Do I need a Speed Sensor and Cadence Sensor?

As I am prepping my bike for outdoor season, here is my setup
Garmin 1030 Plus, Garmin Power Meter Pedal, Garmin HRM, Wahoo Cadence, Wahoo Speed Sensor.

In this setup, are the Cadence Sensor and Speed Sensor needed? It looks like the Power Meter also transmits cadence, and the 1030 can record speed based on GPS.

Nope. You’re power meter captures cadence if you specifically want it, but you don’t even need it. The GPS will capture speed unless you are deep in the woods or tunnels all the time. Only then IMHO would you maybe consider a speed sensor. I don’t regularly ride in woods too deep for GPS or tunnels often so I just use my garmin gps.

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You will need a speed sensor if you mountain bike or maybe even gravel. My distance and also average speed was down without it due to the Wahoo elemnt pausing due to losing GPS signal resulting in about 10% less distance. I guess it depends on where you ride and tree coverage.

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I’ve heard the wahoos are bad for that but I’ve had no problem with the Garmin 1030 (I think my mate switched to the OPs better 1030+ for that reason). The deepest I’ve went is Thetford Forrest and woods in Scotland and East England. If the OP is not going too deep with his 1030+ he doesn’t need it. Given the mud I wouldn’t want a hub mounted sensor exposed to it or a stay mounted sensor to catch things also anyway :joy:

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GPS readings can be laggy, given sampling rate and coverage gaps. Having a speed sensor will give you more consistent and responsive readings.

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Hey all, thanks for the feedback. From what I gather, cadence sensor is not needed, but a speed sensor may be useful in certain circumstances.

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To a degree yes and moreso I believe with the Wahoo but as I said its no problem on the 1030 with the tree cover I have round here. The OP doesn’t desperately need it.

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You do not need a cadence sensor, your power meter has one built in.

However, a speed sensor is useful, especially if you go offroading or ride in areas with poor GPS signal. Or if you ride through a longer tunnel. As far as I understand bike computers will take the speed sensor into account even when you have a GPS signal. I’d keep it.

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Use a speed sensor. You can cheat on wheel size when setting it up, and then go much faster.

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That thought has crossed my mind many times after yet another disappointing long ride :rofl:

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I think the Garmin’s are supposed to correct any ‘error’ in the imputed wheel size based on an uninterrupted run of good clear gps signal. Nice thought though :joy: