koolerb

I'm going to buy another set of speed and cadence sensors, I can buy either Garmin or Wahoo. I've got a set of Garmin sensors, I never tried the Wahoo sensors. Any preferences, advantages, disadvantages, one over the other?

TimothyH

I have owned Garmin sensors and now own three pair of Wahoo RPM sensors.

They are both ANT+ and Bluetooth. This makes them usable with just about any head unit one would care to use.

No difference in mounting. They work similar and both hold perfectly fine.


-Tim-

John_V 

For me the biggest advantage of the Wahoo sensors over the Garmin sensors are that Wahoo sensors are dual band (BTLE and Ant+) and transmit both signals simultaneously. Where this becomes the advantage is when you have issues with your GPS head unit. With the Garmin sensors, you can't use them with your phone and a cycling app unless your phone is Ant+ compatible. With the Wahoo sensors, they can be used with any phone that supports BTLE and any cycling app that supports sensors. So, when you can't use your GPS head unit, you can use your phone and a cycling app as a backup method.

daviddavieboy

Powertap is making these as well with both BT and ANT+. They are $30 each from the powertap website.

koolerb

The sales person at the bike shop said the Garmin sensors are now also Ant+ and Bluetooth but I went with the Wahoo sensors anyway. Didn't know Powertap is making speed and cadence sensors. Thanks all.

bigsky109

I have a Wahoo sensor and it works well on any shoe I place it on. I used it indoors before the weather broke and out doors now. Seems to work really well. Amazing that indoors you can spin faster than outdoors. Outdoors though you work harder according to my heart monitor.

TimothyH

I think the sales person was mistaken about the Garmin sensors supporting bluetooth.


-Tim-

BritishV8

I installed a Panobike speed/cadence sensor in January and it's worked great for ~850 miles so far, so I've just purchased a second one to install on my wife's bike. I also use Panobike's heart rate monitor. No complaints with the sensors so far. I use Panobike's app, and then upload from my iPhone to Strava.

koolerb

Hoe do you attach it to your shoe?

John_V 

Wahoo cadence sensor has an attachment that comes in the package to attach to your shoe. You use it without the rubber cover and it snaps to the sensor on the shoe strap or you can use the holes on the side to run shoe laces through if your shoes don't have straps.

koolerb

OMG, that's a shoe atachment? I was looking at that part trying to figure it out when I got the sensors. Thank You!

dbf909

I originally bought the Speed/Cadence sensor pack and the Tickr HR sensor from Wahoo. I use it with their Android app on both my phone and tablet.

I've found that I only really need the speed sensor when I ride the Road Bike on my fluid trainer setup indoors - it stays permanently on my dedicated trainer wheel with the red trainer tire. Outdoors, whether Road, Gravel, Mountain, or Beach, my phone's GPS tracks my speed and distance and plots my location and course well.

So I use the HR and Cadence (on my shoe with clip shown above) sensors for all riding indoors and out but the speed sensor only indoors. I have separate Cateye Strata(s) on the Road and Gravel Bikes (not on the MT or Cruiser Bikes) for visible speed and distance display but they don't work on the trainer because the sensor is on the front wheel. I suppose if I had the Wahoo computer(s) on those bikes instead, I might want to put speed sensors on those bikes/wheels for that purpose.

ksryder

Hmm I'd have to double-check because I haven't used the trainerroad app on my phone in a few weeks because it's outdoors weather, but I'm fairly certain my garmin cadence sensor has ant+ and bluetooth because my phone picks it up.

I've been using the garmin speed and cadence sensors for over a year now with no issues. But I'm also a huge wahoo fanboy and I've had great experiences with all their products.

TrojanHorse

Unlikely since no Garmin sensors support Bluetooth.

Do you have a samsung phone? There are a couple phones out there that support ANT+ but not many

ksryder

This is what I get for posting late at night -- I forgot that I have wahoo sensors on my trainer bike. The Garmin sensors are on my outside bike. Nevermind, carry on.

themp

I have been using the Wahoo Blue SC Speed and Cadence sensor for at least two years. It is a magnetic pickup for cadence. Magnet on the crank and sensor on the chain stay. One of its weaknesses is that the sensor can rotate slightly on rough terrain and the magnetic pickup drops out. So, I decided to get the Wahoo RPM Cadence sensor that is one unit that just mounts on the crank and uses some kind of rotation sensor for RPMs. I decided also to leave the Wahoo Blue SC on and install the new Wahoo RPM to compare results using two iPhones. I found out that the Wahoo RPM Cadence sensor without the magnet pickup only can register down to 30 RPM. So, on a ride it will show average cadence higher since the Wahoo Blue SC Cadence can measure down to 3 RPM. Also, the Wahoo RPM has a 3 to 4 second delay on startup and shutdown. If you look at the two graphs of my rides they do not sync at all in terms of start and stop pedaling. Most rides on the Wahoo Blue SC Cadence I pedal at an average of 62 RPM. With the Wahoo RPM Cadence it has been around 68 RPM. Once the RPM is over 30 then both sensors track the same.

TrojanHorse

I noticed that last winter... on a steep enough climb, i'll totally lose cadence (mine seems to drop in the high 40s). Wahoo seemed surprised by that when I emailed them so I gave it up as a lost cause. Frankly, it's good enough for 98% of what I'm doing and I don't really care about knowing my cadence when I'm grinding up a nasty hill anyway, I guess.

themp

Wahoo ask me to rate the Cadence sensor since I bought it straight from them. I posted my results, but nothing on their website yet under the Cadence sensor. I have also accepted it's weaknesses since it is much simpler and works correctly most of the time.

rgconner

The integrated Cadence/Speed is much better than the "lozenge" ones, I have owned both.

Take them back if you can, get this:

https://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-Cycling...SJ3NQKPD5CDV5V

John_V 

I've also owned both and currently using the "lozenge" type. I really liked my BlueSC and had it for several years. I push off with my right foot so the left foot is clipped in when I start. One day, I went to clip in and the heal of my shoe must have hit the sensor causing the rubber band that holds it to come off and that was the end of the sensor. Went back to where I think I lost it but couldn't find it. No chance of accidentally hitting one of the RPM sensors and losing them.

metalheart44

I use the Wahoo Blue SC. I sorta like it. My only complaint is that I have NEVER been able to get the rubber band that comes with the sensor unit to attach to my chainstay: the thing just will not stay connected so I zip tie. Is there some secret to getting the thing to stay attached? I thought about gluing the rubber on the outboard side of the sensor, which is the side that mostly comes off, but that makes getting the thing on more difficult.

For the cadence magnet, I use a circular rare earth magnet that I attach to my crank arm using double-sided tape and that is a more secure and aesthetically pleasing alternative to the zip ties for the crank arm.

themp

You have to zip tie the chainstay unit. Even with zip ties on my chainstay it wanted to move some during rough terrain. The rubber band is only to protect your chainstay from scratches in my opinion from the plastic unit sitting on top of the chainstay. I did read somewhere that someone zip tied it to the seat tube and it was more stable. They were not using the speed sensor part of the unit however.

metalheart44

Even though Wahoo says to use the "rubber band" and has a video showing how to install it, the thing just does not stay attached. I have a second bike now and wanted to move the sensor unit between the two bikes, but it looks as if I will just get another sensor unit and attach it to the second bike. Here is what Wahoo says about using the rubber band and the zip ties.

• Secure the sensor in place with the provided rubber band or zip-ties, whichever is preferred. If using zip-ties, do not completely tighten yet, as the magnets still need to be aligned before completely securing the sensor in place. We recommend using the zip-ties for the most secure connection.

John_V 

I used the rubber band so I could move it from one bike to the other without having to constantly cut zip ties every time I wanted to ride my second bike. With the rubber bands, it stayed put for several years without any issues. I have hit the sensor with the heal of my shoe before and it always stayed in place. Apparently, this one time I accidentally hit it with my shoe, it decided to fall off.

surak

I love the Wahoo RPM sensors. So easy to mount, even I can do it.