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Is there a Pedaling Efficiency Data Field?

I have an Edge 1030 and Vector 3 Pedals. I'm trying to figure out which of the many data fields available would best depict real time pedaling efficiency based upon heart rate versus power output. I can change my position, pedal stroke, power phase angle, cadence etc and see how the watts change but this doesn't take into account my input which I believe is best measured by heart rate.
I'm thinking something like Power Divided by Heart Rate would tell me whether changing my cadence, power phase angle, etc is worth the extra effort:

Examples:

250 watts / 150 Heart Rate = Efficiency = 1.666

Then I change my pedal stroke, cadence, etc.

260 watts / 160 Heart Rate = Efficiency = 1.625

So in this case I gained 10 watts but at the expense of higher heart rate. May be less efficient????

Is there some data field like this on the Edge 1030?

0 aweatherall over 6 years ago

There is not a data field like this, but you could do it quite easily using Connect IQ simple data field.

0 mikepettis over 6 years ago

Do I need to do this via a mobile phone app? The Edge 1030 manual doesn't give you much information on how to do this.

0 md11pat over 6 years ago

You can access the Connect IQ store through Garmin Connect, either online or via GCM. Browse and select a data field that will provide what you are looking for and then download it. It will sync automatically to your Garmin the next time it is connected to your phone. (or you can always do it the manual way via Garmin Express when physically connected to a computer). Once installed, the app/data field settings are located in GCM. If I recall, your Garmin will need to be connected to your phone while working with the settings. Data field/app/widget, etc., description of "how-to" can be read online from the app developer.

0 aweatherall over 6 years ago

You may not find one that does what you want in which case you can write your own using the Connect IQ SDK.

HR moves too slowly in-comparison to power changes so I doubt it will give you what you are hoping for.

0 mikepettis over 6 years ago

Thanks for the reply but it looks like there's no simple way to create a simple POWER/HR field without spending weeks figuring out the SDK, coding it and then deploying it to the device. ;-(

0 Werner-H over 6 years ago

Hi Mike,

it isn't worth the time to code and deploy it. As Alan said there is a delay between power and heartrate.
If you do a couple of pedal strokes with high power and your heartrate will not immediately increase in the same way.
If you calculate the ratio power/heartrate in such cases the ratio will change extremly without getting any information from this change.

It is more interesting to analyse the ratio for a whole activity afterwards. You can use the program "golden cheetah" to do this easily.
There you will see that it is a good idea to use HR=a*POWER+b for the correlation between power and heartrate.
You also can specify a delaytime between power and heartrate.

Regards Werner

0 mikepettis over 6 years ago

I can monitor this at the end of the ride but I was looking for something closer to real time. HR being a few seconds behind power isn't a problem. If I could monitor it on the trainer I would be able to figure out the best pedaling stroke, etc.

0 jgforrest over 6 years ago

There are apps that let you display a calculated field (like power/HR ), have a look through the connect IQ store, but this one might do what you want.

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/470f546f-200f-42ce-bb9c-0f7dc27ec3a5#0

My 1030 is away for repair so I can't try it but looks promising.

0 jgforrest over 6 years ago

This might be a simpler option
https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/639f34d0-62d5-425a-a459-4b1a93c87626#0

0 mikepettis over 6 years ago

Awesome! I'll try this and get back to you!