FTMS Biking

What FTMS Biking Does

The FTMS Biking datafield lets your Garmin device talk directly to FTMS-compatible indoor bikes over Bluetooth. During your workout, it reads metrics like speed, power, cadence, and distance from the bike and logs them into your activity so you can review everything later in Garmin Connect.

FTMS Biking runs as a datafield screen inside Garmin’s built-in activities (such as Bike Indoor), not as a standalone app. If you’re new to datafields, the setup guide below will walk you through it.

Free Trial & Unlock Model

You can use FTMS Biking in a free trial mode, limited to the first 10 minutes of each activity. During the trial window:

• All features are active, including Dynamic Training Profiles
• You can confirm your bike is compatible and metrics are recording correctly

To remove the time limit and record full sessions, you can unlock the app via an annual subscription processed securely through Gumroad. Details and pricing are explained on the Purchase & Unlock page.

Prefer a one-time purchase instead of a subscription? Consider FTMS All Sync, which supports all trainer types in a single app.

How It Looks on Your Watch

FTMS Biking provides a full-screen data page showing up to six metrics at once, plus support for Dynamic Training Profiles (intervals, hills, etc.).

Note: Exact layouts and available metrics depend on your bike and device model.

Smart Trainer Metrics

These metrics are read directly from your FTMS-compatible bike (when supported by your trainer) and recorded into the activity file:

• Instant Speed
• Average Speed
• Peak Speed
• Instant Power
• Average Power
• Peak Power
• Instant Cadence
• Average Cadence
• Total Distance
• Average Pace
• Lap Pace
• Calories
• Resistance Level
• Elapsed Time

Garmin Device Metrics

These values come from your Garmin watch itself (for example, wrist-based heart rate and device sensors) and can be shown alongside bike data:

• Heart Rate
• Average Heart Rate
• Max Heart Rate
• Energy Expenditure (Cal/min)
• Clock Time

All of these are stored in your activity, so you can review them later on the Stats and Charts pages in Garmin Connect or in compatible third-party platforms.

Compatibility Notes

FTMS Biking is designed for bikes that support the standard FTMS Bluetooth profile. In many product descriptions this may be listed as:

• “FTMS”
• “Bluetooth Smart Trainer”
• “BLE FTMS support”

Some commercial or gym bikes use proprietary Bluetooth protocols and may not be detected by the app. If your bike isn’t being found, check the FAQ & Troubleshooting page for steps to verify FTMS support and test using the BleScan tool.