Indoor Trainer

[greggp]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie here and have just recently got back into road biking in the last couple of years. I have now just purchased an indoor trainer the wahoo kickr core and have used it with zwift and rouvy apps. I do prefer the rouvy app as I like to see real outdoor riding and this seems the best realistic outdoor version I've come across.

I have yet to buy a speed sensor or heart rate monitor. I was hoping to be able to use my Samsung Galaxy 4 smart watch to monitor heart rate but this won't connect to the rouvy app unfortunately.

When I ride outdoors I use the Strava app (non subscription) which syncs to my Samsung health app and I can view my cycling data on either app platform once synced.

I am now thinking i'd like to invest in a cycling computer for outdoors, something like a Garmin 530. Wondered if there was any benefit of getting one of these over my current equipment, obviously it would be handy for navigation etc I guess.

I wondered what devices everyone else uses for the indoor and outdoor training please?

 

[Ridgeway]

Indoor i use an iPad which connects to the sensors that i need. Outdoor i prefer a bike specific computer (Wahoo) but all are pretty decent these days. Advantage vs the phone is usually, smaller, less likely to break vs a phone and battery will last longer. Some may even argue that they are lighter than a phone but then carry a phone with them anyway....

Garmin, Wahoo are probably the most popular 2 brands. If you do really want it for navigation then a bigger screen and brighter display are helpful. I prefer to get lost and have a longer battery life...

 

[13 rider]

Is the kicker core a wheel off trainer ,if so no need for a speed monitor for indoor riding and for zwift if your not racing no need for a HRM either . Ridgeway has covered the advantages for an dedicated bike computer, another wahoo user .
If you want to race or train with HR I would suggest a dedicated chest strap not silly expensive just replaced my wahoo one for £40

 

[Dogtrousers]

Speed monitor isn't really necessary. This is because, apart from periods of poor GPS coverage, your GPS - be it a dedicated bike GPS or phone - will be working out your speed well enough. I have one, because it's a gadget and I'm Mr Gadget and I've got to have them all. But when the battery runs out I never notice. So I'm going to go against my gadgetty tendencies and say don't bother.

HRM can be handy for pacing yourself as well as for HR specific training. (Also, it's a gadget, see above ). You need to consider whether it's ANT+ (good for connecting to dedicated GPSs) or Bluetooth (good for connecting to phones and PCs) or both. A chest strap will generally out-perform a watch-type HRM in terms of not cutting out and not running its battery flat.

For recording your rides outdoors, as well as navigation, a bike GPS is a great thing to have. It's the king of gadgets. As above Garmin and Wahoo are the leading brands with honourable mentions to Hammerhead and Bryton and some others that don't spring to mind. It's a massive subject and some people have strong opinions. I've got a Garmin 530 and I'm very happy with it, but I'm sure I'd be equally happy with a Wahoo if I had one. TBH they're all bloody good these days.

And they mean that you can keep your phone safe and charged up for when you really need it.

 

[greggp]

Is the kicker core a wheel off trainer ,if so no need for a speed monitor for indoor riding and for zwift if your not racing no need for a HRM either . Ridgeway has covered the advantages for an dedicated bike computer, another wahoo user .
If you want to race or train with HR I would suggest a dedicated chest strap not silly expensive just replaced my wahoo one for £40

Sorry yes it's a kickr core so a wheel off trainer. I can always set my Samsung watch in an indoor exercise mode which obviously is separate to the wahoo kickr and rouvy app as they don't work together