Hi Tech Wizards

does the Wahoo Bolt V2 with the latest firmware support ANT+ lights, specifically the Bontrager Flare RT/Ion 200 RT lights?
I know it supports the Varia via ANT+ but it seems like it did not immediately support lights that way when that feature was released.

Does it now? The main feature I am after is for the lights to turn on/off along with the head unit.

Thanks!

To my current knowledge, the ELEMNT Bolt does not. Just purchased a Varia RTL 515 which features an ant+ controllable light and a Bontrager ion 200 rt front light hoping (as you are) to just have everything sync with my head unit… the Varia’s radar connects and works flawlessly (had connected to a friend’s on a ride prior to test it out) and is really great for situational awareness, however, the bolt doesn’t seem to acknowledge either light. Plan to fiddle with them and look for a workaround, but as is, no dice currently.

Hey, apologies for the late response I was gone for a while.

I got the unit now and can confirm that the Bolt v2 does not play with the Bontrager lights.

I am wondering about your experience with the Bolt and Varia, I noted that when I am riding along and then turn the Varia on (I only use it when it's needed due to the awful battery life, I have the non-light smaller unit) it does not automatically come up on the Bolt screen unless I click the top left side button on the Bolt to briefly go to the main menu, then when returning to my ride pages the radar strip will show up after a few seconds. Seems like the Bolt does not check for the Varia sensor until it's briefly on the menu page.

This was extremely frustrating, turning the unit on and off multiple times while riding, until I found the little menu page hack. But it's far from ideal still as I'd like to just reach back, turn the Varia on/off, and have the head unit respond without further trickery. Does yours work better? Firmwares are all up to date.

That's how my Varia works with Bolt v2. A little irritating, but not a dealbreaker. I can do it while riding along.

Bolt v2 (I think… got it last year, has the color screen) with up to date firmware automatically connects with the radar on the RTL 515. I’ll have the bolt on and turn on the radar as I head out the door and the radar strip pops right up. Also battery life on the Varia has been surprisingly good - I’ve forgotten to charge it between (multiple) rides logging at least ~8hrs on the strobe mode and it still hasn’t died on me.

Do you have multiple Bluetooth devices connected to the Bolt? I’ve had issues with it not wanting to recognize a HR monitor such that I’d have to reconnect it every time (delete and re-add the device, very annoying). Maybe something like that going on, otherwise I have no other hunches as to what’s happening in your predicament.

Yeah we have the same Bolt, but I still need to flick to the main menu to get the strip to show. I have the smaller RVR315 version without the tail light and that has a worse battery life than yours. I do have a Polar H10 and DuoTrap S (cadence/speed) connected alongside, but never had issues with pairing dropping out but I don't use these with other devices either. Sometimes if you share them across devices (say Bolt and your phone) it will mess things up and require manual reconnecting.