Hi, I’ve recently taken delivery of a wahoo Kickr B2F1.
It powers up fine and syncs with Zwift ok, however, does not appear to sync at all with my Garmin heart rate monitor or output any cadence readings, even though I have a cadence monitor attached to my bike. It may be this enquiry is better directed to Zwift, however can anyone offer up any pointers please? I have downloaded the Wahoo app, but I’m really scratching my head around all of this! Many thanks,
Well, the KICKR trainer doesn’t sync with HRM or Cadence sensors, so no need for the Wahoo app for this (but use it for firmware update to the KICKR etc.)
What are you running Zwift on? Mac, PC, AppleTV?
and what are your sensors using ANT+ or Bluetooth?
also for zwift related stuff, have you tried https://zwiftinsider.com/ ?
Thanks for the swift reply. The sensors are both ANT+ and I’m using Apple TV.
I’d hoped the ANT+ would connect to the Wahoo which would connect to the Apple TV, but clearly not! Also have a Garmin Edge 830 connected too for what its worth…
Yeah, can’t do that. There is a device out there (but I think it may be out of production) that can concentrate ANT+ signals (and maybe BLE too, don’t recall) and then send them via one Bluetooth connection. You would need something like that. AppleTV only support 2 Bluetooth device connections and the KICKR will be one of them. The device was called the CABLE or something.
You could go to another HRM. I highly rate the Polar Verity Sense and the Scosche Rhythm24. Scosche has sales ALL the time. The Rythm24 can act as a cadence sensor as well, but not sure how well that works or if it will help with your device limitation (it might). I think the arm-band style is aces for indoor trainer and I use on bike commutes too if I want to track my training load.
OK, that product has been replaced, and may now be available? Now the WYÛR
WYÛR - Connect your devices, your way (npe-inc.com)
Connecting your ANT+ and Bluetooth sensors should be effortless.
Evolving from CABLE and heartbeatz, WYÛR is a feature-packed, multi-protocol radio platform allowing you to send and receive data using standard ANT+ and Bluetooth fitness protocols and data formats to accommodate the broadest range of fitness sensors, equipment, wearables, and mobile devices.
What does that mean? It means you can use WYÛR to connect virtually any fitness sensor to your favorite apps and devices, including the heart rate from your Apple Watch to a 5khz receiver at your gym.
Sounds promising.
I was an early adopter of NPE’s CABLE device to solve ANT → BT for a different training platform several years ago. The unit worked really well, and I still keep it around just in case. Although I’ve since upgraded my sensors to dual transmit (ANT/BT).
The new replacement from NPE looks excellent.
@Legitum - For even less, they have this at $50:
CÔRD - Connect your devices, Batteries Not Required (npe-inc.com)
No battery so it needs to be plugged into a USB port for power somewhere.
AppleTV has a limit of 3 BT devices including the remote.
The Kickr broadcasts speed, power and cadence on the same BT channel. So you don’t need to connect the cadence sensor on your bike . If you want HR on Zwift you’ll need a HR monitor that broadcast BT.
I don’t have a KICKR trainer (I have the bike), does it calculate and transmit cadence in some way for a wheel-off or wheel-on trainer?
Basically I ended up using the CABLE to cover the HR monitor, and let KICKR send everything else via BT. I finally upgraded my ancient Garming ANT HR monitor to the newer Dual mode one and retired the CABLE.
Yes, Kickr 2018 onwards, Core and Bike all include cadence as part of the power signal.
The Kickr bike cadence is tres bien. I’ve cross checked it with my crank cadence sensor and it is incredibly accurate. So my crank sensor has gone back onto my outdoor bike.
@DameLisa thanks!
If anyone is interested in these NPE products, I peeked around their Insta account and they must be BRAND new. The CÔRD is available for purchase today, but the WYÛR currently can’t be added to a cart.
EDIT - How do it do? I need to read up on how they make that estimation… variations/cycles in the power reading? Even better that you found it accurate.
I was intrigued enough by the North Pole Engineering CÔRD (especially as it can support Apple Watch as an HRM and since I have other ANT+ stuff that I’d like to be able to talk to the AppleTV or MacOS anyhow), I have one on order. Will report my findings.
@Legitum When using Zwift (runs on AppleTV) everything connects with the app (KickrBike V2), but for HR I have to pair it via the Zwift companion app. There is a tutorial video somewhere out there.
Well it was as accurate as my crank based PM but lagged maybe 2 sec or so behind it when I am spinning up…probably because I had power smoothing on.
The viiiva HR monitor can also act as a bridge for ANT+ sensors. However i haven’t tried it personally.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts
I received the North Pole Engineering CÔRD on Sunday.
From the Apple App Store you install “ConfigurEZ” which is used for firmware updates and to create workout profiles for the devices that you want to pair to CÔRD for rebroadcast. I made sure it didn’t need any updates, the unit was shipped up to date.
The CÔRD looks like a USB dongle/thumbdrive and it needs to be plugged in for power and reasonably nearby to use it. I have it plugged into my laptop, but I think you could just plug it into a USB wall charger or powered USB hub, it doesn’t need a computer to work, just power. (NOTE that the other new NPE product, WYÛR, has an internal battery and other functions such as a footpod for running or cycling cadence or a speed sensor, but still not available for purchase quite yet).
Since I am doing a Fitness Test prep plan this week, I didn’t want to mess with my current set up, but I have been playing with the CÔRD to test the Apple Watch HRM functionality. I’ve installed another NPE app “Heartbeatz” on my Phone and on my Apple Watch. For three workouts this week, I have run the Heartbeatz app on my watch to compare to the values I am getting from my Polar Verity Sense arm-band worn on the same arm as the watch. I’ve done two lower zone 1-3 workouts and one Half Monty and the Heartbeatz watch app values seem to respond quickly and typically spot on, but occasionally 1-3 beats difference (but typically 0-1 bpm difference).
The only issue that I have had so far is that I have also tried to run the Heartbeatz app on my phone so I can watch the HR value there rather than glancing at the watch, and the BPM values on the phone have frozen more than once, so I have just closed the phone app and get on with my workout. I have not had any issues with the Watch app.
Once I get through my Full Frontal test, I will test using CÔRD with SYSTM and RGT and report back how that works. The only thing that I have done so far is verify that CÔRD shows up as an available sensor in SYSTM.
I will first test CÔRD with Apple Watch for HRM functionality only. Later I will test with ANT+ heart rate sensors in SYSTM and RGT on MacOS, and then RGT and possibly FulGaz on AppleTV.
If you’re considering this product, I wouldn’t be afraid to try it out. Shipment was immediate. If you need the portability of the battery powered unit to use outdoors with your bike head unit, you’ll have to keep an eye out for the availability of the WYÛR product.