Smart trainer control: Wahoo KICKR, Tacx, Elite, Zwift Hub — ERG, resistance and real gradient
Domestique Hub controls a smart trainer from your phone, tablet or computer: ERG mode at your target watts, a fixed resistance level, or the real gradient of a 3D road. It speaks the two languages trainers use — the open FTMS standard that most current trainers support, and Tacx's FE-C over Bluetooth.
Which trainers work
- FTMS trainers. FTMS (Fitness Machine Service) is the Bluetooth standard for smart trainers, and most trainers sold in the last few years speak it — current Wahoo KICKR, Elite, Saris, JetBlack and Zwift Hub models among them, and Tacx trainers on recent firmware. The app reads which modes your trainer supports and offers only those.
- Tacx over FE-C. Tacx trainers and smart bikes also speak ANT+ FE-C carried over Bluetooth, and the app drives that directly — target power, resistance, the road's gradient and rolling resistance, and your rider and bike weight. This is what we ride on every week: a Tacx NEO Bike.
- Power-only trainers still work as a power, speed and cadence source, without control.
You do not have to know which one you have. The app tries FTMS first and falls back to FE-C on its own, and if a device you paired as a power meter turns out to be a controllable Tacx, it is adopted as the trainer.
Three ways to ride
- ERG — the trainer holds your target watts whatever your cadence. Every structured session in the library rides this way, at your FTP — and you can copy any session and make it yours.
- Resistance — a fixed level you choose.
- Road — the gradient of the road you are on, sent to the trainer as you reach it, on real climbs in 3D like the Stelvio, with the rest of your club on the same road.
Control that holds
Trainer control belongs to one Bluetooth connection, and connections drop. The app re-sends its commands so the trainer never quietly lets go, and after any reconnect it takes control again by itself — you do not lose ERG halfway through an interval because the link blinked.
Treadmills too
FTMS also covers treadmills. Pair one and the app reads its speed — and heart rate and power where the machine reports them — for an indoor run, as it does a belt-speed sensor like the NPE Runn.
Phone, tablet or computer
Both protocols work in the iPhone and Android apps. In a desktop browser (Chrome or Edge) FTMS trainers work over Web Bluetooth; Tacx's FE-C needs the app. Safari has no Bluetooth at all.
See every device the app connects to in the full list.
Questions riders ask
- Does Domestique Hub work with a Wahoo KICKR?
- Current KICKR models speak FTMS, the Bluetooth smart-trainer standard the app controls: ERG, resistance and simulated gradient.
- Does it work with Tacx trainers?
- Yes. Tacx trainers and smart bikes are controlled over FE-C carried over Bluetooth — target power, resistance, gradient and rider weight — and over FTMS on recent firmware. We ride a Tacx NEO Bike every week.
- Can I ride the real gradient of a climb?
- Yes. On the 3D roads the gradient of the road is sent to the trainer as you reach it.
- Does it work in a browser?
- FTMS trainers work in Chrome or Edge on a computer. Tacx FE-C needs the iPhone or Android app.
