Smart bike - Q Rings

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.

2 Likes