Go big or go home they say. And Wahoo has gone biggest with the ELEMNT ACE.

Whats in the box? User manual, little cute safety strap, USB-c cable, massive (yet lighter) mount and, of course, the computer itself.

One, Two, Three is the current count now when it comes to bike computer options from Wahoo.

ELEMNT BOLT – ELEMNT ROAM- ELEMNT ACE

The above and below will give you an idea on size of the offerings

The new mount really breaks the “mold” and comes in metal instead of plastic.

Elemnt BOLT at 3.05″ x 1.86″ x .84″ with a 2.2 in display and 15 hour battery life.

ELEMNT ROAM with a 3.56″ x 2.34″ x 0.8″ and 2.7 in display and 17 hour battery life.

Now that you have a visual Idea on the size of this sucker the ELEMNT ACE, let’s dive in a little.

With a massive 3.8″, 3:2 aspect screen that comes in with a weight of 208g // 7.4 oz, Wahoo isn’t trying to attract the weight weenies with this new computer. Instead they are after the information-seeking geek that wants to not only see what’s going on, but also has buttons that make getting around the device as easy as possible. This thing even comes with a digital bell: a “ding ding, get out the way” sort of ring to it. This size and spec makes the ELEMNT ACE the largest bike computer on the market today. So what’s inside all of that space and what do we think about it?

WAHOO APP

One of coolest part of the new product offering for me is sort of misleading is the Product Name “ELEMNT ACE.” The reason it’s sort of misleading and exciting to me all at the same time is the this is first time that Wahoo has any of their bike computers sync with the Wahoo App, instead of the Elemnt App. Meaning they are going in the direction of a single app and that now I can pretty much have almost all of my stuff in one app instead of trying to remember what app I need to control my Wahoo tools. And being a triathlete that is entering winter and the pain cave months that is pretty nice to have. As Wahoo continues to consolidate the ELEMNT app into the main and single Wahoo App we will all benefit that’s for sure.

These are going to be all the tools I live by for the next 3-4 months and its nice to be able to see everything in one control center.

Massive Digital Display

First off the extra large screen is not only big but it’s touch screen. It’s not the first or only touch screen bike computer on the market but it is the largest touch screen. And when it comes to trying to mess with your computer while riding your bike ,sometimes having that larger field of play helps you get the touch point just right. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t like playing around with your iPhone but the touch screen is pretty legit when it comes to moving from page to page. Sometimes buttons just get old. While the screen is larger then its competitor, the Garmin Edge 1050, it does have a smaller pixel count by 80; the Wahoo Ace coming in with 480×720 instead of Garmin’s 480 x 800 pixels. (That’s the photo geek in me.) What impresses me the most is the 30 hour+ battery life that this massive display allows. A lot of this is because of the way Wahoo designed the display using the transflective thin-film transistor (TFT) screen. It provides excellent anti-glare and anti-reflective properties and allows for not only the LED backlight but also the sun to power the device in regards to visiblity.

INTERGRATED WIND SENSOR

Wahoo is dubbing this a category first – and I have to agree that this is pretty freaking cool. Although way more of this will be in our follow up article, but for now does this mean we are going to be able to buy this device and skip the wind tunnel? Probably not. But will this tell you in real time you are getting a solid draft off your buddy that you are sitting behind? 100%. Just look at the 13 minutes I sat right on my buddy Ryan’s wheel going up the canyon while we had a head wind. Heavy airboost on! Don’t worry, I don’t need his wheel; I needed to test the product! What does this really mean? It means that if you are in a draft legal event (triathlon or otherwise), you start to use this tool to help you pace yourself in a pack. Maybe it can also help you figure out what the difference getting in the drops makes.

Using the front facing opening shown below, the ACE allows for riders to not only see real time data while in or in front of the pack,but also post ride ELEMNT ACE provides Wahoo Wind Dynamics (WWD) to the Wahoo App that can be used to analyze performance and to help understand wind speed and its impacts on performance.

Does the computer come with all the bells and whistles of the Air Sensor? Not yet, but the basics are live and the rest will come in the forthcoming updates, some of which are listed at the end of this article.

MAPS

Not only does the ACE support Google and Apple Maps, but the Turn by Turn navigation is now also audio enabled which allows for riders to explore safely. This is where screen size really comes into play. Riders can not only see the direction they need to go, but what is ahead of them with overlays of your desired data points and/or graphs. Nothing drives me more nuts then going on a ride and not knowing if I have a 4 mile climb coming up or not. I really like to explore but in my older age I want to be prepared for as much as possible too.

Using MAPBOX in the new userface really does an awesome job at allowing riders to dive into the what they just completed. Seeing everything in 3D and having mulitple viewing options not allows for riders to get a feel for things, but they can really start to see where they can improve as everyone is searching for KOM and QOM’s these days.

Adding routes from other platforms seems to be about as easy and I have seem. I sync’d this from Ride With GPS.

So if you’re getting maps from friends or your coach, connecting and creating routes is pretty seamless.

The post event data is just a whole new level as well. Everything a Slowtwitcher would want to see.

INITIAL THOUGHTS?

I sort of laughed when I got the package and opened it up. All I could think about was how big this thing was. Then I plugged it in, turned it on and started to use it. I’m not sure I would ever use it in an IRONMAN or a 70.3. I just don’t know if I need that much data and size for a “guided tour.” But I will 100% use it at every single gravel race or long training ride I do. (Assuming I can fit it between my aero bars.) It’s about time Wahoo finally started to consolidate it’s apps into one. That has been one of my only complaints with their eco-system to date. All in all, it’s not so much the idea that I can see a thousand data fields on my screen as much as I can actually see the data I want. I can be a little more safe while trying to navigate in places where I have never been. I can see a little more clearly if an important call, text or email comes in so I’m not reaching for my phone to check it. These are the things that I think are important to a lot of us who live really busy lives that are trying to stay healthy at the same time.

We will have another write up and full YouTube video in the next week or so. Mostly because some of these updates didn’t really come out until the last day or so so I just didn’t have enough time with the holiday to get out and test them the way they I needed to. Below is the latest spec sheet from WAHOO along with their planned updates.

PRICING

• USD $599.99
• CAD $849.99
• GBP £549
• EUR €599
• AUD $999
• JPY ¥99,000

Forthcoming Updates

• Planned December 2024 Updates
  • Strava Live Segments
  • Offline configuration support (to supplement cloud based architecture)
  • “Workout Profiles” rebrand to “Activity Profiles”
  • Additional UI/UX Refinement and bug fixes

• Planned January 2025 Updates
  • Enhanced LiveTrack

• Ongoing Updates 
  • Wahoo is committed to improving rider experience through regular software updates – much of this is from customer feedback, alongside a company mission to keep improving the functionality of our products. There will be regular software updates unlocking new features, levels of performance and data-driven insights.

The post The All New Wahoo ELEMNT ACE first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Before I dive into this piece, I want to acknowledge a few things:

• These are static images taken at a single moment in time during a 180k race segment.
• Camera angles can distort positions, and athletes may not be at the same point in the pedal stroke, so these comparisons are made at a high level.

I’m also going to assume that athletes have arrived at their positions through a deliberate process, supported by trial and error, bike fit professionals, and some form of aerodynamic testing—whether in the wind tunnel, velodrome, or using modern field-testing devices.

Observations and Trends

Steep vs Slack’ish

Most athletes are riding steep, with saddles pushed forward or their bodies positioned so they sit forward relative to the bottom bracket. In my fit studio, I use a motion capture system to obtain a measurement similar to KOPS (knee over pedal spindle) to gauge how steeply an athlete is riding. While there is no definitive number, I use a range or established norms to ensure an athlete is in the ballpark. This measurement serves as a key variable I can adjust to optimize their fit.

For this article, another way to assess steepness is by comparing hip position relative to the bottom bracket. In the image above, you can see that Lionel Sanders is positioned further back on the bike compared to Patrick Lange.

A few other riders, like Matthew Marquardt and Cameron Wurf, adopt “slacker” positions. Cameron, racing in the pro tour, adheres to UCI regulations requiring the saddle to be at least 50mm behind the bottom bracket. I’m not sure whether he adjusts his position for triathlon or maintains the same setup, but he does a solid job of rotating his pelvis forward to maintain an open hip angle, mitigating any potential impact on biomechanics.

Hip Angle

When athletes report power loss due to bike position, I typically start by evaluating their hip angle. A closed hip angle can create restriction over the top of the pedal stroke. This closure can result from several factors: bars set too low, excessive reach, a saddle positioned too far back, or a poorly suited saddle that limits anterior pelvic tilt.

For some athletes, a closed hip angle doesn’t pose a significant problem- I can give you numerous examples of triathletes and pro cyclists who have performed exceptionally well with closed hip angles. For others, a closed hip angle can be the root of the power loss issue.

The image above illustrates the contrast between hip angles of Lionel Sanders and Magnus Ditlev. Although their pedal positions aren’t identical, it’s evident that Lionel rides with a more closed hip angle.

Matthew Marquardt is another athlete to ride with more closed hip angles. While this may or may not affect cycling power, the key question is whether this impacts their performance during the marathon. If I were working with these athletes, this would be an area for further investigation.

Back Angle & Reach

Back angle and reach are interdependent. While back angles haven’t changed significantly over the years, athletes have shifted away from the “how low can you go” mindset. Instead, the bars have gone up and out, with athletes raising their front ends an estimated ~40-60mm and extending their reach ~60-100mm compared to positions of the past.

Athletes are also adding 10-20 degrees of bar tilt, which helps support the upper body, relax the shoulders, and create a “pocket” for the athlete to hide their head behind their hands. This configuration results in what I call a solid, “all-day” aero position, allowing athletes to settle comfortably and keep their heads low without reaching for their bar drop.

To illustrate the change in positioning, I’ll use Sam Appleton as an example since I have his fit coordinates from the past several years. Sam’s position looks great in either setup, but you can see how much modern positions have evolved.

These are significant changes. If this trend continues—and I believe it will—bike manufacturers will need to account for the extra length and height in future designs.

I understand this is a challenging task, as creating a bike that fits everyone isn’t easy. Manufacturers have done an excellent job expanding the fit window of their bikes over the years. However, could we see a return to the days when bikes or brands offered distinct fit characteristics—like long and low, short and shallow, or now, long and tall?

With athletes positioned so far over the front end, we need to find ways to incorporate more frame into the design rather than relying on spacers, bolts, and extenders to achieve these new positions. Currently, it’s concerning to see athletes resorting to DIY or third-party solutions to extend and raise their front ends, placing significant trust in these “Lego-like” constructs to support the weight of their upper bodies.

Outliers

Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden have the most unorthodox positions. Gustav has maintained a more consistent position over the years, whereas Kristian’s approach has been more variable. Their setups have shifted from highly aero-driven to comfort-focused and back again.

Not a fan of KB’s position here. I have no doubt that the position tests fast and helps narrow and elongate his frontal aero profile. However, I think this can be done with a position that might be more comfortable and robust.

When Gustav is on the nose of the saddle throwing down power, this position is not quite as “superman” as was expected. Still, I think bringing the front end back ~20-30mm and lowering it ~20mm would be a more orthodox position by today’s standards.

While these positions may test well aerodynamically, a truly effective position must be holistic. I’ll elaborate on the fitting pillars I use when working with athletes in future articles, but I’ll leave you with this:

The primary goal of the time trial position is to reduce aerodynamic drag in the quest for speed, but the fastest positions are rarely purely aero-driven.

Quick Takes on Individual Rider Positions

For this section, I’m going to give you my quick high-level thoughts on the bike positions of the athletes below. I’d love to get your thoughts as well in the comments section.

Sam Laidlow has a great holistic looking bike position. He does seem to put a bit more weight on the front end compared to someone like Magnus, but this is a great “all day” aero position that is achievable by most triathletes.

I really like Magnus Ditlev’s position—it checks all the boxes and looks incredibly comfortable. I don’t see anything I would change, especially knowing the thought and effort that went into the position you see above.

Robert Kallin could be Magnus’s twin on a bike and that’s not a bad thing.

Patrick Lange rides in a steep, compact position. Riders often fall into one of two categories: bar chasers or saddle chasers. A bar chaser, like Patrick, tends to preserve their shoulder angle and may pull themselves off the front of the saddle if the bars are extended too far. In contrast, saddle chasers stay firmly seated and extend their arm and shoulder angles as the bars are pushed forward—think “superman” position.

Leon Chevalier is another athlete with a textbook position. He rides forward with a relaxed upper body and his helmet mates nicely to his back.

I’ve worked with Rudy Von Berg for a number of years and I think his position has progressed nicely. He rides a position that is both long and low while maintaining a relaxed posture and a great head position.

I’ve used Lionel Sanders as an example of a rider sitting further back on the bike with a more closed-off hip angle compared to his competitors. This might be the most aerodynamic I’ve ever seen him, but his upper and lower body appear incongruent. I’d be curious to see the impact of moving him forward 40-50mm to open his hip angle, and slightly adjusting the bars forward to maintain reach. The goal would be to retain the aerodynamic profile of his current position while improving biomechanics for better power production. But, who knows—maybe he can crush it in the position above?

Daniel Baekkegard doesn’t ride quite as long as others, but I don’t have much to critique here. Based on this image, maybe he could work on rolling his pelvis more forward?

Ben Kanute’s arrival at his position was well documented in a recent Slowtwitch article where he visited the Zipp wind tunnel. Ben’s position looks great and I’m glad he decided that going lower in the front end was not going to improve his aerodynamics.

Braden Currie rides in a more traditional, textbook throwback position. He seems to have some room to stretch out if needed, but currently rides with a more vertical upper arm and a larger drop. The newer, higher, and longer positions might offer more comfort and could be worth considering here.

I think the camera angle is distorting Mathias Petersen‘s position. I’ve seen other images of his position and they look much better than what we are seeing above.

Bradley Weiss had a great ride in Kona. My quick take: he looks a bit too comfortable and might benefit from lowering and extending the front end more.

Mike Phillips has a really nice position. If Mike asked for my advice, I’d look to bring his front end up and see if it has any impact on drag. As long as he could keep his head low, I think there would be minimal impact on aerodynamics and he could potentially be more relaxed on the front end.

If I were working with Arnaud Guilloux, I’d add more tilt to the bars. After doing so, I’d probably want to raise his front end 10-20mm.

Matt Hanson has a good position. Something I might try, would be to add more upward angulation to his bars and then raise the front end around 10mm.

Igor Amorelli is riding really steep and basically coming off the front of his arm cups. Looks like he might be doing something with his hands here…like opening nutrition?

Not the best angle of Tristan Olij, but from sitting here at my computer, this position passes the eyeball test.

Reinaldo Colucci is one of the few athletes riding with flat arms—a setup that worked well for Jan Frodeno. As long as he feels locked in on the front end, his position looks solid, and his head position is on point.

Gregory Barnaby rides a long and low position that flattens out his back and does a great job of keeping his head low.

Trevor Foley was having a great ride until an unfortunate crash near the end of the bike leg ruined his day. His position is textbook—he rides steep, maintaining a relaxed posture over the front end, which allows him to keep his head low. In terms of reach, he doesn’t stretch out as much as some athletes, but he doesn’t ride compact either; he sits comfortably in the middle.

The evolution of bike positions and technology at Kona reflects the relentless pursuit of speed by reducing resistive forces—wind, road, and drivetrain. While trends point toward steeper angles, higher front ends, and extended reaches, the goal remains the same: maximizing speed while balancing personalized comfort, biomechanical efficiency, and power output.

It’s exciting to consider where we go from here. From a bike fit perspective, these modern positions appear to not only be faster, but also significantly more comfortable.

-Mat

The post Aero Evolution: Kona Pro Bike Positions first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

What began as a brisk 43-degree morning in Bentonville transformed into a sun-soaked 78-degree day, providing the perfect backdrop for the overall champions of the Life Time Big Sugar Gravel Classic: Sofia Gomez Villafane and Alexey Vermeulen. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the evening erupted into celebration, drawing in elites, casual riders, and enthusiastic spectators alike to honor a successful gravel season.

The race itself presented formidable challenges, with dusty and rocky conditions testing all competitors. The rugged terrain of the Ozarks claimed several tires, impacting both the men’s and women’s fields significantly.

In the women’s race, a lead group of 13 riders quickly formed, featuring notable names such as Sofia Gomez Villafane, former champion Paige Onweller, and Olympic medalist Flavia Oliveira Parks. Unfortunately, Oliveira Parks, as many others, encountered a tire issue that sidelined her from contention. Just two minutes behind, a group of six—including Rad champion Lauren De Crescenzo, Whitney Allison, and Crystal Anthony—collaborated in an effort to close the gap. However, the initial lead group eventually splintered, leading to a new alliance consisting of Gomez Villafane, De Crescenzo, Leadville 100 champion Melisa Rollins, Alexis Skarda, Michaela Thompson, Cecily Decker, and Onweller, as they chased Erin Huck, who had established a 30-second lead by mile 80. In a dramatic finish, Gomez Villafane clinched the win, narrowly edging out Rollins, while Decker rounded out the podium. Onweller took fourth, and Lauren De Crescenzo finished fifth after the grueling 105-mile race.

The men’s race exploded much earlier in the day. Garmin Gravel World’s champion Simen Nordahl Svendsen and Alexis Carter broke away before reaching aid station one at mile 37, with Colby Simmons and Sebastian Schonberger trailing just a minute behind. Simmons then bridged the gap to the front, where he and Alexey Vermeulen eventually dropped Svendsen. At mile 80, Alexey made his intentions clear: “Just so you know, I’m racing for the win.” From mile 85 onward, he fought to shake Simmons. In a thrilling finale, Alexey surged ahead, crossing the finish line just nine seconds before Simmons, securing his title as the 2024 Lifetime Big Sugar Classic Champion. Nordahl Svendsen, Keegan Swenson, and Brendan Johnson sprinted for third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.

The day’s outcomes also reshuffled the leaderboard of the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix series. With her win, Sofia Gomez Villafane not only secured victory for the day but also clinched the series title. Paige Onweller finished third in the series, with Melisa Rollins taking second. Alexis Skarda and Haley Smith completed the top five standings.

While Keegan Swenson had already secured his series title prior to the race, the results of the day reshaped the rest of the podium. Matthew Beers and Payson McElveen swapped positions, finishing second and third overall, respectively, after a thrilling sprint where Beers edged out McElveen by a mere second. Brendan Johnson climbed from seventh to fourth, while Cole Paton slipped from fourth to fifth in the final standings.

The event concluded on a celebratory note, with Life Time Grand Prix fourth place finisher Alexis Skarda spinning tunes for a crowd of 2,400 gravel enthusiasts. Stories of the day and the season were shared, solidifying the Big Sugar Gravel Classic’s reputation as the event to cap off the season. As many athletes now look forward to much-deserved rest, excitement is already building for 2025. Will Sofia and Keegan maintain their reign as the “power couple” (yes, they’re engaged), or will the offseason bring new challengers to the forefront? 

We’ll find out in 2025.

The post Gomez Villafane, Vermeulen Win Big Sugar first appeared on Slowtwitch News.