X

Some products just make sense. Wahoo Fitness hasn't been afraid to go their own way, in search of innovation, features, and expanding their product range. At first glance the ELEMNT MINI is an advanced bike computer with tremendously flexible and inexhaustible screen page options. It comes with Wahoo's excellent hub mounted dual-band speed/distance sensor. The 41mm x 58.4mm screen is easy to read and interact with via two tactile, easy push buttons at the bottom of the face. The unit is powered by the coin type CR2450 battery, with which Wahoo claims about 250 hours of use before it needs to be changed. All pretty straightforward so far?

Great. It gets much better. The ELEMNT MINI offers two modes: Phone-free, and Phone. In the former, the unit is pretty much a really sweet bike computer with a great user interface. You can get your ride summary at the completion of your ride. In Phone mode you are wirelessly connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth Smart using the Wahoo Companion App and now your MINI becomes supercharged in that it employs the GPS and resources of the phone for location, altitude, etc. The app pushes notifications of texts and calls to the screen of the MINI. Your entire ride is tracked and melded with sensor data, which can be connected to the phone or the head unit (based on services available). You have Live Track, which via the app and the Live Track web portal others can monitor your location. Via the app you can upload and share your ride data with a single push of a button to Strava, Ride With GPS, Training Peaks and more.

There are a couple of key things you need to know. First, in Phone-free mode, Wahoo stridently recommends you only use their dual-band speed, cadence sensors, and their heart rate monitor. Some other manufacturer's units may pair, but not deliver accurate information. Others simply won't pair. Given that Wahoo includes their speed sensor with the ELEMNT MINI, you have the basics. And their dual-band ANT+/Bluetooth Smart sensors are overall among the best on the market. Second, in Phone mode you can connect other sensors directly to the phone via the Companion App, but the MINI does not support power meter use in either mode, nor any ANT+ radar or lighting systems, and it won't show maps or turn by turn directions. So there are limitations and great positives as well.

We talk with many cyclists who just don't need all the bells and whistles that their Garmin or standard ELEMNT offer them. Just about everyone carries a smartphone rides these days. Lot's of folks like upload their rides to Strava, even if they don't race. It is a community, a social challenge group if you will. Some adventure racers don't care about power data and can't carry GPS tools during events, yet still want a bike computer. Our take is that the ELEMNT MINI serves the needs of most non-racing cyclists, along with a few niche groups and those who want to track speed and miles on a quiet Sunday morning ride and really want to leave their phone at home. The MINI hits all these folks in the right spots. The Wahoo Companion App makes unit set-up simple and easy to change. When in Phone-mode you get the full power of your IOS or Android working for you. And the MINI is compact, lightweight at just over 31 grams, and doesn't have to be charged every day or two.

Is the ELEMNT MINI right for you? We recommend you delve deep to make sure, and if you have any questions, please reach out to us at Excel Sports. We will be happy to help you make the best choice for you.