unless you want to).
Cateye AirGPS is so much better <3
change my mind then, downvoter… I don’t have $700+ for a bicycle TomTom but I do have $80 for Strava subscription and another $80 for a new cateye speedometer on my newly built bicycle. It literally has the same input to strava as both Wahoo and Garmin, and I don’t need to carry around my cellphone. It even has that useless dual band GPS tracking if you want it so bad.
In terms of route my Garmin 530 doesn’t wander, but I also use gps for my speed tracking and as soon as I get underneath any sort of tree cover I drop down to like 12mph lol. At the end of the ride the speeds are all fine, but in the moment it’ll tell me a depressingly low number.
Strangely, my Edge 530 was way more accurate compared to its successor (in my collection), the Edge 840. The latter being a wanderer in remote areas or even simple forest areas not being located far away from civilisation. Still, friends with a Wahoo complain a lot more than me.
Just the difference between the 530 and 840 is striking.
That’s not normal for a wahoo. I’d reach out to customer service. You may just have gotten a bad unit unfortunately or there is an update you may need.
That’s a great route 😅
Those are bonus miles. It’s a feature, not a bug
I use a 12 yr old Garmin 310xt and it is better than that. I have to assume the GPS chip in the wahoo isnt worse than a 12 year old Garmin chip. Did you check your settings for smoothing or accuracy? Maybe it set to use the Russian satellite system instead?
Seeing as that’s a new Wahoo device, it’s almost certainly defective – even my Garmin Instinct Crossover (smartwatch) is far better than that!
My Garmin is quite accurate but I’ve never owned a wahoo to compare
If this problem is always present, there might be something external causing the issue.
Gps signals are captured by antennas inside your gps unit. If there are objects near your gps, it may disrupt the gps signal quality?
Do you have any sort of metal objects or electronic gadgets close to your device (as in centimeters close)? They may be causing interference with the signal? Do you keep the device inside a metal box of some sort?
Otherwise, the device may just be faulty.
https://preview.redd.it/s7gnr0zfewed1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7dfb3a2db7a842b405f8b52cb62fcc2874ee9446
Meanwhile my BoltV2 is so accurate is shows where I sway left and right when going up a very steep hill.