I have been using Strava for a while and love it. Although we do not have a huge cycling community we are getting bigger and bigger. There are several local segments that I love to hit real hard. My question is I use my iPhone and want to add a heart rate monitor and watt output. In my research it looks what I need is 1. Garmin Heart Rate Monitor. 2. Garmin Cadence Kit. 3. Garmin ant+ dongle. Is there anyone who can confirm this or am I missing something. Last night on Amazon they had the Garmin HRM as a lightning deal so I purchased that already. Anyway thanks for the help. Blams

You could do that or also get the iBike dash and have all the info visible in front of you while you're riding in a waterproof case with a rechargeable external battery.

I wasn't aware that there was an iPhone adaptor from Garmin (the ANT+ dongle I have fits a USB port). I know that Strava has worked with wahoo fitness to use their ANT+ adaptor https://strava.wahoofitness.com/

You're missing the powermeter. The Ant+ dongle just receives the signal but you need a crank or hub based powermeter to send the actual power. Once you have a powermeter you'll probably want a dedicated powermeter head rather than an iPhone.

Since the Strava app provides a calculated Wattage and i am more interested in the heart rate function does anyone know if this will work with Strava or does it have to be Wahoo. If that is the case can I use the Garmin HRM with a wahoo ant+ key? Thanks again. Will the speed cadence meter be helpful during indoor training on a trainer to get real speeds?

ANT+ is a standard so your HR strap and speed/cadence should work with the wahoo key. If you replace 3) in your list with this https://strava.wahoofitness.com/store...or-iPhone.aspx you'll be all set. It's cheaper here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...37687XJPD74XRM

I don't think that the Garmin ANT+ iPhone adaptor communicates with Strava https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Adapter.../dp/B005ZSYEOK - read the reviews in the link.

Wonder when they're gonna make an iPhone 5 version...

The power provided by Strava is worthless unless you're climbing a hill. You don't need power to train though.

You should be fine with a Garmin HR strap and a speed/cadence sensor. You can use the speed/cad sensor on a trainer, and for many trainers you can also get a reasonable estimate of power based on your speed.

If you're on the trainer there are also PC applications (trainerroad.com, peripedal etc) that let you customize your workout, control videos and estimate power. They may have something for the iPhone as well but having a bigger screen to look at is nice.

Even on hills it's not all that useful. I guess it is probably OK to compare your own rides, but forget about comparing your power output to that of others. And of course it requires that you keep your weight up to date in your Strava profile.

If you are at all serious about gathering data (even if only for Strava purposes) you are FAR better off with an actual Garmin than with a phone.

The Garmin has a much higher sampling rate (meaning more accuracy and precision), is natively waterproof, is impact resistant far in excess of a phone in a case, and doesn't require extenal dongles to communicate with sensors.

DG

+1 Garmin Edge 500.

Ordered the Garmin 500 the other day. Merry Xmas to me. Now will just have to add the Speed/Cadence Sensor.

No, it's not even useful on hills. I can mess it up by surging the steeps and recovering slightly on the shallows. The time goes down, power (on my PowerTap) stays flat, and Strava's estimate goes up.

Might be useful on a windless day with a very steady effort.

Unless you are training for the Olympics or someone in this forum with too much money or credit to burn, just get the HR strap and be done with it. While segments are nice, they are not ideal for training unless you count climbing a ladder of wind-aided performances as training.

Sports Tracker does everything better than Strava with regard to training, but does not have segments. And it is free.

No one is going to brag about a segment time they recorded into a headwind.

How is that site any better than Strava? Especially if you have a HR monitor and enter in you zone thresholds? Strava is also free; also their VAM metric is awesome for training.

You seem extremely cynical about segment times and such. Headwind and tailwind are a fact of riding, what does it matter? Friendly competition is a good thing, but take it with a grain of salt, and just focus on PRs, not overall standings.

/shrug

Sports Tracker does for free what all other tracking apps charge for: HR data and zone/training info. The interface is easier to navigate and looks a helluva lot better than Strava's Tinker-toy framework.

As for wind, you are right about it being a fact of riding, but when you personally know people who wait for wind appropriate to a segment to ride it (it is a windy place here), you become cynical. Hell, I know people who drive at a believable speed to win a KOM. Would you not be cynical if you could prove it?

Friendly competition is one thing, but wind-aided segments without the ability to flag them as such are like Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong in their respective professions. Aberrations, and it skews the value of the numbers.

I shrug back at thee.

EDIT: As you can see, I do use Strava, but it is only useful to me for tracking commuting miles for competition at work. Miles are miles, but speed is subjective.

So the garmin edge 500 came in the mail today. Now my big question is, will the speed cadence sensor be able to track the speed and distance on a trainer in my basement. Since the Edge is gps based will the sensor take over and provide that data or am I going to look like my heart rate went shooting up while I was still.

By the way Sports tracker does look cool, but I am really partial to the local segments and I only do them to beat my own times. It is cool to see after one season that on the most popular segment in my area that I went from number 49 to number ten. That is what keeps me coming back for more.

Yup, you'll be fine. Just remember to go into the settings menu and turn off gps when you ride the trainer.