Another Kickr Gen 1 weirdness (surface affecting power?)

I’ll keep it short. No matter how many spindowns I do, my gen 1 reads anywhere between 20 to 50 watts less than my 4iiii. Not even kidding you. I know the difference between when I’m pedalling 250w versus 200w!

Anyway so I gave up on it and use my 4iiii for all my training.

Here’s the weird part. Today I carry my Kickr to y apt complex gym and ride for an hour. It’s almost exact match to my 4iiii even when the power match isn’t on (I use my wahoo bolt to control the kickr level which reads kickr watts while TR is connected to my 4iiii so able to compare the 2 real time)

Only thing I can think of is that my apt is carpeted and the gym isn’t. Stupid as this may sound, could that be a reason???

I would so love to have a dependable trainer so I can use erg mode especially in later stages of TR training plans like sprints etc. but I just can’t rely on it…

Obvious question is did you do a spin down after you moved it? Interested because I have a gen 1 Kickr which reads high by about the same as yours.

I haven’t because as mentioned my kickr doesn’t read accurate even after spindowns.

This time it just happened to read perfectly accurate without a spindown so I’m trying to understand if the environment I use it in could have anything to do with it.

Do you leave your Kickr plugged in all the time? I had an issue with my gen 1 where the readings were erratic and TR support asked me to leave it unplugged for a few minutes and that fixed it. Mine also reads a bit high but not as much as yours.

Not the Kickr but the power supply is plugged in all the time. I move the Kickr every single day so I thought that was the issue but spindowns are supposed to reset it but they don’t.

I mean in the end it doesn’t matter as I use my 4iiii but would be nice to use ERG. Power match isn’t working great either (super lagged) so I can’t do that successfully either.

what does “super lagged” mean? 10 seconds, 30 seconds one minute?

would you mind posting rides with powermatch and erg mode here?

I have a kickr gen 1 with vector 2 pedals and use powermatch and erg mode, sure, it lags 3 seconds during 30 second intervals but its consistent at each interval. i have drops in power with powermatch only when the vector 2 pedal battery is low. other than that, very minor issues.

I would suggest to use powermatch and erg mode on every ride. since you’re using a power meter, what the kickr reads is irrelevant since the reading will be from the 4iii power meter.

you need to be patient with the trainer, it has its mood swings (or maybe interference from another device).

I have read that the optical sensor is sensitive to light, so it might be that is what causing the issue. try covering the optical sensor with black tape

either way, changing the flooring wont solve your issue, Id recommend the following steps:

  1. clean your optical sensor
  2. tighten the belt using Shane Miller’s videos (just in case)
  3. spindown on every ride (both power meter and trainer)
  4. use the power match and erg mode
  5. enjoy the smart trainer function

if you move your trainer every day, thats already an extra step, pairing to the bolt, another step, pairing TR to 4iii again another step.

I used to get supper annoyed when the power goes up and during long sessions but I find that at the end of each interval, the power is exactly as prescribed.

theres a trainer road workout called “trainerpowercurvemeasurement”. if you have the time, you can know exactly how much of a difference your trainer and powermeter in terms of watts and use that figure for the power match function.

hope it helps

Thanks for all that!

  • I guess super lagged is a bit of an exaggeration. It’s more like 3-5 seconds like you mentioned which feels like ages when you have a 5-10 second sprint to do.
  • I have never completed a full ride in erg mode. The problem shows itself right away so I cancel and discard and restart with using 4iiii only.

Optical sensor issues make a lot of sense. I’ll look into this.
I have never tightened the belt since I bought it years ago so I’ll give this a shot too.
I’ll report back if anything changes thank you!

Is it a left only PM?

4iiii is left only, yes.

This could explain your results.
If I lift an arm to grab my coffee, the Stages will drift significantly. (Yes, I drink flat whites during workouts. Sometimes a shot).

Check the level of the bike in both situations and realise you’ll place more weight on one side if there’s any lean.

As much as I hate to say it, stick to the trainer power for your workouts.

I think you misunderstood. 4iiii is the accurate (relatively) one here.

I am not new to power. Had a power meter on my bikes pretty much since I’ve begun riding. I can tell the difference of feeling between 250w and 200w as I am sure a lot of people can.