Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

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longinthetooth
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Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:41 pm

Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by longinthetooth »

I have had an ibike newton for years, got my first one in 2011. It fits onto a bracket on my stem, very neat, central, combined cadence/speed sensor on frame. Of course the Newton displays the real time data on its screen.

Assuming I upgrade to the Aeropod, what else do I need fitted to my bike?

The aeropod doesn't seem to have its own display, so am assuming I will need to use a smart phone. Any 'Apple' products cost a bloody fortune in Australia, so I have an Android, but it is quite large, and hence not sure if really is suited to handlebar fitting?

I am also considering upgrading to a Wahoo TICKR HR Chest monitor as they seem to use the most uptodate comms , ie, both ANT and Bluetooth.
EHB
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Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

This is exactly what I have done. I have the Wahoo Tickr X variety of Tickr as the memory is useful for wetsuit swimming.

The lack of display is vaguely annoying, but I use an old watch (Ambit 2S). If I exceed the speed limit for motorised traffic it turns the light on as I’ve written a program on it to do this. If you really want you can look at it.
An alternative is to attach your phone on the handlebars and use their app, but this isn’t practical.

Really, I think they should enable audio updating via Bluetooth headphones in their app for free rides. I know I thought I needed constant visual input, but when I had a device with audio I realised I never used it. You can also use the call button on many headphones to get an instant update.

An alternative if you have a Bluetooth speed sensor or one of the rare phones with ANT is to use the Wahoo App itself. It can do audio updates. I use it for running. Actually, if you are happy with GPS speed accuracy just use the wahoo app. I find occasionally the GPS speed is occasionally bonkers though (doesn’t like running in trees).

An alternative to the Tickr is a 4iiii Viiiiva. It is also both Ant+ and Bluetooth, but can Bridge Ant+ to Bluetooth. Haven’t tried it with the Aeropod. Works fine with my Power2Max Ant+ crank powermeter. Costs a bit more, but saves upgrading all your sensors to Bluetooth.

The (free) Wahoo App has a nice Strava upload and works with the Viiiiva by the way.
longinthetooth
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by longinthetooth »

Thank you EHB for your thorough feedback regarding the Tickr, appreciated, I'll certainly check out the 4iiii Viiiiva. :) Maybe John Hamann can provide some feedback about the latter HR monitor with Aeropod.

I can't imagine that Velocomp envisaged users not having any real time display mechanism. So maybe John can provide a vision of the ideal setup for the aeropod?
EHB
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:52 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

We were writing at the same time: this is what I said:

“I can confirm that the Aeropod transmits Ant+ power to the 4iiii Viiiiva which bridges it to Bluetooth as recorded in 4iiii’s own app. My past experience is that the Wahoo app is good at handling multi threaded data connections and so it should be fine.

I have just been reminded though that the early 4iiii app used to be able to share data because many apps couldn’t do multi-threaded. I don’t know how they did this or if it is still possible, but it may be an option for the PowerHouse app to share all the data it has with other apps on the phone.

If it works with the Wahoo app as well as I think it will the Viiiiva is a good way to get the Aeropod power data into another app. “

To this I’d add: I thought I need a visual feedback mechanism until I tried something with audio and then I never looked at the image. It is surprisingly good. If you use the Wahoo app (and others) you can get it to read the values you want whenever you click the button on the headphone. It actually feels safer because you can always look ahead.
longinthetooth
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by longinthetooth »

Point taken regarding audio vs visual feedback. I hadn't considered audio, not sure I really understand how you achieve it and the equipment required. I have just taken it for granted that visual data presentation was the norm. So, haven't really thought through what data I want, how and when. This morning the club was doing a Strength session, but based on very low cadence eg, 40rpm, but also trying to maintain low exertion, eg, level 2, 10min effort with 2 minute recovery- it was very difficult trying to maintain this, and would have been impossible without my Newton, ie, easy to go into L3-4, and for cadence to go north.

I guess my point and hence question too Velocomp, is they don't seem to cover how they expect their clients could/should ideally use the device in realtime. Lots about the data, post session tools and analysis, and pros and cons of their technology vs conventional power meters, (as a long term user of their Newton, I clearly don't convincing at that level).
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by Velocomp »

Any ANT bike computer will display AeroPod power data. There are a zillion of these.

Many BLE apps (including Wahoo) will display AeroPod power data.

At present, there are only two ways to display AeroPod CdA data (CdA, wind speed, slope, Time Advantage):

1) Garmin Connect IQ-compatible bike computers
2) Everysight Raptor.

We expect to see more compatible devices soon.
John Hamann
longinthetooth
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Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by longinthetooth »

I'm still unclear about replacing my Newton, which is an ANT bike computer, that displays Cda, Wind, slope (not sure about time advantage)

Are you saying that, inorder to replace my Velocomp Newton bike computer, I have to buy a different brand of bike computer first?
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by Velocomp »

We no longer manufacture the Newton.

AeroPod transmits CdA data to Garmin and Raptor devices. Newton will not receive AeroPod data.

The CdA function in AeroPod is considerably improved compared to Newton.
John Hamann
EHB
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Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

I guess my point is pointless as I didn’t realise the Aeropod transmitted power over Bluetooth to third party apps.

I can however confirm that the 4iiii Viiiiva app bridges the Aeropod power data to the Wahoo phone app on iPhone. Bit pointless though if I could have got power direct over Bluetooth. Didn’t look. Does it also send the speed/cadence? If it does my experiments today were completely redundant.

I discovered yesterday the only time live visual feedback is helpful; pacing yourself up a hill. The effort involved precludes moving your hand to press the headphone button. It is too easy to start out too hard without feedback.
EHB
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:52 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

I forgot to attach screenshot from Wahoo App.
62CBA42D-36A0-41FB-A886-8DF36B758EAB.jpeg
62CBA42D-36A0-41FB-A886-8DF36B758EAB.jpeg (104.48 KiB) Viewed 7238 times
longinthetooth
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by longinthetooth »

Thank you EHB.
EHB
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:52 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

I answered my own question;
FB866ACB-D82B-404D-B3B0-4818DCC26402.jpeg
FB866ACB-D82B-404D-B3B0-4818DCC26402.jpeg (49.58 KiB) Viewed 7229 times
The Powerpod appears in the Wahoo App as a source for Power, Speed and Cadence. Even in a non-4 profile it doesn’t bridge heart rate so you still need a Bluetooth heart rate monitor.

I haven’t tested on any other devices, like watches such as the newer Suonto ones which are Bluetooth

I’m now going to see if it works in an app I used to use a lot and prefer (Runmeter which is also Cyclemeter) because, although £9.99 a year, it can be started from the lock screen and apparently now Siri.
EHB
Posts: 129
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:52 pm

Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

Incidentally the device calls itself “powerpod” and not “Aeropod”. That wasn’t me being odd. I just hadn’t corrected it when I took the screenshot.
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
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Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by Velocomp »

EHB wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 3:31 pm Incidentally the device calls itself “powerpod” and not “Aeropod”. That wasn’t me being odd. I just hadn’t corrected it when I took the screenshot.
Yes. It shares the same BLE chip with PowerPod.
John Hamann
EHB
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Re: Upgrading from Newton to Aeropod, & Wahoo TICKR

Post by EHB »

my previously preferred App, run meter/cyclemeter, doesn't appear to compatible with multiple device types over bluetooth e.g.. aeropod and even indoor trainer. The only good bit to the app is that it can be started using Siri (since iOS 12); not sure that one feature is worth paying for a subscription.

but this made me think: Apple have made starting workouts with Siri easy now. You just say "hey siri, start a workout in NAME'. Here's the developer page: https://developer.apple.com/documentati ... t/workouts
would be perfect for your tracker app that works well in the background.
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