Cado needs no setup — but it does need a home that moves with your legs. Most riders already own the perfect one: an ordinary pocket. Nothing to buy, nothing to strap on.
A front pocket puts the phone at your thigh, where it moves with every pedal stroke. Loose is fine — the signal is strong from any pocket that rides on your leg.
The fallback when nothing sits at your thigh. It reads your pedalling through your trunk rather than your leg, so the signal is weaker — and it needs a phone with a gyroscope. Many budget phones don't have one; on those, stick to a pocket, strap or sock at your leg. If you ride this way, we're expecting your feedback.
Leggings or gym wear with no pocket anywhere? Slide the phone inside a long sock, against your calf. It sounds daft and it works beautifully — the calf turns with the pedals, and the phone can't fall out.
Where it won't work: anywhere that doesn't move with your body. A backpack, a basket, a bar mount — Cado hears road buzz there, not pedalling, and will honestly tell you it has no signal.
Turn the volume up. Earbuds are nicest in traffic, but the speaker works fine from a pocket.
Keep the target at 90 rpm or step it to yours — or tap Just tell me my cadence to skip coaching and simply hear your rpm.
Tap the ring. Cado says: “Now lock your phone, put it in your shorts pocket, and ride!” — do exactly that.
“Great! You're on target. I'll keep monitoring and let you know if anything changes.”
“84 — pedal faster.” then, when you're back: “On target.”
Nothing. Silence in the band means you're doing it right; silence while coasting means Cado has nothing to report. It never invents a number.
“Ending the ride in 15 seconds. Pedal to keep riding.”
“Ride ended. 42 minutes, median 88 rpm.”
Callouts briefly duck your music, then hand it back. A phone call simply interrupts the next callout — nothing to manage.
The phone is in a pocket, so the lock screen is the display: current rpm, state, elapsed, and Stop. No unlocking mid-ride.
If the state stays at ACQUIRING for more than a minute of steady pedalling, the phone probably isn't moving with you. Move it from a flapping jacket pocket to a trouser pocket — or a long sock.
Still nothing? That's exactly the ride we want to hear about. Share the ride log from the summary screen and send it with your feedback — your phone and pocket become a test the engine has to pass from then on.