Category: Sports Performance

Dual Pedals as a Single Bluetooth connection

Some bike power pedals are able to measure the left and right side power. They also transmit the power using two different Bluetooth connections. However, to use those pedals with the Selfloops Spark app you need to link those signals so they will transmit their data over a single Bluetooth connection.

If you have Stages pedals, you can use the Stages app to “link” the two sides.

If you have the Favero Assioma pedals you can link them using the Favero app and choosing the Unified Channel L option.

Power Smoothing in Selfloops Spark

Power smoothing is a feature available in the Selfloops Spark app that is generally used to smooth power values coming from bike power sensors.

Smoothing is generally done by by averaging the last n values coming from the bike power sensor using a moving average formula.

Most power meters measure power throughout the pedal stroke and many high-end smart trainers do something similar. Your power will vary as you are pushing down and pulling up the pedal with each revolution.

If you watch your power in real time – without any smoothing – you will see numbers all over the place. 

Some smart trainers allows you to set Erg mode smoothing.

In the Selfloops Spark, in the Setting section, it is possible to select a smoothing value to avoid this problem.

Which sensors the Selfloops Spark app support?

The Selfloops Spark app is available for Android, iPhone and Apple Watch and support a large variety of Bluetooth sensors.

The app supports the Bluetooth FTMS standard, this means it supports indoor bikes and indoor bike trainers, treadmills, rowers.

It supports the Cycling Power Bluetooth standard, so bike power meters that use this standard are supports (the vast majority).

It supports the Cycling Speed and Cadence Bluetooth standard.

It supports Concept2 machines, including the rowers, bikeErgs, skiErgs that use the PM5 monitor.

It supports heart rate monitors that use the Bluetooth standard.

The Selfloops Spark app does not support ANT+ sensors.

If you have ANT+ sensors, you need to use a bridge device that will allow you to connect the ANT+ sensors to the Selfloops Spark app.

These are the two most popular ANT+ bridges:

  1. Cable from North Pole Engineering
  2. The Viiiiva heart rate monitor from 4iiii, these are the instructions to use the Viiiiva HRM as a bridge.

Can I use Garmin wearables with the Selfloops Fitness app?

Garmin has released sport watches and wrist-based fitness trackers with built-in optical heart rate monitors.

These units are able to broadcast heart rate data using ANT+ and newer models are also able to broadcast data using the Bluetooth Smart protocol.

Devices that broadcast heart rate data using the Bluetooth Smart protocol are supported by the Selfloops Fitness app.

To enable the Bluetooth Smart transmision you should use the “Virtual Run” profile in your device. This profile has been created for running on a treadmill (it also broadcasts pace and cadence via Bluetooth), but it can be used for any activity you want. 

This feature is supported on most of the 2019/2020 models. At the moment, the supported watches are the Garmin Forerunner 245, Forerunner 945, Fenix 6 Series. Please check the Garmin support website for the latest updates.

See the instructions on video below

Why does the application not connect to my heart rate monitor?

Make sure you are using a Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth 4.0, Bluetooth Low Energy) certified heart rate monitor. 

Make sure that the heart rate monitor is not paired already with another application or device.

 Also, do not pair the heart rate monitor in the Settings of your device. 

The Bluetooth standard does not allow to have the heart rate monitor connected at the same time to multiple apps or devices.

If it still does not work, switch off and on the Bluetooth from the Settings of the device.

Exit the app and start the app again.

If you use Android 6.0 or higher, make sure you have granted the app the Location permission

What’s the TRIMP score?

TRIMP (TRaining IMPulse) is a metric based on heart rate that is designed to capture the training load generated by an activity in a single number. TRIMP can be used to evaluate the effect of training over time. We use the TRIMP exponential heart rate scaling formula.

Setting the correct unit system

We support both the Metric and the Imperial system.

You can set the Metric or Imperial system in the applications themselves. You can also set the preference in the Selfloops website. For the website, follow this link: https://www.selfloops.com/account/profile

In the Metric system: Kilograms KG are used for the weight, Km and Km/hour are used for distance and speed.

In the Imperial system, Pounds are used for the weight, Miles and Miles/hour are used for distance and speed.