Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I just grabbed one quick example of a largely steady state workout, that shows some real deviation in power. Not sure it’s good or bad, but a comparison point at least.
Full workout view:
Zoomed into one interval:
I blame the meat engine. 
Even though the reported power jumps around, that’s not apparent (to me, at least) at the pedals. Then again, I’ve got nothing else to compare it to.
Edit to add: some of the bigger spikes are definitely me getting in and out of the saddle and/or messing about with cadence changes. I may even have been following the workout drills!
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For reference, here is one of my most recent steady-state workouts on a Wahoo Kickr V3 (2017) with no power smoothing.
Full view:
Zoomed into one 4-min interval:
OK. I don’t feel quite as bad now.
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Not sure if you’ve seen this and/or followed this process.
Hi yes I had wattbike on the phone several times and everything was current . This morning they tried to blame TrainerRoad until I pointed out once again that it works fine with wahoo
Just had a message from customer support saying that as Wattbike are now shipping to the US, this will give TR the opportunity to address the gearing option as an alternative to only ERG mode for their workouts. Nothing definite but hopefully progress ahead.
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I asked a chat representative yesterday if it had been fixed in the time I’ve been away whilst weighing up returning…
It hasn’t, but the agent I spoke to was pretty open and honest in the conversation and your post suggests it might get progressed.
Sorry to hear about the unpleasant experience on your Wattbike.
So that I can dig into this a little, could you point me toward some rides where you have had this issue? You are welcome to DM if you would like to keep this private.
It sounds like you may be running into something that we call a “clench” situation. This can happen when the trainer/ spin bike gets “confused” after shifting or a change in cadence. Do you think that could be the case here?
The solution to a clench is simply to wait it out. You can power through a clench if you have the strength, or, you may simply backpedal. Typically the clench only lasts 5-10 seconds.
Yes, fingers crossed! We’ve sent an email to our contacts at Wattbike to see if we can get a unit in-house to test with. We’d like to make changes that would allow us to support gear mode. Thanks for your patience!
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Hi. I have the newest generation wattbike. I only use it for pushing sessions from TrainerRoad. I have done this successfully from the same devices with previous wattbikes and the device shows as connected. However whenever I start a session (in erg mode - doesn’t seem to want to let me go into resistance mode even if I wanted to) it just does not seem to read the power correctly and adjusts resistance unpredictably.
Any ideas what the problem could be. It’s really hard to get wattbike to address it properly. They have taken the bike back in and serviced it etc so they beleive it’s working. However it is clearly not. I am not a novice with smart trainers so I know when it’s not right. Have tried simple things like reinstalling the app.
Thanks in advance.
Sorry about the trouble, @Bison11. This sounds like a similar issue to the one described above. Does the issue seem to arise when you change your cadence or gears? When the issue arises, could you try backpedaling for 10 to 15 seconds to see if that helps?
Nope the issue seems to be there all the time irrespective of cadence, interval etc. I think I will try to return the bike as already created too much stress.
Hi Sarah thanks for responding. I’ve been injured for a while now so there are no recent rides but check these which show the fluctuating power. My cadence is normally pretty consistent, and the power fluctuations vary. Sometimes there is a spike at the beginning of the ride which then settles down, or other times it is almost like “a wave” where the power just varies above and below the target wattage but it is enough to through me off any rhythm. Wattbike has just sent me a new bike to try which they claim will resolve the issues but they cant tell me what is different from the one I returned after 6 months of occasional use:
Ochsenhorn on 4th May at 17:42
Whorl on 28th April at 18.22
Gray on 6th May 17.15
Raymond on 18th May at 17:52
starlex on 23rd May at 20:05
Washington 12th June - although I was injured and didn’t complete much of the ride I said to Wattbike I would try another ride… this is the result.
Hey guys,
I’m so sorry about the injury, @Vibes. I hope you are on the road to recovery.
I am also sorry to hear this has been causing you stress, @Bison11. I am hopeful we can get to the bottom of this for you sooner rather than later. Thanks for your patience.
sometimes there is a spike at the beginning of the ride which then settles down, or other times it is almost like “a wave” where the power just varies above and below the target
@Vibes, this does sound like “clench” behavior. I am hopeful that Wattbike understands the issue and that the new bike will solve the problem.
@Bison11; since @Vibes was given a new Wattbike, it sounds like they are acknowledging an issue so I agree that it would be a good idea to reach out to them.
To ensure we cover our bases, I took a look at the background recording of the rides you sent me, @Vibes. I see a couple of common themes for which I have some suggestions below.
@Bison11, I think it would be worth you trying these steps too. I can also take a look at the background recording of your rides if you point me towards the rides where you were experiencing the issue.
1). It looks like your devices are continuously connecting/ disconnecting. To ensure a stable connection, could you please try the following?
Turn off battery saving settings (for Windows 10) :
- Open your start menu.
- Type Battery Saver Settings, and open the app that pops up.
- Uncheck “Turn battery saver on”
Power Saving:
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click Hardware and Sound.
- Click Power options or Change power-saving settings.
- Click the Change Plan link under any of the plans to get the Edit Plan Settings window as shown below. If you do not want the computer to go into Standby mode or turn off the screen, select Never. You can also change the amount of time before the screen is turned off or the computer goes into Standby mode by selecting a different time limit.
Closeout of all other apps/programs that may be running in the background - This will make sure there are no apps that could be interfering with TrainerRoad. Additionally, we’ll want to make sure our devices are completely unpaired from any other fitness app.
Turn off all other wireless devices in the room including speakers, headphones, keyboards, computer mice, etc.
2). I’d like to ensure that we are starting from a clean slate on TrainerRoad. Could you please restart your device and then uninstall and reinstall the app?
Give those steps a shot, and let me know how you get on with the new Wattbike. If you have questions about any of this, please let me know. Feel free to shoot me a DM at any time!
Hi thanks for these tips, and I will double check but from memory, my laptop is an i7 and only has Trainerroad and Zwift (sorry) installed on it. It is set to full power and I am sure there are no background tasks running aside from wireless connection to my wifi network. Re the connection - Wattbike want me to connect only with Ant+ in the following sequence - open wattbike app, connect bike, select quick ride. Then open TrainerRoad and check that bike is connected only with Ant+. I do use an HRM which is connected to the PC and is used in TR. No mouse/KB or external devices connected. I do use SONOS for music but that is driven by my phone not the PC but it is obviously in the same location so I guess I could try training with no music (;-( . So I think the only thing I need to try is to uninstall TR and reinstall it right?
Hi I have now ridden the new bike a few times and experienced some similarities… would you mind checking the rides to see whether you can see any issues please?
Personal Account - Sent from my mobile device
Hey @Vibes, thanks for the info. I’ll take a look at those rides for you now and circle back!
Hey @Vibes,
I took at your latest ride, Slide Mountain -1, which seemed to perform better than prior rides. Was this done on a different Wattbike?
Although better than previous rides, I noticed that you were still having connection issues during this ride which might explain the similar behaviour. Strengthening the connection to your devices could solve the issue, or at least, narrow down on the issue. It will certainly give you a better experience!
With that said, here are my thoughts:
Are you running both Zwift and TrainerRoad at the same time? We can make this work. I will send you some info on how to do that below. However, while we are troubleshooting this issue, can you completely uninstall any other fitness app, including Zwift? Again, this is just temporary while we get to the root of the issue.
Once we have solved the issue, we can start re-introducing apps and devices to see how much your training environment environment can handle.
Can you please unpair the heart rate monitor from your laptops’ Bluetooth Settings. We will want to make sure that it is only paired through the TrainerRoad app on your laptop. Bluetooth devices can only pair to one receiver at a time. Your laptop and the TrainerRoad app installed on your laptop are two separate devices.
I appreciate this is a bummer. But again, it is just temporary while we get to the root of this for you. If you could turn off your phone while using the TrainerRoad app on your laptop, that would be helpful.
Finally, try a ride with your Wi-Fi router unplugged. Wi-Fi signals run on the same channel as your devices send signals out on and the interaction between the two signals can cause issues. If the ride with your router unplugged is better, you can change the channel your router sends out signals on. Here’s how: How to find the best Wifi Channel for your Router on any Operating System.
I appreciate this sounds like a lot to eliminate, but as I mentioned earlier, these are not permanent changes. They will simply help us figure out where the issue lies, and determine how much interference your specific training environment can handle.
When you do eventually re-introduce Zwift, I suggest you follow these steps for running TrainerRoad and Zwift simultaneously.
Let me know how this goes, @Vibes!
Hi Sarah
these latest rides are all done on the new wattbike which they sent as replacement for the other “new wattbike”. I dont use Zwift with TrainerRoad and visa versa. I also always cold boot my laptop every time and only load TrainerRoad. (it would be cool to get them to work together but TBH I want to get the wattbike/TrainerRoad combo ironed out and perfect first).
re the connection - the laptop is literally next to the wattbike and the ANt+ dongle is actually under the “mat” right under the guts of the Wattbike. It is attached to the laptop via a USB extender cable.
Bluetooth on the laptop is turned off I am sure BUT will double check. I always check that both the Wattbike and HRM (Wahoo) are connected on the TrainerRoad device page before I ride. I can turn off my iphone for sure. I cant turn off the wifi router though as that is how I connect to the internet for the whole house.
I am scheduled another ride tomorrow so I will try to do it without music, without phone and ensure Bluetooth is definitely turned off on the laptop.
Thanks for supporting me with this. I have also sent the ride details to Wattbike too to see what they have to say…