Get More Data From Your Schwinn Exercise Bike

Data collection is a fantastic way to get more from your exercise. If you’re lifting weights, then counting reps is critical for monitoring progress and gaining the motivation to push just a little bit further. You can do that easily by taking notes, but other forms of exercise are more difficult to quantify. Cycling on an exercise bike is a good example. If you only track time spent cycling, that doesn’t give you the full picture — the speed and resistance also matter. To get the most out of his cycling time, Andrew Klaus developed the BikeCU data collection device for Schwinn exercise bikes.

Like most modern exercise bikes, Klaus’s Schwinn IC4 provides some usage data. It displays RPM, elapsed time, estimate calories burned, speed, distance, level (resistance), and the rider’s pulse. But that really isn’t enough for a comprehensive overview of the efficacy of a cycling session. The “calories” metric might be, if it were accurate — but it is only a rough estimate.

Klaus needed more data. The most important metric is total power exerted (in watts). That takes into account time, speed, and resistance. It lets Klaus make objective comparisons between sessions. Klaus also wanted some other information, such as the maximum heart rate reached during a session.

BikeCU collects all of that information and displays it on a 1.77” TFT LCD just above the Schwinn’s built-in screen, mounted in a 3D-printed enclosure. It gathers that information by connecting to the ESP32 to the Schwinn’s BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) interface, which provides raw data. Klaus designed this for the Schwinn IC4, but it may work with other exercise bikes that have similar BLE features.

The best part is that BikeCU can export its data in the TCX format. Users can import that into their own databases, or into services or apps. It will, for instance, work in both Runalyze and Strava. That’s a very handy feature, because it makes it easy to track long-term progress and improvement. Cyclists can even compare their indoor exercise to what they do out in the real world on the road.

If you want to take advantage of BikeCU, all of the files and code are available on the GitHub page.