Any creative ideas? Rollers, Ant+ cadence, iPhone, TV ..

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Banzaibrothers
Posts: 3
Joined: 15 May 2022, 2:14pm

Any creative ideas? Rollers, Ant+ cadence, iPhone, TV ..

Post by Banzaibrothers »

Hi All,

New here so thanks for letting me join and for any advice I might receive.

Been away from cycling for a while but just trying to get back for fitness reasons.

Would like to improve my indoor cycling setup to make it more entertaining.

I have:

Bike - fitted with Ant+ cadence sensor
Basic Elite rollers
iPhone/iPad
Google Chrome Cast
Gary in Fenix 5 watch
Bluetooth/Ant+ Heart rate monitor

I don’t want to spend a fortune on a power meter or anything as I’m hoping come the winter to get a smart turbo trainer and start using Zwift or RGT or similar. Just trying to work out, for the smallest amount of investment, the best way to make training more entertaining?

About all I can come up with at the moment is program my watch with a workout and watch cycle routes on YouTube. I could get an Ant+ adapter that would get cadence to the phone or iPad but to what end?

Just wondered if anyone had any creative ideas?

Thanks,
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Any creative ideas? Rollers, Ant+ cadence, iPhone, TV ..

Post by drossall »

You can use Zwift with a wheel-on trainer and an HRM, a speed sensor and a cadence sensor. It's not the recommended setup, but it will certainly get you started. I very much use low-end, and I've only ever had wheel-on trainers. I started with the above, but got lucky with a generous offer from another forum user of an old power-meter wheel for a very reasonable price.

Zwift certainly works on zPower, although I think in my particular case it was underestimating my power, so it was sometimes a bit frustrating because I was going rather slowly. On the other hand, I suspect that the wheel may be a bit generous :-)

It doesn't really matter if you're just doing it for enjoyment, and not racing. Consistency may be more important to you, as that lets you see whether you're improving. But it would let you get a taster, given that you're planning on something more advanced in due course anyway.

It might though be worth a look at some of the alternatives that do videos of real-life routes, such as Rouvy.
Banzaibrothers
Posts: 3
Joined: 15 May 2022, 2:14pm

Re: Any creative ideas? Rollers, Ant+ cadence, iPhone, TV ..

Post by Banzaibrothers »

Thanks Drossail, I’ll take a look at Rouvy 👍🏻
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TrevA
Posts: 3551
Joined: 1 Jun 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Any creative ideas? Rollers, Ant+ cadence, iPhone, TV ..

Post by TrevA »

You can use Zwift with rollers, if you have a cadence sensor fitted. Worth having a look on Zwift to see if your rollers or dumb turbo are compatible, many are.

I found having a smart trainer was a game changer for me, it turned a previously boring activity into an enjoyable and somewhat addictive one. The cheapest wheel on smart trainer is about £250. The cheapest wheel off smart trainer is about £500.
I have a a Wahoo Kickr with my summer road bike mounted on it, and did 500 miles on Zwift over the winter. I especially like the Cat D group rides. I run Zwift on my iPad but have a Lightning to HDMI adapter so that I can view on it on a TV, for a more immersive experience.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
Banzaibrothers
Posts: 3
Joined: 15 May 2022, 2:14pm

Re: Any creative ideas? Rollers, Ant+ cadence, iPhone, TV ..

Post by Banzaibrothers »

Thanks TrevA.

That’s interesting - I’ll look further into running Zwift with my Garmin Ant+ speed/cadence sensor (the rollers themselves have nothing).

It looks like I could pick up a direct drive smart trainer for about £300 used so I think that’s the way I’ll be heading for winter.

👍🏻
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