ERG mode crazy on KICKR Snap - help!

Today my KICKR Snap went a bit haywire, tried the Ramp Test in ERG mode, was jumping all over the place. Have tried everything, spindown, firmware update, advanced spin down, spindown in TR, tightened up, loosened. Help!

how long have you had your snap? I purchased my Snap, and at first everything was okayā€¦so I thought (new to ERG mode). At day 27, my ERG mode stopped working all together. To be honest, I think the snap is a complete fail, and you may have a faulty machine. Did you turn off all devices except for the one you use? I use an iPad, and an iPhone. I tried on both devices, and then went to my brotherā€™s house, just to make sure it wasnā€™t a signal issue at my houseā€¦still to no avail. Open a ticket with Wahoo as soon as you can. I hope youā€™re w/in your thirty days. I was w/in my 30 days, and exchanged for the direct drive, and thus far, everything is working well. Iā€™m sorry I donā€™t have a better response for you. EDIT: MAY SOUND STUPID FOR ME TO ASK, BUT ARE YOU SURE YOU WERE IN ERG MODE?

100% ERG mode, have tried just about everything. Now seems to hold a low cadence but goes higher when spinning faster, mystery. This is my activity from earlier today when the problems first surfaced:

Used 2 different iPads, no solution, closed everything down, took the bike out, put it back in, Snap is over a year old and just went off the rails today, otherwise all good.

Iā€™d contact wahoo and open a ticket. Youā€™re still under warranty if itā€™s an issue with your machine

Are you sure that you have enough roller tension on your trainer? Iā€™d try a bit more ready and see what happens.

Pumped the tyre up, tried the two full twists, spin down, between 10-15 seconds each time, adjusted the tension, re spin down, advanced spin down, more spin downs, simply not right. Strangely, it now seems to almost hold at low cadence but any acceleration and the watts begin to rise. Iā€™ve raised a ticket with Wahoo but I bought in Oct 2017!?!

Disconnect Bluetooth to everything and close out of all apps if your using TR through an iOS device. Unplug the Kickr Snap for 1 min. Shut down your iOS device off then back on. Open up TR app only. Plug in Kickr Snap and connect to TR app only. Ride for 10 min easy then ā€œcalibrateā€ Kickr Snap inside of TR app.

This should reset everything.

Also, my spindowns take 17-18 seconds with 2 full rotations of the knob, once the roller makes contact with the tire, marked with a sharpie.

Seemed to have most of the above but will have another go in the morning, my legs are weary from spindowns!

I purchased my Snap in December 2018, so far the only issue I have had is that when I back pedal ERG mode doessnā€™t work quite right, since that issue I havenā€™t back pedled and have not had any more problems. It has a three prong plug. Someone asked earlier. Any product can have a problem, I havenā€™t heard of a lot of problems with them and they must be selling thousands. It is unfortunate that you are having problemsand I know it can be very frustrating but Wahoo is a good company and in my opinion they should do good by you.

1 Like

Get a refund and buy a direct drive trainer. Youā€™ll thank me. Iā€™ve had 2 Snapā€™s and theyā€™re rubbish i.e. power accuracy is a joke. Power all over the place and very dependent on cadence. Things get worse as the power target goes up. Did no end of spindowns, advanced spindowns. Wahoo support when they could be bothered responding to my support ticket blamed my power meter as being inaccurate. Got a refund from the supplier and bought a Hammer. I now have a second power meter (Assioma Duo) and the power meter Wahoo support said was inaccurate agrees almost watt for watt with the Assiomaā€™s.

2 Likes

Tried again this morning, re-did tyre pressure, knob resistance, factory spindown, TR spindown, much better at higher wattages, drifts slightly but tolearable, still struggles at lower watts, say 70ish but some progress. Lodged a ticket with Wahoo, weā€™ll see?

@Nigel_Doyle you gave me the same advice, and it was the best advice ever. The Snap, in my most humble opinion, is garbage. I love my direct drive. Knock on wood, I have no complaints thus far. Wahoo better pull their heads out, because now that Garmin owns Tacx, there is a new big dog in town.

1 Like

@Redrose49er keep me posted on this. Iā€™m curious to see what Wahoo tells you, and I hope you get up and going soon.

Those that have issues with the the Snap (or any product) complain the most and the loudest, itā€™s not necessarily representative of the quality of the device. There are bound to be a percentage of issues with any mass sold product, and sell enough of them unfortunately their will be plenty of lemons that get shipped.

Iā€™ve had the Snap for 17 months without any issues and am very happy with it. I do use a trainer tire, check tire pressure (100 psi), ensure resistance is the same and calibrate inside of TR (only) for every workout (after 10 min warmup). Iā€™m sure a direct drive is better, but weā€™re talking almost twice the price. So Iā€™m perfectly comfortable recommending the Snap to anyone (two of my friends have bought them since) and very happy with my Snap.

5 Likes

Same here. My Snap has been faultless for two winters.

I had problems once only and that was caused by Bluetooth on my Android phone, which kept doing two things, (1) the Snap developed random resistance patterns in ERG mode (similar to what the OP describes) and (2) dropouts.

Disabling Bluetooth solved these problems.

Most people who buy something that is faulty will say that that product is garbage.

Which doesnā€™t mean, of course, that the product is garbage. It can mean that the product is generally excellent but maybe theirs wasnā€™t.

2 Likes

In fairness, it has been fine since Oct 2017, just went off the rails yesterday. Has a specific turbo tyre, blue Schwalbe, tyre at right pressure etc. We all accept electronics can go wrong but a Ā£500 item should really last more than 18 months. Might be a temporary issue, hoping so. We also have a Kickr Core, has been fine to date with more use than the Snap.

1 Like

Of course the problem with the Snap is you wonā€™t know you have a problem unless you have a power meter. Without one you wonā€™t know if youā€™re one of the unlucky ones like I was twice (exchanged the first one and the refund on second) and power accuracy is way off my power meter. Youā€™ll just have an inaccurate FTP which could be out by up to 100 watts. Theyā€™re very smooth to ride because of the heavy flywheel.

Itā€™s not actually a problem at all. Accuracy is less important than consistently. If you have no power meter than as long as your trainer is consistent, you can train properly in all the appropriate zones since training plans are based on a percentage of your FTP. So if your trainer gives you an FTP of 200 or 400, your training will be the same on that trainer.

The problem is when you try to use your trainerā€™s FTP outside with a power meter, which is never recommended no matter the trainer. Any new/different power meter requires a FTP test on that measuring device. The other problem may be if your trainer over inflates your FTP. You then get a power meter and realize your true FTP is 250 instead of 350 and your ego and self worth gets a punch in the face :tired_face:.

1 Like

I agree about consistency however my experience with 2 Snaps is the power apart from being way off my power meter was that it wasnā€™t linear. e.g. 180 watts on Snap was 180 watts on power meter, 200 watts on Snap was 240 with power meter, 250 on Snap was 350 on power meter, 300 on Snap locked up the back wheel.

Think Iā€™m getting there slowly, bigger issue appears to be a wattage floor. Would anyone have any experience of where ERG mode on the Snap appears to bottom out, I seem to be able to manage down to about 90w, below that is a subtle drift upwards. If there is a c90w floor, would shifting to the little ring help? I tend to use our Kickr Core, the Snap is our ā€˜otherā€™ trainer so Iā€™m not as knowledgeable.