Wahoo has announced an update to its Elemnt computer, introducing the Elemnt Roam, now with expanded functionality, including greater navigational aides.
The Wahoo Elemnt Roam will now sit atop the Wahoo cycling computer family as the brand's new flagship computer, with Wahoo saying it's the evolution of the Elemnt designed to take on gravel and adventure riding.
Wahoo Elemnt Roam: New hardware
It uses the same mounting system as the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
The new Roam comes with an updated design with all stylistic cues clearly coming from the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, giving the Wahoo computer family a unified look for the first time. To this end, it now features the same 'aero' profile with a tapered design towards the base and the three buttons across the bottom. It mounts the out-front mount in the same way, too.
The 2.7-inch screen is made of one solid piece of Gorilla glass and is the same as the previous Wahoo Elemnt. The unit itself measures 2.3 x 3.5 x 0.7-inches. For the first time, the Roam features a colour display although it's selective, meaning that it's used to highlight key features, metrics, workouts as well as navigational prompts.
The new screen also includes an ambient light sensor, allowing it to adjust the background brightness and, according to Wahoo, enhance clarity. Wahoo does say that this is a bigger drain on battery but that the Elemnt Roam has a larger battery specced to offset this. According to the brand it should last 17-hours.
As with the previous Elemnt and also the Elemnt Bolt, the Roam includes the programmable LED lights on the right hand side of the screen and across the top. 'Perfect zoom' is also retained, allowing you to 'drop' the bottom two rows of data screens to give a more zoomed view. It's an alternative to having multiple data fields that you might find on competitor computers from Garmin.
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Wahoo Elemnt Roam: New navigational features
As well as a new design, the other headline feature of the new Wahoo Elemnt Roam is its enhanced navigational features. According to Wahoo, these enhancements were designed to make the Roam useable as a full adventure and gravel bike computer.
Wahoo says the use of simple colours increases clarity
It's now capable to route you back to the start of your ride, route you back on track should you lose your course as well as having a 'take me to' feature where it creates a route to a saved location. It's also able to route you to a start of a planned route should you start in a different location.
Those who like to go off-road will be pleased to hear that the Wahoo Elemnt Roam base map has integrated with Trailforks to now include off-road segments.
Wahoo Elemnt Roam: Connectivity
Wahoo's market leading connectivity continues with the release of the Wahoo Elemnt Roam, and the vast majority of the computer's personalisation is done via the companion app that has now received an update. This includes customising data screens, connecting sensors, as well as viewing mid-ride stats.
Wahoo Elemnt Roam: Prices and details
The new Wahoo Elemnt Roam will cost £299.99 ($379.99/€349.99) for the device, an out-front mount, a stem mount and a quickstart guide. A heart-rate bundle will also be made available. According to Wahoo the unit will weigh 93.5g.
While the Elemnt Roam does replace the Wahoo Elemnt, the older unit will remain in market for the rest of season and continue to receive support via software updates.
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