Official Forum

Hi all,
Does anyone use a separate cadence sensor attached to your crank arm? If so do you notice a difference in responsiveness, watts, ftp value, or anything else by using it?
It seems the built in cadence calculation is not super fast /accurate. Sometimes it seems it registers low for quite a while (seconds:) ) before it catches me back at my higher cadence. Also shifting seems to send it low or high, even though I feel like I don’t have much of a change- even extremely brief.
Thanks
Mark

I can only comment on Zwift, but I suspect that the same is true for other training software.

No, it won't make any difference to anything other than your displayed/logged cadence value being more accurate. It won't affect anything to do with your power.

Thank you Steve!!!

Crank-mounted cadence sensors usually offer more consistent and quicker updates on your cadence, especially when you're shifting gears or making brief changes in pedaling speed. Built-in cadence sensors can sometimes lag, particularly when there's a change in effort, like when you shift or change your riding style, which can lead to inaccurate readings. PolyTrack

Thank you Michael!
I agree. It seems there is a bit of lost pedaling in shifting— usually at my expense:). And the sensing does seem to lag some times. I think I will try a cadence sensor on the crank arm and see how it goes. I would think it would be more accurate and take out most of the lagging or poor sensing due to my uneven pedaling also.
Mark

Sometimes the sensor mounted on the crank may not be securely or properly installed, resulting in the sensor not accurately recording the movement PolyTrack of the crank.