Schwinn mPower Echelon2 with ANT+ won’t pair with Zwift

General Discussion
1

Hello,
I have a Schwinn Blue Carbon bike with the MPower Echelon2 computer and have purchased a wireless ANT+ dongle. I am so confused about how to get this computer to pair with Swift. Some of the threads on this forum say that the old (gray) Echelon works right out of the box, while others say that the newer (red) Echelon to works out of the box. Either way, the Zwift App does not seem to see my bike’s computer.

I did buy an ANT+ dongle that plugs right into the USB port of my this is a small USB plug-in device… With no long cable extension and I still cannot get the Zwift to see it. This also confuses me b/c the only tutorials I see (from years ago) about connecting an ANT+ dongle to a computer always shows the dongle on the end of a long cable… Which is not what I have.

I also checked to see if the echelon to required a firmware upgrade, and found that my computer is totally up-to-date!

Can someone please, please, please help me? I’m so eager to get onto the Zwift app and ride with other people.

Thank you.

2

No idea about your trainer, sorry.
But generally - you should place the ANT+ dongle as near as possible to the trainer.

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3

What platform are you running the Zwift app on? Do you also have an ANT+ dongle for your computer?

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4

Hi @Bob_Gorman_TFC,
Tried running the app on my iPhone, as well as my iPad. I have seen the tutorial videos that attach a USB dongle to a long extension cord, and then plug it into a computer. I’m not using a PC computer in this scenario.

5

So… My ANT+ dongle is just plugged into the top of my Echelon2 bike computer.

6

The dongle must be connected to the device you are running Zwift on! So if it is an USB dongle (that’s what I believe), you would need a cable Apple - USB. Being a PC user I am not sure if it is possible on iPhone or ipad.

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7

Hi @Milan_Rost,
I’m not sure I even have this set up correctly. To start, I’m not on a trainer, I’m on an indoor spin bike - specifically blue carbon stationary bike. This bike has a bike computer mounted on top of it. The bike computer is the latest generation of the mPower Echelon2.

I am trying to use my iPad or my iPhone to use the Zwift app but the app does not pair with my Echelon2 bike computer so I am confused about how others with this same bike and bike computer have connected to Zwift.

I read about the ANT+ dongle so I bought one but when I plug it into the top of my Echelon2 bike computer, nothing happens.

Any ideas?

8

Milan, in his setup he actually plugs in the ANT+ dongle into his Schwin power module.

Neither the phone nor IPad will connect with your ANT+. You will need to either see if your Eschelon2 can send out Bluetooth or you’ll need to use a PC with another ANT* dongle. Apple TV and some Android phones do have ANT+ built in.

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9

@Bob_Gorman_TFC,
I do I have an Apple TV! If I download the Zwift app to my Apple TV, will it somehow, magically says connect to my Echelon2?

I’m going to begin that process right now and hope that you will reply… Thank you so much so far!

10

@Bob_Gorman_TFC,
If I use the Apple TV, do I still need to plug that USB dongle into my Echelon2?

11

Ok, your Eschelon2 is only ANT+ and not Bluetooth. Try this, remove the ANT+ dongle from your Eschelon2 and turn it off then turn it back on. Run the Zwift app on your Apple TV. See if there it finds your Eschelon2 under power? There should be an ANT+ symbol on the Zwift screen.

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12

Bob,

Apple TV is bluetooth only. The best way I could see to connect this bike to an Apple TV would be to use an Ant+ bridge such as the North Pole Engineering Cable or a 4iiii Heart Rate monitor. These both convert Ant+ signals to Bluetooth. I believe in my research I saw some Youtube videos specific to this bike.

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13

Yup, my mistake. Apple TV is Bluetooth only and your Eschelon2 is ANT+ only. Now you can try to convert ANT+ like David says or plug your ANT+ dongle into a PC.
But, keep in mind, I am not sure Zwift will even recognize your bikes protocol so don’t spend a lot of money until you know It works. I would recommend trying an Android phone that supports ANT+ or try a PC with your dongle in the PC not your Eschelon2

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14

Bob,

The video I linked in my above post shows the NPE Cable being used to connect an Echelon2 to an Apple TV. Here is the video.

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15

@Bob_Gorman_TFC,
Haha…Ok so after downloading and installing Zwift on the AppleTV it’s still not seeing the Echelon2.

What if I bring my Apple Laptop here by my bike? Would I then simply plug the tiny little thumbnail-sized ANT+ thing into MY COMPUTER’s USB port? Or plug it into my Echelon2?

If you say, “plug the dongle into your laptop’, my next question will be: do I need to also connect a long USB extension too for some reason?

Thank you for taking time out of your night/day to help me with this.

16

And thank you, too, @avid_dk!

17

Yes, plug the Ant+ dongle into the USB port on your Mac A long extension cord allows one to keep your computer away from your bike to prevent accidents and yet get good reception.

By all means for testing purposes put that dongle in the USB port and place the Mac next to your bike and please let us know if it works. Hopefully the dongle you purchased will be recognized by your Mac.

18

@avid_dk and @Bob_Gorman_TFC and @Milan_Rost,
HALLELUJAH!!! It freaking works!!!

You guys are wonderful! Thank you so much!!

Apple PowerBook with the little ANT+ dongle (plugged into the Mac PowerBook) and everything synced right up!

Yay! Hooray! Hooray! Hoorah!

I’ve spent several weeks on this, kept coming back, bought a bunch of stuff I didn’t need, and you got it working for me! Thank you for taking the time to help me. So grateful that a new cloud has been lifted from this pandemic experience!

Thank you!

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