Garmin Venu vs Fitbit Versa 3 for spinning

taffyapple87
taffyapple87 Posts: 18 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My birthday is coming and my parents have decided to replace my Charge 2 which is starting to have problems mostly with tracking HR during spinning.

The choice is currently between the Garmin Venu or the Fitbit Versa 3. Either will be overkill for me as due to some mental health concerns, I do not go outside much and my main form of exercise is spin class via a 'peloton hack' set up. I'm hoping when my mental health improves, I'll be able to make more use of the bells and whistles of either watch.

I'm interested to know if anyone uses either of these for spinning and how decently they cope with it. Or an opinion which watch might be more suitable for me.

Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Garmin hands down.
  • PepeLPew
    PepeLPew Posts: 92 Member
    I have a Versa 2 but I don't find it as accurate as a heartrate monitor strapped to my chest. 100$ and it gives me a way more accurate calorie burn estimate for my daily spin classes.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,944 Member
    Have a look at the website of DC Rainmaker. There's a good chance that he tested both devices on a stationary bike at some time. Then decide what appeals most to you. Me, I seem to be a Garmin girl, but that's very individual of course. One of the reasons is a lot nicer data (opinions differ), much lower and more realistic calories (different for everyone), and it's not owned by google whom I don't trust with my data even less than Garmin.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If your "peloton hack" set up has a power meter you would be able to link it to the Garmin.
    You could also presumably link a chest strap HR pickup if it's using a wrist pickup that is problematic.
  • taffyapple87
    taffyapple87 Posts: 18 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    If your "peloton hack" set up has a power meter you would be able to link it to the Garmin.

    I do have a Wahoo cadence tracker as it was the one thing the on-board computer didn't show.

    If I linked it would it mean I can see the cadence on my watch as I go? That would be a huge advantage as the Wahoo will not link to Peloton on Android. I currently need to use the Wahoo app on my phone while class is on my TV.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited May 2021
    taffyapple87 wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    If your "peloton hack" set up has a power meter you would be able to link it to the Garmin.

    I do have a Wahoo cadence tracker as it was the one thing the on-board computer didn't show.

    If I linked it would it mean I can see the cadence on my watch as I go? That would be a huge advantage as the Wahoo will not link to Peloton on Android. I currently need to use the Wahoo app on my phone while class is on my TV.

    Cadence is counting the revolutions of the pedals (and your legs!), it isn't measuring the power produced from turning the pedals that speed - which would be displayed as watts.
    A power meter actually measures your power output. Which is a valuable training aid (it tells you what you are actually doing rather than what you are feeling) and it's also a far superior way of estimating calorie burns compared to HR which is hugely variable and for indoor cycling in particular is very influenced by how hot you get.

    I don't see why you couldn't link your cadence counter to the watch via ANT+, I use a mixture of Wahoo speed, cadence and HR units with my Garmin bike computer. Maybe the number of fields on display would be an issue?

  • taffyapple87
    taffyapple87 Posts: 18 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    A power meter actually measures your power output. Which is a valuable training aid (it tells you what you are actually doing rather than what you are feeling) and it's also a far superior way of estimating calorie burns compared to HR which is hugely variable and for indoor cycling in particular is very influenced by how hot you get.

    This is really helpful to know. I believe one of the things my onboard computer tracks is power but I will need to check - it's not that helpful of a display at times. Otherwise, I could look at it at my next upgrade.

    I'm still getting used to spin class at home if you cannot tell. I used to do spin class at the gym but there my focus was not making a fool of myself in front of 30 odd people.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    taffyapple87 wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    If your "peloton hack" set up has a power meter you would be able to link it to the Garmin.

    I do have a Wahoo cadence tracker as it was the one thing the on-board computer didn't show.

    If I linked it would it mean I can see the cadence on my watch as I go? That would be a huge advantage as the Wahoo will not link to Peloton on Android. I currently need to use the Wahoo app on my phone while class is on my TV.

    Garmin is a bike company (among other things). They make pedals, safety radar, lights, and gps computers specifically for bikes. They have a lot of knowledge and experience, and work with sensors like cadence and others.

    What @sijomial mentioned is like cadence on steroids. Cadence is how fast you turn the pedals, a power meter also measures the torque (how hard you push). Many Garmin watches can show you your power and give you clever insight into it, as well as nail your calorie use down to a maximum error of +/- 2.5%.

    But even without that, Garmin is the clear choice over Fitbit for anything having to do with cycling, running, hiking, or quality of data.
  • taffyapple87
    taffyapple87 Posts: 18 Member
    Thank you everyone for the comments.

    Linking my bike sensors to the Garmin really sold it to both my parents and me. So, that's what we are going with. There is a mild inconvenience with jumping ship from Fitbit which I forgot about - my Fitbit Aria. But I can work around that given the benefits of the Venu.

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