Hi,
1st time poster and newish Zwifter so please be gentle!
I have a Tacx Neo 2 (Love it!), run Zwift on a laptop and have a garmin edge 1000 head unit as this seems to be the only way to see some cycling dynamics info.
I’m getting a little confused on what sensors I should be connecting to the garmin in my ‘Indoor’ profile:
Should I just have the Tacx Neo connected as a an indoor trainer, or do I need to also have it connected as a cadence sensor, speed sensor etc?
I also could do with help on whether best to pair things via bluetooth or Ant+ between the Neo & Zwift… i’m not getting road feel in Zwift despite it being turned on, but not sure if it’s because i’m connected the wrong way?
I can’t comment on the Garmin Edge issue, but I also have a Tacx Neo 2 connected via ANT+. This is what I recommend since I have had no problems since the day I started using Zwift. Just make sure the ANT+ sensor is as close to the trainer as possible (mine is on an USB cable extension around my front tire).
The road feel issue may be resolved by ensuring you have the latest firmware for your trainer using the Tacx app for IOS or Android. You may also try to un-pair and re-pair the trainer to Zwift.
@Ali_B if you want to capture the cycling dynamics then you would do the following pairings:
Garmin Head Unit - select the Neo as a power source, the ANT+ signal [it’ll have numbers after its name] (unless you have another power meter you’d like to use). You don’t want the head unit to control the trainer, leave that to zwift if you are free riding/racing. You can also select your cadence and speed sensors as well.
Zwift - set the power meter and controllable trainer as the Neo (either Bluetooth or ANT+).
That’s how I have mine setup with my Tacx Vortex so I can capture my cycling dynamics in Garmin Connect.
Just be aware the distance and speed on your head unit won’t match Zwift since your head unit isn’t getting gradient info. I just edit the Garmin file on Garmin Connect afterwards to match the distance/elevation from Zwift.
Thanks all - very useful.
Shame there’s no way to add the cycling dynamics to the Zwift auto upload, rather than adding zwift distance to garmin data file??
I’ll play about with the different options but aiming for FE-c option is a good shout.
When I pair my trainer to my head unit I pair it as power, and speed and cadence not as indoor trainer - if it is indoor trainer then the head unit can control the resistance levels but you want zwift to do this in game. I’m not too sure if it makes a difference but don’t want the edge and zwift “fighting” over which is controlling it
edit - I should point out the speed/distance the trainer transmits to your head unit won’t match zwift though
I gave up with the Garmin as a head unit, I connected my Zwift account to Garmin and also signed up for zwiftpower.com (currently down for maintenance) and between them you will have all the stats you need I suggest. I guess it could be important to connect your Garmin if you have power meters on your pedals.
@Richard for the most part yes. But the only way to get training effect and power graphs in Garmin is to record the activity from your Garmin head unit since this data is licensed from Firstbeat to Garmin and only their products can use it.
@Ali_B from your head unit select your desired sensors for “Indoor Ride”. For me I have my Tacx Vortex selected as the power meter and my Garmin speed/cadence sensors for speed and cadence. Mine are all paired via ANT+ to my Garmin Edge 830.
In zwift I connect my Tacx Vortex as a controllable trainer, power meter, and cadence via Bluetooth to my AppleTV.
Start a ride, once you spawn and are ready to start cycling start your recording on the Garmin. Stop the Garmin at the same time as you end your Zwift Ride.
I have my Zwift set up to auto import to Garmin so after I ride I have 2 activities (one from the Garmin labeled “Indoor Ride” and one from Zwift). The distances won’t necessarily match so I open the Zwift file in Garmin Connect and copy the total time, distance, max speed, elevation gain, etc and edit my Garmin “Indoor Ride” activity to match Zwift. I also change the name to “Zwift - [world name] - [route name]” (but that’s just my preference for naming. You get everything but the GPS route that way. But I can live without that as I have it in Strava. I just wanted to account my indoor riding and running to Garmin’s training effects.
Let me know if you have any issues setting it up and I can try to walk you through it further.
Thanks. - How would you get the training effect if using a wheel off trainer, so don’t have the cadence or speed sensors on. Presumably there must be a way to transmit that info direct from the Tacx back to the head unit?
Not exactly sure but depending what model trainer you have it may be able to transmit an estimated cadence value so you could select the trainer as the cadence sensor on the Garmin head unit. You should be able to get training effects with power and cadence (but I haven’t confirmed this).
I have just added my Edge 1000 to my Zwift setup using a Direto X/ Macbook pro. I like the data fields on the Edge (as opposed to the phone companion) and I would like to see the training effect. (Thanks @DKE_Watson for the explanation - I wondered why training effect was not given in garmin connect when synced with Zwift).
I sync Garmin Connect, Zwift and Strava, so I should expect to see two entries in Strava and Connect (1 from my edge unit and 1 from Zwift) - I never but I think I have a sync issue from my unit being in another time zone…
Is there an automated way to get Strava / Connect to prioritise activities that occur at the same time, so only one is “published”?
How do duplicates effect training effect data in connect and " overall fitness" indicators in strava (Personally I use elevate in Strava, but I guess the native fitness indicator works on the same principle))
@Mike_Macdonald duplicate entries in Garmin won’t effect Training Effect since only activities originating from a Garmin device can supply a training effect due to licensing.
As for Strava, having 2 activities will mess with stress and fitness levels since both activities will be adding to it. I would suggest deleting the Garmin event from Strava since it doesn’t have the correct info (no elevation, incorrect speeds, etc). Just my 2 cents.
Like I said in my post above I do the following:
In Garmin Connect I edit the Garmin recorded event to include the correct distance, speeds, and elevation gain from the Zwift activity. Then I delete the Zwift activity.
In Strava I delete the Garmin activity so only the Zwift activity is the only one showing.
It looks like your suggested workflow to delete the extra Strava activity from connect is the best option - thanks! - I want to be able to use my edge unit AND use the recovery indicator (that I guess will sync to my fenix) BUT without having to overly manipulate data.
My Strava syncs to another third party tool (elevate) and I’ll likely have to manually re-sync from time to time…
As you do, I’d need to manually manipulate garmin connect too, if I want the the aggregate data to stay accurate. (I guess you also delete the Zwift activity from connect?)
Hi, maybe you can help me. I have a tacx flow roller that I use with Zwift, I bought the edge 530 and since then I notice that when I roll in Zwift the resistance is established by the edge, when I check the edge 530 I see that it has target power, if I set it too low I cannot achieve get to VO2 Max in intervals and if I set a high target power I can’t get it down to FUND, do you know how I can stop that from happening and the resistance is set to ZWIFT? I even feel like it doesn’t pick up on Zwift’s resistance with the ups and downs. I generate less power with more transmission and less cadence because it is heavier.
Hola, tal vez puedas ayudarme. Tengo un rodillo de flujo tacx que uso con Zwift, compré el edge 530 y desde entonces noto que cuando ruedo en Zwift la resistencia se establece por el edge, cuando reviso el edge 530 veo que tiene potencia objetivo, si lo pongo demasiado bajo no puedo lograr llegar a VO2 Max en intervalos y si establezco una potencia objetivo alta no puedo bajarlo a FONDO, ¿sabes cómo puedo evitar que eso suceda y la resistencia se establece en ZWIFT? Incluso siento que no capta la resistencia de Zwift con los altibajos. Genero menos potencia con más transmisión y menos cadencia porque es más pesado.
