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Wahoo RPM Cycling Speed Sensor for Road, Gravel and Mountain Bikes

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 20,408 ratings

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Cadence Sensor

Purchase options and add-ons

Brand Wahoo Fitness
Color Black
Product Dimensions 1.25"L x 0.75"W x 1"H
Item Weight 0.01 Kilograms
Battery Life 8 Hours

About this item

  • SPEED / CADENCE MEASUREMENT - Track and capture real-time cycling speed and cadence with compatible training apps, including Wahoo SYSTM & RGT, Zwift, and Peloton Digital iOS App via Bluetooth.
  • CYCLING CADENCE - The number of revolutions per minute (RPM) you complete at a given speed. By learning how to increase and train your cycling cadence, or the rate at which you pedal, you’ll improve your cycling efficiency and allow yourself to pedal for longer, faster.
  • DUAL BAND TECHNOLOGY - Integrated with ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart capabilities, Wahoo’s RPM Speed & Cadence sensors connect to smartphones, tablets, and bike computers.
  • SLEEK AND EASY TO INSTALL (NO MAGNETS) - Universal fit fits most bikes and frame sizes. Cadence sensor attaches to a bike’s crank arm or shoe; Speed sensor attaches to a bike's wheel hub. Mounts included.
  • VISIBLE CONNECTION – Two LED lights give instant feedback: the sensor's device connection (blue) and RPM detection (one red blink per crank turn).

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From the manufacturer

Wahoo Fitness

Located in Atlanta, GA, Wahoo Fitness offers a full ecosystem of sensors, devices, and training software for runners, cyclists, and general fitness enthusiasts. Wahoo’s award-winning line of products include the KICKR family of smart indoor riding equipment and accessories, the ELEMNT family of GPS devices and sport watches, the TICKR family of heart rate monitors, as well as POWRLINK ZERO Power Pedals, SPEEDPLAY dual-sided road pedals, and the SYSTM and RGT training apps to help athletes unlock their potential and get the most out of the time they have to train.

Wahoo fitness connected ecosystem

RPM Speed & Cadence Sensors are compatible with Wahoo ELEMNT GPS Bike Computers and Wahoo KICKR indoor training accessories including the KICKR DESK, KICKR HEADWIND Smart Fan, and KICKR TRAINER FLOORMAT. Build the ideal setup for your indoor cycling needs.

RPM cycling speed and cadence sensor

WHAT DATA DO YOU NEED?

Equipped with Bluetooth Smart and ANT+ dual-band technology, the RPM Speed, and RPM Cadence Sensors measure cycling data and wirelessly send it to your favorite cycling app on your smartphone or your GPS Bike Computer.

wahoo speed sensor

shoe mount

Replaceable Battery

100% Wireless

No more tangled wires! Bluetooth and ANT+ capabilities allow for wireless connection to both smartphones and bike computers.

Universal Fit

Speed sensor mounts to any bike's wheel hub. Cadence sensor easily attaches to your bike's crank arm or shoe (both mounts included).

Replaceable Battery

CR2032 replaceable coin cell battery. Lasts up to 12 months. No recharging.

kickr headwind

SENSOR BASED FAN SPEED CONTROL

Control the speed of your KICKR HEADWIND by pairing your ANT+ speed sensor, heart rate monitor, or smart trainer directly to the fan; as your speed or heart rate increases so will the fan speed. There are also 4 manual speed settings should you want to set your own ideal airflow. With speeds of over 30 mph (48 kph), the KICKR HEADWIND will keep you cool during the toughest training sessions.

wahoo cadence wahoo speed
Wahoo RPM CADENCE Sensor Wahoo RPM SPEED Sensor
Customer Reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
20,408
4.5 out of 5 stars
20,408
Dimensions 1.25"x0.75"x1" 1.25"x0.75"x1"
Weight 7 grams 7 grams
Battery Life Replaceable CR2032 / 1 Year Replaceable CR2032 / 1 Year
Speed Measurement
Cadence Measurement
LED Indicator Lights
Bike Mount Included Included
Shoe Mount Included No
Indoor Spin Bike Compatibility
Third Party App Compatibility

Product information

Technical Details

Additional Information

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Wahoo

Wahoo RPM Cycling Speed Sensor for Road, Gravel and Mountain Bikes


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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
20,408 global ratings

Customers say

Customers like the performance and ease of installation of the cycling computer. For example, they mention it works well, it's easy to mount and connect, and serves its purpose well. That said, some complain about the connectivity issues. Opinions are mixed on the sensor and quality.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

908 customers mention694 positive214 negative

Customers like the performance of the cycling computer. For example, they say it serves its purpose well, works perfectly paired with their bike, and serves its intended purpose. Some say that the wahoo app works great with Android, while the Peloton app does not show cadence for Android. However, most are happy with the overall performance of these sensors and how they work.

"...These are working beautifully for me, and so were worth every penny!" Read more

"...So summing it up about the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor – for me it works great, and for the price it is a great addition for my bike training...." Read more

"...It was only $30 or so that made it low risk.It works great!You download the free app. Synch the device to the app...." Read more

"...The problem with the Garmin is that it only works when connected to the crank and not when connected to your shoe...." Read more

543 customers mention497 positive46 negative

Customers find the installation of the cycling computer to be easy. They mention that it attaches easily, it's easy to setup and connect, and pairs easily via the Wahoo app. Some say that the speed sensor is easy to attach to a front wheel, while others say that it'll be a pain to attach the cadence sensor. They also mention that the app is easy enough to use once downloaded, and that it connects no problem to the app on their phone.

"...It's that simple! The cadence sensor was just as easy -- use the included zip ties to secure it to the inside of the left crank arm, and done!..." Read more

"...Again, setting it up was simple and quick on the Garmin Virb (see my Garmin Virb Review here) too, with the cadence screen showing up automatically..." Read more

"...The physical installation was fairly easy, significantly more so than the previous generation of speed and cadence sensors...." Read more

"...Wahoo does a great job with both, and they link very easily to my wahoo computer...." Read more

409 customers mention224 positive185 negative

Customers are mixed about the sensor. Some mention that it's a good product, better than other speed and cadence sensors, and helps them track their speed and rpms. However, others say that it fails to be recognized and is useless. The sensors turn on when they sense motion, and do not work well above approximately 115 RPMs.

"...It's that simple! The cadence sensor was just as easy -- use the included zip ties to secure it to the inside of the left crank arm, and done!..." Read more

"...is the cadence (RPM) readout only gives you a “range” and not a specific RPM measurement...." Read more

"...While the cadence seemed to be accurate and consistent across all devices there is a lag between the actual physical cadence and the display of it..." Read more

"...on the back would be better since there are times that the sensors fail to be recognized and how they work is via movement...." Read more

226 customers mention85 positive141 negative

Customers are mixed about the quality of the cycling computer. Some mention that the rubber band is quite beefy and holds tight, while others say that the sensors are flimsy and come apart while riding.

"...Dropping 1 star for the physical problem and another for the connection drops...." Read more

"...sensor goes onto the hub of a wheel with a rubber band, which is quite beefy and holds tight. It's that simple!..." Read more

"...Below 65 RPM on a hill or simulated hill climb the cadence reading often drops to 0 and then picks back up...." Read more

"...ask for cadence of 120 and every time I get above 115 the readout goes haywire, flickers some, seems to lose connection then finally begins..." Read more

461 customers mention120 positive341 negative

Customers have negative opinions about the connectivity of the cycling computer. They mention that it is very slow to connect, the connection is spotty, and annoying when trying to connect again. The sensors lose connection several times, resulting in inaccurate rides.

"...while using GPS for pace is fine for running, it's not so good for tracking speed, as GPS has a natural delay and doesn't update as frequently as..." Read more

"...accurate and consistent across all devices there is a lag between the actual physical cadence and the display of it on the various devices...." Read more

"...I choose them specifically for the Bluetooth connectivity which is an excellent feature...." Read more

"...Something I didn't like about the app was that it can not connect or send the riding information to my fit bit app directly, which means I can't..." Read more

but I like to improve my biking (as well as running
5 Stars
but I like to improve my biking (as well as running
This is a review for just the cadence sensor.I don’t do a huge amount of super-intense high performance training, but I like to improve my biking (as well as running, weight-lifting, and everything else) here and there with as much training as possible (while still enjoying the hell out of my rides – something I couldn’t do if I was thinking about just training all the time).One big way to increase performance is to increase cadence – the RPM’s of your pedal strokes.So, thanks to adding it to my Amazon wish list at Xmas time and my beautiful wife – I went with the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor.I like the Scosche RHYTHM Bluetooth Speed/Cadence Sensor fairly well that I have on my training bike indoors, it’s not the absolute best but it does the job. I don’t particularly like how it looks on the bike, how it could be prone to getting knocked while riding outside, and it is both the speed and cadence sensor and for my outdoor use I only really needed the cadence sensor part as my watch has GPS for general distance and speed.So after a bunch of research I decided on the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor.You will similar find clones out there, some cheaper and some with less ability to connect to other devices, less compatibility perhaps, and you will also find other sensors for cadence/speed that are bulkier and more visible/in the way (like the Scosche RHYTHM speed/cadence sensor).One of the reasons I bought this was I had a little experience with the Wahoo Speed Sensor, which I had bought for my wife’s bike. It is similar visually, but attached to the hub instead of the crank arm of course. And it seems to work excellently. I also regularly use their Wahoo Fitness app (which works great with other sensors of all kinds) and they do sell both the Wahoo Speed and Cadence/RPM sensor together as a package, the preceding links also will show the sensor set with the bike computer option, as well as the heart rate monitor option.And of course it gets generally good reviews.The Wahoo sensor is a small module-like sensor that has both Bluetooth and ANT+ and attaches to the crank. There’s no magnet, unlike some of the old style cadence sensors and this one is JUST for cadence (see my links above if you are looking for speed also). Like your smartphone’s motion detection; this uses a gyroscopic sort of chip and likely accelerometers.It’s small, unobtrusive, made of matte-black plastic, waterproof (IPX7 – waterproof to about five feet), compatible with most anything that will accept ANT+ or Bluetooth 4.0 signals (it’s so-called low energy Bluetooth) – most biking phone apps (Android or iPhone), bike computers, watches, etc. The battery lasts a long time, the company says a year, and is a replaceable, standard coin cell type CR2032 battery (no having to recharge it all the time) so you don’t need to buy anything special. And the device has a one year warranty.For the bike weight weenies out there it weighs in around 7 ounces and is only about an inch and quarter wide and an inch tall, and three-quarters of an inch thick. So it’s thin enough to fit on pretty much any bike. If your crank arm is closer than that – well, I guess you’re out of luck for mounting it to the crank arm but you instead can attach it to your sneaker (more about this later). I have seen a few reviews where people mentioned that it would not fit their crank arm because of clearance – but wow; that’s close.Just like Wahoo’s website itself the box it comes in is slick and modern but not garish, each part packaged in plastic bags. Included is the sensor; with the battery installed, the gel-like rubber mount holder, zip ties, shoe mount holder, 3M double-sided tape, and a quick start guide and an important product info guide.You may notice that as soon as you take it out the little occasionally flashing blue light will come on, indicating that it has detected movement. Is the battery worn down a bit from all of the movement as it was shipped to me? Possibly, but unfortunately there’s no easy way for Wahoo to stick one of those little plastic pieces in between the battery contacts and the battery to keep it from discharging; as it needs to be waterproof. No way to do it without removing the battery for shipping. My advice is to just check your battery level in the Wahoo Fitness or Wahoo Utility app – more about the apps later.The included installation instructions were okay, pretty generic but really there’s not much that you need to figure out. But I decided to double-check the installation instructions on their website just for fun.Installation is one of three ways. Unfortunately I can’t review the first two methods as I did not try them, but I can go over them quickly and review the last way.Using the heavy-duty double-sided tape that is included, the sensor can be for attached directly to the crank arm. The tape is the good stuff. Yet… I’m not sure I can bring myself to trust it, despite a lot of good reviews by both road cyclists as well as MTB’ers. A lot of people use this method, lots, yet I decided to go with the zip tie option. But the double-sided tape course is probably the easiest and fastest way to attach it, you just have to make sure that your crank arm is clean and place the double-sided tape on it, stick the sensor to the other side of the tape, and give it a good squeeze and you’re all set.On a side note – while writing this blog entry I came up with a great re-purposing for the double-sided tape, rather than chucking the tape or keeping it in a drawer – my Cycleaware Reflex Bicycle Helmet Mirror needed new double-sided tape from when I transferred it to my new Giant Horizon Helmet. Rather than buying the manufacturer’s tape or a generic brand I used this tape from the Wahoo sensor; it worked great so I can attest to its strength even though I didn’t technically use the tape for it’s intended purpose.The second option for mounting is a plastic mount with holes for your shoe laces to go through, so that it can be mounted to a shoe or sneaker. You slide the sensor into the mount, lash it to your shoe laces and you’re done. Good option if you are going to use it on multiple bikes, or a bike trainer at the gym operhaps.The last method for mounting the cadence sensor is to use the small rubbery gel mount that the sensor just slips into, like a glove. It’s very secure, and the mount has a slot at either side for the included zip ties to go through. So you have two attachment points with this mount, which I like.Attaching it was simple, though as I mentioned above if your pedal crank is really, really close to any part of your bike when you are pedaling it may not clear it, I would guess that this would be very few bikes and the rubbery mount adds next to nothing to the thickness of the sensor. I’ve read a few reviews from people who had a problem with their crank arms being too close and had to return the sensor, you’ll need to do a quick check of the distance that your crank arm clears your frame at any place. This mounts on the non-gear crank arm, by the way.It’s very inconspicuous, yet if you want to see the colored indicator LED through the gel mount it’s pretty easy to (from the opposite side of the bike). In the daytime you can still see it, though of course you have to get fairly close if it’s in bright sunlight.Mounting was quick and easy, with a quick snipping of the zip tie ends. I may cut off and redo the zip ties a bit at some point but it is very inconspicuous.So one way or another you should be able to get it mount and work with pretty much any bike – road, mountain, hybrid, gravel, cyclocross, recumbent, etc; people even use it with spin bikes.Pairing to my Garmin Forerunner 620 was simple too, exactly the same as connecting any other sensor. The pedals have to be rotated a bit to wake the cadence sensor up, once you see the light come on you can stop rotating it. I then set up current cadence in one of the fields on the first data screen on the watch along with speed, heart rate, and distance. A secondary data screen that I can switch to shows lap cadence and average cadence. The accumulated data after a ride is downloaded by Garmin Express on your computer or phone, showing your cadence along with any other sensors and your stat.Again, setting it up was simple and quick on the Garmin Virb (see my Garmin Virb Review here) too, with the cadence screen showing up automatically once I scrolled to it on the dashboard. Once in use it shows a line graph, the amount of time as a reference, current RPM, highest RPM and average RPM. Just like the Forerunner, this data can be downloaded, exported, etc. Unfortunately the Virb only displays the data from one sensor at a time but the display of the data is more useful than the Forerunner in the form of the line graph.A simple pairing on the Wahoo Fitness app was equally as easy – in this case you use the app itself, not your phone’s Bluetooth pairing (make sure Bluetooth is turned on though). The real-time cadence display is a bit simpler on the Wahoo app but shows a line graph on the summary screen after you finish, again you can export or upload all of your data to the most popular fitness/biking logging websites through the app, as well as download raw data in various formats.Starting out for a ride requires the sensor to come out of sleep mode, which only takes a few seconds at which point it starts registering after that slight delay. Likely you won’t even notice this as rolling your bike out of the garage or moving it a bit is going to bring it out of sleep, but some devices make take a few additionally seconds to start logging the cadence in real-time display.Some reviewers have mentioned drop-outs and spikes and such but I see none of this, it seems to be consistent. And also accurate, when compared to manually counting my pedal revolutions while using a clock display. I saw no difference in RPM’s between my manual counting and the display, and both the Virb and the Garmin Forerunner show the same cadence. I don’t normally use the app for road biking but it seemed to also be the same when I did a quick test.While the cadence seemed to be accurate and consistent across all devices there is a lag between the actual physical cadence and the display of it on the various devices. From what I have read this is not uncommon for A) this device and B) other similar devices and watches, bike computers, what-have-you. Some don’t seem to have any delay, some may be a second or two, some may be a bit longer. I think the Wahoo Cadence Sensor works great, but this is one area where some people may find it annoying or something they wouldn’t use.Not for me though; even though I may sometimes train hard I’m not going to win any races nor expect to so my training and use of cadence doesn’t have to be exactly spot-on to the microsecond between actual cadence and displaying of it on whatever device I am using. And frankly – if you are watching it all the time you’re doing something wrong and you probably haven’t developed a good feel for keeping the consistent cadence that you should be maintaining anyway.With the Garmin Virb the lag for RPM update is around five seconds, with the Garmin Forerunner 620 it is around four to four and a half seconds. The Wahoo app is around the same range.The differences in lag times made me wonder if the lag is a combination of the sensor’s processing and transmitting of the data as well as the receiving device’s processing, logging, and display of the data? If it were just the Wahoo Cadence sensor’s lag it should be somewhat consistent across all devices, I would guess.Does the lag show up in the raw data or is it only in the real-time display on the devices I am using? A look back at the data after a few rides using a quick, totally down-and-dirty, visual comparison between cadence and speed while corresponding the data points to fairly level riding seems to show that the data logging itself is NOT lagging, just the real-time display of it on the devices. This, of course, is subjective without some really serious number crunching and heavy duty comparisons I believe.Moving on…some people have mentioned spikes and drop-outs in sensor data, but as yet I have not seen anything like that. Occasional spot-checks using the clock on my Virb, manual counting of my cadence, and a level section of road and comparing it to the cadence from the sensor by displaying it at the same time on my Forerunner seems to show good accuracy every time.Like all wireless devices there may be the possibility of interference in many forms, and possibly slight incompatibilities, bugs with certain devices, and things along those lines. I have not experienced any of these.One thing that could help solve any problems mentioned above, as well as being something that you should do anyway – is to make sure the firmware is updated. This goes for all of your devices and sensors too!With the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor you must use the Wahoo Utility app to do this. It’s pretty easy and fairly quick, make sure you turn your pedals a bit when the app starts up to wake the sensor. Both with the help of the Scosche RHYTHM Bluetooth Speed/Cadence Sensor (which I reviewed it in this post) on my trainer bike and the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor I’ve been able to increase my average cadence somewhat, to an average of just under 90 RPM (outside real-world cadence), and am still working on it.One of the interesting things is comparing cadence while indoor biking on a trainer to cadence while outdoor biking. Outside I coast and take micro-breaks in my pedaling as well as decrease cadence a bit going up hills, stop for this or that thing, etc – inside not really yet I am burning comparable amounts of calories over the same time period while doing each. I believe that this is fairly typical of indoor trainer riding versus outdoor real-world riding – you tend to not take any of those ‘normal’ resting periods, coasts, and slightly lower cadences that you would get while on hills, fighting the wind, and other real-world differences.It’s certainly been a worthwhile purchase for sure, and very useful (and very unobtrusive) addition to my cycling.So summing it up about the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor – for me it works great, and for the price it is a great addition for my bike training. I have had absolutely no problems or issues with the sensor so far, and while I would like the real-time display to have perhaps slightly less lag it is really a non-issue for me. For the price, and for how well it works and what it does I don’t think it can be beat – unless perhaps you are a pro.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2016
Style: Speed and Cadence SensorVerified Purchase
18 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2017
Style: Cadence SensorVerified Purchase
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5.0 out of 5 stars but I like to improve my biking (as well as running
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2017
This is a review for just the cadence sensor.

I don’t do a huge amount of super-intense high performance training, but I like to improve my biking (as well as running, weight-lifting, and everything else) here and there with as much training as possible (while still enjoying the hell out of my rides – something I couldn’t do if I was thinking about just training all the time).

One big way to increase performance is to increase cadence – the RPM’s of your pedal strokes.

So, thanks to adding it to my Amazon wish list at Xmas time and my beautiful wife – I went with the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor.

I like the Scosche RHYTHM Bluetooth Speed/Cadence Sensor fairly well that I have on my training bike indoors, it’s not the absolute best but it does the job. I don’t particularly like how it looks on the bike, how it could be prone to getting knocked while riding outside, and it is both the speed and cadence sensor and for my outdoor use I only really needed the cadence sensor part as my watch has GPS for general distance and speed.

So after a bunch of research I decided on the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor.

You will similar find clones out there, some cheaper and some with less ability to connect to other devices, less compatibility perhaps, and you will also find other sensors for cadence/speed that are bulkier and more visible/in the way (like the Scosche RHYTHM speed/cadence sensor).

One of the reasons I bought this was I had a little experience with the Wahoo Speed Sensor, which I had bought for my wife’s bike. It is similar visually, but attached to the hub instead of the crank arm of course. And it seems to work excellently. I also regularly use their Wahoo Fitness app (which works great with other sensors of all kinds) and they do sell both the Wahoo Speed and Cadence/RPM sensor together as a package, the preceding links also will show the sensor set with the bike computer option, as well as the heart rate monitor option.

And of course it gets generally good reviews.

The Wahoo sensor is a small module-like sensor that has both Bluetooth and ANT+ and attaches to the crank. There’s no magnet, unlike some of the old style cadence sensors and this one is JUST for cadence (see my links above if you are looking for speed also). Like your smartphone’s motion detection; this uses a gyroscopic sort of chip and likely accelerometers.

It’s small, unobtrusive, made of matte-black plastic, waterproof (IPX7 – waterproof to about five feet), compatible with most anything that will accept ANT+ or Bluetooth 4.0 signals (it’s so-called low energy Bluetooth) – most biking phone apps (Android or iPhone), bike computers, watches, etc. The battery lasts a long time, the company says a year, and is a replaceable, standard coin cell type CR2032 battery (no having to recharge it all the time) so you don’t need to buy anything special. And the device has a one year warranty.

For the bike weight weenies out there it weighs in around 7 ounces and is only about an inch and quarter wide and an inch tall, and three-quarters of an inch thick. So it’s thin enough to fit on pretty much any bike. If your crank arm is closer than that – well, I guess you’re out of luck for mounting it to the crank arm but you instead can attach it to your sneaker (more about this later). I have seen a few reviews where people mentioned that it would not fit their crank arm because of clearance – but wow; that’s close.

Just like Wahoo’s website itself the box it comes in is slick and modern but not garish, each part packaged in plastic bags. Included is the sensor; with the battery installed, the gel-like rubber mount holder, zip ties, shoe mount holder, 3M double-sided tape, and a quick start guide and an important product info guide.

You may notice that as soon as you take it out the little occasionally flashing blue light will come on, indicating that it has detected movement. Is the battery worn down a bit from all of the movement as it was shipped to me? Possibly, but unfortunately there’s no easy way for Wahoo to stick one of those little plastic pieces in between the battery contacts and the battery to keep it from discharging; as it needs to be waterproof. No way to do it without removing the battery for shipping. My advice is to just check your battery level in the Wahoo Fitness or Wahoo Utility app – more about the apps later.

The included installation instructions were okay, pretty generic but really there’s not much that you need to figure out. But I decided to double-check the installation instructions on their website just for fun.

Installation is one of three ways. Unfortunately I can’t review the first two methods as I did not try them, but I can go over them quickly and review the last way.

Using the heavy-duty double-sided tape that is included, the sensor can be for attached directly to the crank arm. The tape is the good stuff. Yet… I’m not sure I can bring myself to trust it, despite a lot of good reviews by both road cyclists as well as MTB’ers. A lot of people use this method, lots, yet I decided to go with the zip tie option. But the double-sided tape course is probably the easiest and fastest way to attach it, you just have to make sure that your crank arm is clean and place the double-sided tape on it, stick the sensor to the other side of the tape, and give it a good squeeze and you’re all set.

On a side note – while writing this blog entry I came up with a great re-purposing for the double-sided tape, rather than chucking the tape or keeping it in a drawer – my Cycleaware Reflex Bicycle Helmet Mirror needed new double-sided tape from when I transferred it to my new Giant Horizon Helmet. Rather than buying the manufacturer’s tape or a generic brand I used this tape from the Wahoo sensor; it worked great so I can attest to its strength even though I didn’t technically use the tape for it’s intended purpose.

The second option for mounting is a plastic mount with holes for your shoe laces to go through, so that it can be mounted to a shoe or sneaker. You slide the sensor into the mount, lash it to your shoe laces and you’re done. Good option if you are going to use it on multiple bikes, or a bike trainer at the gym operhaps.

The last method for mounting the cadence sensor is to use the small rubbery gel mount that the sensor just slips into, like a glove. It’s very secure, and the mount has a slot at either side for the included zip ties to go through. So you have two attachment points with this mount, which I like.

Attaching it was simple, though as I mentioned above if your pedal crank is really, really close to any part of your bike when you are pedaling it may not clear it, I would guess that this would be very few bikes and the rubbery mount adds next to nothing to the thickness of the sensor. I’ve read a few reviews from people who had a problem with their crank arms being too close and had to return the sensor, you’ll need to do a quick check of the distance that your crank arm clears your frame at any place. This mounts on the non-gear crank arm, by the way.

It’s very inconspicuous, yet if you want to see the colored indicator LED through the gel mount it’s pretty easy to (from the opposite side of the bike). In the daytime you can still see it, though of course you have to get fairly close if it’s in bright sunlight.

Mounting was quick and easy, with a quick snipping of the zip tie ends. I may cut off and redo the zip ties a bit at some point but it is very inconspicuous.

So one way or another you should be able to get it mount and work with pretty much any bike – road, mountain, hybrid, gravel, cyclocross, recumbent, etc; people even use it with spin bikes.

Pairing to my Garmin Forerunner 620 was simple too, exactly the same as connecting any other sensor. The pedals have to be rotated a bit to wake the cadence sensor up, once you see the light come on you can stop rotating it. I then set up current cadence in one of the fields on the first data screen on the watch along with speed, heart rate, and distance. A secondary data screen that I can switch to shows lap cadence and average cadence. The accumulated data after a ride is downloaded by Garmin Express on your computer or phone, showing your cadence along with any other sensors and your stat.

Again, setting it up was simple and quick on the Garmin Virb (see my Garmin Virb Review here) too, with the cadence screen showing up automatically once I scrolled to it on the dashboard. Once in use it shows a line graph, the amount of time as a reference, current RPM, highest RPM and average RPM. Just like the Forerunner, this data can be downloaded, exported, etc. Unfortunately the Virb only displays the data from one sensor at a time but the display of the data is more useful than the Forerunner in the form of the line graph.

A simple pairing on the Wahoo Fitness app was equally as easy – in this case you use the app itself, not your phone’s Bluetooth pairing (make sure Bluetooth is turned on though). The real-time cadence display is a bit simpler on the Wahoo app but shows a line graph on the summary screen after you finish, again you can export or upload all of your data to the most popular fitness/biking logging websites through the app, as well as download raw data in various formats.

Starting out for a ride requires the sensor to come out of sleep mode, which only takes a few seconds at which point it starts registering after that slight delay. Likely you won’t even notice this as rolling your bike out of the garage or moving it a bit is going to bring it out of sleep, but some devices make take a few additionally seconds to start logging the cadence in real-time display.

Some reviewers have mentioned drop-outs and spikes and such but I see none of this, it seems to be consistent. And also accurate, when compared to manually counting my pedal revolutions while using a clock display. I saw no difference in RPM’s between my manual counting and the display, and both the Virb and the Garmin Forerunner show the same cadence. I don’t normally use the app for road biking but it seemed to also be the same when I did a quick test.

While the cadence seemed to be accurate and consistent across all devices there is a lag between the actual physical cadence and the display of it on the various devices. From what I have read this is not uncommon for A) this device and B) other similar devices and watches, bike computers, what-have-you. Some don’t seem to have any delay, some may be a second or two, some may be a bit longer. I think the Wahoo Cadence Sensor works great, but this is one area where some people may find it annoying or something they wouldn’t use.

Not for me though; even though I may sometimes train hard I’m not going to win any races nor expect to so my training and use of cadence doesn’t have to be exactly spot-on to the microsecond between actual cadence and displaying of it on whatever device I am using. And frankly – if you are watching it all the time you’re doing something wrong and you probably haven’t developed a good feel for keeping the consistent cadence that you should be maintaining anyway.

With the Garmin Virb the lag for RPM update is around five seconds, with the Garmin Forerunner 620 it is around four to four and a half seconds. The Wahoo app is around the same range.

The differences in lag times made me wonder if the lag is a combination of the sensor’s processing and transmitting of the data as well as the receiving device’s processing, logging, and display of the data? If it were just the Wahoo Cadence sensor’s lag it should be somewhat consistent across all devices, I would guess.

Does the lag show up in the raw data or is it only in the real-time display on the devices I am using? A look back at the data after a few rides using a quick, totally down-and-dirty, visual comparison between cadence and speed while corresponding the data points to fairly level riding seems to show that the data logging itself is NOT lagging, just the real-time display of it on the devices. This, of course, is subjective without some really serious number crunching and heavy duty comparisons I believe.

Moving on…some people have mentioned spikes and drop-outs in sensor data, but as yet I have not seen anything like that. Occasional spot-checks using the clock on my Virb, manual counting of my cadence, and a level section of road and comparing it to the cadence from the sensor by displaying it at the same time on my Forerunner seems to show good accuracy every time.

Like all wireless devices there may be the possibility of interference in many forms, and possibly slight incompatibilities, bugs with certain devices, and things along those lines. I have not experienced any of these.

One thing that could help solve any problems mentioned above, as well as being something that you should do anyway – is to make sure the firmware is updated. This goes for all of your devices and sensors too!

With the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor you must use the Wahoo Utility app to do this. It’s pretty easy and fairly quick, make sure you turn your pedals a bit when the app starts up to wake the sensor.

Both with the help of the Scosche RHYTHM Bluetooth Speed/Cadence Sensor (which I reviewed it in this post) on my trainer bike and the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor I’ve been able to increase my average cadence somewhat, to an average of just under 90 RPM (outside real-world cadence), and am still working on it.

One of the interesting things is comparing cadence while indoor biking on a trainer to cadence while outdoor biking. Outside I coast and take micro-breaks in my pedaling as well as decrease cadence a bit going up hills, stop for this or that thing, etc – inside not really yet I am burning comparable amounts of calories over the same time period while doing each. I believe that this is fairly typical of indoor trainer riding versus outdoor real-world riding – you tend to not take any of those ‘normal’ resting periods, coasts, and slightly lower cadences that you would get while on hills, fighting the wind, and other real-world differences.

It’s certainly been a worthwhile purchase for sure, and very useful (and very unobtrusive) addition to my cycling.

So summing it up about the Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor – for me it works great, and for the price it is a great addition for my bike training. I have had absolutely no problems or issues with the sensor so far, and while I would like the real-time display to have perhaps slightly less lag it is really a non-issue for me. For the price, and for how well it works and what it does I don’t think it can be beat – unless perhaps you are a pro.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024
Style: Cadence SensorVerified Purchase
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5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed…
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024
I bought this for my Schwinn IC4 Spin bike. A GREAT spin bike by the way. Instead of buying a Peleton that limits what apps you can use to train, I bought the Schwinn and a refurbished iPad from Apple.
I’ve been training using both the ZWIFT app and Apple Fitness's Spin classes.
The only bummer about this spin bike is the cadence (RPM) readout only gives you a “range” and not a specific RPM measurement. The spin classes I do instruct a specific target cadence so I wanted something to narrow that down for me with this spin bike.
I Google spin bike cadence devices and the Wahoo was one of the top rated. It was only $30 or so that made it low risk.
It works great!
You download the free app. Synch the device to the app. Then attach the one device to your shoe or one of the bikes crank arms.
They give you a piece of double stick tape, zip ties and a bracket to hold the device to your crank arm, and another gizmo to attach the device to your shoe.
Since it has a 2032 battery that I have no idea how long it will last, I chose to mount it to my crank arm using a small velcro patch. That way I can pop it off real easy if/when the battery needs replacing.
It works great. I put my phone on top of my iPad and once I start cranking away the cadence shows up. I don’t have to resynch or anything, the readout on the app populates immediately.
I was hoping to also be able to open the Wahoo app on my Apple watch but apparently that is not an option. No biggie…
Two thumbs up!
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Big E
5.0 out of 5 stars It just works!
Reviewed in Canada on April 21, 2023
Style: Cadence SensorVerified Purchase
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