issues with my wahoo kicker

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

I have the trainer set up using erg mode. At the moment I’m riding with no hands on the bars due to an operation.
So I’m riding a lovely course at around 38 kph and cadence around 90, It feels very realistic until I come to a long steep hill. I have no chance getting up that hill unless I change gears, but I’m told you don’t change in erg mode. I don’t understand how can I keep up a fast cadence if the machine increases the pressure 🤷‍♂️ I have it set to 100% but why wouldn’t i as I don’t want it to easy, especially on the flat roads. It seams the pressure is unrealistic, as I wouldn’t put more than twice the pressure in real life uphill and keeping a fast cadence. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Dogtrousers]

I could have this totally wrong, but a simulation that involves hills isn't something you'd use for erg mode.

If there's a (simulated) hill, then the trainer will set the resistance to simulate (say) a 10% incline and you need to change gear to maintain your cadence.

If, on the other hand, you have a workout with power targets, that's when you'd use erg mode. If you enter a section with a high power target the trainer will make sure that's what you power do and adjust the resistance according to your cadence so that you maintain that power.

As I understand it Erg mode needs to have a target power output. If you have a hill you don't have a target power output you have a fixed target resistance.

But I could be wrong. And if I am people will no doubt tell me.

 

[Legs]

I have the trainer set up using erg mode. At the moment I’m riding with no hands on the bars due to an operation.
So I’m riding a lovely course at around 38 kph and cadence around 90, It feels very realistic until I come to a long steep hill. I have no chance getting up that hill unless I change gears, but I’m told you don’t change in erg mode. I don’t understand how can I keep up a fast cadence if the machine increases the pressure 🤷‍♂️ I have it set to 100% but why wouldn’t i as I don’t want it to easy, especially on the flat roads. It seams the pressure is unrealistic, as I wouldn’t put more than twice the pressure in real life uphill and keeping a fast cadence. 🤷‍♂️

It sounds as if you're not in erg mode. When you're in erg mode, you can close your eyes and you would not know what the terrain is doing, because the trainer regulates the resistance only in accordance with your cadence to match a certain power. The trainer should not be raising the resistance/force/torque unless you drop your cadence.

The only difference that 'hills' should make, when you're using erg mode, should be that your avatar moves slower through the virtual landscape.

Trainer difficulty only comes into effect if you're using simulation mode (as opposed to erg mode). TD doesn't actually change how many watts your body has to put out to achieve a given result. Running TD at 100% only really means that you'll have to change gear more often than someone running a lower TD (yeah, I know, it's a bit of an oversimplification). I use TD of about 30% so that I can feel the hills a bit but don't spend all my time trying to find the right gear for my cadence.

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

It sounds as if you're not in erg mode. When you're in erg mode, you can close your eyes and you would not know what the terrain is doing, because the trainer regulates the resistance only in accordance with your cadence to match a certain power. The trainer should not be raising the resistance/force/torque unless you drop your cadence.

The only difference that 'hills' should make, when you're using erg mode, should be that your avatar moves slower through the virtual landscape.

Trainer difficulty only comes into effect if you're using simulation mode (as opposed to erg mode). TD doesn't actually change how many watts your body has to put out to achieve a given result. Running TD at 100% only really means that you'll have to change gear more often than someone running a lower TD (yeah, I know, it's a bit of an oversimplification). I use TD of about 30% so that I can feel the hills a bit but don't spend all my time trying to find the right gear for my cadence.

That’s strange as I’m in erg mode, I’ll try reducing the resistance as it’s set at 100% at the moment, I love the trainer but not the hills at the moment 🤣 thanks for the reply’s guys ❤️👍

 

[Dogtrousers]

That’s strange as I’m in erg mode, I’ll try reducing the resistance as it’s set at 100% at the moment, I love the trainer but not the hills at the moment 🤣 thanks for the reply’s guys ❤️👍

I'm suspecting (and could be massively wrong) that you are in Erg mode and have a target power set somewhere. And I'm further suspecting that when you're in Erg mode your trainer will show you a course with roads and gradients in it, but actually ignores those gradients as far as power goes. So "around 38 kph and cadence around 90, It feels very realistic" but when you come to a hill it still keeps the target power. You're expecting it to factor in the gradient but it doesn't, it just maintains that target power.

As @Legs says, when you hit that hill, it may "slow down" ie your dot makes slower progress on the map, but it will still be calling for the same power from your legs. So it feels all wrong.

My impression of this is that you are going along the virtual road not on a bike, but on a turbo trainer on top of a trolley doing an erg workout. Your legs are whizzing round according to your erg workout. Your trolley may speed up or slow down on the virtual hills, but your legs are just feeling the erg workout.

Something like that.

If you want to do a virtual course with virtual hills, and feel the hills in your legs, switch off erg mode.

 

[CXRAndy]

Certain platforms and turbos require you ride on the smaller chainring for ERG mode. Otherwise the turbo can't control the resistance properly.

As others said, if you maintain a constant cadence at a certain power you will not feel any resistance change regardless of riding up or down a gradient

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

Certain platforms and turbos require you ride on the smaller chainring for ERG mode. Otherwise the turbo can't control the resistance properly.

As others said, if you maintain a constant cadence at a certain power you will not feel any resistance change regardless of riding up or down a gradient

I’m on the bigger chainring and the second to smallest on the rear. If I was to use the smaller front chainring my cadence will shoot right up and I’m getting nowhere. I have noticed that when changing gear going uphill the trainer responds by making it even harder to pedal 🤣
I’ll go back through the set up in the morning, maybe I’ve overlooked something simple. 👍

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

I went back through the set up and all seems good. The only thing that could be causing me issues is the reality level in ROUVY app. Well if I have that set at 100% it would be obvious the gear I’m in I won’t be able to climb the hills. It seams the trainer and the platform are fighting each other in erg mode on. I’ll give it a go in the morning with reality set at 50%. If not I’ll turn erg off and set reality at 100%. I’m not doing workouts, just riding the courses I choose.

 

[Red17]

Have you tried setting up Rouvy to see your trainer as a power meter only and disabling the controllable trainer option?

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

Have you tried setting up Rouvy to see your trainer as a power meter only and disabling the controllable trainer option?

I’ll check that out, thank you 😉

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

Thanks guys I sorted that problem out.
I left my Wahoo trainer in erg mode and altered the platform settings in (ROUVY) to 50% resistance (was 100%) that works lovely.
You can set it even lower but your speed is determined by the watts on the pedals, so that would mean easier up the hills but slower as well. It’s Just about getting the balance just right.
I suppose once you get used to the platform you can choose bigger hills and reduce the resistance to suit. 👍