I’m sure that I’m not alone in having a regular exercise bike, most people if they have one of these, tend to just jump on it, do their exercise and that’s it, while others will take the data from the on board computer and input it manually into their favourite exercise monitoring app. If there was an easy budget way of turning the average exercise bike into a smart bike, would you do it? In this article, I’m going to discuss how I did it with some simple and affordable tools and accessories.
You might be wondering why you would want to do this. Well, maybe you already have an exercise bike that works fine, but you want to spice up your workouts with some interactive classes, challenges, or games, or maybe you want to track your progress and see how you compare to others on that fitness journey, or you might just want to save some money and not buy a new smart bike that can cost thousands of dollars.
Whatever your reasons, you can achieve this with some simple tools and accessories that won’t break the bank. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Firstly, your Phone or a tablet.
- A speed sensor that will attach to wheel of your exercise bike and measure how fast you are pedaling.
- A cadence sensor that will attach to your arm of your pedal and measure how often you are pedaling. Both of these sensors will send data to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth or ANT+. I’m using the Wahoo RPM speed & cadence sensors, which using the installation accessories inside the box I’ve attached them to the bike and successfully paired them to my phone.
- A phone or tablet holder that will mount on your handlebars and hold your device securely, some exercise bikes have in built holders for your device. This will allow you to see your live stats and access various apps that will enhance your cycling experience.
Optional accessory:
- A heart rate monitor that will strap around your chest and measure your heart rate that sends its data to your phone or tablet (my HR monitor of choice is the Polar H7 bluetooth heart rate monitor), depending on which exercise tracking app you decide to use, you’ll need to check the compatibility of the accessories you have because some of the popular ones for example like the Wahoo fitness app, aren’t compatible with Polar devices.
Now that you have all the materials, let’s get started with the conversion process.
Step 1: Attach the speed sensor to your wheel hub using the provided installation accessories. Make sure it is aligned with one of the spokes of the wheel and calibrate as necessary. With the Wahoo sensor, it isn’t quite in the position as recommended in the instructions, but by making sure that the connected app knows the circumference of the exercise bike wheel, is it able to make the neccessary adjustments and you can see that the speed on the app compared to the bike’s on board computer is pretty much there or there abouts.
Step 2: Attach the cadence sensor to your crank arm using included installation accessories. Make sure it is aligned with one of the pedals.
Step 3: Strap on the heart rate monitor around your chest and adjust it so that it is comfortable and secure.
Step 4: Mount the phone or tablet holder on your handlebars using the provided clamp or strap. Make sure it is tight and stable, because you don’t want it coming off while you’re in your element.
Step 5: Place your phone or tablet on the holder, or as I’ve done with a magic arm, with a clamp at one end that connects to the bike with a phone grip at the other.
Step 6: Connect all of the sensors to your phone or tablet and select the app you want to do the tracking. You can use any app that supports these devices, such as Peloton, Zwift, Rouvy and TrainerRoad. I’ve found an app called trainerday that allows you to incorporate all of the sensors that I’ve got, so the two Wahoo sensors and the Polar heart rate monitor and also the heart rate tracking of your Apple Watch, if you’ve got one.
There you go, you have successfully converted your exercise bike into a smart bike that can give you feedback on your speed, cadence, heart rate, distance, calories burned and transfer them all automatically to your fitness tracking or health monitoring app, and it gives you the chance to enjoy various interactive features from different apps, such as live classes, virtual routes, challenges and games.
While you can exercise without technology, there is no doubt that with the helping hand that technology gives you, and its ability to gather, record and intepret data and convert that data into information that you can use to make the best improvements to your exercise and your fitness overall not only quickly and often before you’ve had chance to recover from that 60 minute session but also automatically without you having to spend time doing those conversions or consulting your notebook, so why not take advantage of these inexpensive methods of bettering the equipment that you’ve got in a smart way with these modifications.
If you want to see the video version of this article, check out the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heQQ3U1NotM