Exporting — Wahoo

Export a GPX from Wahoo (Element, Bolt, Roam): the two concrete paths

Wahoo Fitness doesn't offer direct GPX export from its app. Here are the two practical workarounds for recovering your track, depending on whether you want the raw barometer or not.

By Web developer & trail runner

4 min read

I.Wahoo's particular problem

Wahoo bike computers (Element, Bolt, Roam) record remarkable data: GPS, barometer, ANT+ and Bluetooth sensors. But the Wahoo Fitness app, unlike Garmin Connect or Strava, does not offer direct GPX export from its interface. The raw file your computer writes is in .fit format (the cycling industry standard), not .gpx.

The good news: getting a .gpx is still simple, because most Wahoo cyclists sync their rides automatically to Strava, TrainingPeaks or Garmin Connect — which all export GPX without trouble. Here are the two concrete paths.

II.Method 1: via Strava (the simplest)

If your Wahoo is linked to Strava (the most common setup among cyclists), your rides upload automatically after each Wi-Fi sync. You can then export the .gpx in a few clicks:

  1. Open strava.com and go to the activity your Wahoo recorded.
  2. At the top right, click the options icon (cog or three dots).
  3. Choose « Export GPX ».

Detail worth knowing: if Strava applies its elevation correction, the exported GPX no longer reflects your Wahoo's barometric elevation, but a corrected version. To keep the raw barometer reading, prefer method 2.

III.Method 2: direct export from the computer

To recover the raw file as your Wahoo wrote it (barometer intact):

  1. Plug your Element/Bolt/Roam into your computer via USB. It shows up as an external drive.
  2. Browse to the Activities folder (or similar). Your rides are stored as .fit files there.
  3. Copy the .fit you want onto your hard drive.
  4. Convert the .fit to .gpx using an online converter (for example gpsies.com, or connect.garmin.com by uploading the .fit, or a local tool). The result is a .gpx faithful to the raw data of the computer.

IV.And then?

You have your .gpx. The barometer in Wahoo computers is accurate, which makes your file particularly well suited to a fine analysis of positive elevation gain — see our guide on how D+ is computed. To read your col, your sprint, your surge in GPXchunk, drop the file: nothing leaves the browser.

What remains is the meaning of the other figures the track carries — pace, V.A.M., average and max HR, net gradient. The glossary of the 12 measures of a GPX track covers every one, with the traps that come with each.

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