Team BKool CycleChat

[bridgy]

Any views on ant + heart rate monitors for the bsim. I was looking at the bkool but the thieves want £15 delivery for a £37 device!

I use the garmin one - always worked faultlessly

 

[Insomina]

I was blasting along until I caught Insomnia and then I fell asleep.
It wasn't until the road shook with the approach of DP that I woke up again.
Just managed to stay ahead of him because my -ve kg advantage on that final little climb.

In all honesty I had my eye on Bridgy's progress and missed DP sneaking on tip toes through the crowd altogether until it was almost too late.
At one point I thought we could have a massed finish so I tried to drag Insomnia on a bit but to no avail.
Hats off to all of you it was a tough chase to get to the front and I only probably managed it because of my lesser handicap.
Good news is that I have probably preserved whatever handicap advantage I had on DP on account of me backing of to try and drag Insomnia along.

PS: Bob, I did slow as I passed you to see if you wanted to latch on but you didn't grab the rope!

Thanks for trying to drag me along but by then I was pretty much finished.

 

[bobinski]

I was blasting along until I caught Insomnia and then I fell asleep.
It wasn't until the road shook with the approach of DP that I woke up again.
Just managed to stay ahead of him because my -ve kg advantage on that final little climb.

In all honesty I had my eye on Bridgy's progress and missed DP sneaking on tip toes through the crowd altogether until it was almost too late.
At one point I thought we could have a massed finish so I tried to drag Insomnia on a bit but to no avail.
Hats off to all of you it was a tough chase to get to the front and I only probably managed it because of my lesser handicap.
Good news is that I have probably preserved whatever handicap advantage I had on DP on account of me backing of to try and drag Insomnia along.

PS: Bob, I did slow as I passed you to see if you wanted to latch on but you didn't grab the rope!

AAAC, you were literally a blur as you went past so if you slowed feck knows how fast you were going before and after

 

[theboxers]

Thanks, Wahoo Tickr it is. Missus can order that for xmas!

The reason I use the Scosche Rhythm+ is the strap on my Garmin/Wahoo is right at the max stretch and can get a tad uncomfortable, at times, for the larger individual. I am a 48 inch chest size (mostly lard ), my forearm is 14 inches and almost at the limit for the Rhythm+. But a strap on my forearm is more comfortable than the one the round my chest, to me.

Ypym, ytyc, but the Scosche or Wahoo are better bets due to the dual Ant+/BLE signals.

The cheapest I have found the Scosche is here
http://www.clevertraining.co.uk/scosche-rhythm-1-9-armband-heart-rate-monitor
with the dcrainmaker discount code, DCR10MHD, it's about £55+ delivery.

As for accuracy between electrical and optical, I am not sure how accurate either is. But I have found very little difference between the 5, , I have (3 electrical, 1 optical strap and 1 one optical on my fenix 3 HR), side by side (I can run upto 4 at the same time using these as pickups bkool, edge 1k, fenix 3 HR (internal or external) on Ant+ and android phone Ant+ or BLE), as long as they are properly seated.

Edit

I am only posting at this time of the morning due to sore throat and cough that woke me up @ 3:30 am

2nd Edit

I have just had a second Scosche Rhythm+ strap delivered this morning (a black Friday deal). So that is now 6 HRM's I have

 

[Daddy Pig]

The reason I use the Scosche Rhythm+ is the strap on my Garmin/Wahoo is right at the max stretch and can get a tad uncomfortable, at times, for the larger individual. I am a 48 inch chest size (mostly lard ), my forearm is 14 inches and almost at the limit for the Rhythm+. But a strap on my forearm is more comfortable than the one the round my chest, to me.

Ypym, ytyc, but the Scosche or Wahoo are better bets due to the dual Ant+/BLE signals.

The cheapest I have found the Scosche is here
http://www.clevertraining.co.uk/scosche-rhythm-1-9-armband-heart-rate-monitor
with the dcrainmaker discount code, DCR10MHD, it's about £55+ delivery.

As for accuracy between electrical and optical, I am not sure how accurate either is. But I have found very little difference between the 5, , I have (3 electrical, 1 optical strap and 1 one optical on my fenix 3 HR), side by side (I can run upto 4 at the same time using these as pickups bkool, edge 1k, fenix 3 HR (internal or external) on Ant+ and android phone Ant+ or BLE), as long as they are properly seated.

Edit

I am only posting at this time of the morning due to sore throat and cough that woke me up @ 3:30 am

Thanks @theboxers, I think the wahoo will be my choice based on cost and features. I've used hr monitors before so am happy with a chest strap.
Hope you are feeling better soon... sounds like you need to gargle with some single malt...

 

[theboxers]

Thanks @theboxers, I think the wahoo will be my choice based on cost and features. I've used hr monitors before so am happy with a chest strap.
Hope you are feeling better soon... sounds like you need to gargle with some single malt...

eurgghhh treacle you must be joking . Like anything in this world you learn by your mistakes. As a stoooopit teenager I got out of my skull on a scotch/whisky/whatever the hell it was. Now the smell of it is enough to make me gag. It is the same with Gin .

The only spirit I can drink is Vodka. When I do drink it I can't leave an open bottle unfinished . That is why I very seldom drink it, self preservation .

I hope some lemsip blackcurrent and bed rest will help when I get home tonihgt .

 

[bobinski]

eurgghhh treacle you must be joking . Like anything in this world you learn by your mistakes. As a stoooopit teenager I got out of my skull on a scotch/whisky/whatever the hell it was. Now the smell of it is enough to make me gag. It is the same with Gin .

The only spirit I can drink is Vodka. When I do drink it I can't leave an open bottle unfinished . That is why I very seldom drink it, self preservation .

I hope some lemsip blackcurrent and bed rest will help when I get home tonihgt .

As a Polak I highly recommend a shot of Zubrowka with your Lemsip

 

[theboxers]

As a Polak I highly recommend a shot of Zubrowka with your Lemsip

How big a shot though I've got a bottle of bison grass indoors somewhere

 

[bobinski]

How big a shot though I've got a bottle of bison grass indoors somewhere

Pre ride? one small shot glass.

Post ride celebrating? several.

Post ride Commiserating with yourself? The whole bottle.

Man flu? Ditto!

Enjoy

 

[theboxers]

 

[AAAC 76C]

I use the garmin one - always worked faultlessly

Yep my Garmin HRM works fine but the H can be a bit troublesome.

 

[RickB]

@bobinski - see on Zwift, do you find that there's a big time lag between the effort you put in and the response of your rider on screen. I've found myself see-sawing back and forth with a group when trying to adapt to a change of pace. Its not immediate like Bkool. I find myself falling back then shooting past them and having to ease way off again, but it takes ages to slow down again.

Also, just bought a power meter. I did an FTP test using the Bkool Watts and then again a week later with the powermeter. Got a result of 227 with the Bkool but 287 with the powermeter. Yet it predicted my Watts as 288 using the Bkool during freeride which is spot on!! Something funny going on with my trainer possibly?

 

[bobinski]

@RickB
To be honest it seems to vary day by day and is one of reasons I have invested in a NEO- though still waiting for it. Sometimes I can ride the ups and downs- you know where I mean- and the reaction is immediate and quite satisfying. In other occasions I get lag or delay in reaction. I don't think it's a signal issue but the pro and it nearly always seems to happen after a bkool ride. But I don't pay enough attention to know if it only happens then. Facebook posts suggested turning unit off and then back on and it seemed to work in Zwift but perhaps not in bkool.I mention this because although i don't do group rides on zwift I sometimes tag along. Sometimes it is relatively easy to get in the draft and stay there, at others it sees impossible and not about relative speed or anything and i can bounce off the back or be pushed off the front.. I think the draft from the last update is more pronounced though and while great when i am in it, if i am spat out it is harder to get back in.
Bkool watts make no sense sometimes and yet at other times they seem bang on as supported by other peoples comparisons with power meter readings.
I am in Zwift tonight so let you know how it goes. I will unplug and see if that makes a difference.

 

[kipster]

Looks like ive killed my bkool pro, doing a velodrome ride as an ftp test, working hard @ 350w, 170hr when my hr started dropping down and the watts were up to 600. tried turning it off / on, rebooting the computer, no luck there. Tried a hilly route no resistance at all. I'm off to look for the posts from others who have managed to fix their bkool's, but if anyone is lurking out there tonight, feel free to re-iterate what you did and what I can try. The unit is 2 years old, purchased from wiggle, so outside of their warranty.

 

[bobinski]

Looks like ive killed my bkool pro, doing a velodrome ride as an ftp test, working hard @ 350w, 170hr when my hr started dropping down and the watts were up to 600. tried turning it off / on, rebooting the computer, no luck there. Tried a hilly route no resistance at all. I'm off to look for the posts from others who have managed to fix their bkool's, but if anyone is lurking out there tonight, feel free to re-iterate what you did and what I can try. The unit is 2 years old, purchased from wiggle, so outside of their warranty.

long shot.
power off.
Back on and try Zwift, normal and erg.