Hello all,
I have a Wahoo Kickr for use with Zwift and a Stages Power meter on my bike for wattage output on the road. I am aware that Zwift unfortunately does not allow you to use the Kickr to receive variable gradient resistance only, and keep the Stages for the power source. However, can the Kickr be used for resistance/power whilst using the Stages as a separate cadence sensor?
Thanks,
David
Hey David,
…“However, can the Kickr be used for resistance/power whilst using the Stages as a separate cadence sensor?”
Sure can, that’s what I’ve been doing. In the pairing screen before you ride, just ask Zwift to “Search” for the cadence sensor. Of course, make sure you spin the crank around to wake up the Stages and it should pop up as an option on the pairing screen. It doesn’t seem to pair automatically upon logging in, but pairing it takes only a few seconds before each Zwift ride.
On another topic, are you getting alarmingly different power numbers for stages and Kickr? (I have Kickr snap). When I ran them both at the same time, Kickr Snap was averaging around 20-25% more power than the Stages (which was paired to my Garmin Edge). Makes me question the accuracy of both Kickr Snap and Stages, or perhaps I have a large L/R imbalance.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the help, Wayne - I’ll check out the pairing next time I use it!
Regarding power discrepancies, I have noticed a difference in power output between the Zwift reading from my Kickr, and the Wahoo Elemnt reading from my Stages. It’s normally about 5%, with Zwift showing more. That said, I don’t believe I have ever calibrated my stages before using Zwift. I’ll calibrate and recheck before using it next time and update you.
That’d be great. Thanks. Will be interested to see if there is a difference for you as well.
Hi Wayne - I did a comparison with a calibrated Stages today. I noticed the same 5% difference as before.
Cheers, thanks for letting me know David. So it’s either (one of) my power meters, or I have a big L/R imbalance, or both!
I just purchased a Kickr 2016 and am also seeing a 10%-20% difference within the power numbers from the Stages App compared to the power numbers coming from the Kickr to Zwift. Kickr being the higher of the two. There is no way that I think the difference could be a left / right leg discrepency, as I’ve been cycling for 20+ years and think I would have seen this by now. Any ideas as to what could be causing this?
Hi Jason, if you read my first comment in this thread, you’ll see I have the same problem, albeit with Kickr Snap, and to a greater degree.
If we assume (I would say pretend…) the Kickr and the Stages are both accurate, then a 10% discrepancy gives you a 45.5%/54.% L/R imbalance, which apparently is not that unusual.
I am getting much bigger discrepancies suggestive of a 40%/60% imbalance, which is beyond normal. I do however, have a history of lower back problems on the L side which can cause numbness in my left leg, so I wouldn’t be surprised if 40%/60% turned out to be accurate.
When I eventually get a hold of a friend’s Vectors, I will be able to once and for all figure out how much of the discrepancy is attributable to the L only measurement and my imbalance. Will let you know.
My gut feel is that Kickr is generous with it’s power estimate and that I probably have a 45/55 type of Left/Right imbalance, so my true power is probably somewhere in between what Kickr and stages suggest.
Anyway as I said, will post my results here when I get around to testing with Vectors, and let you know.