Wahoo Bolt / Garmin quarter-turn mount compatibility

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m getting sick of Garmin products. Most of my scorn as of late has been directed at the Edge series. The 520’s mapping is sub-par and the 820 touchscreen is sub-par. Setting functionality aside, the constant firmware updates typically result in something not working correctly or seemingly-fixed bugs reappearing. Just fed up.

The Wahoo Bolt appears to be a decent alternative for what I care about (mapping and Strava live segments), but Wahoo’s custom mount is potentially a deal-breaker. I use a 3T integrated Garmin stem mount on my road bike and a Glen Alden custom carbon jawn on my TT bike. I was searching the google to see if there are work-arounds, and it looks like you can either (A) buy $20 custom 3D printed adapter jawns or (B) potentially modify the Garmin quarter-turn mount so it will work with the Bolt. I’m not paying $20 for the adapters, so that leaves B.

Some random tea-drinking software engineer appears to have successfully modified a quarter-turn mount (see here: http://mrpfister.com/journal/cycling/convert-garmin-quarter-turn-mount-to-fit-wahoo-elemnt-bolt-gps-computer/), but this interweb n=1 isn’t sufficient for me to pull the trigger. Any ST experience here? What was the result?

Thanks

2

3rd person data point. I have a Wahoo Elmnt and did a bunch of reading over a couple months as I worked thru the purchase decision making process. I found multiple examples on the Web of people doing the same mod that is in your link. That gave me the impression that the mod is pretty tried and true.

3

I just got a Wahoo Bolt and it went right into my Garmin mount (actually Garmin and not a 3rd party).

I use the Garmin rubber band one on tri bike and Wahoo Bolt one on road bike. So far so good.

I guess YMMV though.

4

I just filed a mm or so off one of the corners of my Garmin mounts and the Bolt fit fine. Not a big deal!

5

As other posters have said, it’s definitely doable. I’d suggest being careful about filing down the edge of the flange so that you only take just barely enough off to get the Bolt in. I used a dremel which takes material off pretty quickly and found that while it worked, the mount wasn’t as secure as the official Wahoo mount. It didn’t pop out or anything but you have to be more careful when pressing buttons to not rotate the unit.

6

Got it, thanks everyone. Going to give it a go.