There’s a new sensor in town, and for a change, this one isn’t ANT+. Instead, it’s a new Bluetooth Smart (aka Bluetooth Low Energy) sensor, one designed to track your speed and cadence information while on a bike. Following the Wahoo Blue HR naming scheme for their Bluetooth Heart Rate strap, they’ve named this the Wahoo Blue SC.
Bluetooth Smart is a subset of the Bluetooth 4.0 specification, which allows super-low energy sensors/devices that can operate on a single coin CR2032 cell battery for a year or more (Wahoo specifies 2 years for the Blue SC). This directly competes with another low-energy standard, ANT+. ANT+ is the child of Dynastream, which is owned by Garmin – though it does have more than 300 companies that use the technology (including every Garmin competitor except Polar). Meanwhile, Bluetooth Smart comes from the Bluetooth SIG, which is a standards and steering entity. This is the same Bluetooth organization that brings you all the other Bluetooth devices you know and love daily.
The key difference though is that these new Bluetooth Smart sensors are NOT backwards compatible with pre-Bluetooth 4.0 devices. For example, within Apple phones only the latest iPhone 4s supports Bluetooth 4.0. On the Android front, there exists a greater number of BT 4.0 compatible phones. But without a phone released sometime after roughly December 2011 – you likely don’t have BT4.0.
So with that primer, let’s good cooking!
Unboxing:
The unit that was sent to me was a pre-production model that didn’t quite have all the fancy packaging with it. Instead, it had more of a lingerie look.
But despite the beta packaging, the contents will be the same for the final retail production units (which cost $59). Here’s the goods at a high level, and then I’ll dive into the components:
First up, we have the Bluetooth Smart sensor itself:
Then we’ve got the two magnets: Speed and Cadence. To the left we’ve got the spoke (speed), and to the right crank (cadence). The spoke magnet separates into two pieces, which tighten back on the spoke.
You’ll notice that gone are the days of clunky zipties holding the cadence magnet on. Instead you just slide it over your crank – which we’ll get to in a second. And the speed magnet you just simply tighten using your fingers onto your spoke. Super-easy and no tools required.
Installation:
If you’ve been around the speed/cadence sensor market lately, you may have seen the recently released Bontrager Speed/Cadence sensor which uses a no-tool mounting system. The Wahoo sensor uses the exactly same casing, which Bontrager has licensed to them.
With this new case design comes the easiest installation you’ll ever have – simply pull the single rubber band strap around your bike frame:
And with that, it’s installed (ignore that Polar sensor hanging out there below it, part of testing…):
Now, you’ll want to ensure that you’ve got the flexible arm facing towards the spoke magnet (inside). You can mount it upside-down if you wanted to.
In fact, at one point a few weeks ago I had some other sensors I needed for a test blocking my usual location – so I just went ahead and mounted it up higher. Now of course in this location the cadence portion wouldn’t work any longer, but speed was captured:
It should be noted that while I had some minor arm adjustment issues, I’ve been told that this is unique to the pre-production unit I received. The final retail versions have had this issue fixed (where the arm only worked at certain angles).
Normal use:
As of today (June 6th, 2012), there are currently three apps (plus the Odometer) that can utilize the new Blue SC sensor. The list today includes: Strava, Cyclemeter and the Wahoo Fitness App (plus the Wahoo Odometer).
Each of these applications can utilize the new Blue SC in the same manner as each of them previously handled (and still does) ANT+ sensor data using Wahoo’s ANT+ iPhone adapter. Meaning that the underlying ability for the application to gather speed/cadence data hasn’t changed – instead, you’ve just removed the requirement for an adapter hanging off the bottom off the phone. Now, the phone can go ‘naked’.
Of course, with the inclusion of GPS is 99% of cell phones out on the market today, you may be wondering why you’d want a speed sensor. There are really two reasons – first is the ability to still track mileage when your bike is in motion but your phone may not be with you. And the second is the ability to track speed indoors while on a trainer.
Now as anyone will tell you, speed as displayed while on a trainer is a very fluid measurement. Meaning that you can go from 10MPH to 30MPH without actually increasing your effort – merely by changing gears. By shifting you can maintain the same effort on most trainers while dramatically increasing speed. But, again, it’s still useful to many.
For many though, the cadence measurement is the more useful metric. Cadence is simply a measurement of how many revolutions per minute (as in RPM) your pedal makes. Cadence is normally measured on the left crank, right where the magnet is attached at the point the pedal connects to the crank. Most folks tend to have a natural cadence between about 80 and 90RPM. There exists a number of scenarios why you’d want to train at a higher or lower cadence dependent on your training goals and race scenarios. But that’s an entirely different topic and lively discussion for another day.
Let’s look at configuring the sensor within apps. Taking Strava for example, to setup the sensor you’ll go into the ‘Biometric Sensors’ and then enable Bluetooth sensors. You’ll notice how you don’t have to have the ANT+ key (though the option remains available), but now the Heart Rate and Speed & Cadence sensors are available to pair. Both of these are available via Bluetooth Low Energy (there are plenty regular non-low energy Bluetooth HR straps as well).
Once you pair them, you’ll see them connected within the main menu. Note that I’ve also paired the Wahoo BlueHR strap in this example (as you can see with my BPM shown).
Now I’m not a big Strava user (yet anyway), mostly because I tend to ride with dedicated devices. So my experience is somewhat limited here. But it should be noted that within Strava, cadence will not be shown on the ride menu. Instead, you’d need to review the data afternoon Here’s the basic free version:
Further, speed data is not recorded from the sensor – but rather only GPS. Even indoors. Quite frankly, the excuses given for not recording this data are lame (I understand the logic implied, but ultimately if you want to become the premier cycling app – you need to give people the data they want). Perhaps they could use some of the $12 million in VC funding to add what every other app developer has otherwise managed to do (in their garages after their normal work).
Moving onto CycleMeter, the sensor settings are handled through the Sensor menu under the Settings page. However, the sensor pairing isn’t quite as straightforward as Strava (or the default Wahoo program). It goes into a pairing mode, but doesn’t give you an indication it’s actually doing anything until it finds something.
Further, even when it does find a sensor, it doesn’t show you the value being transmitted in the setup page (useful for troubleshooting sensor placement). And despite trying, I was unable to get it to pair with the new sensor – instead only the Blue HR heart rate strap:
Finally, within Wahoo’s own app you can easily pair with any of the Wahoo Bluetooth Low Energy sensors as well as ANT+ sensors. And you can mix and match as you see fit.
Quite frankly, as I’ve always said – the Wahoo app is one of the more robust and technically deep apps out there (despite being free). It may not be the prettiest, but it offers the ability to export the data to other platforms such as Garmin Connect and TrainingPeaks. Further, there’s no limitations like there is on the other programs when it comes to display, export or testing of data. It just works.
Odometer Feature:
The Wahoo Blue SC is the first dedicated speed/cadence sensor that I’m aware of that includes a built-in digital odometer (without any head unit). This means that anytime you have the sensor attached to your bike, it’ll keep track of your mileage – even when no phone or head unit is around.
Currently, Wahoo Fitness has released a free App (simply called Wahoo Odometer) which gets the data from the Blue SC via Bluetooth Smart (the same wireless protocol used for the rest of the communication). You do have to use the phone app to get the data from the sensor, since there’s no display on the sensor itself.
The unit keeps track of history by week, and will show you not only total history, but weekly summaries.
The Odometer app allows you to set the distance in either miles or kilometers:
And it also allows you to specify the wheel circumference in meters. For some users, this might be kind of confusing since many are used to using centimeters instead of meters (i.e. 2070cm wheel size instead of 2.07m). But, for those of us not as familiar with the non-Americana system, just add a zero to the end and call the period a comma. Same-same, but different.
And finally, you can reset the odometer as well as go ahead and specify a given starting distance.
When I first heard of this functionality back a few months ago I was a bit skeptical that it would be of anything more than a gimmick. But what I found is that it’s actually turned out to be a kinda neat future. Specifically, I may not bother to run the app on my phone (or any cycling computer) for a quick jaunt around town on my bike. But since the sensor still tracks it, it just keeps on recording what you’re doing anyway – with no additional effort (or battery life) required on your part. In the end, a nice little feature.
Thoughts on the state of Bluetooth Smart:
Many of you have asked about where I see the state of Bluetooth Smart, and how it relates to ANT+. The last time I touched on this subject was some months ago when the Wahoo Blue HR came out in January.
At the time, the market was really just in its infancy. The Blue HR was the first legit HR strap on the market (not just a demo unit in a booth). However, at the time it barely worked with the Motoactv, and outside of that only with the iPhone 4S and a handful of apps. Since then, app support has expanded greatly, and the issues with the Motoactv have been resolved. Further, there exists new phones on the marketplace that support BTLE (a subset of Bluetooth 4.0).
However, as a whole, the sensor marketplace for Bluetooth Smart devices remains extremely fragmented and highly dependent on a handful of apps. Take for example Blue SC. Today there are four apps that support it (two of which Wahoo created). There’s no doubt in the medium term, many of the apps that support devices via the Wahoo Fitness API (meaning, they already support the Wahoo ANT+ dongle) – will broaden support for the BTLE sensor.
But that takes time. Development time. It also takes standards, ones that are just barely being supported for the heart rate device profile (protocol), and are still not fully finalized for the speed/cadence sensor. No other device profiles exist (i.e. nothing for power meters, running footpod in beta, etc….), and the timeline to get the device profiles out of the SIG is very very very long and slow.
But, there are some forces that will help increase device support of Bluetooth Smart in sport – the first of which will likely be Polar (despite the fact that Motorola has had limited support since October 2011). They’ve (Polar) been very vocal in their view that the long term sensor market will be Bluetooth Smart, and not ANT+. To date, in order to support that they’ve released their own Bluetooth Smart HR strap – the H7. This strap is compatible with everything the competing Wahoo Fitness Blue HR strap is compatible with, since they leverage the same API. I do have a Polar H7 I bought, I just haven’t had the time to spend with it. They’ve also noted plans to update their new pedal based power meter to support Bluetooth Smart, possibly in the fall.
Now, in order for Polar to make good on their Bluetooth Smart claims, they’ll actually have to release something aside from simple heart rate straps. To date, no Bluetooth Smart compatible watches or head units have been announced or released by Polar. In other words, it’s a lot of talk. Now, once they do start to walk, I think they’ll be able to help the broader BTLE segment by offering a ‘major name’ in the fitness category – someone on par in brand recognition with Garmin (and depending on audience, greater brand recognition).
Speaking of which, I don’t expect to see Bluetooth Smart supported by Garmin anytime soon – since that would effectively be proclaiming the death of ANT+. And even then, I’m not sure it’s really necessary. There are now chips that allow sport head units to connect to both ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart devices, such as in the Motorola Motoactv. Though, the Motoactv does not yet support the Blue SC.
Summary:
If you’ve got a Bluetooth 4.0 compatible phone (such as the iPhone 4s), and you want to capture speed/cadence data while cycling, the Blue SC is a great option and cheaper ($59) than buying an ANT+ speed/cadence sensor ($35) plus an ANT+ adapter ($79) for your phone. It enables you to get the data you want, without the bulk of an ANT+ adapter hanging off the back.
On the other hand, if you already have ANT+ sensors, and/or you need power meter data or indoor running data, you’re probably best focusing on ANT+ since the support is far broader amongst both apps and devices (basically everything out there supports ANT+ speed/cadence sensors except Polar devices).
Over time I fully expect to see more support for the Wahoo Blue SC, and look forward to many of the apps that utilize the underlying Wahoo Fitness API for ANT+ to also support the Blue SC.
As always, thanks for reading – and if you’ve got any questions, feel free to drop them below. Thanks!
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Wahoo Fitness Blue SC Speed/Cadence Sensor
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and if I have one of those big crankarm… FSA style, is there a larger rubber bands to attach magnet? or have to use a zip tie. and if I have one of those huge chainstays do I zip tie the unit also or are various size rubber bands included with the kit?
I got the rubber on my FSA crank, tight fit, but works.
My Cervelo also has huge chain stays, the rubber won’t work. I prefer cable ties anyway (compatible), especially of you don’t need to move it between bikes.
I beleive the biggest advantage of using a speed and cadence sensor over GPS is accuracy. Your average speed/distance might nearly be the same, but instant speed is 100 times better with a speed sensor over GPS.
Could you please explain your comment about increasing bike speed on a trainer without increasing effort by just changing gears? This is second time I read this in one of your reviews.
On my trainer (Kurt Kinetic), the resistance seems to be a measure of speed of the flywheel. I.e. the faster the flywheel spins, the more difficult it is to maintain that speed. It doesn’t “care” what gear I am in. I would like to see an explanation of how I can increase my trainer speed without increasing my effort.
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I agree with Murray – the biggest advantage of SC sensors is that they work fine in poor gps conditions and if calibrated carefully are more accurate (and definitely more reproducible). Some apps have long polling intervals for gps, and the measurements clip sharp corners badly.
And I agree completely with the comments about the Strava app. They have a great website – but who’s going to buy a 60$ sensor and use an app that doesn’t display the data until after you’ve finished?
Not sure why Cyclemeter caused problems – I’ve been assured it works by Wahoo and Abvio. I’m getting in touch with Kevin at Abvio about it right away – I know that this has been added very recently, after the latest Wahoo SDK release, and I know it worked in beta.
Cheers, Alan.
Just bought the sensor last night. What are you recommending for a 4S bike case?
The iPad 3 has Bluetooth 4.0 as well. Not so useful on the road but might be nice for use on the turbo trainer.
Im not so sure using an iPhone, Droid, etc on the road would be beneficial for a performance rider. Maybe the road enthusiast, but having your phone connected to bluetooth for 3+ hours on a nicer ride does not leave much battery life to give me the confidence to call someone when in need 3 hours into a day. Idk, not quite convinced that its smart to use a phone.
Highly recommend the Lifeproof case. it is waterproof, and has a bike mounting bracket available.
The Biologic and QooQoon are good cases too. I use the Biologic with a simple modification to mount it centrally on my stem.
Using Cyclemeter (which now has superb customisable screens, and the best history data) I can get over 4 hours on a fully charged phone, even with the display on all the time, considerably longer with it off. For longer rides I carry a small portable charger in my back pocket – if I stop I plug it in for a short boost. If not its there as an emergency and can if necessary be simply connected to the phone whilst riding using a standard cable.
Cheers, Alan.
Ray, you NEED to get on the Strava website bandwagon. We’ll see about the phone app, but the online/website thing is awesome.
Yep, the websites great, but I don’t understand their attitude re the phone app. No sensor data displayed (except hr now), no elevation, no lap marking – much better to use another device or app and upload the tcx, because the website supports all this, its just their app that doesn’t. Especially since their website doesn’t support tcx export either, just a simple gpx with no extensions, so if you use their app you can’t even get all your data out. Crazy.
Ray- Will the Polar H7 strap talk to the motoactv?
I find it is really useful for me. Thank you so much for sharing. I will recommend your posts to my friends. Hope more people will appreciate your posts.Pellet machine
Hi Anonymous – Yes, the H7 does connect to the MOTOACTV. However, the Motoactv won’t let you simultaneously utilize ANT+ sensors with Bluetooth sensors. It’s one or the other.. bummer b/c I wanted to use my H7 with my ANT+ footpod and spd/cadence bike sensors and I can’t. Oh well… but if you don’t care about that then you’re in business.
One more thing for anyone that is a Polar user…the H7 will simultaneously transmit a signal to a Polar Watch (on the 5khz frequency) as well as to a Bluetooth Smart device. I just had my Motoactv paired with my H7 and a Polar FT4 and both devices were receiving heart rate data. Cool.
I’ve got my Blue SC to add to my Blue HR now – and I didn’t see any problems in pairing anything at all. Both the HR and SC paired almost instantly on Cyclemeter and Strava as well as Wahoo Fitness.
Cheers, Alan.
I am using a Garmin Edge 305 for over 5 years and it gives me 8 hours of recorded ride. Can I get this 8 hours with my iPhone 4S (without external batteries) and a Wahoo Blue HR and SC sensors. I can turn off the screen for 99% of the time and just turn it on a few times to check my distance. If it is possible, I’ll go and make the change.
No, I don’t think you’d quite get there, would fall a bit short.
What I use though is a simple and cheap external battery pack for my iPhone – which I use for travel days as well (like today), or days when I just need more battery.
Here’s a ton of options:
=”http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=IPhone%20battery%20case&linkCode=ur2&tag=dcr07-20&url=search-alias%3Daps
Mine is the cheap $30 Lenmar one in the list there. Hope this helps!
Agreed, I do the same. I can get 4-5 hours easily, with display on all the time and all networks on (with Wahoo Fitness). I reckon I could get 6 hours or maybe a tad more by switching off WiFi and only flicking the display on when I need it.
So like DCR if I’m going to be out over 4-5 hours I take a small portable charger and charge the phone at a coffee stop – though its also not hard to run a cable from a back pocket or under-saddle bag to the phone.
Cheers, Alan.
I had some real difficulty mounting the sensor so that it would read both the crank and spoke sensors. Did not realise the wheel magnet sensor arm could be mounted upside down unit I read this article.
I did mount it upside down, but it will not read the wheel sensor. Much preferred the ANT+ sensor design – much more flexible mounting options.
Personally I much prefer the more compact Blue SC sensor – hope you don’t mind me checking, but do you know that the wheel sensor arm can be adjusted using a small allen key, 2mm I think. Cheers.
Hi. How easy is it to use with more than one bike. Ideally I’d like to install it on 3 different bikes. Does that mean I’d have to buy 3, or could I just buy extra spoke/pedal magnets?
Thanks – really useful review.
Sam
It would be a bit of a pain to move across bikes frequently because you’d have to carefully position the cadence sensor then adjust the speed sensor arm each time. I think you’d need three. No problem at the iPhone end though – if you use Cyclemeter it’ll let you set up three bikes with different settings for the wheel size (at least, it will in the next release coming very soon – its in the current beta). Cheers.
Agree. You could move it between bikes, but it would be a bit of a pain if you didn’t at least buy the extra magnets.
If you bought the extra magnets (especially the crank magnet), then you could do it pretty quickly. Maybe 60-90 seconds all in, including testing and adjustment.
Read your review with great interest as I use my bike on a Kurt trainer during the winter and was interested in the Wahoo LE HRM and SC but because I use a Motorola Atrix HD (MB886) it was not clear if the
Wahoo system works on my android phone. Checked with Wahoo and they say no. Wahoo odometer app only seems to be avail for iPhone and the other apps don’t display cadence which I need on the trainer.
My crank arms are real close to the chainstay and the cadence magnet hits the sensor even though the sensor is mounted as forward as I can get (where I have the most clearance).
Is it possible to mount a different magnet on the crankarm or does it have to be the one provide by WAHOO?
You can use any magnet and any fixing you like. I’ve never used the Wahoo supplied ones for either the speed or cadence sensor.
For speed I use a Mavic magnet on my Ksyriums. For cadence I used to just position a round magnet on the inside of the crank at the pedal axle. When I had steel axles, that worked a treat. But now I’ve got Keo Blades with titanium axles, so the magent won’t attach, so I just use a piece of very strong ‘No More Nails’ adhesive strip cut to size to attach it to the crank arm (anywhere). Have never lost a magnet attached to the crank arm by either method.
Cheers, Alan.
Now that trainerroad supports bluetooth le on Mac, I’ve decided to give it a whirl. I’ve noticed that when using trainerroad with my blue hr and blue sc connected to the laptop, I cannot get the data on my iPhone in the Wahoo app. Is there a 1:1 relationship here such that only one receiver can connect to a given transmitter at a time?
Yes, Bluetooth Smart via Bluetooth 4.0 is only 1:1. Kinda sucks in that respect. There’s talk about changing that relationship down the road in a future Bluetooth update (i.e. BT 4.1 or 5.0), but most are saying it would be tied to a hardware update (though it doesn’t need to be). Earliest would be 1-2 years away.
Do you know of a way to attach these censors to an indoor spinning bike? I am a blind user who wants to use my iPhone which talks as a bike computer. However, I’m not sure these censors will fit on an indoor cycle.
Hi Tai!
Unfortunately, no way that I’ve found. And I’ve taken apart a few of them. Ideally some sort of fabric strap would be required to wrap around in the interior frame area and then a way to attach it to the shoe. Nothing out there today in that realm, though, lots of folks asking.
I have a Sunny Pro spin bike. and I attached it. The key is position. It’s at a wired angle and its attached with a rubber band and gaffers tape. But it works. Can’t upload a photo to the comments but you can email me for one aliy@allisonmayer.com
Are there any bike computer heads that run on bluetooth that doesn’t need your phone on you (like the RFLKT). It’s a real pain to carry my phone in my skin suit…lol.
k
Nope, none today. Wish there were. At present, no Bluetooth Smart capable bike computers or running watches.
*MetaWatch Strata would technically be capable, but lacks any apps for it today that actually take advantage of it. Plus, it doesn’t have GPS, so you’re back to a phone…again. Sigh…
Within BT 4.0 a Bluetooth Low Energy profile (BT Smart) uses a lot less power than conventional BT. As the sensor can operate for a year on a single cell battery the server “central” does not use much power to capture the data as its normally something like a single number every second so no it will not impact on your phone the same way your existing headset, tethering etc that you are used to as it does not use.
@DCRainmaker: Don’t know if you have access to them but there are two video’s that explain how BT LE relationships are formed in the Apple 2012 WWDC video’s. Well worth a watch (no pun intended)
Can i use the Wahoo Fitness Blue SC in combination with the Polar H7 and the Wahoo Fitness app?
And in combination with an iPhone 5
No problems with that combo – either on an iPhone 5 or iPhone 4s.
DCR, I’ve read your reviews for MANY products, and getting into this, I’ve wanted a way for my wife to be able to track me(for safety reasons, just in case) and the new Garmin 510 is going to allow that to happen. I then found the Google Latitude app. My question is, from your review I couldn’t tell, but is Strava the only app that uses GPS for the speed, or do the others as well? I don’t have a bike computer now, and will probably never be a real “racer” so I don’t mind having a phone on my bike as a computer. I want my wife to track me, I would like accurate speed measurement, and cadence as well. I don’t forsee going on a long enough ride that would warrant the need for a 17 hour battery, and there are options to recharge an iphone in the need of an emergency. Also, could this program run in conjunction with Google Latitude to your knowledge? Thanks for help, and sorry for the sloppy organization of my reply. Keep up the great work!
Hi Matt-
Thanks!
Almost all of the apps out there use GPS for speed, virtually all of them. Unless a sensor is attached. Now, one trick with the Google Latitude app (Android), is that as of today, it doesn’t support the BlueSC – because the Android platform is still segmented when it comes to true BLE support. It’s coming…and soon (like weeks away soon, if not sooner), but it’s going to take some time to filter through.
Hope this helps!
Thanks so much for your review. I was following the instructions found on the Wahoo website for installing the Blue SC that I just purchased. The instructions would not work for my Specialized Roubaix. I looked at your website and all became clear. Thanks again.
Does anyone know if you receive a call on your phone (in my case iPhone 5) during a ride, do you lose connection and thus lose ride information??
No problems at all. I regularly get calls/texts while on the trainer, and the Wahoo App simply goes to the background and still continues to track data/record.
Other 3rd party apps may not be as smooth, but that’s an app thing more than anything else.
Great, thanks you helped me make up my mind, I was loing at Garmin’s and this is a lot cheaper choice.
One feature I tripped over that I *LOVE* with the bluetooth sensors: you can run more than one app and have them each record. I run Strava and Wahoo simultaneously on an iPhone5, and they’re both happy as clams recording GPS, heart rate (from an Alpha Mio) and S/C data (from the Wahoo Blue SC). So, no, I’m not wedged about Strava not having a real-time display!
However, if Strava got up one morning and decided to support real-time display, how cool would it be to have the app tell you how you’re doing on each segment while you’re in the middle of it? And how cool would it be to know “hey, a Strava rider is on your tail and will catch up pretty quickly. Get the lead out, bucko!”
Just curious, do I have to open the app every time I’m cycling? Or does it pair and start automatically when i’m on my bike?
You’ll need to open the app and start it recording.
Hello Rainmaker.
First of all, thank you for sharing the results of your researches and analysis and providing clear and simple responses to the numerous questions that are being posted.
If possible, I would appreciate if you could provide me some guidance in regards to the following. I will ride a the 100-mile distance in the St Louis Tour de Cure and the Chicagoland Tour de cure. I am currently taking spinning classes but, hopefully, the weather will get better and I will soon ride start to ride outside on the country roads to progressively build distance. In the past, I was using Cyclometer on the iPhone (now iPhone 5) but on longer distance was running out of battery before getting back home. This year, I was planning to buy the Garmin Edge 810 which will allow my wife to see where I am (I am riding alone most of the time) and also transfer the Tour de Cure map developed using “RidewithGPS”. I thought this was a good solution but, after reading your article, comments and feedback, I am no longer sure it is the best way to go.
I would really appreciate your thoughts and advice. Thank you in advance for your help.
Notes:
- My bike is the Paris from Pinarello (not sure it makes a difference but I read someone had a problem with a Specialized Roubaix). I only have an “Odometer” (from Specialize) on it.
- I just received the KICKR power trainer which I will use with a different bike
The 810 will still be a good fit for you, it’s just that it’s not quite what I hoped the product would be over past products. If that makes sense. It will easily allow you to transfer the route into it, as RideWithGPS is compatible with it.
If you do a lot of longer rides where you may be on unfamiliar territory, the 800/810 is the way to go. If you tend to ride the same routes over and over again, the 500/510 is a better bet.
For this particular item (the Blue SC), it’s not compatible with the 800/810, but is compatible with the Wahoo KICKR app. So for the 800/810 you’d probably want the Bontrager ANT+ Speed/Cadence sensor (ANT+ enabled, looks identical to the Wahoo one). Whereas for your bike with the KICKR, you’d want this sensor (BlueSC) if you wanted to get speed/cadence onto your iPhone.
Thank you very much for this quick response and clear/simple advice. This helps a lot.
Can anyone tell me if this device or any other will work with my Android phone that does support Blutooth 4. Thats what I was given at work no iPhone
I would love to be able to buy a sensor and use this phone but am unsure..
Thanks for any help in this direction.. Keep up the great work..
No, there isn’t any support today (yet) on Bluetooth Smart standardized profiles such as the BLE HR sensors, BLE SPD/CAD sensors, or the like. It’s coming, and supposedly “any day now”, but I’ve heard that for 4 months now. :-/
I was at a bike expo yesterday and talked to the Wahoo rep who was displaying at the show. He said the Android capability would be ready in 8 weeks. That’s on or about June 1st. Not sure I can wait that long for a HR and cadence, as well as speed, etc, so may just go with Garmin 500 bundle.
If Google have done there stuff and sorted out an API for BTLE then most likely it will be anounced at Google I/O on May 15-17. The major thing to bear in mind is that it may only be for the latest Android and not for the older versions. So even if you have a phone that’s capable hardware wise you may have to wait a long time for an update to come along if you ever get one. I know I am expecting to have to get a new phone to add support into IpBike.
Yeah, I won’t really believe it until I see it. Last I heard it wasn’t dependent on Google, but rather on Samsung (since Wahoo worked with them to get it in). It could be at this point it’s been elevated to Google. But that wasn’t the case a few weeks ago.
Thanks for the excellent in depth review, it was reading this that helped me decide between a dedicated bike computer and using my iphone. I’ve decided to go the iPhone route.
One thing that really needs editing in your review though: 2.07m is not 2070cm, so your advice to add a zero and call the period a comma is incorrect.
The correct advice is to just remove the period entirely, I.e. 2.07m is 207cm.
(Unless you really do have 20m wheels!)
Has anyone tried using this with a hed tri spoke? I do see a possible way of getting the magnet on?
Yup, me (I have a pair of HED3 race wheels)
Pickup this Cateye Cadence magnet. It actually works as it goes around the massive spoke with a zip-tie.
link to amazon.com
Do we know of any power meters that support the Blue SC?
Well, a power meter wouldn’t support the Blue SC per say, since they are two different types of accessories. However, there could be Bluetooth Smart power meters, and Bluetooth Smart Cadence sensors.
Within that context, the Stages power meter is Bluetooth Smart, and works with the Wahoo App just like the Blue SC does.