I use a dumb turbo but need to record mileage for a challenge we’re doing at work. I guess I can do 30km/h. Cadence of 90 and I’m in HR zone 2.6+ for the duration which is usually about 90 mins. Going on others I see on Zwift and my own pace on a flat road I think 30km/h is a fair distance to record. I don’t want to be called out at work for exaggerating so does this distance seem plausible to you guys n gals?

Is everyone using a turbo? If not then you’re not really comparing like with like.

The older Garmin GSC10 sensor will do cadence and distance, even on a turbo, as it counts rear wheel revolutions.

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Garmin/Bike-Speed-Sensor-2-Hub-Mounted/MO4E?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&co=GBR&cu=GBP&glCountry=GB&id=1057694&ds_eid=700000001845766&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=UK_EN_Profit_Google_Shopping_All+Users_Brand_All+Products_Desktop&ds_cid=71700000047514192&ds_ag=B_C_1057694_Garmin_Bike+Speed+Sensor+2+-+Hub+Mounted_GPS+Accessories_35+GBP&ds_agid=58700005131168788&ds_k=PRODUCT_GROUP&ds_kid=92700045027604322&ds_kids=p45027604322&gclid=Cj0KCQiAs5eCBhCBARIsAEhk4r563mLTOeBiSceK4G4PkwY7OB9Vu9hQcz7ZSXRgIEGstKJSgIJLeioaAkxZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Is everyone using a turbo?

It’s a virtual challenge in teams of 10 with the destination being Madrid. Everyone records whatever exercise they do whether it’s cycling, walking etc.

Edit – I’ve a direct drive turbo so don’t think I can set the sensors up.

The sensor I linked to just goes on your rear hub and a Garmin unit, watch or tablet will pick it up.

Aye. Won’t work with direct drive trainer though.

I’m surprised there’s no equivalent built into the trainer.

I think the OP’s question is not how to record the speed, but is the speed equivalent to real life?

I use a decent but dumb fluid trainer. An hour long session with at least 30 minutes at threshold/Z4 with some recovery usually yields about 35km which seems a fair comparison if you were going hard on a flat road.

Your 30km in an hour in zone 2 seems a little generous, unless you’re quite well trained?

I guess the only other discrepancy is you are doing all your miles on the equivalent of a flat road, could you adjust down a smidgen? For comparison, if I’m out on local roads doing Z2 rides I pretty much always end up around 25km/h, but that includes hills.

Turbo is a bit easier at just riding around speeds than outside, IME. Using a direct drive turbo on zwift 30kph feels fairly easy to me, I can do that for a couple of hours top of z2. Outside it would be more of an effort to maintain and have me working harder.

But the turbo is a more incentivised environment so it’s a bit hard to compare – outside I’m rarely arsed to ride to a particular pace if I’m just out for a ride, and vice versa inside it is difficult to go completely easy.

Any option to connect to a tablet or PC and ride it in Zwift or RGT?

If you look at Zwift I think the speeds are a little optimistic. They certainly are for me.

For 90min at 30kmh I’d probably closer to threshold (Zn3?) I’d say zone 2 would more likely be 25-27kph.

I say this as someone who is well trained.

This depends how important it is to you though? The differences would be equivalent to comparing smooth and rough roads, flat or hilly rides, solo or group riding, warm or cold weather.

If you think it will be easy knock some speed off and ride more, if it will be a challenge then stick with 30.

Cheers folks. We’ve got 2835km to go in 38 days. I’m the only one in the team that cycles (the rest are walking!) so I’ll stick to 30. Wish me luck!

On a tangent, my experience with Garmin speed sensors is… not good.

The current one should record distance all by itself (as long as you’ve set the tyre size cup in the app) but they’re buggy AF when you use them with Zwift etc.

Wish me luck!

Good luck, incidentally!

I think it’s pretty close, bear in mind no freewheeling and a lot of people would reckon an hour on a turbo is equivalent to about 1 he 20 on road for workload. On zwift on the flat you’d be faster than 30k and hour I would think, especially with a bit of drafting