Cadence on zwift companion app

General Discussion
1

Hi,
My smartrainer Wahoo Kickr 2018 has no build in cadence sensor. But when I ride my bike without cadence sensor the Zwift companion app shows a RPM value on the dashboard. The value even changes with my pedalling.

When I look at the Zwift screen upper left corner no RPM is present.

Anybody any idea why the RPM in de ZCA shows some value

2

I have the same question!

3

Does the value look realistic? If yes, that means the trainer has some functionality to calculate cadence. Next question is why the value not passed to zwift app. I would suggest to go to pair settings screen and check if you have more than one cadence device in the list. Check them one by one if they receive the numbers

4

me three! i’ve tried to find the sensor in th main app but there’s nothing there. Using a Wahoo KICKR SNAP

5

I have cadence showing up too. Zwift claims it’s coming from my heart rate monitor when pairing, but. Not sure how that would be possible. The snap documents say it doesn’t send or estimate cadence. It knows rpm but without knowing gearing it would be difficult to know.

6

If you do not have cadence paired, Zwift will provide an estimated cadence. In my experience, this cadence is far from realistic and varies wildly even while I maintain a constant cadence. But, I think it is reasonable considering the alternatives.

  • I suppose they could make your avatar pedal at some steady RPM like 90 and display zero in the HUD, but then someone would surely complain about that as well.
  • The same goes for displaying zero in the HUD and your avatar not pedaling while he coasts along at X km/h, the complaints would be plentiful.
  • Require a cadence sensor in order to Zwift. I can only imagine the outrage if cadence became a requirement. "Why do I need cadence when I have power?! :rage: " In short, people like to complain a lot!

:grin::joy::rofl:

1 Like
7

I’m using a Kickr Core (no cadence sensor), and the cadence value seemed to be tracking my actual cadence reasonably well. I theorized that the value was being calculated from the rhythmic variation in my power output.