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Confused by Smart Trainer Options

Hein
over 4 years ago

I paired my Fenix 6X with an Elite Suito smart trainer. Today I went to Activity>Bike Indoor and choose "Free Ride" as my trainer option. Then I selected one of my existing workouts and started the activity. I was surprised that the watch changed the trainer resistance at the beginning of each item in the workout. I could go at "Set Resistance" during the activity.

Questions:

(1) my expectation was that if I choose "Free Ride" and then do a workout, the watch will not do anything automatic with trainer control; is there a way to achieve this behavior?

(2) how do I create workouts with resistance presets? I could not figure out how to do this on the watch, in the Garmin Connect iOS app, nor on the web site. It also seems like TrainingPeaks doesn't allow you to do this?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Hein

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Former Member
    I did what TheOtherPhil said and it worked fine, but the problem is that it counts me as doing 2 rides (one Zwift ride an one indoor bike) instead of 1, so my weekly distance stats are doubled. If i delete the non-zwift entry, then all my training stats go away. How do I get the watch to recognize that the Zwift ride and the "Indoor bike" are one and the same, not 2 separate workouts? 

    I get the Zwift App to Sync directly to Strava and not Garmin Connect. I have my watch sync to Garmin connect.

    Yes, I know the distances are likely incorrect for the following reason:

    Garmin has no knowledge of the virtual world that you are cycling in, so has no idea of the virtual elevation changes. It does however correctly record your effort in the form of power output, cadence, speed and HR so your training load metrics are correct....you just don't have a record of elevation or GPS track. The distance Garmin produces are based as if you were riding on the flat.

    Zwift can record your elevation changes as well as all the other metrics that the watch does but when sync'd to connect, it will not contribute to your training load metrics. The reason being....it's the watch that has a licence for FirstBeat analytics, NOT Garmin connect....only the metrics directly measured on the watch contribute to training load.

    However, you do not need to Save the activity on your watch to contribute to training load. You can record on both and then discard the activity on the watch. Your training load will still update in connect.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to TheOtherPhil

    really appreciate this response. Quite funny that this is the way I've ended up doing it after a month of being on Zwift and after recently getting a new Fenix 6. I noticed that if I synced Zwift with Garmin it would not give me the drill down on the workout load and detailed information on Training Load. Now I don't do the sync from Zwift to Garmin and just sync with Strava. I then make a duplicate recording on the watch but as you point out the mileage is always different depending on the elevation differences. Now I know why! I was concerned that Garmin might overstate my VO2 and FTP but again as you point out the training effect and training load is the same

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to TheOtherPhil

    @TheOtherPhil: Thanks for sharing this. Just upgraded from a traditional on-wheel bike trainer, to a 2020 Wahoo Kickr V5 last week, and was wondering how to set it up with my Fenix 6 pro and apple  TV. I'll try this set up.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to PaulDN81

    Paul, how can i set up my garmin fenix 6 as power and cadence only and not as controllable resistance. I have the same problem. It looks like I’m riding a “not” smart trainer while doing zwift. Thanks for your help

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 5911521

    It depends on your trainer but most smart trainers transmit as a speed sensor and power meter. If you unpair it as a trainer and then while the trainer is on go into the menu and add a new sensor and specifically select power meter you should see the trainer as an option. Repeat this process and select speed/cadence this time. Make sure Zwift is paired with the trainer as a controllable trainer and you should be all set.

    Keep in mind this is trainer dependent and not all smart trainers broadcast as all sensor types.