Want to record power and cadence on indoor bike - looking for different options.

I've read a few different posts about this already but I'm still a little lost.

I'm quite new to the world of garmin and fenix, but most of my workouts this winter will be indoor so I rely heavily on that data for my garmin training status and different output data I get from garmin.

Looking through these forums and online, I've seen the following advice given for indoor bikes:

Use a power pedal (Expensive)
Upload the stationary bike data to garmin via 3rd party like Strava (still don't know how to do that)
Use ANT+ to broadcast the data from the bike to the watch (My bike, the Proform, doesn't have ANT+)

My last resort would be to just manually enter the power, cadence, distance, and average power after my ride, but would that take effect on the training status and stats afterwards or is it too late once the workout is complete?

Any advice would be great either on the bullet points I listed or the manual entry idea.

Thanks everyone!

0 tmk2 over 3 years ago

3122993 said:
Upload the stationary bike data to garmin via 3rd party like Strava (still don't know how to do that)

This would work only if the bike can be connected somehow to some 3rd party service, and I don't know if your bike can do that. Only more advanced indoor bikes can do that.

3122993 said:
Use ANT+ to broadcast the data from the bike to the watch (My bike, the Proform, doesn't have ANT+)

Well, then there is no other way than to use external sensors, like for example power meter pedals (but as you already noticed - very expensive) or at least a cadence sensor. The latter will provide you with cadence only, but is relatively cheap and easy to install.

3122993 said:
My last resort would be to just manually enter the power, cadence, distance, and average power after my ride, but would that take effect on the training status and stats afterwards

Some stats rely on hr data only, and those stats will be correctly reflected as long as your watch registers your heart rate, but other stats, especially those that require power data, will not be calculated even if you manually input the data.