Any of you all using the KICKR smart bike, not just the roller trainer but the whole thing? If so, the left sided shifter has gone “belly up.” I have gotten no joy from contacts w/ Wahoo fitness, save for an initial response telling me to use rubbing alcohol to clean off the male plug. Well, it worked. But only for one ride. it then underwent three days when it worked intermittently, with rubbing alcohol making no difference, but unplugging the brick, reconnecting would work temporarily. That routine has now failed.
Dealer refuses to come in to my place of residence because apparently corporate disallows it for the usual, contemporaneous reason that of course excuses everything. He has however indicated he would make contact with Wahoo Fitness to see what they could do for me. Meanwhile Xert workouts are a real challenge with a single speed 1/3 combo on the right side.
If any of you have any hypotheses about what might have happened, I’d be grateful.
Intermittent sounds like the issue may be with the control unit board. Is that easily replaced?
How well is that control box protected against sweat intrusion? It appears to be in a bullseye location unless you drape a towel over your stem/bars on every ride.
I noticed that vulnerable position when I got the bike and so I’ve had always a small cloth towel over it. the connectors insert underneath it. I’ve carried out the sequence recommended in the link you kindly provided, but, of course, the pictorial description does not coincide with what now appears following the recommendations it talks about, viz., there is no “resistance” page that I’ve been able to find. So, that’s apparently a dead end. I’ll give it another try though, RR2. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.
It could be the shifter itself. Check the Facebook group Good info there. Sweat can destory it, and Wahoo simply sends you a completely new bar with shifters. You say the right side works ok? You can simply go into the Wahoo app and set up a 1x12 gear arrangement. That’s how I have mine set up. You can also do ERG workouts with no problem. The left shifter has no function in a 1x12. As for protection, yes, you do need to protect it from sweat. I bought the item linked below, and I use that in addition to a cloth wrap around the section which accepts the male plugs. I’m considering making some sort of covering for the shifters. Something that I can takeoff from time to time and wash. Some people are using a dielectric grease in the seams of the shifter, and you might consider that down in the section that accepts the male plug. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H6RN0AQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
thank you SO much for that info. Yep, right side is fine. I’ll go into the App and set up a 1x12 and move to the ERG setting to try it out also. I don’t think I’ve ever done an ERG only workout. Also, I’ll grab up the cover from Amazon.
thank you for your input. I have both Trek here in Philly and REI tracking down possible fixes. Trek has indicated that Wahoo has will supply a new handlebar set up. REI is tracking down a way to fix it locally. I had another thought today and that is there are too many sensors connected from within the Wahoo Fitness app as to the selections for “gearing.” I"ll search out tomorrow, but for sure, I had the outcome today that when I saw that panel, there were too many selected. I deselected two of the options and the left shifter data suddenly showed up. and then the panel disappeared. So, I’ll go look for it tomorrow. Meanwhile, 1x12 will work. Thanks guys, Anthony
UPDATE I got today new handlebars setup from WahooFitness. when I hopped on to try the new shifters out, I was blown away with having gears that actually emulated shifting on a real bike, something that had NEVER occurred before since I got it a year and a half ago.\
I was just playing around today w/ a free ride on my Garmin watch and EBC and I noticed that I was producing power output levels the likes of which I never before saw w/ perceived efforts highly dissimilar between now and then: far less so now relative to before. E.g., at one point I changed from 1/7 to 2/7 and “hit the wall.” WTF??? Doing that before never seemed to make much of a difference. In fact shifting gears before on the old bars NEVER had the distinct PE feeling that I have now.
Question: if it’s garbage in, then the data I’ve gotten for the last year and half are “garbage out.” How do I check the power output accuracy of my Smart Bike. I have Assioma power pedals, I calibrate before each ride on my Fenix 6X and it always shows zero offset.
Should I use just the pedals for power output and not use the KickR bike for power output via EBC or PerfPro?
BTW, Wahoo Fitness Customer Service was superb when I finally reached someone myself and did not depend upon the local seller to do it for me, three days from contact with WahooFitness CS rep to receipt of box with new bars in it. BAM. UPS next day delivery. No charge. All under warranty. God Bless em for sure.
All devices will measure differently. The bike will be measured in the crank most likely whilst the PM pedals will obviously be measuring from your pedals.
Why not create a Xert workout that requires, say 2 minutes at 50% TP, 2 minutes at 65% and 2 minutes at 100%.
Use the bike to power EBC and the pedals to power your Garmin. Note the differences in power and see if they are consistent and how close they are. My Wattbike shows about 2.5% higher than my pedals using a very similar method.
As I do most of my training on the indoor setup I do not worry too much about outside numbers being a little lower.My TP indoors is 277 and outdoors, using the pedal PM it is probably about 270. Fine for me.
Power from the bike is not being measured at the crank, and I don’t think it’s the spider either. It’s at the hub, so you can expect some drivetrain loss, all other things being equal… Do you have the crank length setting for the pedals matching the crank length you selected on the bike?
Yes, length is 172.5 in each. I did a comparison via PerfPro Studio today on a workout that I did following installation of my new handlebars and same workout but carried out a month ago on the bars that were busted.
First, I actually have significantly prominent, actual gear changes w/ discernible output differences as a function of the new bars. Remarkable. I actually feel like I’m shifting my now long ago Cannonade road bike.
Second, I can now pedal at very reduced cadence w/o zero’g out and, as well, I discovered that I was hardly using my hamstrings, but even worse, my left leg was just "going along for the ride, accounting for significant differences in SmO2 L v R, not to mention power output differences L v R.
Even so, the overall wattage output between the two workouts resulted in a 1/2 mile lesser distance w/ the new bars relative to the older, busted ones, a roughly 45% reduced level of intensity as seen in HR values, lower today on new v old.
So, I’m a happy camper…WahooFitness shipped replacement bars overnight on their own dime and of course paid for the old ones I returned at their request.
In retrospect, RR2, very likely compromised from the time I got it. I just didn’t know enough to assess what should have been the case. Now I do - for sure. How long it lasts as it currently behaves, only time will tell. But I am sure pleased with how realistic it feels. HTH
You might want to put some kind of makeshift cover over the shifters to prevent sweat from damaging them again. I’ve temporarily placed baggies and pinned lightweight terrycloth over both shifters.It works for now, but I’d like to find a more elegant solution. There’s an awful lot to like about the bike, but it also has some frustrating shortcomings. The shifter issue is a known issue.
Power measured by cranks is “calculated” too I’m pretty sure, it’s just they’re measuring torque by different methods. The most important thing of course is the accuracy…Wahoo claims 1% for the Kickr bike.
I think the big difference is that measuring torque with a strain gauge on a rotating axis is difficult, depends on temperature, needs to be calibrated and is all in all prone to error. Measuring electricity (voltage and current) is by comparison easy and accurate. That’s why a Kickr Bike or a Tax Neo should always report very accurate power measurements. At least that’s how I understand it. Altogether different kind of measurement and calculation because a direct drive motor/generator without any belt or flywheel does produce a known amount of electricity when turned.
I hope none of the physics is incorrect, it’s not exactly my area of expertise
