Active Community: Message List - Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:10:47 GMT

Nice response as it is all a matter of personal preference. I'm a techie myself and get frustrated a lot when something doesn't or can't give me what I want. I hated Garmin Connect since I just couldn't extrapolate enough information from it to give me the feeling of satisfaction I was looking for. It looks as though Sportietech has actually gone the extra mile to bring us what we want...a more readable, useful application that can be shared with others and among platforms. Nice...very nice idea. So, we all know that as technology progresses, what we expect to see will become more prevalent for us.

I'm going to try Sportietech for myself. It looks rather interesting.

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:46:30 GMT

Hi Gary,

yes, I know sporttracks, I used it for a while years ago. I'm more interested in a web application though. I may want to switch to a mac, and anyway, I'm using more than one computer and it's just easier to keep stuff in the cloud.

About spikes, here is how I see it. It used to be that movies had crappy sound. Of course, everyone said, there is a lot of background noise. Everyone had crappy sound, so why bother. Then along came Dolby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Laboratories, I'm a wikipedian :-). They got it right. Everybody expects high-quality audio now.

So, yes, I know most programs out there will show you spikes: I tried quite a few before posting here. Sure, with all those bumps, spikes are to be expected. That doesn't mean I have to accept spikes. They make charts unreadable and the activity summary wrong. I like what I see on sportietech. I hope they got it right, just like Dolby .

I also like the that they take time to explain what they do (to some extent), that they are richer than all other web applications I tried, that everything is free, and that they're integrated with garmin connect, so I can keep using it, see my old data with more details without going through export/import, etc.

So, I'll try using sportietech for a while and see how it goes. It's as simple as that . I'm sure someone will find strava or sporttracks or even garmin connect better. Personally, I'm looking for something that can actually improve my data, just like dolby does. The beauty of the web is that there is something for everyone .

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:40:53 GMT

Hello Jason,

I have used a Garmin Edge 305 for almost 2 years now. I have also been using a "free" software program called "Sporttracks". It is currently available under Version 3.???? which you have to pay for if you like it. The last "FREE" version was 2.1.3478 and you should still be able to find that. Additonally, you will find "plugins" for Version 3, but scroll all the way to the bottom and you will see a link for all the plugins for version(s) 2.

Anyway, this is a great program. Now it downloads all the info from your Garmin and shows Heart Rate, Pace, Cadence, Calories, Min and Max heart rate and much more. With plugins, you can add all sorts of other data and create charts, etc.

Now...as far as cadence-I have used other programs as well as Sporttracks and as far as I can tell, it's common to see spikes. Some programs have a "smoothing" filter that can be set and that helps to even out some. Now I use a "plugin" that calculates power and you will see spikes there too. If you're using a later garmin model, then this program should automatically pickup power and represent it in a graph. You will see lots of spikes there too.

I'm not sure that this is an issue since all kinds of factors like road surface, bumps, etc., can affect all of these things with no perceptible feeling in change to you.

Anyway, these programs are designed to give you an overall result of your ride and if you compare them one against the other it will show you your progress over time. That's what we want anyway....is to see how much we are improving over a given period of time.

Below is a saved image from a plug in called "Training Load" and I use this to monitor my progress especially when I am gearing up for a ride. At any rate remember that these programs are tools and should be used as they were intended..to monitor and record. Have fun..don't stress over the small stuff.

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 07:47:37 GMT

Chris: no, in my case those spikes are not real. I know I didn't stop. The only time I stopped was at 15 miles, because it'a a back-and-forth over a hill, and I had to turn around. Besides, even if I stop for a fraction of a second I don't want to get a spike in my chart.

If you take the time to go through their paper, you'll see that it's garmin connect that's averaging data. I have an engineering background, and I understand the concept of digital filter. A filter is not an average. Anyway, I'm happy with my new charts, and I can always use garmin connect as a reference.

I tried strava: they actually remove some of those spikes but it is a very visible averaging as everything gets sketchy. Plus, I have to pay to use it seriously. Plus, it shows very little data compared to the sportietech freebie. Thanks, but I like David suggestion more :-).

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 05:17:51 GMT

Everyone:

The spikes are real. I agree that the presentation is not very useful, but the times that it goes to zero are either when you stop peddling or when you are actually stopped.

I ride a fixed gear a lot, and when I do, the correlation between my cadence and wheel speed is just about perfect using Garmin Connect, as it should be, and the data is relatively noise free. The filtering being discussed here makes the chart more presentable, but it is also showing average data over a fairly long period of timie.

I use Strava as my primary record, and it allows you to display "Segments" of your ride; you can define a segment to be, for example, a one mile climb. When you expand the data this way, the plot is much more clear and useful - I have used it, for example, to see what happens to my cadence as I stand up on a climb (don't, if you are trying to set a record for that climb!) or climbing in different gears.

Chris

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:07:42 GMT

Hi Jeane,

your english is fine! I'm using a Garmin Edge, you can find several models on the market. I had a few issues with spikes in the chart, but thanks to David (see below) I got them solved. If you get a garmin, I recommend that you use the sportietech software (it's free!)

Jason

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:05:09 GMT

YES! It works! here is the same activity in the SportieTech Studio:

I tried a few more (worse) and they all end up very clean and as they say clearly related to heart rate and altitude...

The site is very information-rich, as you said. I've tried a few web apps before, but they didn't compare with garmin connect: small charts, very little data, etc. None could solve my problem.

The Studio is much better than everything else I tried. These guys are from another planet! Can't believe it's free

Thanks David, you the man!

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:42:19 GMT

David,

that page looks absolutely jaw-dropping! I get charts like that all the time and I was about to give up too. I'm gonna give it a try with my data and let you know!

Thanks!!!

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:01:26 GMT

Jason, I had similar issues too and after calling Garmin several times I gave up. Then, not long ago I've found a free app that amazingly fixed all my problems. Take a look at their page on cadence: http://www.sportietech.com/CadencePrecision.aspx

I'm using that app for everything now - it's also integrated with garmin connect (takes some fiddling) but can read straight from the garmin as well. You get lot of data and charts not available on connect, plus a map colored for speed which is beautiful, etc...

Give it a try, maybe it will solve your problems as well

David

Re: Garmin Edge and Cadence Sensor

guest — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:41:10 GMT

Hi, my name's Jeane and I am living in Spain. Therefor my English is not too good. Sorry for this.

I practice road cycling and I have a very simple speedometer "Cateye".

My intention is to change it for anothe much more better, with pulsometer, slope meter, cadence sensor and so on.

Would you advice me about a good brand/model with a good relation features/price??

I know Cateye an Polar, not eny more.

Thaks for your reply.

P.D.:

Respect to your problem, I'm not precisely an expert, but why don't you contact with Garmin customer support.

Garmin Support

ropa ciclismo