Elite Suito Woes

[Richieb35]

Hi,

I’ve had an Elite Suito for a month or so now and I was hoping it would make a world of difference to my training as I could generally forget about shifting around and adjust my ageing Tacx Flow resistance. However it’s been a bit of a pain.

I’ve got Vector 2 pedals that were originally Vector 1 pedals so they’re getting on for 7 years old. I’ve never had much cause to question their accuracy etc until now…they read anywhere between 8% and 15% greater than the trainer reports on trainer road. I’m connected to the trainer on my phone through Bluetooth as well as the pedals through ant+ with cadence only selected and auto power match on. Calibrating the Suito through trainerroad doesn’t seem to have any affect on the difference I’m experiencing (I always calibrate the Vectors before using them).

I spoke to Elite about this and they ended up saying:

"MyE-Training show the raw data that the trainer transmits so if on My E-Training the power data is correct it means that the trainer is accurate

Please check with the assistance line of TrainerRoad if the apply some kind of averaging that can caluclate an average power"

Reading elsewhere I believed the Suito searched around for a power meter as soon as you switched it on and did its own power matching hence the good correlation between power meter readings on the Garmin and on the elite app. I’ve even gone to the lengths of buying the vector 3 pedals which shows a similar difference in Garmin output power and trainerroad power on my phone.

Has anyone got any advice? Are there better settings I can use on trainerroad? Currently I’ve got two ftps, one for trainerroad and one for training peaks etc. It’s just a bit annoying especially as the apparent different changes. One day 120% FTP is 132% FTP the other day it could be 140%…

Thanks

Richard

[NickThomas]

I feel your pain. I have a direto X trainer, vector 3 dual on my TT bike and 4iii left PM on my road bike. Powermatch for me was an absolute nightmare as the trainer in ERG mode just had power in a large sine wave. My vector pedals read about 3-5% higher depending on how dirty my chain is etc. They do read higher than the trainer even not considering that there are power losses between the cleat and the cassette (in my opinion, from 6 months of looking at it). Even considering they are both. I just adjust for it when out on the road. Interestingly my 4iii left only reads slightly lower even compared to my trainer, about 1-2% give or take. My left right balance is usually around 49/50 (i know from my pedals). I just train to my trainer on ERG mode and apply the adjustments when doing outside rides… target slightly higher on my TT bike and thereabouts or fractionally lower on my road bike.

I hated the sine wave style of powermatch and found training to the trainer is just the quickest, easiest most pain free way. I just had to park my ego and accept the drop in FTP when retesting to the smart trainer… I’ve lost much more than 8 watts twice this year from overtraining anyway so this was the least of my worries

[Richieb35]

Sounds like a bit of a pain to keep on having to adjust your power between trainer and real world!

I’m guessing that if you’ve turned “used cadence only” under the power meter device you won’t get power matching even if it’s turned on under the trainer options?

[HLaB]

I find that the Suito matches my Be Pro S well at low power but similarly it reads below the power meter as I steadily increase resistance. I contacted Elite about it and they diagnosed the ETraining powermatch was set up correctly and it was to be expected. How is a 15% difference supposed to be expected from a device that claims its accurate within 2 or 3%

Anyway I ignore etraining and the Elite power calculation and take everything directly off my Be Pro S which via the Power match in TR controls the resistance of the Suito. It seems to work

[mrpbennett]

@HLaB

etraining and the Elite power calculation

What is this? I have a Suito and use it for TR and Zwift (in the past) never really had an issue, I do calibrate it every workout. I dont use any of the Elite apps, apart from the one where you update the trainer, but they havent sent a firmware update since I got it.

Sometimes the power when using TR jumps a bit, and doesnt seem as consistent as something like a wahoo kickr. I still feel it does the job though.

I use to use TR in erg mode connected to my trainer, and then my Assioma pedals on zwift power was pretty spot on give or take a few watts…Never really saw any big differences with mine.

I think @Jotts has an Suito…any issues with yours?

[Jotts]

Correct mate, I use a Suito and I am sure it reads lower. I use the power data from my 4iiii left-sided crank. I find this to be better for me as it correlates well when I ride outdoors. It must have something to do with the fact that it’s reading the power further down the line so things like a sticky chain or dirty cassette/chainrings will have an effect. Whenever I’ve had to use the suito power data the workout feels a lot harder, but the power readings do seem to be a lot smoother for some reason.

One issue that I’ve had using the suito with TR when I’ve not been able to use my crank power meter is calibration. It just never works, no matter how many times I try it spins down to 0 and then nothing happens. The Elite training app is not even worth opening. It is absolutely boring and useless. I’m actually stunned at how weak it is in comparison to TR.

It’s annoying but I still enjoy the trainer as it’s on the cheaper end of direct drive smart trainers, and it packs down to quite a small footprint.

I can’t really offer any solutions to be honest, I have my own gripes about it but for what it’s worth I am generally happy with it!

[HLaB]

myETraining is the Elite app and you are right not to use it. Its a pile of sh1te to put it mildly. After my first few uses of it before I subscribed to TR I gave up on ERG, I only started using ERG again when I subscribed.

[Richieb35]

Thanks for everyone’s responses. @mrpbennett do you power match with you pedals then? Or have them set in trainer road to cadence only?

What I find odd is that in the rubbish elite app supposedly the power at the pedals is the same as the trainer power (I think the Suito automatically power matches which is why this is so good). But then what explains the 20% difference when using trainerroad. I guess I’ll just have to manually adjust workout intensity workout to workout or give the power matching more of a go with trainerroad. I’m a bit like DC rainmaker I’d like the trainer to be accurate.

[mrpbennett]

@Richieb35

do you power match with you pedals then? Or have them set in trainer road to cadence only?

I recently got a new bike, so my power meter pedals are on that now. I just use TR in erg mode with the Suito now. I guess if it reads lower to my pedals (which i didnt really find) ill be faster on the road ha. The only thing i really notice is that the power like is never as smooth as a Wahoo. Recently updated my FTP and the sessions still make me suffer, so i think for me personally the power is “roughly” where it should be.

Actually one thing i did notice today, I was doing Tallac +2. Calibrated my trainer (have to ride over 20mph) in the big ring, completed the the 2 blocks, mid way through the 3rd door bell went so had to jump off. Continued which ruined my rhythm, so switched it down to the small ring and it felt like i was pedalling through glue.

Skipped the remained of the block, and switched back to the big ring for the last block and it seemed like I was back on track and finished the block. Now not sure if this was my legs being tired or calibration issues.

[Richieb35]

When doing the isolated leg workouts between swapping I had to put both feet in and really hammer down to reduce the resistance so it may have been something like that? Did you power through or did it not ease up even then?

Wrt to it not feeling smooth I wonder if that’s the power matching going on and it continually trying to adjust. Although as you say if it works for you it’s not really a concern.

I got my old vectors, woke them up and put them by the trainer. Then switched the trainer on. Then booted the myEtraining app and surprise, surprise it read zero watts suggesting that the app doesn’t give the raw trainer power. Even if I sell up I’m sure the next turbo will also have some kind of issues. May be I’m being too sensitive!

[carytb]

I’ve got an Elite Zumo and have not been able to calibrate it after the first calibration I got in touch with support and they sent my another app which worked successfully . This was their final email to me
"Good evening,

the calibration problem on My E-Training is probabily caused by a bug of My E-Training that we already found and correct.
In the middle of next week it will be released a new update that will fix the issue.

[carytb]

Just checked to the app and at appears to have been updated

[Richieb35]

@carytb thanks I did notice that and did a calibration but through trainerroad. I’ll try and get on today and try a calibration through the myEtraining app see if it changes anything. Cheer Richard

[mrpbennett]

I stopped the block, moved it on to the rest period and started the other block back in the big ring, got up to my cadence and continued which felt normal.

I just won’t be swapping front rings any more. Ha

[ryanswitala]

Same for me. Trainer reads ok at lower wattage, but then progressively under reads as power increases (comparing to vector 3s). Power match works ok for me though but would prefer to just be able to use the trainer to get accurate numbers so that I dont need to switch pedals to the trainer bike the whole time.

[Richieb35]

@ryanswitala I had the same ambition as you but now the pedals live on the winter bike.

I re-read the manual and basically the trainer searches for a power meter as soon as you switch it on and links to that. It then disregards any calibration you do it seems…next time I have time I may take the batteries out the vectors and try and make the trainer forget them. Then try and see if a calibration actually does something. Reading the manual it almost seems to be that elite want you to use a power meter. If not it’ll be using the power match too.