I have a Thinkrider X5-2 smart trainer, and I am looking to link it up with trainerroad running on a Mac laptop. Using Bluetooth, the Mac laptop only recognises the trainer as a “power adapter” not a “smart trainer”. This means that when I link up, the option of ERG mode is not available, which is essential for me.
If, though, I run trainerroad through my android phone, the trainer is picked up as a “smart trainer” and I can run a session without an issue.
The Mac laptop has Bluetooth 5 whereas the phone has version 5.1, could that be it?
I had the same issue, our Thinkrider X5 will operate with erg mode as a smart trainer from any of our Android devices just fine but neither my iPad mini or my partner’s iPhone recognise it as a smart trainer and see it as a power meter. TR say the Thinkrider isn’t one of their supported trainers and it is down to the Bluetooth variant that the Thinkrider uses.
I’ve wondered about trying to use an ant+ dongle with the Apple devices if there are such add-ons for apple and I can’t remember if the Thinkrider outputs an ant+ signal though? But whilst it works with Android, it hasn’t been something I’ve looked at any further
Hey there! Unfortunately, ThinkRider is not a brand we officially support, and the method ThinkRider uses to broadcast Bluetooth does not play nicely with the TR app. This has caused other athletes with ThinkRider trainers to report the same issue you’ve been experiencing.
Sorry I don’t have better news for you – please feel free to reach out to me or TR Support if you have any other questions!
Thanks. I suppose that will teach me for going for a bargain. What I find strange is that it’s picked up fine by the Android app and works really well. You’d think if it could be picked up by one operating system it would be able to be picked up by all. Anyway I’ll see if I can get ant+ working on the Mac or I’ll have to cope with the phone.