Wear OS apps that support Cycling Power Meters and Bike Smart Trainers ?

[Maruzko]

Hi,
I cant find anything via googling so I thought would ask here.
I dont own a Suunto 7 yet, but will make a decision on buying one based on the answers here.

I know you cannot pair a cycling power meter or an indoor bike smart trainer with the built in Suunto app.

So which Wear OS Apps do support that?

Thanks

[pilleus]

@Maruzko you can try Ghostracer and SportyGo. Ghostracer can connect to BLE devices and show power and cadence data.

[Jamie BG]

Google Fit app will also add most external Bluetooth devices, but not a very good activity tracker app as only shows distance, duration, pace - and has an extermely dodgy and useless active HR zone meter; but will show HR graph and map in companion phone app, but not sure it will capture your other metrics.

[pilleus]

Hey Suunto developers,

I think it is time to give the decision in the hand of the user, which external BLE devices the user wants to connect with the Suunto wear app.

The Suunto wear app is a good app to record activities, no doubt about it.

But if the user must use third party apps to connect a heart rate belt in winter or a power meter or cadence measuring device for cycling, then something is wrong.

Then the user can take any other WearOS watch to do that.

Please add the option to connect external BLE devices with the most recent protocols and services included!

Thanks for reading.

[olymay]

@pilleus YES, YES, and again YES!!! Suunto, please sort this out!!

[Aleksander H]

Maybe a bit off topic. How much battery drain do we imagine support for BLE HRM would incur? Would not the savings gained by disabling the OHRM make up for it? I always imagined that the OHRM would drain more battery than receiving the same data over a BLE connection.

[isazi]

@Aleksander-Helgaker a bit OT in this discussion, but it depends on the watch/components. For my S9, the BLE uses less power than the OHR (so I get more battery), but when I was using a Garmin Fenix 5s the OHR would use less power than BLE.

[Jamie BG]

@Aleksander-Helgaker: Would assume that this connection would replace phone connection, so you would probably save that power. But either way, whatever the drain was, it would at least give the user that option, that choice. And even it is an additional 10% per hour, it would still be feasible for a lot of training sessions and thus a bonus add from that perspective.

[Maruzko]

@pilleus Thank you

[Maruzko]

@Jamie-BG Thank you

[Nigel Taylor 0]

@pilleus - do you know if using Ghostracer with a power device (such as Stryd), does that data get included into the saved file that is synced off to Strava / is exportable - or do I have to do an offline sync using the Stryd App on phone and then merge ( hopefully not ) ??

Also - does anyone have step by step how to get Stryd to work with Ghostracer. In Ghostracer I can only see reference to “Run Cadence”, “Barometric” and “Heart” in the Bluetooth Sensors settings, I’ve toggled all these on but can’t work out how to actually pair my Stryd?

[pilleus]

@nigel-taylor-0 you must add the power sensor in the Ghostracer app on the smartphone, afterwards you can activate and use it in Ghostracer on the S7.

The other questions I cannot answer, sorry.

[Nigel Taylor 0]

@pilleus Thanks - very straightforward to pair after having spent frustrating minutes staring at the Watch app to try and work out how to pair!..and I could see Power data on the Watch screen just walking around the house so thats quite promising.

However, no power (or any other data such as distance or heartrate) was included - I think I need to test it outside…I guess Ghostracer can’t use the distance info that a Stryd can provide, and relies solely on GPS.

One for tomorrow I think, given its dark, raining, and I’ve been drinking all evening, and getting funny looks already going round the house with one shoe on with Stryd pod attached!!

[pilleus]

@nigel-taylor-0 I have a power meter on the bike. It’s recognised and connected by Ghostracer, but the power data aren’t displayed. The BLE protocol (CPS) is not supported.

It’s working with SportyGo.

[Nigel Taylor 0]

@pilleus power data from Stryd is definitely displayed in GhostRacer.

[Nigel Taylor 0]

@nigel-taylor-0 The power data is captured at the Watch (its displayed in the log in the Ghostracer phone app after completion of an activity), but the GPX or TCX you can export don’t include that power data

[Nigel Taylor 0]

Can do an offline sync in Stryd and then merge that with the file exported from Suunto App, to get a combined file.

My results are a bit hit and miss. Think I’ll prob just keep power only in Stryd unless can work out a better way of getting the data into my activities.

Ideally I want to be able to import into GoldenCheetah…but it seems if combined in TrainingPeaks you can’t really export or share elsewhere ‘joined up’ - and if combined with FitFileTools get kind of strange results.

[Nigel Taylor 0]

@nigel-taylor-0 To follow up on this…

I have a reasonably nice workaround when want to get my Stryd power data into an activity, but don’t necessarily need to SEE the power numbers live whilst running (just to keep building the history etc).
A)

1. Run with Suunto App…wear the Stryd, do an Offline Sync with the Stryd App.
2. Export the resultant FIT from Stryd.
3. Get your GPS/Heartrate etc data into GoldenCheetah (I auto sync from Suunto App to TrainingPeaks and then have GoldenCheetah sync from TraningPeaks when I open it).
4. In Golden Cheetah, select the activity, and then select “COMBINE” activity - combine the activity with the exported FIT from Stryd - use options “Merge Data to Add Another Data Series” and align using start time.
5. In GoldenCheetah you now have GPS/HeartRate AND Stryd data combined…but the activity will have buffers at start and end because your Stryd woke up and finished before and after what you’d consider your actual run…so…
6. In GoldenCheetah now select to SPLIT the activity - in the first column tick the start of the first lap, and in the second column tick the end of the final lap, and split, and you should be left with an activity that only contains the period you recorded with the Suunto App.
7. Export this FIT file - delete the entry from Stryd (and TrainingPeaks) and you can upload the new combined and split file onto those platforms and on to wherever you do your analysing.

B)
If you want to SEE your power data on watch screen whilst running…(but perhaps have a hit on S7 battery life because of the Bluetooth connection to Stryd)…then…

1. Use SportyGo or GhostRacer (I prefer GhostRacer, I find the SportyGo UI just too whacky to understand).
2. TODAY - if you’re running, GhostRacer doesn’t export the power data inside the TCX files it exports, so you’d have to do a triple-jump fiddle about similar to the steps as listed in A above to offline sync, combine and trim to get a good activity…but…
3. TOMORROW - the developer of GhostRacer has told me he’ll put out an update so that power data is collected and exported for running activities (apparently it works already today for cycling activity).

So I’ll prob wait for that update and do a battery test of GhostRacer with Stryd at the weekend. I can still get my activity into the Suunto App ecosystem this way via RunGap…so I end up with complete data sources no matter if I use Suunto on watch or Ghost Racer, so all good.

Of course, I’d PREFER to use Suunto, the whole feel of that app is the best of all running interfaces for me, and thats before you throw in the navigation.

But - having resigned myself to having to forget power based running with the move to S7 (something I was prepared for - despite being a total data nerd, I’m a lot less serious/engaged with my running now than I was prior to March 2020), it now feels like I don’t have to forego it after all