I had similar issues and spent a long time faffing. They sent a new crank arm/power metre and it resolved it straight away…
Was it hard to replace? I couldn’t find any instructions online.
Being in the UK I was dealing with Saddleback
loosen single bolt with hex wrench (8-4mm i don’t remember), replace crank, re-tighten bolt with torque wrench. done
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Heard back from Stages, they’re sending me a new right-side crank since the one I have is “calibrating outside of our tolerances of 840-940”. They also sent me a… 31-page PDF with the instructions to replace it.
Other than the one-week wait time to get a response, they made it easy to deal with. We’ll see how that replacement goes once I get the new crank.
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Anybody running an SB20 with power pedals for comparison purposes? I just got my SB20 and within a couple rides it became clear that my sprint power is overshooting, and not just by a little bit.
Try this. Shift down to a pretty easy virtual gear, then accelerate hard with extreme bias on your left leg/foot. Get up to like 150rpm for a handful of revolutions. I saw 1279W for 3 seconds using this technique…with basically one legged power. I then tried it again with my right leg and got >1000W with just that leg supplying power. I’d like to think of myself as a good sprinter, but my Pmax is really something like 1150W (with both legs obviously.)
Clearly this isn’t just doubling my left leg power because it happened with the right leg too. Also I recorded both the relay ID “Stages Bike” and “left” master ID “Stages XXXXX” to .FIT files just to be sure. Both files produced nearly identical mean-max power curves so it’s not that. I have the cranks set to communicate with the bike via BLE. I have tried pairing over both ANT+ and BLE to recording devices. The result is always the same.
With a slower ramp in RPM to sprint intensities, the recorded power matches better with my Assioma and Vector 3 pedals. Overall averages are spot on, it’s really just occurring during snap accelerations.
I’m very sure this is a firmware issue, but would like to see data from others before sending this off to Stages.
Does anybody happen to know or can check the voltage and current of the DC adapter?
Have just taken delivery of a new one, mine has come without one 
.
In the end it turned out the power adapter was included and I had just rather stupidly misplaced it.
I would also say this bike has more than lived up to expectations so far. They currently seem to be heavily discounted in many places and if anyone is on the fence about pulling the trigger I’d say this offers fantastic value for money right now.
Rock solid construction, no erg mode issues so far (not attempted sprint/short VO2 intervals yet), connected to TR first time with no issues or dropouts, very quiet. Probably not for those who want an accurate simulation feel in Zwift etc, but as an interval workout machine I couldn’t fault it so far.
I’m very interested in getting a smart-bike as a way to downsize my spares and make training easier… I have a Tacx Neo-2T and Hammer H2 I can sell to get some funds, and would let one road bike go that would more than cover the cost. The problem is in not knowing which one to try. Reviews are all over the place. The Stages bike is obviously attractive for its price-point but I don’t want to be left with a clothes-drying rack if it has issues. Same with the Wahoo and Tacx options.
How are folks deciding on these and getting over the hump of ordering?
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I was recently in this position.
I had the option of all 3 but in the end, the substantial discount (and ability to flip from ERG to Resistance mode in TR) made my mind up and I purchased the Stages SB20. Mine has been faultless in terms of working as advertised and I have had no real issues with anything.
The Stages Link app is a bit rubbish but that can be easily improved over time and it only used on occasion anyway. Of course, this “newer” smart bike technology can have its problems and I have held (and intent to for a while) on to my OG Tacx Neo just in case anything does go wrong.
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One thing to consider is knee clearance…some riders have reported knee rub on both the tacx and Wahoo units, while the frame design on the Stages bike doesn’t have that issue.
I can get knee rub even on my waterbottles sometimes, so for me, there would only be on option.
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I am very tempted by the Stages smart bike, as I think it is the most solidly built on the market currently. What holds me back is that it is solid, and I currently greatly appreciate the flex from my Neo-2T for longer rides. I can’t really see investing in a smart bike until some form of motion is incorporated into the design both to improve the feel and reduce the physiological stress of riding a completely fixed bike for long periods of time. I am sure this is coming as the current smart bikes are all now a couple of years old.
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I ordered an SB20 a few days ago, and am anxiously looking forward to it. (I assume it’ll be here sometime next week).
I expect I’ll have some initial gripes about ERG stability — but I’ll get used to it. When I switched from an Elite Driveo to a Kickr Core, I was astounded at how smooth the Kickr felt (I don’t care what the graph looks like) in ERG mode.
I kinda expect the SB20 will be a backward step in ERG feel from the Kickr, but I’m ok with that trade-off to keep my normal bike from being beat-to-he!! on the trainer day after day after day.
My son knocked over my Pinarello whilst on the Kickr, and the downtube cracked when the whole schmear hit my rollers. Don’t ask. It was an ugly night in my household.
Bought the SB20 since I refuse to put my ‘really good’ bike (a Canyon) on the trainer and my cracked Pinarello is now getting shipped to Broken Carbon in Boulder Colorado.
so yeah, that’s how I decided to buy an SB20.
#kidsareexpensive
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No question about it being solid…You can slam the power down and the bike is going absolutely nowhere! I haven’t noticed any issues with it being so solid though to be fair. I have only done 1 “long” ride of 2.5hrs on it so far and all was OK. I would be tempted by a rocker plate for it but not sure if any on the market could handle its weight…
This was one of my concerns too and the first time I rode the bike I did wonder If I had made a bad choice as my OG Tacx Neo was great in ERG mode but to be honest I have moved on and have no issues with ERG now. Sometimes it fluctuates a bit more than I would expect but its minor and has not affected my workouts to date. Sometimes it takes take a bit long to “get up” to target power which I could see being a problem for short high power efforts, but I would switch to resistance mode for these anyway and as above the ability to toggle ERG and Resistance in TR was one of the factors that influenced my decision.
On a side note I have had good success with Power Match in TR using my Assioma Duo pedals and the SB20 - in fact this is how I have been doing all my ERG workouts since around day 3 of owning it!
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I hope he is doing well in his new foster home.
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I was thinking about selling the Tacx and Hammer, and getting a set of rollers so if I feel the need to get some time on my “real” bike I still have that option…
For me, indoor training is for when I can’t get outside due to schedule/weather, and I’d prefer to do intensity (VO2/Sprint) outdoors, so I really am looking for something I can jump on and do two hours of recovery or sweet-spot without having to worry about wearing out a drivetrain or sweating all over a $5K bike. I think I’d also be more likely to move my paincave indoors if it’s a neat/tidy smart-bike vs. the wheel-off smart-trainer.
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Having just finished a 6 week SST block with z2 between I can say that the SB20 is going to be rock solid (excuse the pun here!) for these type of workouts!
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Nice. I think I’m going to go for it…
Are most folks buying direct from Stages to get the free shipping and maybe better customer service down the road if needed? Or should I do my usual ActiveJunky and coupon hunting to get it from CC or others?