Please recommend wearable tech
#1
Thread Starter
Meet me at spin class!!!!

Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 571
Likes: 142
From: NY
Bikes: Precor recumbant indoor bike, Stages bike at Equinox gym
Please recommend wearable tech
Not a watch. Something for bike rides (OK, spin class) and intervals done in the gym. Not a heart rate monitor or a pedometer. Also, I don't think an Oura Watch is going to measure fitness either.
Thanks!
Thanks!
#2
Senior Member

Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 957
Likes: 205
From: Austin TX USA
Bikes: Bob Jackson 853 Arrowhead; Felt VR30; Kinesis UK RTD; Hujsak tandem
Not sure what you're getting at. What physiological metric do you want to capture? You don't want a watch or a HRM. Do you want to monitor your blood glucose? Muscle oxygen? Something else?
#3
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 654
Likes: 199
From: Georgia
Since we're having to guess at just what you're hoping to monitor, here's my shot at it...
Wearable Fertility Trackers
Wearable Fertility Trackers
#5
Senior Member

Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 957
Likes: 205
From: Austin TX USA
Bikes: Bob Jackson 853 Arrowhead; Felt VR30; Kinesis UK RTD; Hujsak tandem
You can't measure power output with wearable tech. There have been a few attempts at power-meter shoes, but they've all been failed efforts. You need to measure power on the bike: at the pedals, the cranks, or the rear hub. DC Rainmaker has a huge roundup of these. Note: they're expensive, and probably not worth it unless you're ready to invest the mental effort to understand power-based training and the physical effort to put that into practice.
Smart trainers also have built-in power meters, and he has a roundup of those too, if you are OK with riding without moving.
Calories burned is a function of work, which is a function of power.
If you train with a power meter and HRM for a while, you can work out rough equivalences between the two, so you can kinda-sorta use heart rate to approximate power output, but it's not reliable. And you can do some math to figure out the approximate power output for a ride, after it's over, but again, this will be approximate.
Smart trainers also have built-in power meters, and he has a roundup of those too, if you are OK with riding without moving.
Calories burned is a function of work, which is a function of power.
If you train with a power meter and HRM for a while, you can work out rough equivalences between the two, so you can kinda-sorta use heart rate to approximate power output, but it's not reliable. And you can do some math to figure out the approximate power output for a ride, after it's over, but again, this will be approximate.
#6
I don't know what your spin setup is. Common recommendation would be to use an outdoor bike on a smart trainer, and then your phone can collect the watt data.
#7
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 933
Likes: 769
From: Australia
Bikes: 2002 Trek 5200 (US POSTAL), 2020 Canyon Aeroad SL
It's unlikely that your spin class bike will be broadcasting power via an open Bluetooth channel (or at all).
I guess if you have a set of powermeter pedals, you could pop them on the spin bike. Then with a Garmin head unit or wearable you could view and record your power data.
I guess if you have a set of powermeter pedals, you could pop them on the spin bike. Then with a Garmin head unit or wearable you could view and record your power data.
#9
Clark W. Griswold




Joined: Mar 2014
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From: ,location, location
Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26
I find riding a bike outside and actually getting somewhere and not worrying so much about data is healthier, I don't need more gizmos and gadgets beeping at me. Being in an enclosed space with a bunch of half naked sweaty people being stationary just isn't my thing, I would rather be with those sweaty people outside moving.
You do you though.
You do you though.
#11
I find riding a bike outside and actually getting somewhere and not worrying so much about data is healthier, I don't need more gizmos and gadgets beeping at me. Being in an enclosed space with a bunch of half naked sweaty people being stationary just isn't my thing, I would rather be with those sweaty people outside moving.
You do you though.
You do you though.
#12
Facts just confuse people




Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 19,335
Likes: 7,055
From: Mississippi
Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020
I find riding a bike outside and actually getting somewhere and not worrying so much about data is healthier, I don't need more gizmos and gadgets beeping at me. Being in an enclosed space with a bunch of half naked sweaty people being stationary just isn't my thing, I would rather be with those sweaty people outside moving.
You do you though.
You do you though.
Last edited by Iride01; 10-30-21 at 11:26 AM.
#13
Clark W. Griswold




Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 18,265
Likes: 6,631
From: ,location, location
Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26
#14
Occam's Rotor
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,248
Likes: 2,334
I've taken to displaying the time of day, distance traveled, and ambient temperature on my Garmin. I collect the data for future analysis and to log the ride, but I try not to obsess on it in real time. I try to enjoy the ride. I admit that this is cheap and easy for me to do since I basically suck.
#15
Thread Starter
Meet me at spin class!!!!

Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 571
Likes: 142
From: NY
Bikes: Precor recumbant indoor bike, Stages bike at Equinox gym
I agree with the last 2 posters who basically said "enjoy the ride". When I first started spin class, I did enjoy getting sweaty and climbing the hills and doing the sprints. As bikes got more technical, I kept meticulous logs and details about when I rode, which bike I got, and how I felt and did.
In the summertime our bikes ceased to yield this data and I went into panic mode. At some point I realized I could just enjoy the music and the ride and it would be good enough as I too, suck!!!
In the summertime our bikes ceased to yield this data and I went into panic mode. At some point I realized I could just enjoy the music and the ride and it would be good enough as I too, suck!!!




