Speed & Cadence Sensor - Losing will to live

[Feathers1981]

I have just bought my second speed and cadence sensor. The first I could only get to connect to the app it came with. The second (CatEye) which I have just forked £40 from wiggle for, I can’t get to connect to anything. All I want to do is fix it to the bike so that I can use something like zwift when I am on the turbo trainer. Am desperate to make the turbo trainer more interesting! Am I missing something?! I keep reading about ANT+ dongles but don’t know why I would need one if I am using Bluetooth.

I am trying to use it via Bluetooth on my Apple IPhone6. I have two ipads but neither is compatible with zwift, hence using the phone. Zwift hasn’t seen either of the sensors. Do I need some other piece of equipment that I am don’t have to make this work?

[0xymoron]

You can't run Zwift from an iphone or ipad. Zwift only runs on a pc (Windows or Apple) - you can use a mobile app to control Zwift, but only once you've started it on a PC.

ps Bluetooth and Ant+ are not the same thing. Ant+ is a low energy, short range version of Bluetooth which require an Ant+ dongle to be picked up by a pc (a bluetooth receiver in a pc won't work for Ant+). There are tons of resources to help you with setting up Zwift (Zwift's own web page, Youtube etc), but it ain't gonna work without a pc.

[Feathers1981]

Ah, thanks! I did try it on my pc but the Bluetooth still didn't pick up the sensor. Do I need an ANT+ dongle to get it to work via the PC? I thought that a pc with Bluetooth capability would still work without the need for an ANT+ dongle

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
After years of doing my own thing, only the MOT inspector gets my money
But on buying my first laptop, could I get the blinking thing to connect to wifi......................then it did it on its own

If your turbo session is not making you scream after ten minutes you have hooked up with a slower version of yourself or feel safer not taking on someone faster than you

Good luck I just put the radio on and it flies past.

[0xymoron]

Ah, thanks! I did try it on my pc but the Bluetooth still didn't pick up the sensor. Do I need an ANT+ dongle to get it to work via the PC? I thought that a pc with Bluetooth capability would still work without the need for an ANT+ dongle

No problem. I'm not sure if you can connect to Zwift via Bluetooth (never tried it), but everybody I know uses Ant+ (I think all speed / cadence sensors use Ant+). You will need an Ant+ dongle (I use a Suunto Movestick, but there are plenty of others out there - you don't need to use an expensive Garmin dongle).

The other thing you need to be aware of is that Ant+ is short range, so to get the best results most people use a USB extension lead to get the dongle as close as practical to the sensors - if the dongle is more than a metre from the sensors it will struggle to pick up the signal.

Zwift is effectively a modern multi-player computer game so you will need a resonably modern 64-bit computer to get good results.

PS I find Zwift utterly addictive, and regularly ride for up to 2 hours at a time without getting bored.

[gloomyandy]

What sort of dongle you need depends on the sensors you have. There are four types pf wireless sensor in common use:
1) Lower end older devices that use a propriety protocol typically used by the old simple "wireless cycle computers"
2) Ant/Ant+ devices use a protocol which is closely associated with Garmin and is used by a number of sports based computers
3) Bluetooth more recent devices intended to be used with smartphones and computers.
4) Dual Ant+/Bluetooth often high end sensors like powermeters support the use of both protocols

For things like Zwift it is best to avoid the type 1 sensors above. If your computer already has Bluetooth it may make sense to get sensors that use this, however they are not as common (or as cheap) as Ant+ devices. If you already have Ant+ sensors then you will almost certainly need to get an Ant+ dongle to have them work with a computer.

Good luck

Oh and be a little careful with Bluetooth, that standard has changed a lot over time and some of the latest Bluetooth LE (BLE) devices may not work with computers having older Bluetooth chipsets!

[TrevA]

I use Garmin Speed and Cadence sensors and I was able to connect to Zwift on my PC using a Garmin Ant+ Dongle (about £30 on Amazon). I also bought a USB extender cable for £6 on Amazon. The dongle sits underneath my bottom bracket, close to both sensors.

I can also record my ride on my Garmin 810, as it also picks up the signals from the speed and cadence sensors and my heart rate strap.

However, I found Zwift to be unfulfilling. There just seemed to be loads of people overtaking me and disappearing up the road. This seemed to happen whether I was pootling along or going full gas. So I didn't bother signing up after my 7 day free trial.

I might give TrainerRoad a go.

There's an Australian guy on YouTube called Shane Miller, he uses a lot of this sort of tech and it's worth watching a few of his videos. He will show you how to get it all working and what the best set ups are.

[dylanharrison85]

Ant+ and garmin speed and cadence and HRT strap for me on my laptop as garmin uses Ant+

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my VFD 600 using hovercraft full of eels.