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Garmin Magnetless Speed Sensor on a Flywheel

UseTheDownhill
over 9 years ago
I have a Wahoo Fitness KICKR trainer and a Stages Power Meter as crank arm. Since my Garmin Forerunner 920xt can only connect to one ANT+ power meter at a time, I must choose between getting power+speed data from KICKR or power+cadence data from Stages, i.e. speed or cadence but not both.

Would it be possible to attach a Garmin Speed Sensor to the side of the KICKR's flywheel and get accurate ANT+ speed? Don't know if the speed sensor will work in this "flipped" orientation. See the purple sticker in photo below.

  • 0 over 9 years ago
    If your power provides a speed signal, then it's going to override the speed sensor. AFAIK, there is no way to make it use the speed sensor unless you remove the power sensor from the profile. But that is based on what I know of Garmin Edge devices. Might not hold true for Garmin Forerunners.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    The speed sensor senses the earth's magnetic field and that is a problem with electromagnetic trainers. I did a little test with my sensor and it seems to work with the orientation. I didn't think it would. But unfortunately the electromagnetic field from the trainer is the problem.

    How about using the Garmin cadence sensor combined with the Wahoo power. The cadence sensor senses gravity so there would be no problems with the electromagnetic trainer and no mounting issues either.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    If your power provides a speed signal, then it's going to override the speed sensor. AFAIK, there is no way to make it use the speed sensor unless you remove the power sensor from the profile. But that is based on what I know of Garmin Edge devices. Might not hold true for Garmin Forerunners.


    I currently connect to Stages PM on my 920xt so that my power reading is the same on trainer and on the road. That gives me power & cadence. I connect the KICKR trainer to my phone apps and on the 920xt it's disconnected. I still wouldn't be able to connect a separate ANT+ speed sensor even if the KICKR was disconnected? Interesting test case.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    The speed sensor senses the earth's magnetic field and that is a problem with electromagnetic trainers. I did a little test with my sensor and it seems to work with the orientation. I didn't think it would. But unfortunately the electromagnetic field from the trainer is the problem.

    How about using the Garmin cadence sensor combined with the Wahoo power. The cadence sensor senses gravity so there would be no problems with the electromagnetic trainer and no mounting issues either.


    Yeah, I've considered using power/speed from the KICKR and attaching an additional cadence sensor to the bike. This would disconnect the Stages completely. Adding a cadence sensor to the bike is definitely less complicated than adding a speed sensor to the KICKR. I personally was interested in using the same sensor (Stages) for both trainer workouts & road workouts for consistency in analysis. Don't know if any difference in readings would make much of a difference in reality.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Just in case someone actually finds this thread with a search, I need to report that since posting originally on Aug 8 and on Aug 31, something unexpectedly changed... for the better!

    On the 31st I was able to connect to the Stages power meter to get Power & Cadence as usual... but this time a new sensor showed up: a KICKR-based Speed-only sensor over ANT+! So I connected to the KICKER (Speed) sensor and from that point I have been able to get all three data points on my indoor trainer rides.

    I contacted Garmin, Stages, and Wahoo, but no one said anything changed in how ANT+ was displayed or transmitted. VERY STRANGE! I don't know how it happened, but I'm happy to report that it's possible to get all three data streams from two different power meters.

    Good luck!