I just killed my speed / cad sensor. What should I get?

[Dr Luxurious]

I have / had one of these:

http://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/wahoo-blue-sc-speed-and-cadence-sensor

I just got sucked into the spokes and shot across the garage. It is now an ex speed / cad sensor. :crap:

So I need a new one. Is there anything out there that's vastly better or should I just replace with the same?

Necessary qualities:
cheap
ant and bluetooth
easy to swap between bikes.
cheap
talks to i-devices and android
cheap

[bpiecuch]

I destroyed my Garmin speed/rpm sensor in the exact same manner. I vowed never to have that problem again. Plus, I hated having to align two magnets and one sensor... So, I purchased the new Garmin magnet-less speed sensor. (I used a power meter for RPM.) It's quick and easy to mount on the rear hub, and I haven't thought about it since then. No chance of damaging it either...

Unfortunately, I think most of the reliable sensors retail around $40. I've read/heard about a cheap Decathlon Speed Sensor, but no experience with it.

[R3awak3n]

Pretry sure the garmin magneless sensors dont have bluetooth smart, only ant +.


The wahoo variant does have both though but not cheap ($40 each), I do have a cadence one for sale for $30.

You could also get one of those cheap chinese ones on ebay, they are similar to the one you killed (i just got one of those, hope That doesnt happen to me), they chinese ones are like $10 but I never used them so I am not sure how accurate they are

[GScot]

I have a set of the no magnet Garmin sensors and speed is unreliable on my steel frames, perfect on carbon or aluminum. Recently bought wahoo magnetless and it works great, syncs up much faster than the Garmins.

[Louis]

It is now an ex speed / cad sensor. :crap:

You sure it isn't just resting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

[benb]

I've had really good luck with the Bontrager ones. The newer ones are Bluetooth and ANT IIRC.

The one I have on my Space Horse is 6 years old and still working perfectly, and stays in place really well.

I am not really a fan of the accelerometer based sensors.. I use them for cadence on both my road bikes because I have Stages PMs on them.. For some reason I always feel like I can't trust them as much. Could just be a Stages thing though.

[R3awak3n]

I have a set of the no magnet Garmin sensors and speed is unreliable on my steel frames, perfect on carbon or aluminum. Recently bought wahoo magnetless and it works great, syncs up much faster than the Garmins.

sell the garmin on ebay, they are going for good money. People really like them. I have one and like it a lot, have had it on steel and alum, functions great. I wish garmin made a new version of that sensor but with bluetooth as well

[mjalder2]

I really like the newer Wahoo RPM speed and cadence systems. The cadence can go on a shoe, which makes it easy to swap. Speed sensor goes on the back wheel hub. No complaints so far.

[ergott]

I haven't used a speed sensor in years. The Garmin is more than accurate enough with gps speed. When I used to have one the difference between gps and sensor distance on a 50 mile ride is in the tenths of a mile.

I don't even have issues riding through NYC.

[11.4]

Wahoo got their sensors in very good shape so they are easily as good as Garmin. I've tried a lot of others and those two seem to be the best -- functionality, accuracy, lack of spikes or gaps, battery life, physical durability, you name it.

I personally still prefer the GSC-10 style. The battery lasts forever, a small disc magnet the size of a dime glued to the back of the left crank arm works fine for the cadence part, and they are always on target from 10 rpm to 260. On the track (and in high-rpm workouts on rollers or trainers) the accelerometer based ones seem to have problems at high cadence.

Some people, interestingly enough, seem to have such a fluid pedaling style that if they mount the cadence sensors on their shoes, they don't get remotely accurate readings -- the sensor will show no cadence most of the time. I've seen enough riders with this problem on the track and they are always the ones with the smoothest pedaling style. (And btw, can't reliably use GPS for speed on the track. Obvious reasons. So we're always dependent on traditional speed sensors.)