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theedge

Active Member
Hi guys,
Have purchased the pro model last week, everything works, except that the resistance transmitted when the gradient goes uphill makes it totally unusable, has anyone else heard of this issue, I assume it is a calibration problem? I've used tacx for years, so have a pretty good idea what it should feel like when using a vr system.
I've tried it with a tablet and different pc's with the same result.
When I stop pedaling the guy on the screen just keeps on going and registering watts which is also kinda hinting at a calibration problem I guess. Problem is, how are they gonna fix this issue remotely as I see no possibilities to connect a usb?
I've mailed them last week, but haven't heard back yet, so in the mean time any self help ideas would be appreciated!
cheers
Darryn.

I was having real problems until I moved the trainer and the ant+ key closer. It seems like ant+ really only works to just over a metre.
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
Hi Bill,
I have only had it since Wednesday last week, but have tried it on various 2d/3d/video rides, about 8-10 attempts using different files found on the site. I thought that it may be a corrupted file as well, so to test that theory I tried the Alp D'huez ride assuming it was thoroughly tested, but to no avail, I could keep it up for about 5mins before climbing off! My FTP is around 310 at the moment, so its not that I am unfit if you were wondering :smile:.
I tried the FTP test actually 20mins ago, I lasted 9mins with an average around 180watt at a hr of 140-145, normally im at 260-270watt for that hr. The other issue is the watts that keep jumping around - in one pedal revolution I will be at 300+ then all of a sudden at 160... kinda doing my head in to be honest haha!

Here's the link to the ftp test: http://www.bkool.com/bkoolSessionHistory/showSessionSummary/826318
it is all very unstable readings compared to what I would expect to see at a steady effort test

Hi Darryn,

Still finding my bearings with this contraption myself. Long shot but only things I can think of trying are to make sure the mechanism is free to let your wheel and weight land on the roller so nothing jamming.
As above, check the ant+ signal by moving it closer.

Jumping from 300 to 160 sounds like the resistance is very high. Failing everything else, might have to end up asking Bkool.
Check software by reloading perhaps?
 

Darryn007

Über Member
Location
Belgium
I was hoping that I was having one of those moments Paul with my unit!

I have given up, BKool still hasn't contacted me, absolutely shocking customer service imo! I have told them I want to return it as I am still in the 30 day trial period, I'm wondering now how the return pick-up is all gonna work out now actually - and I thought Tacx was bad all those years ago when TTS 3 first came out!
 

jiberjaber

Veteran
Location
Essex
I was hoping that I was having one of those moments Paul with my unit!

I have given up, BKool still hasn't contacted me, absolutely shocking customer service imo! I have told them I want to return it as I am still in the 30 day trial period, I'm wondering now how the return pick-up is all gonna work out now actually - and I thought Tacx was bad all those years ago when TTS 3 first came out!

I had a issue with my cadence and HR monitor (both Garmin) seeming to pick up each others readings now and again, which made it very hard to tell what cadence I was doing (140bpm) or if I was still alive (94rpm) - today I set the turbo up and it was not auto pairing with the turbo (but seeing the Garmin units), so I went in to manual pairing and found the trainer, HR and cadence sensors and then got on with my ride.... since doing that, my cadence and HR are what they should be and there is no "cross-talk".

Might be worth re-pairing your trainer in manual mode to see if that cures (assuming you haven't tried that yet?) :smile:
 

Darryn007

Über Member
Location
Belgium
Thanks jiber jaber!!
Finally some progress, I had the trainer and heart rate strap manually paired anyway, but you gave me the idea to simply try it without the HR strap and bingo, its seems to apply the brake resistance as it should.
When I had trainer and strap paired I stood and watched the main menu of SIM software and in the bottom right you can see the small balls that show what devises are paired (in green or red) and the trainer will flash intermittently red/green meaning a lost signal I assume? Without the HR strap paired the trainer seems to stay connected (green).
BKool did assure me that any ANT+ strap is compatible, so I'm not sure what the problem is now. The laptop is next to the handlebars so it surely cant be a distance issue.
To be continued...!
 

burndust

Parts unknown...baby
Sounds like a conflict between multiple ant+ devices....The built in spd cad on the pro does seem to have issues it looks like....The only similar thing I've seen is on 2 watt bikes...where if you have ant+ enabled on more than one bike it goes nuts
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
I was hoping that I was having one of those moments Paul with my unit!

I have given up, BKool still hasn't contacted me, absolutely shocking customer service imo! I have told them I want to return it as I am still in the 30 day trial period, I'm wondering now how the return pick-up is all gonna work out now actually - and I thought Tacx was bad all those years ago when TTS 3 first came out!

I returned my first Classic Bkool as I had it on 30 day trial. You're right I thought the customer service was terrible and I sent them a few angry emails because I couldn't get them to respond. 12 days after my first email they responded saying their courier would be in touch and would come and pick it up and that I should just box it up. Their courier came without contacting me so it wasn't ready but came back again the next day and picked it up. So in the end they turned out to be ok. Assuming they don't charge my credit card that is.
Then bought the Pro version from Wiggle as I was hooked. Actually I think this one may have to go back too as the fan seems to be hitting the casing cover at high revs. Apart from that its great!
 

ziggys101

Über Member
Location
Uttoxeter
I was hoping that I was having one of those moments Paul with my unit!

I have given up, BKool still hasn't contacted me, absolutely shocking customer service imo! I have told them I want to return it as I am still in the 30 day trial period, I'm wondering now how the return pick-up is all gonna work out now actually - and I thought Tacx was bad all those years ago when TTS 3 first came out!

I found once I decided to return the trainer that support replied pretty quick, they asked for a short reason on why and then I was contacted by their shipping agent the next day to arrange pick up.

i then ordered the Wahoo Kickr
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
I had a issue with my cadence and HR monitor (both Garmin) seeming to pick up each others readings now and again, which made it very hard to tell what cadence I was doing (140bpm) or if I was still alive (94rpm) - today I set the turbo up and it was not auto pairing with the turbo (but seeing the Garmin units), so I went in to manual pairing and found the trainer, HR and cadence sensors and then got on with my ride.... since doing that, my cadence and HR are what they should be and there is no "cross-talk".

Might be worth re-pairing your trainer in manual mode to see if that cures (assuming you haven't tried that yet?) :smile:

That is very odd and I'd be surprised if that is what is going on.

Boring bit........

To avoid physical signal interference, ANT devices of different types all broadcast at slightly different rates. It's a bit like running two clocks where one of the clocks runs slightly slow. After setting off, the two clocks will only show the same time once in a blue moon. If two or more ANT devices of the same type are present and ANT-ANT interference is detected, I believe the protocol can then tweak the broadcast times to make sure they keep out of sync and don't tread on each others toes.

Even then, each packet of data sent by an ANT device is tagged to identify the device-message type and then the rest of the message is structured specifically to that device type. Even if this went wrong and a message was incorrectly tagged as a HR message instead of a cadence message for example, the rest of the message would be interpreted as nonsense, rather than just showing the HR value instead of cadence.

Still boring, but more relevant.....

All very interesting, but it's not helping you. First off make sure any other potential sources of interference are removed. ANT uses the same frequency 2.4GHz ish as mobile devices, bluetooth, Wifi etc. It's unlikely these are to blame, but try moving anything like this away from your setup if it's close.

Next I'd start to look at Bkool because, to be honest I'm coming to the conclusion that their software quality assurance is generally in the pan . I've not had much success pairing my Kickr automatically with Bkool, but it kinda works if I prod and poke the manual pairing enough. I'm primarily a Trainer Road user and, while TR very focused on training rather than anything whizz-bang like multiplayer, it's a rock solid bit of code and I never really have any pairing issues with any of many sensors. I can't remember if they do a trial period, but if they do it might we worth downloading to use as a test to see whether the cause lies with your devices or Bkool. The ANT+ website

www.thisisant.com

has some diagnostic tools but you may have to sign up as an adopter to get hold of them. They're also a bit on the technical side from what I remember.

 

theedge

Active Member
Next I'd start to look at Bkool because, to be honest I'm coming to the conclusion that their software quality assurance is generally in the pan .

I totally agree with this. I have worked for many years in the software industry and it seems that their code base is very poor in areas. Over all stability isn't too bad, i.e. it doesn't crash all the time, but any interfacing to files or devices is dubious. The Video editor is the same and can only encouraged to do its job with a reasonable amount of work and still generates un expected results. I can't believe they use their release software themselves.
 

jiberjaber

Veteran
Location
Essex
Grrrrr..... broken turbo..... going to drop Bkool a line, not happy at the moment.

standalone
 

jiberjaber

Veteran
Location
Essex
Yes - there seems to be a fair amount of flex in where the back wheel runs on the roller to, seems to migrate away from the motor side of the roller as well I noticed, does anyone else suffer from the wheel travelling left & right of the roller?
 
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