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Tacx Flux, Garmin Edge 520 Bundle, Zwift - can it all work together?


Muttley

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Hi all,

 

Firstly, sorry for all the questions below (it is excessive - I know :eek: )

 

So after doing some research on the net, I'm more confused than ever and hoping that someone here can give me a simple guide to get my gear connected to work with my smart trainer. 

 

Once my Tacx Flux arrives from CT, I want to connect it up to work with Zwift, my Garmin Edge 520 bundle & iPhone or Laptop (with Bluetooth) if possible.

 

I would assume that the Garmin Cadence and Speed Sensors are not necessary as the trainer will give this info?

 

From what I've read, the Garmin won't work as a bridge to bring everything together so to get the Garmin HR monitor to work, I'd need to get an ANT+ USB dongle and use my Laptop to run Zwift - is this correct?

 

Is it also correct to assume that you can either use the Garmin with the trainer or Zwift but not both?

 

I also have a Wahoo Tickr HR monitor, would this work with my iPhone, Zwift and the trainer? (this to me seems like the easiest setup via Bluetooth)

 

If anyone has any other suggestions or tips, I'd really appreciate it - I'm a complete newbie  :stupid:

Edited by Loudpedal
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so...  i'm not sure if the tacx can do bluetooth and ant+ at the same time. 

 

i do know about ant+ though.  your garmin edge will be able to pair with the speed, power and cadence sensors of the tacx via ant+. 

 

zwift can pair with the tacx using bluetooth or ant+ (if you have an ant+ dongle for your pc)

 

hope that helps.

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You are good to go already, nothing else required. Use your laptop and ticker instead of the Garmin HR strap. The Flux provides power, speed and cadence so no need for other sensors.

 

That being said, buy the ANT+ stick anyway. ANT+ is so much more reliable and your sensors can broadcast to multiple devices unlike BT. You don't strictly need this as your Ticker dual broadcasts on ANT+ and BT, but BT still has some way to go. I also find ERG mode to be less accurate on iPhone, but that may be my old iPhone 6s.

 

No need to use the 520. Zwift can be set to sync all rides to your Strava, Trainingpeaks and Garmin Connect accounts directly. If you are looking to collect Discovery Vitality points you'll have to record the workout on your Edge concurrently as Vitality doesn't recognise Zwift uploads to GC. Just connect the trainer (which is its own device on the edge but automatically pushes through power, speed and cadence) and your HR monitor to the Edge and hit record when you start a ride. Unfortunately the data on your Edge won't match Zwift because the Edge has no way to know the route you are riding. You can delete the Edge activity after each upload to keep your data clean, just let it sync to Vitality first.

 

You can also use the Edge as the controller and ride virtual versions of real rides you've done in the past, but this is a little more jarring than Zwift. Generally Zwift and Trainerroad provide a superior experience. (Same for Golden Cheetah, BCool etc but I can't personally vouch for those)

 

Buy a big fan, it gets hot in the Pain Cave!

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Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

Ready to hit the pain cave.. now the trainer must just come!

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You have correctly answered all of your own questions!
 

The bluetooth bridge works well, especially if using your phone or an Apple TV for Zwift. If you are using your laptop, just use an ANT+ stick and you're good to go.

 

Why would you want to use both your Garmin and Zwift at the same time? You can link your Zwift account to all of the other profiles (Strava, Training Peaks etc.) so that it automatically uploads after your workout.

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You have correctly answered all of your own questions!

 

The bluetooth bridge works well, especially if using your phone or an Apple TV for Zwift. If you are using your laptop, just use an ANT+ stick and you're good to go.

 

Why would you want to use both your Garmin and Zwift at the same time? You can link your Zwift account to all of the other profiles (Strava, Training Peaks etc.) so that it automatically uploads after your workout.

 

Thanks - I didn't know that you could link Garmin Connect to Zwift.. thanks to @thisismyotherbike and yourself, I now know that I can which is one of the things I wanted to do.

 

:thumbup:

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Ant+ stick has a lot less issues! 

I had issues every single time I tried to use BT bridge mode to my pc.

Plugged in Ant+ and worked perfect.

 

I leave my Garmin in drawer as everything is generated by Zwift and trainer.

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You are good to go already, nothing else required. Use your laptop and ticker instead of the Garmin HR strap. The Flux provides power, speed and cadence so no need for other sensors.

 

That being said, buy the ANT+ stick anyway. ANT+ is so much more reliable and your sensors can broadcast to multiple devices unlike BT. You don't strictly need this as your Ticker dual broadcasts on ANT+ and BT, but BT still has some way to go. I also find ERG mode to be less accurate on iPhone, but that may be my old iPhone 6s.

 

No need to use the 520. Zwift can be set to sync all rides to your Strava, Trainingpeaks and Garmin Connect accounts directly. If you are looking to collect Discovery Vitality points you'll have to record the workout on your Edge concurrently as Vitality doesn't recognise Zwift uploads to GC. Just connect the trainer (which is its own device on the edge but automatically pushes through power, speed and cadence) and your HR monitor to the Edge and hit record when you start a ride. Unfortunately the data on your Edge won't match Zwift because the Edge has no way to know the route you are riding. You can delete the Edge activity after each upload to keep your data clean, just let it sync to Vitality first.

 

You can also use the Edge as the controller and ride virtual versions of real rides you've done in the past, but this is a little more jarring than Zwift. Generally Zwift and Trainerroad provide a superior experience. (Same for Golden Cheetah, BCool etc but I can't personally vouch for those)

 

Buy a big fan, it gets hot in the Pain Cave!

 

What a quality answer - even answered a few of my questions lol.

Thank you

 

Ps: for vitality you can run your apple watch concurrently (assuming you have one) then you can leave your edge safe and sound in the drawer.

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What a quality answer - even answered a few of my questions lol.

Thank you

 

Ps: for vitality you can run your apple watch concurrently (assuming you have one) then you can leave your edge safe and sound in the drawer.

 

Didn't realise that indoor training was dangerous, maybe you should get a cover for your Edge  :ph34r:

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What a quality answer - even answered a few of my questions lol.

Thank you

 

Ps: for vitality you can run your apple watch concurrently (assuming you have one) then you can leave your edge safe and sound in the drawer.

 

Didn't realise that indoor training was dangerous, maybe you should get a cover for your Edge  :ph34r:

 

hahahahaha

 

talking about dangerous just this morning my lil ones nanny kicked over some of my bike cleaning stuff, unfortunately the screw top had come loose and poured into my cycle shoe bag and i basically managed to recover my edge 520 that was in my bad after a ride i did recently - sho wee - lets just say that edge is sitting in my clothes cupboard with my socks lol  :oops:  

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