Trainer is not recording speed and distance, but is recording cadence

To update I am connecting to my NEO 2T using my Edge 530.

If you are performing a power controlled workout (I.e. erg mode) then speed and distance are entirely meaningless and are zeroed out. At least this is true when I use my Fenix watch to perform a power based workout. I assume the Edge will be the same.

Oh, I did not realize that was the case. I am doing a power controlled workout. That seems... odd, I still like to know how far I would have gone and how fast. It certainly wasn't always that way, I did a workout on 12/24 that was power controlled and it gave me speed/distance

I don't know if it's 100% consistent, but I've been caught out more than once by this feature.

The thing is, when in erg mode you can use any gear you like from granny climbing gear to max speed descent, so flywheel/wheel speed could be anything from 5kph to 80kph  for the exact same power output. So whatever speed/distance that might be generated is entirely dependent upon gearing and cadence and nothing to do with actual effort. It would be an entirely useless metric.

If you ride to a power target without using erg then there might be some merit to the speed/distance data, but erg renders speed and distance an abstract fantasy - unless you are using simulation software such as Zwift, when power can be converted meaningfully to a speed (subject to gradients etc..). Even then, the trainer has no idea of the speed in the simulated world, so the trainer itself still can't provide a sensible value for speed when in erg mode.

In theory shouldn't the trainer be able to count the number of revolutions the wheel is making and if it knows the circumference of the wheel, then it knows speed and distance? It may take a lot more work to move it one revolution, but the distance that revolution would move me shouldn't change.

Certainly the speed/distance is not a critical factor, but is a bit disheartening to bike for an hour and see 0.0 miles ridden, and sites like Strava and others show you a summary of miles ridden so it'd be nice to have my trainer miles in there. I'm getting my proper training session in at least still.

What device do you have your Tacx NEO 2T connected to?

I somehow miss that you are using an Edge 530.

The are two ways that the Edge 530 can get speed, cadence, and power from the Tacx NEO 2T over ANT+:

• Through the ANT+ FE-C connection
• Through the discrete Speed/Cadence and Power ANT+ sensors. (These sensors can are enabled and disabled using a Bluetooth connection with the Tacx Desktop Application (Windows) and Tacx Training App (Android and iOS).)

The few time I have used my Tacx NEO 2T in fixed power mode it has always reported speed and distance to my Edge 1030 Plus and fēnix 6X using either sensor source.

So I tried again, deleted the trainer completely from Edge 530 and tried connecting again, I had it on the discrete sensors before and again this time and it's recording distance/speed again. Not sure what happened by it works at least. I'm sure it'll break again.

I think it's the Trainer pairing that buggers things up, at least when you perform a power focused erg workout. If you use an HR focused workout, for example, speed and distance should be retained.

As someone who uses Zwift I try to avoid pairing the Trainer with my watch (unless I have good reason to) and then speed and distance are as expected, which of course does not match Zwift at all, but at least I know why and I don't care.