At the end of last year, Wahoo launched its new top-of-the-line bike computer, the Elemnt Ace. It is equipped with a large 3.8-inch screen and introduces a new feature: a wind speed sensor. This sensor is capable of measuring the wind direction or determining whether a cyclist is riding in the draft of others, thus providing interesting data metrics. After these data have been approved by the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), professional cyclists can benefit from them during races.
What does it mean that the UCI has approved Wahoo's wind speed sensor? And which teams will benefit from it?
We have mentioned several times how professional teams analyze every tiny piece of data to enhance their performance. Now, an additional parameter has been added to the information flow that team technicians handle, that is, the wind speed information provided by Wahoo's new top-level bike computer, the Elemnt Ace. This bike computer is used by teams such as Team Emirates-XRG, Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost, and Decathlon-AG2R, and it can be used in races after obtaining authorization from the UCI.
Although the Elemnt Ace is a relatively large and heavy bike computer, due to its comprehensive navigation functions and detailed maps that can be viewed on the large screen, it is more inclined for bicycle touring purposes. However, the addition of the wind speed sensor and related metrics provides extremely valuable data for team technicians.
In addition to being able to inform cyclists whether they are affected by a tailwind or a headwind, most notably, the Wahoo Elemnt Ace can identify whether a cyclist benefits from drafting. This enables technicians to identify the cyclists who save the most energy through drafting in a race stage and determine with whom they can have more cooperation in this regard.
Furthermore, as the performance manager of Team Emirates-XRG has acknowledged, this function can also help cyclists optimize their posture on the bicycle, which obviously brings additional advantages.
