Smart trainers a Garmin head unit can control
31 of the 33 trainers in our database speak ANT+ FE-C — the open profile a Garmin Edge uses to set resistance, not just read it. Plain ANT+ is a different thing: it broadcasts power outwards and accepts nothing back, so a trainer listing only ANT+ can be displayed on a head unit but never driven by one. Two trainers here carry no ANT+ radio at all, which puts a Garmin out of the picture whatever else they support: the Van Rysel D100 and the Elite Rivo. A further 7 have Wi-Fi, which reaches the app with no phone, bridge or dongle in between.
Broadcasting is not controlling
Two entries in a spec sheet look almost identical and do opposite jobs. ANT+ sends numbers out — power, cadence, speed — so a watch or head unit can record the ride. ANT+ FE-C is the control channel: it lets the other device tell the trainer what resistance to apply. Everything a rider actually wants from a smart trainer sits on the second one — a Garmin driving a structured workout, a course changing gradient under you, ERG holding a watt target while you shift. A trainer with ANT+ and no FE-C will show up on your Edge and ignore every instruction it sends. Bluetooth has its own control profile and some trainers use it instead; our records do not yet capture which, so what this page settles is the ANT+ side, which is the side a Garmin uses.
The trainers without ANT+ FE-C
2 of the 33 have no ANT+ FE-C in their record. Where the omission is verified against a source the table says so outright; where it is not, it says unverified rather than guessing — a missing radio and a missing row look identical in a spec list:
| Trainer | Radios recorded | Garmin can control it |
|---|---|---|
| Van Rysel D100 | Bluetooth | No — no ANT+ radio |
| Elite Rivo | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | No — no ANT+ radio |
What this means for ERG mode
ERG holds a target wattage regardless of your gear or cadence, which means something outside the trainer is continuously setting resistance. That requires a control channel, so a trainer that only broadcasts cannot do it over ANT+ at all. The bound after that is physical rather than digital: the trainer cannot hold a target it cannot produce, and it will hold it only as closely as its power measurement allows. Both numbers are on each trainer page, and they vary more than the marketing suggests — power accuracy across the database runs from ±1% to ±5%, a fivefold spread.
Wi-Fi: the newer answer
7 trainers have a Wi-Fi radio. This sidesteps the question rather than answering it: instead of a protocol between the trainer and a nearby device, the trainer joins your network and talks to the app directly, with no phone acting as a bridge and no dongle on the computer. It is more reliable over distance and it is why some newer trainers feel comfortable shipping without ANT+ at all. It also does nothing for a head unit on the handlebars, which is still an ANT+ device.
Wahoo KICKR CORE 2, Wahoo KICKR V6 (2022), Wahoo KICKR MOVE, Elite Justo 2, Elite Avanti, Elite Rivo, JetBlack Victory