Cheap Trainer computer to record distance.

[bomb]

I have bought a second hand bike, and a second hand Tacx Trainer so I can exercise indoors when the weather is too cold or wet to ride outside.

I borrowed one last winter and it proved to be ideal for my needs.

What I need now is a simple computer or phone app, and associated speed sensor to fir t the static bike. All I want to do is record my distance cycled. Other data isn't that important to me.

I've been looking on the likes of Amazon, etc, for something suitable. When I read the reviews of the phone apps, they don't seem too good for an Android phone.

Any suggestions or advice please ? As far as I can gather I need a transmitter that fits to the rear wheel / axle, and connects to the phone ( or a computer mounted on the handle bars) via bluetooth.

What are your recommendations please, bearing in mind I don't want to spend much !! It just needs to work.

Thankyou.

[lufbramatt]

Wahoo fitness app is free and works perfectly. My wife uses it on a Samsung galaxy to do exactly the same as you want to do.

I’ve got a wahoo blueSC speed sensor but they all work pretty much the same.

[bomb]

Thanks for that. I'll have a look at it, as its sounds to be just what I'm after.

[Lozw86]

The MapMyRide App also does the job

[dontlookdown]

I have a basic Garmin bike GPS. Cost about 100 quid. It works but is only OK tbh. MapMyRide app is better, but I don't like having my phone stuck out on the handlebars because it is too big and too vulnerable there.

[esuuv]

I'm assuming this is a dumb wheel on trainer?

if so then the distance pedalled is absolutely pointless - it will just log the number of times the wheel has been round and multiply by the circumference...........put it on the little cog at the back and you'll fly along......

The only relevant metric with this sort of set up is the amount of time you spend pedalling and your heart rate if you actually want to improve........

if it's for strava or similar - I rode x thousand k this year then you may as well just make it up.......

[Zebedee22]

I've got a Mio Cyclo GPS but also use Strava on my phone, the free version.

[millen]

I've found Magene sensors to be great value compared to Garmin/Wahoo etc https://magenefitness.com/product_s3.html About £20 on Amazon. Probably you'd want it in Speed mode, wrapped around the rear hub, rather than Cadence when you strap it to the crank (each time you replace the battery it switches mode - darned clever!). I think it will Bluetooth to a phone, so you don't need a dedicated cycle GPS head unit, but worth checking.

As others have said, you need to decide what you're actually measuring. I find people in my club who record indoor rides on Strava register 15-20% higher speeds than they hit on the open road.

[OutInTheShed]

millen said:

I've found Magene sensors to be great value compared to Garmin/Wahoo etc https://magenefitness.com/product_s3.html About £20 on Amazon. Probably you'd want it in Speed mode, wrapped around the rear hub, rather than Cadence when you strap it to the crank (each time you replace the battery it switches mode - darned clever!). I think it will Bluetooth to a phone, so you don't need a dedicated cycle GPS head unit, but worth checking.

As others have said, you need to decide what you're actually measuring. I find people in my club who record indoor rides on Strava register 15-20% higher speeds than they hit on the open road.

How does that work? goes on the crank or something?
I have been using a cheapo £5 ebay cycle computer with a magnet on the wheel for speed and distance but reliability is dire.
Second one has just died, I see a pattern emerging!
Don't mind spending a bit, but what is there that does the same job but keeps working?

I don't need it to talk to phones or be a GPS, outdoors I use a phone with Komoot.

[millen]

OutInTheShed said:

millen said:

I've found Magene sensors to be great value compared to Garmin/Wahoo etc https://magenefitness.com/product_s3.html About £20 on Amazon. Probably you'd want it in Speed mode, wrapped around the rear hub, rather than Cadence when you strap it to the crank (each time you replace the battery it switches mode - darned clever!). I think it will Bluetooth to a phone, so you don't need a dedicated cycle GPS head unit, but worth checking.

As others have said, you need to decide what you're actually measuring. I find people in my club who record indoor rides on Strava register 15-20% higher speeds than they hit on the open road.

How does that work? goes on the crank or something?
I have been using a cheapo £5 ebay cycle computer with a magnet on the wheel for speed and distance but reliability is dire.
Second one has just died, I see a pattern emerging!
Don't mind spending a bit, but what is there that does the same job but keeps working?

I don't need it to talk to phones or be a GPS, outdoors I use a phone with Komoot.

I found this free little app will talk to the Magene sensor via bluetooth https://getcadence.app/ Spinning the wheel around manually as a trial gave a speed and distance reading. I think there's several other fitness apps it will connect to, eg Zwift that serious indoor cyclists use (though I gave up waiting for that app to download on the phone!). There is a Magene Utility app but that didn't seem to do much.

There's a set-up video for the Magene here, with a couple of possibly helpful comments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agwojr8Xav8

[Paul Drawmer]

esuuv said:

I'm assuming this is a dumb wheel on trainer?

if so then the distance pedalled is absolutely pointless - it will just log the number of times the wheel has been round and multiply by the circumference...........put it on the little cog at the back and you'll fly along......

The only relevant metric with this sort of set up is the amount of time you spend pedalling and your heart rate if you actually want to improve........

if it's for strava or similar - I rode x thousand k this year then you may as well just make it up.......

This...
Unless there's also some sort of load/power measurement as well, there's no point. Just use heart rate and time to compare efforts.

[OutInTheShed]

Paul Drawmer said:

esuuv said:

I'm assuming this is a dumb wheel on trainer?

if so then the distance pedalled is absolutely pointless - it will just log the number of times the wheel has been round and multiply by the circumference...........put it on the little cog at the back and you'll fly along......

The only relevant metric with this sort of set up is the amount of time you spend pedalling and your heart rate if you actually want to improve........

if it's for strava or similar - I rode x thousand k this year then you may as well just make it up.......

This...
Unless there's also some sort of load/power measurement as well, there's no point. Just use heart rate and time to compare efforts.

I have a 'dumb' wheel-on trainer, I have a graph of power vs speed.
So I can pedal at 20mph and know I'm doing 250W.
Or I can do a 1 minute sprint at 25mph and know I worked as hard as I did last week.
I can see whether 20mph is more knackering in a higher or lower gear.
I can do lots of fairly pointless sums in my head to pass the time while I am pedalling :-)

Heart rate would indeed be a valuable thing to measure.

But a dumb trainer with a speedo / odometer is lots better than one without.