Polar Vantage Question, double the power

[GregKeller]

So thought i’d throw this up as maybe someone has had a similar issue. I’m using a polar vantage v and polar flow to track my training data. I’m still holding onto my training peaks account until it is up or I decide that Polar flow isn’t for me. So far I like it, but it’s early and there’s a few issues, but I’ve found work arounds for them that aren’t a big deal.

Here’s my issue. Indoor TR workout, running it off my iPhone, both kickr, favero pedals and H10 heart rate strap are sending data to my phone. I also have the kickr and H10 connected to the watch to record data that can be uploaded to polar flow. My issue is that when I start a workout on the watch (after I’ve started it on the phone/pedaling) my watch is showing exactly double the power as my phone shows. Normally if I cancel the workout on the watch and restart it, this problem fixes itself, but today after 3 tries, I was still getting 2x power, so I gave up and didn’t record on the watch, which means the data doesn’t go into polar flow because TR and polar flow don’t talk to one another (Polar’s issue, not TR)

So has anyone seen this before? got an idea?

[kbd]

I use the Polar Vantage M with a PowerTap and have always gotten to correct # both on my display and in the Polar flow training log. Since you are getting your power reading at the pedal it may have something to do with it doubling what it is getting on the left crankarm and doubling it??

There might be some support material available on the website and if not contact Polar customer service and they’ll probably be able to straighten it out. Good luck!

[GregKeller]

When I first did it, that’s what I thought too, so I didn’t have the watch connect to the pedal, only the kickr. That didn’t change anything. Today I tried connecting things in different orders to see if there was an issue with that, didn’t change anything. So I ended up sending power from the pedal to the watch and power from the kickr to the phone and that worked. Not perfect (no distance/speed data to polar flow, but who cares on a trainer and only the super smooth power data into TR), but for now until I find out if there is something I can do differently it’ll work.

[kbd]

That issue with Polar doubling power from pedals was an issue when the v800 first came out. It is an issue that Polar customer support is experienced in fixing. Contacting the Polar customer support team can probably get the issue rectified for you.

[GregKeller]

cool, thanks. It wasn’t doubling power from the pedals, but from the kickr core. When I paired it with the pedals (and disconnected the pedals from my phone) I got correct data. Either way, I contacted customer support to see if they’ve got any ideas.

[kontrabass]

You are not alone

I have the same problem with Vantage M. Sometimes it shows very random numbers ( lets say that if would trust polar, my FTP would be 1000+ ) but mostly double. Havent managed to see correct numbers even once.

Also sent a question to polar, lets see what they think of it.

[vanbc]

Thank you for this post.
I have a similar set up, minus the kickr smart trainer as I am on a dumb trainer but I have a hr strap, polar vantage M, and favero dual sided pedals, and use my phone to train with TR.
I have not yet tried to also pair my pedals with my watch, they are only currently paired to my phone. I was not sure if the pedals were able to be paired with more than one device simultaneously?
What is the value of getting the power data into Polar flow?
You already have it all in TrainerRoad right? (power, hr, duration, …).
Are you a strava summit subscriber? would this help if you were? (I am currently subsrcibed to summit but I think I am missing out on the value as I don’t really see anything I need or can use yet. I think once I go outside the segments may be nice but not sure what else to use other than that)
Thank you for this information as I am still a relative noob so any tips, tricks, and suggestions, especially if it can save me some money (if I don’t need another subscription service) is greatly appreciated.

[vanbc]

Thank you for this post.
I have a similar set up, minus the kickr smart trainer as I am on a dumb trainer but I have a hr strap, polar vantage M, and favero dual sided pedals, and use my phone to train with TR.
I have not yet tried to also pair my pedals with my watch, they are only currently paired to my phone. I was not sure if the pedals were able to be paired with more than one device simultaneously?
What is the value of getting the power data into Polar flow?
You already have it all in TrainerRoad right? (power, hr, duration, …).
Are you a strava summit subscriber? would this help if you were? (I am currently subsrcibed to summit but I think I am missing out on the value as I don’t really see anything I need or can use yet. I think once I go outside the segments may be nice but not sure what else to use other than that)
Thank you for this information as I am still a relative noob so any tips, tricks, and suggestions, especially if it can save me some money (if I don’t need another subscription service) is greatly appreciated.

[GregKeller]

So there is only really one reason I want to get power data into Flow, and that’s because I am testing it out to see if I can use it to replace TrainingPeaks. Currently I’m liking what I’m seeing in Flow, but I am not sure that it can replace TrainingPeaks. I have pretty much settled on the following. I have turned off PowerMatch, my phone is connected to the Kickr and controls it, my watch is connected via bluetooth to the pedals and via ANT+ to my wahoo elemnt. My thinking is this will allow me to capture my ride data on my watch for all types of rides (indoor and out) as well as continue using trainer road indoors without issue, and see my cycling data when outdoors on my elemnt.

I do have one issue that has shown up that I am confused about, and not sure where to go with it, but there is a pretty big power discrepancy between pedals power as viewed on my watch and trainer power displayed on my phone, as well as a big difference in cadence. My power on the watch is quite a bit lower than the trainer (like 20 watts in the 250-300 watt range) and cadence is ~15 watts lower on the watch comparing averages for a ride. Time to trouble shoot I think.

[kontrabass]

HOLY S**T, Got response from polar customer support really didnt expect this.

Hi Marek,

Thank you for contacting Polar Customer Care.

Unfortunately this is known issue but I afraid we do not have plans to fix this in Vantage time scale.
Sorry for inconvenience caused.

What can I say, I’ve had 4 polar watches and this will be the last one.

[GregKeller]

That’s insane.

[kontrabass]

A bit more information.
I have to problem with Kickr.
I also asked about refund since the watch is fault and they kindly guided me to https://support.polar.com/en/which-third-party-sensors-are-compatible-with-polar-vantage?product_id=96347&category=sensors_and_accessories and basically told me F off

[polvanrijn]

I had exactly the same issue with my Kickr snap. Since the snap (in contrast to the core) does not support multiple Bluetooth connections at once, I use ant+ with my computer (using an usb dongle) and connect to my vantage M using Bluetooth. What resolved the issue is to first connect to the watch and afterwards connect to the computer. A friend of mine has a Kickr core and confirmed this solution also works here: first connect to the watch via Bluetooth, later connect to all other devices via Bluetooth (e.g. Wahoo app or to the computer).

[dhi67540]

This is typical of Polar - they are a closed echosystem (they allow NOTHING in) and will only support what they choose to support - not industry standards or customer needs.

[seanvk]

FWIW I used my Polar Vantage V today with my Kickr (V5) and TIckr X heart rate strap and the Kickr (v5) was also paired with my PC over BT. Worked okay. In comparing the Polar Flow data with my ride from the PC, they matched. I’ll use my Favero Uno next time.