Wahoo, the American crew behind the game-changing KickR turbo trainer, has today entered the highly competitive multisport-watch market with its Elemnt Rival GPS watch.
The watch, which retails for £349.99, is heavily aimed at triathletes thanks to Wahoo’s “innovative Touchless Transition technology, which can seamlessly switch from swim to ride to run without the athlete having to touch their watch”.
The Elemnt Rival calculates factors like your body position to determine the triathlon leg you’re on. Rather niftily – albeit it’s an extra outlay – this data can also sync to Wahoo’s Elemnt bike computer for easier viewing on two wheels.
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We’ve just received one for testing and it certainly looks smart, its ceramic bezel and automatic backlight providing a rather stylish aesthetic. It uses five buttons rather than touchscreen, which is fine in our books, especially for freezing winter rides. But it’s too soon to relay how usable and accurate the features are – features that include a mooted 24hr battery life in GPS mode, optical heart-rate sensor, live tracking and barometric altimeter.
Commenting on the new Elemnt Rival GPS, two-time Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee said: “Jonny and I are both really fond of Wahoo’s gear and have been using some of their products for a number of years now. Being able to rely on your equipment is completely essential for training and racing at the highest level.
"When preparing for the big races, you’ve got to be able to focus on what you’re doing one hundred percent and not worry about your kit. The Elemnt Rival helps me track all my metrics during a training session without distracting me from performing to the best of my ability - be that in the water, on the bike or when running”
A recent deal with the Brownlee brothers (Ali and Jonny are pictured above) will provide the Elemnt Rival with a marketing shot in the arm, as do link-ups with Jan Frodeno and Heather Jackson.
We’ll report back in the magazine and online very soon with a detailed test. We’ll also delve a little deeper, as we recently interviewed founder Chip Hawkins. Check out a forthcoming issue to discover how the foundations of Wahoo’s success were built from a ship-docking business, why Chip formerly spent evenings photographing broken signposts and where the name Wahoo comes from!
More for now at: uk.wahoofitness.com
