Wahoo Roam 3 review, I ride to Stratford upon Avon, Slam69 bike shop tour and a lot more.

This episode of the Bicycle Workshop Tales series is cranned with things this week. I go through wheel options including my Raleigh Mountain Bike renovation.
I take you to my Bike Shop, Slam69, we you get to see behind the scenes plus some of the shops history.
Myself and my mate Darryl take a 30 mile round trip, calling in at Stratford Upon Avon. We take in parts of the Grand Union and Stratford Canals which includes the Hatton Locks.
Later in the week I head out on another ride, this time down the Gloucester Sharpness Canal, returning through the quiet country lanes. Then on Friday and test out the all new Wahoo Elemnt Roam 3. You’ll have to watch to find out how that weent. Its worth watching if you are thinking of buying one.

Slam69 Bike Shop – https://slam69.co.uk/
Hatton Locks – https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/canals-and-rivers/places-to-visit/hatton-locks
Shrewly Tunnel – https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/west-midlands/green-recovery-challenge-fund/shrewley-cutting-sssi
Switchgrade adjustable seat – https://www.aenomalyconstructs.com/
The VIEW Cafe – https://www.theview-eat.co.uk/
The Edstone Aqueduct. The UK’s longest – https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/canal-history/history-features-and-articles/edstone-aqueduct-hidden-wonder-of-the-waterways
Snitterfield cross memorial – https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/85942
THE SURLY100 – https://grahamfootbicyclelover.com/surly100-2025
Wahoo Fitness – https://uk.wahoofitness.com/
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#mountainbike #handbuiltwheels #wheelbuilding #bikeparts #wahoofitness #canalride #bicycleworkshoptales #mtb #surly100 #reviews #grandunioncanal #lifebehindbars #slam69 #cycling #bikeupgrades #bikepacking

NEXT WEEK – Raleigh Renovation – More riding – Wheels to build – Custom frame bag – and…

Hi, welcome to another episode of Bicycle Workshop Tales. This one’s a bit of an epic. You’ve got three rides. I take a trip and show you around my bike shop, Slam 69. I do a bit of chat in the workshop about wheels and I also do a review on the new Wahoo Element Rome 3. Keep watching to find out what I think of that. Right, catch you in a bit. Keep watching. [Music] So, Sunday today. I’m just getting ready tomorrow. I’m off out with uh Daryl and I’m going to ride. He’s got a route planned um from where he lives, which I can’t quite remember the name of. Um but it’s near Lamington. No, near Warick. And we’re going to go to Statford, I think. Stratford upon Haven. So, taking the drone, taking the cameras obviously with me and um I’m just sort of getting ready few little I mean it’s only it’s only like a 39 29 milei ride, 30 mi. Uh but I’ll just get a few bits and bobs together to take with me. Um the other thing I notice yesterday I didn’t film but I did a few things in here. I don’t quite know why I didn’t film it, but um I’ve changed some wheels around. I put tires on the new wheels. Now, these have been pumped up with no fluid with a hand pump. There’s no sealant in there, and they are rock solid. These are um Victoria Mezcows 2.6 29 2.6. So, these are going to go on this bike if I ever I want to run it at 29iner mode, which I may well do. These are the wheels that will go on. They’re sat there waiting now. And then on the karate monkey sirly karate monkey these tires used to be on there and I thought what can I put on that instead? So I’ve put the 3-in 29×3 canalonas on the surirly. And again these have no sealant inside. Blew them up yesterday and they’re still solid. So they seal really really well. These are both halo rims. Went on with a hand pump. No need for any sort of gadget fiddling about. and they’re still solid. So, all I need to do is put some sealant in. I didn’t put sealant in because I wasn’t sure if they were going to stay on the bike. Um, I just wanted to see how it felt. It rolls really, really well. I think I put in my last video what they weighed. That’s the only reason they didn’t end up on there because they’re lighter and I want I don’t you know, if I’m going to use those for doing something quicker on this bike, what’s the point of making them heavier? So, they they’re going to stay as um as those. And I think I’ll leave these on here cuz I’ve got some more riding to do with this. I I do I’m spoiled, aren’t I? You know, um this bike’s really really comfortable, and I think it’ll be even better now with the bigger tires, with 3-in tires, and there’s loads of room. This frame has got so much space in it for bigger tires. 29 by3s, they fit a treat. Also, um, Rock Shot Revelation forks have got room for the front tire, as you can see. Even with a mud guard on, it still fits. So, well impressed cuz um, tires like forks like this SID won’t take a 3-in uh, it won’t fit, which is a bit of a shame, but I think there is a version of mine says there is a version of SIDS that will take a 3-in tire, but I haven’t come across it yet. But, um, yeah. So, Sirly Karate Monkey, well worth a look if you want a bike that’s going to take you for miles and miles and miles without any issues. Got loads of mounts and uh yeah, steel any issues, you can just weld it, get it fixed. Not that you’re going to get any. It’s not the lightest bike in the world, but then if you want a bike that’s going to be trustworthy and last you for miles and miles, then you you’re better off having something that little bit heavier that it’s going to last you and not fall to pieces. Um, so yeah, that’s what I was doing yesterday, swapping swapping tires around. So, I just really didn’t feel like filming yesterday. I just came in here for a couple of hours and swapped some tires and uh that was that. So, um, like I said, I’m going to get my stuff together this afternoon. Uh, get I’m going taking a motor home with me because it’s the only vehicle I’ve got spare. Sheila will be having the car cuz she’s going to go to the Forest Dean. So, um, I’ll take the motor home and I can chuck the bike in the back and head off to Daryl’s. Right. So, I’m going to get this tire off. I might as well make a little start on this rally while I’ve got five minutes. I’m going to pop these tires off. I don’t think they’re that bad. I can use these. And I think the tubes are fine as well. I just want to check the rims and the as I say, I think I might have to reace release these wheels. Before I do that, let’s just check what we got going on. No, they look fine. As fine as old crumbs. How old would these be? Cuz these are 30 years old. At least 30 years old. They look fine. Um, and rims wise, let’s get the old wheel jig a second. That don’t fall off the bench. Let’s take these back off. some butchers. So, the bearings in these hubs are perfect. Look at that. Absolutely perfect. And the rim actually, oh, not too bad. So, I still think the spokes aren’t too clever. So, I think I’m going to get some new spokes. They look a bit They look galvanized to me. They’re not stainless. So, I’m going to get some new spokes in it, I think. Rebuild it. But the rim is straight. That was the bit I was worried about that it might have a ding in it. But, no, that’s just literally just needs a bit of a true. And just look at I can’t get over how well that spins. Look at that. Beautiful. These are 30 30 odd years old. Right. So, yeah, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll um I will dig out some spokes. Let’s get the other wheel. Just check that as well. Yeah, the chap who sort of rebuilt my bike for me, Adrian. Um Adrian Adrien Smith, he’s probably going to see this. Um yeah, he’s into his retro bikes and all the rest of it. And like I say, this bike was sat around with it a lot of the parts missing and he had them. So, um, he basically donated them to me. So, big thanks, Adrian. And, um, I think it’s about time I give the bikes just a bit of justice and got it back riding again. And I me, as I mentioned earlier, this idea of classic bike packing. Yes. Seems quite Oh, it’s fine. That’s fine as well. Excellent news. I thought there was a ding in the wheel. Um, I really did, but there isn’t nothing. So, I’m going to rebuild both of these. That’s I think that’s probably going to be the only thing this bike’s going to need. Um, by cables. That’s perfect. I cannot believe how well that rolls. And that’s loose ball bearings and cone. Cup and cone they call it. Yeah, nothing wrong with that. So, I’m not going to take these apart now. I will just take one spoke out of each side. So, I’ve got Well, this one obviously is same both sides. Front wheels, unless you’ve got a disc, uh these old wheels, this obviously the spoke length is the same for both sides. on some wheels um on like a rear wheel because the wheels dished. This side, the non-drive side will be longer than the drive side. So, yeah. So, I need to take a spoke out of each side just to make sure I get the right length and then uh get her built back up with some nice silver stainless spokes. It’s going to look peachy. Now, one other thing I mentioned last week, which I didn’t do, is I was going to go down to the bike shop and I was going to show you the bike shop. I think I got to I’ve got to go there now and get these spokes and also get something else. Um I will get this sprocket off. So, um I’ll show you around the shop. Keep watching. So, if you’ve ever wondered what Slam 69 is, where it is, it’s here. This is my shop. or not actually I don’t really own it anymore but um this is I still own it my shop shop obviously shut at the moment so um I just thought I’d show you so we’re located on a business park and the hills are there that’s the cheese roll hill up there and then you got Crown Woods all along the top so we’re literally at the bottom of all the riding for Cranom and you can get Chelenham that way Straoud that way there’s just loads are riding straight from here almost. So yeah, we’re in a great location. Fantastic shot. Right, let’s go inside and have a look. So there you go. We’re inside. This is our retail area. Um it’s a lot smaller than it used to be just basically because we have so much work online now. And obviously uh and also the other part of the business is the workshop which I’ll take you into in a minute which is probably the well the two sides there. the workshop and the online are probably half and half, but um yeah, we don’t really tend well, we don’t really sell bikes as it were, complete bikes. Uh it’s never been really one of our things that’s done really well. We tend to build stuff, so we build a lot of wheels, we build a lot of bikes, so and obviously repairs, but yeah, stock-wise, we have a lot of mixture of stock, as you can see. There’s some other stuff from years gone by, which I think I’ve featured before. These are things that have been given to me or been won. Uh, that’s my gold medal. National jersey. Yeah. Magazine articles from when we had the bike track, BSX, better than sex. Rob Warner and everybody else. I think that’s Rob Warner up there. Um, he came to our track years ago. And then we we sort of started when we had the track at Crannom. Um, we used to run it’s called Bicycle Supercross. This is the track. This is a poster that we’ve got um of all the races and we had these things these massive jumps and stuff and we were we held a um race series for two years and then we had the bicycle supercross championships. That was good. I think that was probably one of the last events that we did in that field. Uh but the spin-off from that was forcross. So we then had a 4cross team. Here they are winning. We used to win the um series every year. So um in that picture there is that’s our forcross team. Um it’s a fantastic time. I really missed that. That was really really good days. That’s Kev Whitby. He was sort of team manager and next to him is um M his boy James. And then all the rest of the guys. quite a few boy guys from the forest used to race or from Gloucester. And up there you’ve got Bigfoot when I first started doing Bigfoot. That’s me. Can’t really see me very well, but there’s three of us there um in the very very first Bigfoot race kit, race team. And that’s me being presented with my gold medal at Downhill Race. National Gold Medal. And then these are other bits and bobs. There you go. National door. I was in the vets category, don’t forget. Bear in mind. So um but yeah, good times. It’s Lee Fancor. Yeah. So this all uh yeah goes back to bicycle supercross days for which then became forcross. You had some national champions. This is Luke Limbrech. He was national champion in forcross. British national champion. Yeah, it’s great. It’s my long great buddy Jason Hughes who’s no longer with us. And that’s the Bigfoot uh mountain bike club doing raising money for charity. Yeah, there’s all kinds of stuff in here. So that’s like a little memory wall and um got a bit of a price list there. All the things we do. Now I’ll take you into the inner sanctum because we don’t normally you don’t get to see this bit. Excuse me. So, in beside in here we have packing. Uh more more parts. Hope. Look at it. These are just all the little colored parts from Hope. Loads of it. Um there’s a saw up there. You can see that. That was one by Paul Spencer. He did the ver I think it was one of the first Dorset gravel dashes 2017 and he won that. It’s um I can’t read that out. It’s got a sticker on it, but I’m the winner. And um Charlie presented that to Paul because Paul rode from London to the Dorset gravel dash, did the gravel dash, and then run home again, rode home back to London. So Charlie presented him that and then and uh Paul, who no longer is around this area, he he left it with us. So, uh, yeah, lots of stuff. Loads of things going on. And there’s even more back here. Lots and lots of different parts. Bits of old storage. And up there is my last original Bigfoot frame. That gold frame up there. I don’t know if you can see it. Hang on. If I can zoom in a bit. Let’s see if I can get a bit closer. Hang on. if you can see that. But yeah, that’s my last Bigfoot gold anodized. Still got ATR uh what they call um control tech for uh stem and Acutrax forks. I keep meaning to get that down and uh and rebuild it, but haven’t managed it yet. There a poster there from when we I supported Lee Fancort when he was doing a world record attempt for Lonzan Johns that was on the back of the van. I’ll just pop the light on here. This is the workshop. Yeah, I miss this. I really do miss being in here. This is my home. Yeah, I used to work in here. Obviously, we’ve developed it. The workshop when we first opened this shop used to be in that corner there. Actually, no, it wasn’t. It was back a bit. It was back there because this wall’s been moved. We’ve recently moved this wall from back here. Used to be here somewhere. We moved it forward to give ourselves more space. And the workshop used to be on that corner there. And then uh yeah, there is an upstairs as well. Now these are all spokes. I do a lot of spokes. More spokes. And more spokes. So there’s a lot of stuff. These are all things to be done. Wheels to be built. Excuse me. A few stickers there from the years we’ve been here. We’ve been here probably quite a few years now. This is the engine room in here. So, have a quick peep. This is where everything gets done. That’s Millie’s desk. Pete’s desk. Ara’s desk. Don’t know who they are. Arie is uh Millie is my granddaughter. She runs the place and is currently just had a baby, so she actually works from home at the moment, but she still does everything. Runs it all from home. Pete’s her dad and Arie is her other half. So, it’s a proper family affair. Yeah. So, lot of stuff’s gone on in here. It’s been moved around again since I left. We used to do our little videos here. Slam TV used to be filmed against this wall. And that used to be the door. It’s now been moved to here. More stickers. Can’t get enough stickers. Cannot get enough stickers. So, we do enduro bearings. All enduro bearings there. Few hope boxes. We used to have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of well thousands of hope boxes upstairs, but I think they’ve all been gone taken down since I’ve left. But, um, this is my old bench. And then that’s is current it’s now AR’s bench. And this is Luke’s bench. Luke Sorders who’s back from his travels. He went away for a while traveling and he’s back. So we do uh all every sort of bike. You name it, we do it. Road bikes, ebikes, mountain bikes, jump bikes, anything bikes, fat bikes obviously. So um at the moment everything’s seems to be done and out, but that’ll be full again next week. And then um we got all the parts we’ve got. We do uh fork servicing parts washer and that’s Pete um Miller’s other father he takes care of internet packing which is over there few inner tubes orders going out small orders so yeah it’s um great little place great little shop see I cannot believe this started in my garage and um has come so far in such a short time. Few old posters up here from when we had the bike track if you can see that. That’s the old original logo. This silhouette here is Lewis Richards. We immortalized him in our logo. And this one, this logo is uh one of the that’s Paul Kirby in this logo. We tend to use our riders. This is one of our early we did a t-shirt in that design as well. I think Mazaki banner. Anyway, I digress. What I came here to do, apart from as well as show you around, was to sort the spoke so I can get this free wheel off. So, I’ll just get this. I think I’m going to need two chain whips to get this freewheel off. Let’s just see. It’s a long time since I’ve taken one of these off, so you have to bear with me. Yes, it does. Thought was much. So, yeah, the out the outer sprocket holds on the rest of it. So, just two chain whips. This is a chain whip. This grips the sprocket. You can hold it by by the teeth and this should pull off much like a cassette. I hope. Yes, it does. So now I can get at the spokes. God, I don’t know where anything is anymore. I used to be able to just put my hand on everything, but obviously they’ve got their own ways of doing things. Now, there’s one cool little thing you can get for checking spoke lengths is um this little gauge from part tools and you just put the end of your spoke in and then measure the other and make sure you get the right that’s it millimeters. Put it in that end and then you can look at this end and that is if I had my glasses which I’ve forgotten. Oh, great. So, I can’t see. Looks like 264. Okay, spoke sorted out. I just need to u record what I’ve had. Make sure we don’t muck up the stock. So, I’ll uh email that back through and then we’ll get back and uh sort these wheels out. Uh what else? I could show you one other little thing actually while I’m here. We’ve also got a lot of uh which is upstairs. Got more storage. Loads of rims. Rims. Got it. Bite bags. Tires. This is my old storage area. This is used to be my office for a while. Lots of old stuff here. Frames from years ago. Yeah, bit of an old store room, but all kinds of stuff I need to sort out in here. Um it’s like everything else. It’s just having time to do it all. Even got a unicycle. I must dig that out. Actually got a use for that. But yeah, so um this is Slam 69. There you go. Aerial shot. So much goes on in here. Love it. Yeah. Right. I must get back. Hope you liked having a look around. It’s always nice to know when you buy stuff online. It’s you often wonder where you’re getting it from. But um always a few old bikes here. Bikes. My old uh cruiser bike. Millie’s bike. Millie’s jump bike from years ago. Still got it. All kinds of stuff. Right. I’ll catch you later. Right, all plotted in the phone. So, it’s going to be an hour apparently an hour and 4 minutes. So, I should be there by whatever start. Head south on Beckford Road towards 8:50. Right, let’s go. So, we’re 19 minutes away. Hello. Hello. So, I’m taking to Graham. Hang on. Today. So, where are we going? What we doing? So, this has been probably about 15 years in the making. No, probably about 15 months. So, we are today going to be rolling to Stratford on the canal and then taking a scenic country road route back with hopefully some little hidden gems and some little uh I don’t know what some little things what might entertain you all. So, off we go. saddle a bit. It’s a bit high. So, where’s this? Hatton lock. So, these are hatton locks. All right. So, this is the third lock from the bottom. Yeah. So, we just gone past the first two. Yeah. Cool. So, I think there’s 21 locks, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. 31 or something like that. Don’t worry. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Thank you. Truly tunnel. Heat. Heat. Probably wasn’t a good idea to wear me sunglasses. Couldn’t see where the stop steps finished. See what I have noticed this year and that’s the amount of cow slips. They’re cow slips. Those yellow flowers. There’s loads this year. There’s also a lot more blossom than normal. It’s uh really has been a very colorful spring for blossom. Yeah. Beautiful day now. So, what can this Darl Grand Union Grand Union? The Grand Union. Oh, lovely bridges. Got a thing for bridges. [Music] Lovely. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Ah, so if you go right that’s another way from Birmingham and this way it’s to Stratford. Oh, cool. specialized. What is it? Switch grade. What’s it do? Yeah. So, yeah, let me show you. So, this is a little thing from a company called Anomaly in Canada, and it basically angles your seat angle. Oh, it’s got settings. Settings for climbing. So, it’s -12° and what it does, it puts your pelvis and hips into a better position for climbing. Yeah. So, you don’t basically have back pain. Yeah. I’ve been using these for about what, probably four years now, 3 years. Yeah. And an absolute game changer. Really good. [Music] Tell you what, I cannot get over how flipping cold it is. Thank you. Morning. Thank you. Thank you so much. I don’t really fancy going swimming today. No, nor do I. You got a lot of run out, have you? It’s right if you’re down in my cascll. Mine isn’t. As much as I like cold water. Oh, you and me both. You can’t beat a bit of cold water therapy. heals the soul, gives you the focus, and uh makes you feel good, especially first thing in the morning, but not in that filthy water. Thank you very much, ladies. Thank you. Cheers. You Thank you. I’ve got to say, um, I know you’ve seen me riding a lot of canal stuff, but, um, it is a great way to get around. Can you smell that wild garlic? What did he say? I didn’t hear what you said. What’ you say? You can smell the wild garlic. Oh, yeah. Yeah. The camera can hear you, but I can’t. Sorry. The camera can hear you, but I can’t. Yeah, it does smell. Yeah, we are strong. Well, garlic. Yeah, as I was saying, canals are a great way to get around the country if you just want to get some miles in and get away from the traffic and see some wonderful places. I’ve never done this canal. This goes up to Stratford like Dar was saying, you got Stratford, you got Birmingham, and uh bearing in mind it is a bank holiday month. I know it’s still early, but it is quiet. Don’t really recommend it. It’s not exactly extreme, I know, but it makes a nice change just to travel, get means of getting around with no cars and stuff like that. It’s a nice view. Little Oh, you’re right. Yeah. It’s nice little view. So, you got like the couple of houses and like that little cottage thing there. Nice lock keepers. Bucket Lock cottage. [Music] Yeah. You go. She likes her. Let me spot one. Did you see the heaven, Graham? Yeah. You see the lambs come down into the canal? Yeah. Thank you. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Another bar. Time for a cuppper. Come and check this c this barn out. Looks like an old barn, doesn’t it? It’s been done up. It’s called The View. And it’s got one. Nice. Thank you very much. the view. Yeah. I’m guessing this is an old This is a farm building that’s been converted. Nice. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Yeah. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Oh, thank you. Thank you. Mhm. Found it. Found the way out. Uhhuh. The canal was shut, so we had to go around a field. I see. You’re doing something to the canal. So, we’re just coming into Stratford now. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Cheers. Thank you. Cheers, guys. Thank you. Cheers. [Music] Huh? [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] They got a beer garden. That’s all right then. You reckon? Oh, oh dear. Look, look what he’s made me do. I don’t drink. So, this is Ugly Bridge Road, and apparently this is the world’s most ugliest bridge. There you go. Ugly bridge. Yeah, I got to say it’s not that ugly, is it? I seem uglier. Ah, here we are again. Fatten locks. Just like to say a big thank you to Daryl for showing me around. Great ride to Stratford. Uh, it was pretty quiet as you can see until we hit the actual town itself where there was it was basically party time for a Bengali Monday. But yeah, big thanks to Daryl. Thanks a lot, mate. Right, we’re going to go out just going out for a bimble just to keep the cogs turning. Got to keep fit. Got to keep fit. Looks like the cold’s gone now. So, I just got to build my fitness up ready for some longer rides. Chat to somebody this morning about all the rides he’s doing. And I’ve just got to get my mileage up. Right, let’s go. Can’t do any of this stuff. Oh yeah. Yeah, thoroughly enjoying this so far. It’s still dry. Good enough. where the wind was blowing. There was a swan here. We can get past without any incident. Yeah. So, it’s that time of the year when everything’s a bit protective of its nest, but I don’t think there is a nest there. So, so I’m going to go down to sharpness. So, I wasn’t planning to go this far, but it’s going road’s going quite well. 11 mi in, so I should get me 20 miish. Actually, a bit more than that. So, I’m going to sharpen this docks, get the drone up again, do a bit more. Oh, the flies. Unbelievable. So many flies. I don’t know how many flies are in my helmet, but it’s aphids. I think just thousands of them. I don’t know where the flies show up on this. I am just just everywhere. I’ve just been watching some swans. I filmed a bit on my phone. I’ll put it on [Music] here. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] I’ve called it a day on the canal. The flies are just horrendous. So, I’ve got to come back on the road. Didn’t get I didn’t make it to Sharp Nest, but it’s going to be a longer ride now cuz I’ve got to go back around the roadway. So, this should be a great ride. Still feel good. Let’s get on with it. It’s not too light, look at it. Right. Can you see anything? No, that’s the point. Mic’s gone. Damn it. I knew it would happen at some point. I must have took my drone strap off, hooked the mic off. It’s gone. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I have to buy a new one. So, go. That’s a trouble with all this stuff. They’re on on with magnets, but of course, it’s only as strong as it’s magnet. Oh well, there’s no way I’m going to find that. Well, sorry. I was being chased by two dogs in Slimbridgeidge. Don’t know if anyone knows the uh farm in Slimbridgeidge, but there a couple of terriers there that seem to like chasing bikes. I thought it was going to go all the way back to Gloucester. Anyway, that’s speeding me up a bit. Yes. So, I’ve uh chosen to I’ve asked Wahhoo to take me home cuz uh might as well saves me having to think about it. Just take me through Slim Bridge and I’m just going to see where else it takes me. It says it’s 14 miles to home. So, it’s pretty direct. So, it’s yeah, bit of a mystery tour. Let’s see where it takes me. So, I’m just uh sorting out stuff after yesterday’s ride. Still a bit chaotic in here. Had lots of stuff going on this morning. But in the meantime, something’s arrived. The new Wahoo Element Rome 3. Just come out. Just got it this morning. Well, in fact, it’s just arrived a minute ago. Um, so should we have a look? Uh-huh. There we go. So, it’s different. It’s quite a bit different to the old one. Not sure if I’ve got the old one in here. So, I give you an idea of the difference. It’s a It’s slightly slimmer, but very very very slightly thicker. Uh buttons are raised like before, same buttons on the side. So, it’s pretty much the same. Same onoff button there. These are all your choose your thing, but it’s touchscreen, this one. So, um I’m really looking forward to getting this. I when I ordered my um let’s just see what else is in the box, I suppose. Hang on. We got another mount. So, we got the usual mount which we normally get. That looks different as well. I think it’s slimmer. Yeah, they’ve got it’s a new mount now. So, it’s slimmer than the old one, which is a bit of a bummer because I’ve got three of these. I’ll have to see. I chances are Hang on. Let’s just see if it fits on the old man. It probably does. Yeah, it does. That’s all right, then. So, it’ll still fit on the old mounts. That’s good. So, um I’ll put the new mount on the Raven, which is my bike packing bike. And then the other mounts will stay as they are. So, actually I’ve actually gained another mount. So, that’s good. Although, I have got to send when I sell these, these will come with mounts. So, yeah, I’ve talking rubbish. So, um and then what else is in the box? I’ve noticed they’ve gone all uh eco with their packaging, which is good to see. Lot less plastic than it was in that one. You get the little universal mount and strap on type zip ties to fix them on. Charging cable, which we’ve all got millions of now, but I guess they’ve got to supply it. So, all those. But anyway, there we go. So, new one. What I’m going to do, I’m out tomorrow. So, I will be putting this through its paces tomorrow. I’m probably going to take both with me just to compare. I’ll show you the difference. So, I’ll take the two and the three. Um I’ll I’ll mount them both on the bike and then we can check out the differences. But I Yeah, I unfortunately when I ordered this is the Oh, this is the one which is almost exactly the same as the two. There’s not a lot of difference except for the buttons to look at. Um, they’ve got these lights that go around the side. This one has got a much less of a bezel around the outside. It’s more almost 100% screen. Um, and apparently better battery life. I think it’s got slightly bigger battery, but um, battery life’s good anyway. But yeah, so what I’ll do is I’ll um I’ll tell you all more about it tomorrow when I go on the bike. So, here we are. I’m out riding the riding and uh I’ve just got my just got my new Wahoo Element Rome 3 and as you see I just I unboxed it and I thought today I’d come out and give it a try. And I’ve got my Rome 3, the new one and the Rome 2 on here and I’ve had issues. I’ve been filming for Instagram, but I’ll show you. I’ll put the clips in here anyway. Um, but I had a hell of a job getting it going. And is there anything you can see? It’s the uh three is on the left, the new one. I don’t know about you, but the screen is very hard to read. It’s really disappointing. The route, what I want it for is to follow a route. And I can only This is the two. This is the old one. The route is much clearer. The other one I stopped and I checked gone through the settings. See if there’s any contrast settings to make it brighter, but I can’t see it. I’ve just stopped for a minute. And the two is showing me where I’ve got to go. Three is showing me where I’ve been. I don’t know. I don’t Or is that saying locked? Ah, I had the screen locked. That’s better now. That is better. You can actually That is better. Sorry. There’s a lock on the screen up there which you can tap by accident. I have the screen lock. So now Yes, that is better cuz I now So that’s better. But the contrast is shocking. So actually being able to see where you’re going is the problem for me. But anyway, we’ll give it as I say, keep going. It’s uh May something. I can’t think. First week of May, just after the first week of May, and it’s still freezing cold in the mornings, hence my jacket. Got three layers on. I got I got my sandals on, but I got socks on. Hopefully you can hear this because I haven’t I haven’t brought the mic cuz I wasn’t planning on really filming much today, but it’s turned into a computer review. But uh anyway, now the map’s gone completely off the roof. Well, not the route, but the rout’s gone off the screen for some reason. Oh, what’s going on? Where is the route? This computer is just ridiculous. I want to go where I want to see where I’m going. It just doesn’t The roots are not staying on. Maybe I’ve got a lock screen now. Is that what it is? Lock it. No, it’s upside down. It’s upside down. This is not good. Look at this one. It’s perfect. Right. Lock screen. Nope. Upside down. Just Just doing my head in. That’s where I’ve been, not where I’m going. Oh, dear. Dear dear, dear. Good job. I got the other one. Sorry for all the uh Right, let’s just see what happens and get going again. What’s that say? Right, it seems to be back on the screen. It makes no sense at all now. I don’t know what’s going on. Oh, I see. No, I don’t. What is going on? Terrible. I think you have to lock the screen when you’re riding. So, when I stop, let’s see what happens now. Watch the screen. So, it stayed there this time. This has been flipping upside down every time when the screen’s locked. Ride resumed. Instead of just saying ride resume like this one does, it the whole screen goes black. I’m not. It doesn’t have the green either. The map doesn’t show the green fields either. God, it’s terrible. I’m really disappointed. See the green field? This hasn’t got it. Something’s not right on this computer, I tell you. I don’t know whether the software needs well it did update this morning but just uh discarded a bit of clothing. It’s getting a bit warmer now. What’s the time? Time is 10:38. So, this thing is really, really, really annoying me. This new computer is just annoying me. With the old one, you go on the app and you can see where you are. There’s a map. With this one, for some reason, I probably haven’t set it up or done something, but there’s no map on the Wu Wahoo app. Now, either I’ve got the wrong app. I It looks like it’s for a trainer. I think I’ve got the wrong app, but um I haven’t tried linking it to the old one, but it’s when you when you get it and you scan it, it sends you to this new app, but the new app doesn’t cater for maps. Doesn’t show you where you are on the map. Doesn’t show what’s going on currently live on that computer. Doesn’t show you anything. So, um I’m either I’m obviously missing something, but it shouldn’t be that difficult. Um, I know Wahoo are very much into their indoor stuff now, so maybe it’s geared for that. I don’t know. I really don’t know. But it’s just not as simple. This was so simple. The old one just super super simple. Car coming. Hang on. So, uh, but anyway, yes, it’s getting me down a bit. I get a bit peed off with it, but let’s crack on. I’ve had to turn I turned the sound back on momentarily just because I thought, oh, maybe I should have it on, but it’s so loud. I went past some horses and the horses jumped. So, I’ve turned it back off. And you can’t turn it down. It’s either on or off. And it’s s seriously loud because it’s bleeping all the time if you’re going through junctions. So, it’s just too loud. Anyway, right. Oh, I just had some something to eat. Must admit I am a I feel very um privileged and lucky to be out now. There’s a lot of people. I mean, I’ve I’ve done my days working, but there’s a lot of people that obviously can’t do this cuz they’re at work. But, um there comes a time when you do get some time, your time will come. And when it does, get out in the countryside. Get out in the countryside. Life’s tough, you know, for a lot of people. Just chat to somebody this morning who’s having a rough time. You just got to get outside and try and empty your head of all the negative thoughts. I know it’s easy to say being outside and listening to the wildlife and the birds and the seeing the sunrise. It’s very important to think cuz you know seeing that sunrise in the morning is a is a wonderful thing, a precious thing cuz one day won’t happen. So you got to grasp it when you can grasp every minute. Enjoy it. the rough and the good. Just look at it. This is May now in the UK. Can hear a lawn mower behind me. Apart from that, not a lot else. Very nice part of the world. Very horsey. I was going to say something controversial then, but I won’t. I’ll shut up. But um yeah, I’m going to crack on and get this ride done. 10 miles to go. Yeah, 10 miles to go. 10 enjoyable miles. So about two about quart to 3 in the afternoon. So I should be back within good time. Right, let’s get going. So, my verdict on the uh Wahoo Element Rome 3, not good. As you can see in the video, there’s so many things were going wrong. I know I messed up a little bit when it came to knowing about the um the lock on the screen, but to be honest with you, it’s so easy to tap because it’s a touch screen and it’s so small and you’re going over bumps. You can quite easily tap the the unlock and the lock on the screen. But to me, I think um I don’t think it’s ready. I think it needs software updates. I also think the app is just not suitable. It is the right app for this phone because when you get it, you scan you scan the code that comes up when you open up the phone on your and it is the right app. It’s just not as good as the old app. Um so for me um as always I should have waited. I’ve jumped the gun. Um I’ve got this is the one, the two, and the three. Um I love the one. I’ve had it a long long time. It just got a bit slow. So, when the three came, uh, sorry, the two came out, I waited quite a long time before I got it, but I finally bought one, um, and I love it. I love the simplicity of Wahoo, I love the fact that it links to your phone and if you want to know exactly where you are, you can look up on your phone, you can go into the app, tap the the map part of it, and you can open it right up. So, you got a much bigger picture of the map. On this, there is no map function on the app. It just gives you very, very limited things. It gives you a lot of possible stats that I’m not interested in. But the one thing I want it to do and navigate is very the the cursor and the actual uh what they call breadcrumb trail is so faint you cannot see it very well. In the video it actually looks brighter than it is in real life because I have sunglasses on. I couldn’t actually see the screen very well. I don’t know what sort of what they’ve done to the screen but it does look like it’s got a finish on it. Well, you can’t really tell in this video, but um so and also um as I I’ll show you now if I just quickly turn it on. I’ll turn these two on just to just to show you something. Um I know the screen is has got less bezel around the outside according to this one, you know, in relation to the older one. But um let’s just turn this light off a sec. Might be able to see a bit better. Um, but there’s this big patch of black here of no screen. So, you haven’t actually gained any more screen. Um, this one’s got obviously got the the bezel around the outside, but I got a feeling this screen. It gives you the code to to scan the app because I’ve I’ve wiped this now because I’m going to send it back. But um I would say that the screen on the old one is bigger or at least as big as the new one. Um but yeah, my my my personal opinion is this isn’t very good. It’s too complicated. It’s too fuffy. The the touchcreen is a headache. I mean, I that’s part of the reason I bought this is because I didn’t want a touchcreen because when you’re riding a bike, it’s it’s fine if you want to um stop and you want to zoom in and you want to look, but when you’re riding along and you happen to tap that unlock button, you’ve unlocked the screen and then it just goes haywire and then when you try to lock it again, it flips up the wrong way and does all kinds of funny things. So, um yeah, I’m not a fan. It’s going back. Um I’m quite happy to stick with this. And if I was you, if you’ve got a if you’re after a Wahoo, I’d buy the two right now, I’d buy the two. It’s probably cheaper as well if you can find one. Um, really good computer. The screen’s nice and more colorful than the original one. This one’s good. You know, it’s still good. It’s basic. There’s no color. Um, but this has got more function. In the video, I said about unlocking this screen so you could move it around and look at where you’re going. You can do it on this one as well. There is a button, which I didn’t know about in this corner. It doesn’t show it as it is at the moment on the screen, but in here there’d be three little dots and you can press the lefth hand button and it will give you the option to scroll around the screen using buttons. And I found it just as easy to do, in fact easier to do than this with a touchcreen. Um, especially if you’ve got gloves on, forget it. So, um, yeah. So, my opinion, stick with the two or even the one. I wouldn’t waste your money on the three. Not yet anyway. I just don’t rate it, I’m afraid. Um, okay. I haven’t seen anything mention. I I’ve looked for reviews, but there aren’t any really that are of sort of user reviews. This may be the first one. So, I’ve got it in this video, but I might put it out as a separate video. So, anyway, so um yeah, sorry it’s a bit of a long- winded video this one, but um hopefully you found some entertainment in it. Three different rides. Uh two unfortunately were just canal rides, but um yeah, the last one I was uh I was still testing out and finalizing the route for the Surly 100, which is done. So, the day one route is finished. It’s perfect. It rides like a dream. Uh next week, I’ll be riding the day two route during the week. We’re promised a bit of rain on the Monday, so we could probably do a bit of rain to be honest. It might sound a bit d. But, uh anyway, okay. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe, like the video, and um I’ll catch you in the next one. Take it easy. [Music]