Indoor Bike Improvement #1 - Multiple Displays

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 I have been riding a Stages SB20 Smart Bike for 3 years. I've made some improvements. Here they are.

1 of 10 - Multiple Displays 



1. The SB20 bike comes with a spring loaded holder for single phone or tablet. The problem is: this bike needs a separate screen for showing the virtual bike gear. As a life-long bike sprinter, I know that picking the correct gear for a final sprint is critical. As such, I decided on a dedicated screen for gear display along side the app primary app like Zwift.

2. I built this dual-display rack from aluminum c-channel bars available from any Home Depot.  It snaps in to the built-in holder and holds a pair of iPads.  Each piece is cut, filed and polished by hand. Rubber weather stripping inside each channel provided cushioning.



3. The aluminum pieces are notched so they fit the SB20 holder. An additional aluminium bar is added to between the displays

4. The SB20's spring clip was modified to snap into the upper c-channel. This makes it easier to assemble the frame while keeping things snug during hard efforts. 

5. I also built a Garmin computer holder from the same aluminum stock used with the display frame.  It press fits into the SB20 handle bar clamp.  It does not interfere with the clamp when it's used in the "inverted" or low handlebar position.

6.  The left display is a 5th generation iPad.  It runs the Stage Cycling app for gear display.  The right display is 9th generation iPad.  It runs Zwift with surprisingly good graphics.  I also use it to run TrainerDay.com and other sims like MyWhoosh.  In all cases, I use a Garmin computer to record each workout.

Stages Cycling App - Why use the Devices > Data page?

Newer versions of the Stages Cycling app have a Run page that shows a power graph and some additional data. I use the Devices > Data instead.  It has a full screen gear display.  It also doesn't let the iPad go to sleep like the Run page can do.  Best of all, there are no "start/save/confirm/are you sure you want to stop?" prompts to deal with when shutting down. 

UPDATE: May 2024 - I wrote my own gear display app.  Check out GearView.online

Why use a Garmin Computer?

I like having a standard data workflow for all bike rides, indoors and out, winter and summer. A Garmin computer lets me record warm-up, main event and cool down segments in a single .tcx file that I store for free on connect.garmin.com. It also saves pedalling dynamics data this removed by many apps like Zwift, 




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