100,000 Page views

Well what can me & the legend say?

While we was on our ride yesterday, LBC Gatwick Express Route 21 our little blog surpassed 100,000 page views

Never thought I would get so many people reading our blog but we thank you.

Just hope this blog inspires you into the saddle more.

Bee safe....

Gadget Upgrades

During last year I have been steadily improving my cycling. When I got my Garmin Edge 800 Performance & Navigational Bundle I decided to install the cadence sensor (Garmin GCS10) and started to wear the heart rate monitor as well on my rides.

But because BBB has small wheels the GCS10 couldn't reach both the wheel magnet (Speed) & pedal magnet (Cadence). 

When I installed the Garmin GSC-10 on BumbleB I couldn't get it to sense my cadence & speed directly as the speed sensor couldn't reach the wheel's spokes where the magnet would be placed. I wasn't to fuzzed about this till recently.

Garmin GSC10 Mounted

I've wanted to get more accurate data on my rides so I found ANT+ compatible cadence/speed sensor that would work with the Brompton & Garmin Edge 800

 PowerTap ANT+ Dual Speed Cadence Sensor

• For use with wireless ANT+ PowerTap power meters.
• Compatible with android and iPhone/iPad devices with use of appropriate ANT+ adapter key

The small bo is the speed part of the sensor & short cord is attached the cadence sensor. Zip ties, rubber bases and spoke magnet also come with the package.

Here it is all installed on BumbleB

PowerTap Fully installed

Speed sensor & magnet on spoke

Cadence sensor lined up with magnet in pedal

I found that if I placed the cadence on the underneath part of the rear frame, when BumbleB is folded/parked the cadence sensor would be crushed my the frame/bottom bracket.

Cadence sensor & Bottom Bracket

 

Pairing with Garmin Edge 800:

Now pairing up with the Edge 800 is easy but here is a step by step screen shots taken from my Edge 800.

Go to settings (spanner)

Go to Bike Settings

Bike Profiles

Select your bike profile

Hit ANT+Speed/Cadence

Yes to Bike sensors & search.

At this point make sure no other ANT+ sensors are in range to make sure the only sensor it picvks up is yours.

YAY its paired

Now you have to tell the Garmin your wheel size. If you want to be SUPER accurate you can measure your actual wheel using a tape measure and put it in manually in millimetres.  Brompton's come up to around 1300mm +/- 50 depending on wear & tires.

I let the edge calculate it itself (ride for about 15mins and it will automatically set the size)  and it comes in around the size I've read up on.

Wheel size set

Now its all done. No more 0.2mph when I'm stationary as the GPS signal slightly drifts cause of the delay etc

PowerTap ANT+ Dual Speed Cadence Sensor on wiggle.co.uk

Another senor of this type I have also seen that should work with the Brompton is the

Wahoo Fitness Premium Speed Cadence which is of the same type of design.

Do we have a beat?

During last year seeing I had the full  Garmin Edge 800 Performance & Navigational Bundle, I decided to install the cadence sensor and started to wear the heart rate monitor aswell on my rides.

A few months ago I was looking at the my Garmin 800's screen and the heart rate registered 0 bpm. I thought hello, the strap has slipped or something so I wiggled it about and it started to read my heart rate again but then when to 0bpm again.

I thought "Damn I'm dead. Atleast I died on my Brompton" which isn't a bad thing I might add.

Reading up on the heart strap and found that a few people where having issues with it after a time. I also found out there was a cheaper heart strap that works and cost alot less. The Polar Soft Strap just so happens to be a direct replacement for the Garmin Heart Strap.

As you can see the heart dongle snaps right in no modifications needed.

• Very Comfortable and Lightweight Chest Strap, Extremely Sensitive to Hearts Electrical Signals.
• Construction: Fusion of Soft Fabrics and Adaptive Electrodes
• Helps Sensors Pick up Heart Rate Quicker and More Accurately
• Compatible with all Polar Heart Rate Sensors, Utilising the Same Snap Attachment Method
• Warranty: 2 Years;

Original Garmin Strap (TOP) Polar Soft Strap (BELOW)

I have to say I'm pretty happy with it as I have been using it alot even on my normal commutes to work of late. Real test will be on a decent long ride but with the weather the way it has been recently it may be a little while.

Polar Soft Strap Set on amazon