Little help here pls!: What's sensor should I use? Power

[andrei_da_02]

Hey everyone !
I am new on this Kickr set up…
It might be needless to say that I use SYSTM but for the clarification.

1- I notice that the app shows 3 different sensors to measure the power. Which one should I use?

2- I notice that the cadence sensor that comes built in is not very accurate. I kind of have to slow down the pedal spin for it to update and catch up. For that I am using The Garmin cadence sensor that I have.

3- I also noticed that so far, using the shift doesn’t do much, since the trainer seems to re adapt and make me spin and push at the same cadence and power.

I will appreciate if yoy guys and give me.some tips.
Pick attahed to show the three options that it shows as power sensor.

Thanks !

a

[Martin]

Hi and welcome !! I’ll try and help in-line below….

@andrei_da_02

1- I notice that the app shows 3 different sensors to measure the power. Which one should I use?
MW: The short answer to get you going is use the Bluetooth one, and when it auto selects speed, untick the speed (the fourth symbol in the far right) and then click on extra Wahoo speed option below (just in case you’re interested in speed/distance as the trainer speed/distance isn’t as good as the standard Wahoo algorithm)

The long answer ……
You can control trainers with either Bluetooth or ANT+ and you can also simply ‘read’ data without controlling it.
So in your list you’ll have
— ANT+ Connection where you’ll just be reading power (for example, you’re going to use level mode and use your own gears to broadly match the power being asked for - see below). This gives you the freedom to do what you want when you want as far as power is concerned. The trainer will not set the power / resistance for you.
— Bluetooth connection which defaults to ERG mode (the first symbol of the four). It will set trainer resistance in response to you pedalling at whatever cadence. Resistance broadly keeps fairly up to date with your cadence so that you’re always putting out the power the workout is showing. This simplifies your life as no need to think about gears
(Note you can untick the trainer control icon on the BT connection once it’s connected and run BT as read only like above)

— An FE-C ANT+ connection which is pretty much the same as what I described for BT above but using the ANT + standard.

Modern smart trainers throw out these difference connections so give us choice and this could turn in to a long long essay so I’m going to stop now

2- I notice that the cadence sensor that comes built in is not very accurate. I kind of have to slow down the pedal spin for it to update and catch up. For that I am using The Garmin cadence sensor that I have.

— I just use the Kickr myself but a dedicated sensor is going to be more accurate. Especially at certain limits where the kicker can’t go. If you’ve got the extra sensor then hey, why not use it

3- I also noticed that so far, using the shift doesn’t do much, since the trainer seems to re adapt and make me spin and push at the same cadence and power.

— that is as designed and is known as ERG mode where the software tells the trainer what power is needed and the trainer does it’s best to resist Tina level, matched to your cadence to ensure you’re putting out that power. To do this differently you can (if connected to a trainer in controlling mode (see above)), untick the wee ‘control trainer’ icon if connected to the BT or FE-C connection, and the trainer will no longer be controlled by the software.
OR you can switch ERG off in the app and go to ‘level mode’ by selecting 0-9 in the settings (can be done by direct keyboard press 0-9 too) and that will then set the trainer to a fixed resistance and you can use your gears to work as hard ir little as you like.

This was a bit of a starter for 10 quick reply. Hope that helps.
Ask away as needed

[JamesT]

Hi @andrei_da_02. Lots of tips from Martin there. There are also some “helpful trainer tips” on the support site including a guide to erg and level modes and a “connect your trainer” tool. Here’s the link

Helpful Trainer Tips

[AkaPete]

If I were you, this is what I’d do.

1. Click Remove for Bike Power. You don’t need it.

2. Click Remove for the FE-C Trainer. You have Bluetooth which is better and don’t need it.

3. Click the first four grayed out icons on Wahoo KICKR to turn them on (they will turn green). This might happen automatically.

4. Make sure the icon in Virtual Speed is green. This is not terribly important, but will give you less nonsensical speed measures.

5. If you want to add you own, better cadence sensor, attach it to your bike, click Add Device, and select it from the window that will pop up. Then make sure the cadence icon on the new sensor is green and the cadence icon on the KICKR is gray.

6. When you’re in ERG mode, shifting doesn’t matter. The trainer keeps power the same irrespective of cadence or gear. Best results are in the small chain ring and bigger half of the cassette. IF you want to control power with shifting and cadence (not really the point of a smart trainer except for a few specific situations), change from ERG mode to Level mode in the KICKR device.

[andrei_da_02]

Thank you so much… ! Pretty clear… ! Now I do understand better.
I had a simple fluid trainer before this new smarty fancy one ! … With your help I learning to use it smarty! Lol
Awesome support !

[andrei_da_02]

Awesome… thanks!! Cristal clear !
appreciate the support !