I’m relatively new to TR but have used lots of other training software before without issues.
I seem to be having a problem with the trainer road player correctly setting the correct wattage in ERG mode for my TACX NEO (T2800 Model) which is listed as compatible. I can verify this by looking at my watch paired with my pedal power meter.
I am trying to run TPVirtual in external app mode with the TR Player running the workout.
TPVirtual is paired via ANT+ for power and cadence and nothing paired to smart trainer on the PWR icon/option for the pairing screen - not the smart trainer icon.
TR Player (Desktop) is paired via BLE on the trainer.
When starting the workout the warmup starts and eventually power reported on screen settles down to about 30 watts above target power. When looking at my watch the correct power seems to have been set according to my pedal power meter.
When the next interval comes up resistance doesn’t seem to change but the displayed wattage on the app will increase significantly. When checking my watch wattage is still set as the original value and has not changed according to my pedal power meter.
Eventually I’ll get sick of trying to get things going and switch to the TR Mobile app with nothing else connected, and attempt the workout there but with only the IOS app connected i get the same issue as the desktop player.
The only way I’ve found to resolve this is to restart the laptop and connect TR IOS once the laptop has shut down.
Commands are definitely being sent to the trainer as I can switch to resistance mode in the TR Player and move the slider and it appears to appropriately adjusts the slider.
Is there something I’m doing wrong? or are there any suggestions for both to run on my laptop?
What I am understanding is that you have (correct me if I am missing anything):
TR connected to your Tacx Neo over BLE
TPVirtual and your watch are connected to your power meter over ANT+
All this is happening on your desktop app
So your setup is composed of your trainer + the power meters and using both BLE and ANT+ connections to “separate” connections on your desktop.
First things first, the power that is reading from your power meter will not be the same as your Tacx trainer. This is only natural as power differs from device to device.
Now, you mentioned that the only way to make it work is by shutting down the laptop and only running the TR app on your iPhone. This to me sounds like the TR app is not the problem and more of a connectivity issue.
The TR app is most likely running fine with the laptop shut off because it’s not trying to steal the trainers connection.
Running both apps on your desktop is probably not working because both apps are interfering with each other. Not to mention you’re adding your smart watch to the mix.
Again, if you’re able to use the TR app on your iPhone just fine I don’t think the app is the issue here.
To isolate the issue:
Try running TrainerRoad by itself on your desktop — with no other apps open and your phone out of range (or Bluetooth off).
If that works fine, it confirms the issue is due to app/device interference rather than the TR app itself.
A Tacx Neo Troubleshooting:
Firmware: Make sure your Tacx Neo firmware is fully up to date.
Tacx App: Use the Tacx Training app to run a Device Diagnostics scan. This can show if the trainer is reporting any hardware/sensor issues.
Potential workaround for your current setup:
If you need both apps running:
Pair TPVirtual and your power meter via ANT+ on your desktop.
Run TrainerRoad and the Tacx Neo on your iPhone, connected via Bluetooth.
Make sure your laptop Bluetooth is off, or at least the TrainerRoad desktop app is fully closed to avoid BLE conflict.
Just keep in mind that juggling multiple apps, protocols, and devices always increases the chances of interference. Simplifying the setup — even temporarily — can really help narrow down the root issue.
Its a while since I’ve ran TR and Virtual ride off the same Ant+ power meter. Whilst it worked no problem for a year or more, the Virtual Ride software updated and I then had to run 2 dongles there after.
I tried another workout today and spent a significant mount of time trying to get the TR Player to work.
For the trainer: firmware is on the latest versions, device diagnostics there doesn’t seem to be a specific button to run, but when you click for support it says “all systems are go!”
For Trainer road, connecting the desktop app alone it reports power incorrect immediately with no other apps connected, from what I’ve tested as soon as the trainerroad desktop app connects to my trainer, my trainer will then report incorrect power to every app I connect to it regardless of connection type or device.
Restarting laptop/correct power
I said above the only way to get things to connect right was to restart the laptop, that’s actually inaccurate, I attempted this multiple times today to get the mobile app to just work and it would not - switching the trainer off for 10 seconds or more after the trainer road desktop app has connected to it will restore what it’s reporting to all apps back to normal.
The only way I can actually get this to work with no issues is to connect the TR Mobile app, then connect TPvirtual on ANT+ and make sure the TR desktop does not connect to my trainer at any time or I have to power down the trainer for 10+ second for everything to work again.
The only other thing I did try on TR desktop is to add my pedal power meter at the same time as my trainer, so I’d have the neo, vector 3 pedals and heart rate all connected via BLE. the training software would report the right power (which seemed to be from the pedals but the target range (little white dot) was way above reported power and resistance did not seem to change.
