Hello Forum,
I was wondering if any of the latest indoor smart bikes (stages, wahoo, Tacx, others) can simulate Q rings.
I think the answer is No, but thought worth an ask as it would be a very good controllable platform to test the benefits of them, if there is any.
Thank you.
This is the answer AFAIK. All of them use round drive pulleys and it would take some very special programming along with highly sensitive crank position sensors to “fake” non-round rings in a way that would simulate what those get on a regular bike drivetrain, via some manipulation of the resistance unit.
Broadly speaking, I believe there is no real magic in these smart bikes that would help solve the testing issues here vs a bike with a decent power meter and smart trainer. It’s true they can “fake” a range of gears, but that is purely them tweaking the resistance unit to approximate the feel at the pedals of having a taller or shorter gear relative to the current load.
In fact, I would argue that having to fake the inputs to convert round rings to non-round output would only open the door to more issues in questioning the results, IMO. Just not the right tool to deal with that question.