Kickr SNAP and PowerMatch

[Michael_Zinkann]

This has probably been talked about 100 times on this forum.

I’ve been battling an interference problem in my garage and have basically replaced everything, disabled 2.4Ghz wifi, USB extension cable for dongle, New dongle, Wahoo replaced Kickr SNAP, Pioneer “fixed” my power meter. I was having a 10-20 second delay/lag for the resistance to ramp up on all intervals. That seemed better last night, finally.

My latest issue now is i feel the Kickr SNAP releasing resistance mid interval slightly. I was doing 1x6 VO2 intervals and when i would have a steady cadence at 95, 100, or 105…the kickr SNAP would just loose resistance and my watts would drop and my cadence wanted to go higher (due to the resistance loss). It was almost like i had to chase the power and slowly raise my cadence to stay at the prescribed wattage. staying at a steady cadence would cause my watts to drop and the resistance would never lock in. My first two 1x6 intervals were in big ring middle cog and my last was small ring middle cog. the last interval felt like the resistance was better but who the hell wants to ride in the small ring…feels weird. i’m a crit racer. i hardly ever ride in the small ring.

Anyone ever experience loss off resistance? I’m so frustrated. I the weather was nice i’d just ride outside and do my TR intervals because i’m so frustrated with technology right now. I never had ANY of these issues last summer which leads me to believe it was firmware updates.

[nordic]

I don’t know if this of any help. If I understand you have paired the PM with the snap, outside the TR? I tried this too, but did not like it much, but it could be just because I was reading PM off single pedal only, this made my pedalling uneven, because in my mind I knew if I press hard at a certain point in the stroke, I get my power target, hated that because it promotes “square” pedalling.
In the resent times, I actually simply calibrated Snap to read same or close to my PM meter and left it there since, not sure if this acceptable to you as an alternative.

On the side note, please be aware that Snap operates in a closed loop, where power input translates into resistance, the shorter/quicker this loop, more stable the loop is (thinking of towing a car with a rubber rope). However if you bring external PM into the process, the loop becomes longer and slower, that may lead to oscillations, that throws up snap’s ability to micro manage the resistance. And if you power match via TR, that loop becomes even longer. All this results in ramps slow to build or slow to fall because software has to smooth out oscillations, that takes the toll on overall responsiveness of the system. Only saying this to highlight that you can only expect best control of resistance via Snap’s internal control loop.

My 2c

[Michael_Zinkann]

no, everything connects through TrainerRoad (Kickr SNAP, Pioneer PM, Tickr). Also, my Pioneer is true dual leg.

I’m starting to think it could have something to do with the flywheel speed. It seemed a little more responsive and smoother in the small ring, but i still could feel the Kickr giving up resistance during intervals so it felt like i had to chase the power/resistance. Anytime i was rolling along at, for example, 100rpm, the Kickr would slightly let go of the resistance and my power would drop causing me to raise my cadence unintentionally. So damn frustrating!

[nordic]

You may know this already, but have you tried pairing the PM to Snap directly, it can be done through Wahoo app, where you simply enter the Pioneer device ID and Snap will switch from it’s estimated power to power readings coming from the Pioneer. Also Snap will passthrough power readings from Pioneer to the TR. Pioneer PM can then be unpaired from the TR.
Not only this makes the loop smaller, but more direct and device proximity (Snap and Pioneer) is smaller too. Less is more here, kinda.

[Michael_Zinkann]

I could give that a shot i suppose. i just feel like i’m missing out on valuable training…race season is starting to kick off and this is a very crucial time of year to get good quality workouts in, especially when it comes to VO2 since they are shorter and higher power intervals.

[nordic]

I hear you, I would be very much frustrated as well.

Sometimes I need to remind myself this is all relatively new technology, to keep the anger at bay.

[jerecorcos]

Hi @nordic,

I’m wondering if, in this case (PM linked to Snap through ant+), you would have to do the spindown every time you ride. Or not?

Whereas if you link your PM to Snap through TR you wouldn’t need to do the spindown. Just calibrate your PM.

Does this make sense?

Tks