How is it possible that the Schwinn IC4 (or Bowflex C6, same bike) is compatible with Zwift. From what I’ve read, it doesn’t have a power meter… it’s basically a spin bike. Am I wrong?
Hi, I spent quite a bit of time figuring this one out and could not get any good answers from the company other than it does work with the Zwift platform to generate a power number. When I started talking in terms of virtual power, etc. they got lost. However, I had to have something that my wife could use too, something compact, and something that didn’t have a chain and all the other stuff that goes along with bringing a road bike into the house. I used to have a Hammer Trainer but sold it but after about 6 months have missed riding on Zwift. I eventually broke and ordered the Bowflex version because it shipped faster. I am anxious to see how this will work.
I’m really curious to hear how the Bowflex C6 works for you. Please let us know!
The bike actually came in yesterday and I set it up and I’ve already done two workouts. Is amazing how easily Zwift picked up everything from cadence to heart rate to power. The only thing I can see that could be an issue is the way it captures power, especially on really high resistance. When I crank up the resistance on the bike, it was reading really high watts and I passed everyone on the hill but I did not feel like I was working that much harder to warrant the type of watts output. However, I could not sustain it for a long time so maybe it was accurate. It said my FTP had gone up to 278, which is high for me considering I have not cycled in almost a year. My previous FTP was around 300, but normally stay at around 240 or 250. But other than that it works really well. Of course it is not a smart trainer so it does not address resistance automatically for hills and things like that but I do not see that as a big issue for me. It just allows me to get a better workout because there’s less time coasting. I’m learning a lot about it so let me know if you have any other questions.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Please let us know how it performs as you gather more data.
Here is a screenshot from out support page showing supported Schwinn bikes, the IC4 (or Bowflex C6) isn’t supported. This doesn’t mean it WON’T work, just that our support team doesn’t have any troubleshooting steps for it if it encounters issues.
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Thanks Seth. I don’t think anyone blames Zwift in this scenario. It’s on Schwinn’s shoulders at this point. But since you mentioned that, what will it take for Zwift to officially “support” it?
Our ability to support new trainers relies on our ability to test different ones, and make any needed adjustments for the sake of accuracy. With it being a newer bike, we may have a pre-existing list of others we want to test for possible support, but might be making the rounds to the IC4 in the future!
As a rule of thumb though, we do our best to make zwift able to work with anything that transmits it’s own data via Bluetooth 4.0 or ANT+ over standard data protocols, which includes many different indoor bikes and power meters.
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So how did you set it up if there’s no supported trainer to select during the setup process?
It was easy. It recognized the bike in all forms: cadence, HR, and as a power source. No haggling whatsoever. It’s like it was made for it.
That’s interesting, especially since the bike does not have a power meter. Zwift must be calculating a virtual power number somehow.
So this bike seems like a priority for Zwift to test. I mean, if the Schwinn Classic Cruiser is a compatible bike … surely the IC4 warrants attention!
This is exactly what I tried for weeks to get out of Schwinn (Blowflex) but they couldn’t tell me. They just promised me it was made to work with Zwift. Sure enough it does. It is good enough for me for right now. Even though the power may jump around to either extreme ( for example when you’re barely pedalling it reads like 25 watts vs if it were a real power meter it would be around 100 and if you put it on strong resistance it jumps to 500 watts) you cannot hold it for long and you eventually have to go back down to normal and over the course of a ride you get close to average power. I can say this because I was a Zwift and TR guru and was obsessed with increasing my FTP, winning races and capturing power accurately to a fault. I had a $1300 smart trainer and training table and all kinds of subscriptions and bikes but now I’m just a 46 year old guy with an exercise bike. It suits me for now.
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Gotcha, thanks. I’m going to give it a go. The bike will be for my wife but I’d like to use it from time to time as an alternative to my bike/trainer setup.
That last sentence is hilarious and so true. I’m not interested in competing on the world stage, but I do want accurate information. I have a lot of buddies that are competitive and they use Zwift. I’d like to be able to at least understand what they’re talking about and be able to compare my numbers with theirs … which I won’t really be able to do with the power / watts all over the place.
I beg of Zwift to please test out the IC4 and give us a prognosis.
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That’s exactly what I did. For my whole family and I am getting just as good of a workout as when I had all the bells and whistles!
Hi, can you tell me what device you are having so much luck with? Have tried a Samsung Tab e and my Dell pc, cannot get my bike to pair with either. zwift will only run with the Dell. Spent about 8 hours with this so would appreciate any help. Thanks!
I am using an iPad. All syncs up using Bluetooth.
Thanks, I appreciate the response!