Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT connecting to Giant ebike

[KlaasNorg]

Hi all,
I got a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT that can connect over Ant+ to my Giant Fathom E+ 2 2021 and on the display it shows all information about the battery and what mode I am in. All working fine except...the ODO meter is completely off. The speed is shown okay, but the ODO met can be 4 times the real distance or sometimes it is half the real distance. It is driving me crazy! I got the latest firmware for the bike, Wahoo and the apps on the phone. You can not change the wheel diameter in the computer it is overwritten by the bike. In Strava I can do a correction for the ODO so it shows the GPS distance, but that is after the ride.

Anyone else got the same problem with a wahoo ELEMNT? Are the Garmin devices better to connect to our Giant ebikes?

See the example of my ride yesterday:

Wahoo thinks it was 167,87km

After correction in Strava it is 40,94:

 

[anfos]

You should be able to change the wheel circumference on the app itself, the bike shouldn't override the setting as I don't think it can do that.

How Do I Set Wheel Circumference for a Speed or Speed/Cadence Sensor in the Wahoo or ELEMNT App? – Wahoo Fitness Support

 

[KlaasNorg]

Yes it changes it back.

I made a video where I show it. I change it to 2.277, go out of the menu and go back. You see it literally change on the screen back to 2.335

video

In the video I go back in the menu, but found out it will change back every 10 seconds. So every 10 seconds the bike will sent it's info to the Wahoo. When the bike is turned off it will stay on the setting. But as soon as you start the bike back up it will change back within 10 seconds.

EDIT:
I found this article on a German site: Wahoo & Giant Giant eBike mit ELEMNT koppeln - so geht's
In the comment section I see more people having the same problem. With all Wahoo devices! So for Giant ebike owners, for now don't buy a Wahoo bike computer. It seems like they are working on the problem, but so far no changes.

 

[KlaasNorg]

So this is what I answered today to the Wahoo helpdesk:

Hi Bruno,

First of all thank you very much for your quick response and will to help. So please don’t take this mail personally. The fit file was attached to the email and I don’t record my rides on the Giant app. But I have the idea we are running in circles. In May we already checked all possibilities and I sent you even videos where you can see what the ELEMNT BOLT is doing. Conclusion was a software problem in the BOLT and the Wahoo engineers would look at it.

We are now 8 updates further and it is still not working. On internet I see more Giant riders have this problem with the Wahoo devices, not only the BOLT. It is my understanding that Wahoo is pointing at Giant to solve the problem and Giant is looking at Wahoo. Meanwhile we as customers have an expensive device that is not working properly.

To be honest, I solved the problem today. I bought a Garmin 530 and what do you think? It is working flawlessly with the Giant ebike. I can put in the exact circumference and it is putting out the exact speed and distance. Exactly what I wanted the ELEMNT BOLT to do for months.

All in all I am really disappointed big companies point at each other and the customer is left in the dark with an expensive device that does not work as it should. Why would you drive around with a bike computer that does not tell you the right speed and distance????

I liked the ELEMNT and I feel sick my only solution was to spent more money to solve the problem myself. Only thing I can do is tell my fellow Giant ebike riders NOT to buy a Wahoo device to save them spending twice the money.

Again you were a good help and willing to solve the problem, so thanks again, but your engineers sadly made me go to Garmin.

best regards,

Klaas Norg