Wahoo Elemnt Ace

The Wahoo Elemnt Ace is bigger but not necessarily better than the bike computers that have come before it. After a few months with the futuristic unit, my initial excitement has mostly turned to frustrations and niggles with what could have been an absolute game changer. New features seemingly made it harder to get the basics right… It's not as if it's all bad, though, there are some genuinely excellent features such as the mapping and navigation that go some way to redeem the new flagship device.

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Rewind to last autumn and I was absolutely lapping up the spy shots of a new Wahoo cycling computer that looked like it was going to throw a roided-up cat among the pigeons: the cat in this case being the first mainstream computer for years with an interesting new feature and the pigeons being a particularly stale segment of the cycling industry that appears to have resigned itself to being at least a few years behind any other consumer tech...

The Elemnt Ace promised to change all that: a smartphone-sized screen, an enviable battery life and a segment-first wind sensor all packaged into a user-friendly package that Wahoo has made its name synonymous with.

Unboxing

Even if you've done your research first, when unboxing the device you're still likely to be surprised by its size and weight. In fact, it's over twice the weight of my Wahoo Roam V2, which isn't exactly a small computer. Height-wise it's similar to a Garmin Edge 1050 but it's wider, deeper and about 30% heavier. The extra size isn't necessarily a bad thing, as my bar has plenty of real estate waiting to be used and it also means the computer has space for a 3.8in/9.65cm screen.

For reference, the Garmin Edge 1050 is just about the only device that comes close at 3.5in/8.89cm. The Roam V2, meanwhile, has a 2.7in/6.85cm screen, and the Karoo Hammerhead V3 a 3.2in/8.12cm screen.

The box also contains an aluminium out-front mount, a USB-C charging/data cable and a QR code to set the device up.

The Ace's screen size will be a big positive to many, especially those with less than perfect eyesight but it is worth considering whether you can get a long enough mount for your specific bike before purchasing (unless you have a round bars and can therefore use the provided out-front mount).

Screen

To make space for the colossal screen, the LED bars Wahoo previously used on its bike computers have gone. Personally I liked using these to show my heart rate and power zones as well as alerts, but sacrificing them for more screen is okay I guess... With an aspect ratio of 3:2, the Ace's screen is wider than most, and this does help when you're viewing maps (more on that later).

As for pixel density, you're looking at a 480 x 720 pixel count. This is slightly less than the Edge 1050 and Karoo 3, which both have a pixel count of 480 x 800 spread over a smaller area, but it's a noticeable improvement over the Roam V2 and earlier Wahoo models.

Wahoo has continued its increased use of colours with the Ace and everything from the revised menu screens to the maps and in-ride data fields gets a conservative yet effective dosage.

The press material doesn't mince about when it says that the Elemnt Ace screen is 'class leading', unfortunately, other than being class-leadingly big it did little else to win me over. The brightness, even with the backlight on full, is nowhere near as bright as the Garmin Edge 1050 or Karoo Hammerhead V3, which has been fine for the dreary UK winter but in glasses and under the bright sunlight I experienced on my overseas training camp I was left wanting.

Wahoo bike computer screens have never been the brightest but have always made up for it with their readability – this latest one seems to be a step backwards and in like-for-like conditions was not as readable as my Roam V2. I think that this has something to do with the limited viewing angle of the TFT (thin-film-transistor) touchscreen, which is fine when you're directly over it but appears dimmer when you're on the bike and looking at it from an angle.

Ease of use/set-up

Brightness aside, the Elemnt Ace is easy and intuitive to use, the user interface has had a complete overhaul and it's now even easier to pair sensors. You can also see the sensors' pairing status and battery life from a handy homescreen, make different profiles for the first time and customise all the ride screens until your heart's content on the Wahoo App, just like you could with previous Wahoo computers on the ELEMNT App.

The user interface is hands down better than Garmin's and also simpler to use than Hammerhead's. This simplicity has always been a strength of Wahoo's and it's impressive that it has managed to cram in so many features without diluting it.

I'm also a big fan of still getting physical buttons as well as the touchscreen. For example, while drilling it into a headwind on hard efforts a physical lap button is always easier to find than an area on the screen, but when you're stopped deciding on a route home, it's great to be able to pinch and twist a map just as you would on a smartphone.

During testing I had no issues pairing any of my sensors, whether power meters, electronic groupsets or heart rate monitors.

Ride tracking

Clearly the Elemnt Ace is designed to do far more than just track your rides, but that is arguably still its primary function so definitely needs reviewing!

As with many of the latest premium bike computers the Ace comes with dual-band GPS that should help with accuracy in built-up and isolated areas. I was rather surprised, though, to find that the Ace located satellites a lot slower than just about every other bike computer out there, heck, even a version one Bolt was showing it how it was done. I've done endless updates and resets to try to rectify this but to no avail.

On one ride (that I was late for), I decided I'd set off anyway and hope that at some point I'd become visible to those pesky satellites – spoiler, I didn't. I haven't heard of this being an issue with other people's devices but I can only review the one that was in my hands and it once again pushed me towards switching back to my Roam V2.

Wind sensor

The USP of the Elemnt Ace is of course the wind sensor, not to be confused with an aerosensor that we've also recently been playing with. The idea is that it can monitor your air speed, compare that to your ground speed and then provide actionable insights – aerodynamics after all are the main thing slowing you down.

When asked 'why might you want to know how much headwind there is?' Wahoo compares its system to a power meter – you know how hard you are pushing the pedals and yet you still want to monitor power, and by looking at the coloured bars generated from the wind sensor Wahoo thinks that you will be able to perfect your positioning in a bunch or on the bike.

Let me give an example of why I think it's more of a gimmick than a game changer at the moment: when out on the road and the wind speed goes orange to tell you that it's significantly higher than your ground speed, what are you going to do? I presume I made the right call by trying to get lower and more aero, only for the data field to go red as the wind picked up and I felt the increased resistance against my exposed face.

For me, the wind speed and Wahoo wind dynamics just have too many variables for them to be useful and/or actionable. I do like the fact that you can see the wind dynamics in post-ride analysis, especially on the map.

I think that the concept of a wind sensor is brilliant and I'm excited to see what Wahoo can do with this kind of tech in the future. For now, though, I can take it or leave it, it's neither a negative nor a positive and for me at least, not a must-have. This is because in blustery real-world conditions I haven't found it reliable enough to aid my positioning in a bunch and it's not accurate enough to determine which setups are faster or slower than others.

Maps and navigation

One area that is class leading is the maps and navigation, with everything from the new turn-by-turn instructions, the fast processing speeds of routes and map design near perfect. Obviously the large screen helps hugely in this area and the 3:2 aspect ratio means you can see more of the peripherals than on most devices.

While following a route you still get the coloured chevrons to show you the direction and upcoming climbs.

And I'm not saying this as a negative but simply for anyone with the same head scratch as I had: if you're importing routes from Strava then only those downloaded for offline use will automatically sync with the Wahoo app and therefore device, which can only be done on a phone rather than the desktop where I usually make my routes. Once I found that out, routes were syncing across seamlessly.

The turn-by-turn routing is also great. Even if you're on another, non-map page, upcoming turns will pop up with a handy countdown to the turn. You also get the option of an audible alert where the computer will give voice directions similar to a car satnav, though this is disabled by default.

Bell

Speaking of noises, the Ace now has a built-in bell, following the lead of the Edge 1050. This is loud, clear and very useful, it's a very welcome feature for someone like me who doesn't want to put a bell on a fancy road bike but can still sometimes benefit from one.

The bell is activated by a double tap on the screen but it should be noted that the bell won't work when on the map. I'm not sure why as the map is automatically locked until unlocked.

Bugbears

Unfortunately for Wahoo my bugbears don't stop at the slowness to find satellites or the bell not working on the map screen. On another ride, my power meter randomly decided to drop out during a cafe break and not reconnect even though it was charged. And then to really make sure I wanted to use my trustworthy Roam V2 again, the Ace has decided to only intermittently sync my rides with the Wahoo app…

With the device paired to both WiFi and my phone I've repeatedly returned from rides and not been able to upload them. In one case the file was corrupt, in others the device simply refuses to sync. You can force a sync from the workouts screen on the device or by pulling down on the week's activities in the app, neither of which seemed to do much, so I was left with no choice but to manually take the file off the device using a USB-C lead.

I've been craving extra functions on a bike computer for ages – it's just a shame that when we finally get them it's at the expense of getting the basics right. I'm sure that these problems can be fixed by Wahoo with some software updates, but it is still going to affect the scoring in the review because I haven't had as many issues as this since my Garmin Edge 705 back in 2010.

This isn't good enough for any bike computer in 2025 – and certainly not one that costs £549.99.

Battery life

Wahoo claims a maximum 30-hour runtime for the new Ace, which would beat just about everything else out there excluding the Coros Dura. But during testing I didn't achieve those times even with the backlight fully off, and that seriously reduces the visibility of the screen.

In practice you can still expect impressive runtimes. I've been getting roughly 15 hours out of the Ace with the backlight on, which is 30% or so longer than I've been getting from my Roam V2. Even so, it's no match for the Garmin Edge 1050 and roughly on a par with the Karoo Hammerhead 3. So while the run times are impressive and more than enough for most riders, in my experience they didn't live up to the claims in the real world.

Value

All of that and we haven't even mentioned its £549.99 price, though at the time of writing it appears to be on sale just about everywhere for £499 – surely a sign that a few months after launch it's not selling as hoped.

The latest Garmin Edge 1050 is the Ace's supersized nemesis and that is more expensive still at £649.99. The Ace does have some features that outperform the 1050 – for example I prefer the larger screen, the aspect ratio is better suited to most ride information and the mapping is head and shoulders above Garmin's offering.

The Garmin, however, has none of the same bugs, feels a lot more polished and despite not being as intuitive to use does have a better screen. Right now it is the better all-round device and that's from someone who has chosen Wahoo for the last three generations of bike computer.

Other flagship options will cost you less. The Hammerhead Karoo 3 is a full £100 cheaper at £450 and has a brighter screen, the resolution is as high and it has been more reliable.

Personally, if I wanted to benefit from the great Wahoo maps and a simple user interface I'd be more tempted by the Wahoo Roam V2, which is still available for £349.99, rather than the Elemnt Ace.

Conclusion

The Elemnt Ace is a device that I was seriously excited to review, and I didn't for a moment think I'd want to go back to my Roam V2, a computer with loads less tech, has a few years under its belt and costs £200 less – but that's exactly what's happened.

I commend Wahoo for trying to add new functionality and I'm excited to see where it takes the wind sensor tech in the future. For now it's not a huge appeal for me and it undoubtedly contributes to the Ace's monstrous proportions. I'm not going to mark the device down for its size and weight – I think some people want a big bike computer and especially the screen. Speaking of the screen, the aspect ratio is great, the touchscreen is a welcome addition and the user interface has been well thought out and easy to use, just like the maps and navigation.

Unfortunately, as good as the navigation is, it's a hard device to love when it hasn't got the basics right. The screen simply isn't bright enough in some conditions, the syncing issues were something I thought we'd left in the 2010s and the satellites, well, I think getting outperformed by the brand's 2017 device that costs a quarter of the price speaks for itself.

Verdict

Big screen and loads of features, but the exciting idea has had a less than perfect execution