Power Meter & Trainer!

It could take it from either. It is up to you to determine which one you want to use. Either by pairing to just one of them or disabling the sensor you don't want to use or by manually connecting to the one do you want to use.

Thanks for the reply!

ideally i would like the pedals as the power source, but also I’d like to log distance covered. The only way to log distance is via the trainer.

if I understand you correctly the only way to ensure the pedals are being used for power would be to unpair the trainer?

is there some way to tell the Garmin to use the pedals for power and the trainer for distance only, by going into the settings?

Thanks

You dont need to unpair the trainer at all.

You can connect to the trainer as the source of power and as a source of speed / cadence aswell.

I have my Vectors and Trainer both connected as power sources and the trainer as speed / cadence when I ride indoors.

I use the Vectors as the main source of power on all rides. But I found the 520 alerted when it found the trainer and asked if it wanted to switch the source of power to the trainer. So I left it paired just in case I ever need it, but disabled the trainer as a source of power to avoid this from happening.

So to confirm my power comes from Vectors and speed / cadence come from Tacx trainer.

Works fine.

Thanks.

That makes complete sense. One question. How exactly do I disable the trainer as a source of power?

Thanks

I performed a test this afternoon. I completed a TrainerRoad workout using only the pedals for power. I recorded the same workout on the 520 with both the pedals and trainer paired. I then uploaded both files to a comparison tool and both profiles were identical. This for me is proof that my 520 is taking the power from the pedal rather than the trainer.

Thanks again for your responses guys!

Ok sounds good.

To be 100% sure here is how you disable a sensor on the 520 without removing it.

Menu > Settings > Sensors > Neo (Dumbell Sign)

Then select ‘Disable’

I am guessing you named your different power sensors when you first connected them. If not you need to determine which one is the Neo in your sensor list.

cheers

Right, I just had a look at my 520 and it turns out that I only ever had the Neo paired as a trainer, not a power source (dumbbell) therefore it was never going to transmit power, only cadence and speed. So I am now 100% certain that the 520 is using the P1s for power. I paired the Neo as a power source and got the same message you mentioned above asking if I wanted to switch power source. Cancelled this and disabled as you described.

many thanks again.

i can rest assured!! :-)

I have a variation on this scenario. When I do a 2x 20 min at FTP, I don't bother with Zwift, I am using the 1030 as a head unit to the trainer (Elite Direto). So I have connected the 1030 to the trainer, but I am using the Stages as the Power meter. This means, in theory, that the 1030 should be adjusting the resistance of the trainer according the measurement of the Stages power meter (I had set a target range with a variance of 10w). 

The Elite Direto is calibrated with itself (using the Elite software), but it is not aligned with the Stages values, typically the Direto overstates the Stages values by about 20 watts.

What I have found is that while the Stages values are displayed on the 1030, it is not using those values in the adjustment of the resistance of the trainer. The resistance never hits the level required to achieve the target window - I think that this is because the trainer 'thinks' that the window is already achieved. I think the pairing of the trainer to the 1030 means that it uses the trainer, regardless of what is displayed on the 1030. If I disable the Stages, then the trainer's values are displayed and it makes internal sense. I don't do this because the Stage's values are what I am training against. The workaround is to select 'resistance' on 1030, instead of target power. Not great, because for each step you have to reset the resistance.