Cadence Sensor - Garmin Vivoactive - Spin Bikes

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RunningRonnie Feb 2017 11:23am, 10 Feb 2017 1,454 posts	0 RunningRonnie Yesterday, jumped on the spin bike and chose the indoor bike programme. It asked me to connect a cadence sensor to track speed/distance. Does anyone know if/where I can buy a cadence sensor for use on spin bikes (ie, something that I won't have to mess about with the bike to use)?
Meglet Feb 2017 11:27am, 10 Feb 2017 17,732 posts	0 Meglet Garmin do wireless sensors that you can connect to your shoe for cadence, or hub of a wheel for speed-the two are independent and can be bought separately or together. I don't have a Vivoactive but you should be able to check compatibility. There is also Wahoo, which uses bluetooth as well as ANT so can connect to a smartphone app, but I'm sure sure it's compatible with a garmin base unit
RunningRonnie Feb 2017 1:26pm, 10 Feb 2017 1,455 posts	0 RunningRonnie Will cadence on its own give me any meaningful data (speed or distance)? The spin bikes don't have spokes/wheels, so not an option for that one.
Meglet Feb 2017 1:31pm, 10 Feb 2017 17,734 posts	0 Meglet No it won't give you speed or distance, just cadence. If you were on a bike on a turbo trainer, for example, you could use both sensors.
Kieren Feb 2017 1:31pm, 10 Feb 2017 3,860 posts	0 Kieren "wahoo rpm" is probably the cheapest you can get and works with both bluetooth and ant+. It will fit in your sock or you can attach to shoe / crank. Cadence is useful information. In my opinion you don't need speed / distance just cadence and effort. A watt bike is a luxury item that will show you power / effort but saving that, rating your effort out of 10 is probably they way to go with 7 or 8 being your fuctional threshold pace (a hard effort you could sustain for 45 minutes for a novice, perhaps 60 for a more seasoned person)
Kieren Feb 2017 1:34pm, 10 Feb 2017 3,861 posts	0 Kieren For what it's worth, with a smart phone, headphones and internet the following are good spin sessions: 1. GCN https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUdAMlZtaV12MsVWyWTPoFi4w2Tw8emwy 2. Sufferfest thesufferfest.com