Sensors for use with edge 25

tangled_metal

Basically I got the Garmin edge 25 from ALDI recently and wondered what sensors to get for it?

I'm not a serious athlete just a commuter who wants to make the most of his rides. In my view that means improving cycling fitness and efficiency. Whilst I've got an activity tracker that can record HR it's not really suitable for training with. I can't set zone alarms or read the screen easily when riding.

As well as hrm strap (prefer wrist to chest so perhaps Wahoo or scocche?) I'm thinking cadence sensor to improve gear selection and pedalling efficiency. Is it worth getting a speed and cadence or just cadence to use with the GPS unit?

IIRC ant+ sensors work with the edge 25 unit. So there must be lots available. Which would you recommend for someone with a less demanding requirement? It's to try and get marginal gains from a half hour commute plus whatever ride I can get on in my free time. Plus gadget fun of course but that's low down on priority, after price/value/benefit.

Would cadence and hrm offer me much benefit do you think?

markhewitt1978

I'm a big fan of Wahoo fitness sensors, they've always been very robust for me, especially the HRM
http://uk.wahoofitness.com/

They also do a speed & cadence sensor bundle. Speed goes on your hub, cadence sticks to your crank arm.

I've found them quite important in order to push myself to train harder, all too often I find myself resting for a little bit too long but the HRM says go faster!

tangled_metal

I must admit I wish Garmin had put BTLE sensor compatibility to the 25. I have a HRM strap in Bluetooth already. Plus I've heard good things about the Scosche rhythm+ hrm. Although it's also ant+ as well so perhaps that's good too.

Is it worth getting speed sensor for a GPS since it Already does speed? I think you can get cadence sensor without speed bundled. Is there any benefit other than a marginal cost saving?

markhewitt1978

Tangled Metal wrote:

I must admit I wish Garmin had put BTLE sensor compatibility to the 25. I have a HRM strap in Bluetooth already. Plus I've heard good things about the Scosche rhythm+ hrm. Although it's also ant+ as well so perhaps that's good too.

Is it worth getting speed sensor for a GPS since it Already does speed? I think you can get cadence sensor without speed bundled. Is there any benefit other than a marginal cost saving?

IME, not really. GPS speed is 'good enough' for most circumstances, if you're road riding. If you're doing MTB with poor GPS signal and changing direction all the time, then maybe. Also if you're turbo training and haven't got a smart trainer, then it's useful. But I tend not to pay a lot of attention to speed anyway, it's currently on the 3rd row down on my computer.

tangled_metal

I also have a fitbit surge which at the moment is my only HR monitor. It provides good enough data for my needs at the moment after the ride but can not be easily seen when riding. My Edge 25 can be easily seen but I'd need a separate HRM. Annoying there is no way to use one with the other.

Another thing is the activity tracker is linked to strava (set up before I had the garmin edge unit). Now the Edge is connected to strava. Does anyone know what happens to the two sets of data in strava? Since the two devices act in different ways the speed and distance data is different. The fitbit needs to be started, paused and stopped = not accurate and gives a longer time which means slower average speed. The edge unit has auto pause and restart set up so is likely to be more accurate (especially since it is also GLONASS enabled).

I'm curious as to where strava gets its info from. It only shows one set of data for ride and that includes HR data which must come from the fitbit tracker. If I get a speed and cadence sensor for use with the garmin edge 25 then will the garmin unit combine the data with the GPS data? WIll the garmin speed/distance data be more accurate using the separate sensors? If I want to get HR data then is it better to combine it all with one device which will have to be the Garmin? If this is the case then that is gettigng expensive.

I am curious about all this because it is a bit complex to me.

markhewitt1978

Actually that is one thing the speed sensor is very good for, the auto pause function. As GPS speed can drift a little with the speed sensor it knows the difference between stopped and doing 2mph etc.

tangled_metal

Wahoo are doing the separate speed and cadence sensors in a bundle for £54 which I think isn't much more than the blue sc combined sensor. I believe the separate sensors work without magnets. Speed on the hub and cadence in usual position. None of this messing around to line up the magnets on two sensors which I've heard can be tricky. If it makes it as easy as just fixing them on the hub or crank it may be worth the 5 quid extra.

I'm just wondering if it's worth getting a hrm now. I've got one on a tracker on the wrist but I can't check the zones out readily on it. I think RPE and cadence would be manageable, but how to combine HR data from one source to speed and distance data from another? Easier to use one data source through the GPS unit.

hangeron

Wahoo do joint Bluetooth/ANT hrm and speed cadence sensors. Check on DC Rainmaker s blog to confirm, but I think they will broadcast to a Garmin via ANT and to a phone/fitbit via Bluetooth simultaneously.

tangled_metal

Yes, I got the cadence (RPM) one (neat little unit. Comes with a rubber case that you can attach it with zip ties to your crank. Then there is a clear sitcky disc if you want to make it a permanent attachement. There is a plastic holder that it can slip into which isn't shown in the limited instructions (8 panels of drawings with a single sentence instruction). I have guessed this plastic cradle is for attaching to your shoe laces. I will look forward to trying it out soon. If I like it I may get the HRM and possibly the speed sensor from Wahoo too.