Magic Buckets Support with new Challenge Level gauge
Karoo Support **
Sensor integration - no need to configure sensors
GPS integration - speed, distance, wind direction
Activity recordings - no need to start/stop in EBC
Screen data field - Add MPA, XSS, XEP to your Karoo display. Tap any one of them to view EBC recording screens.
Light/Dark Modes
Average Relative Power, W/kg, Power Metric
Fixes/Improvements:
Faster loading
Various metric and sensor fixes and improvements
Join the Beta Program! Scroll down to the bottom of the App liisting on Google Playstore and click Join on the Join the beta section. (Also, don’t forget to give us a 5 star rating while you’re there. )
** Look for the app on the Karoo Extensions listing. Coming soon. In the interim, for those that can’t wait, side load the app using adb with this command using Android Studio Platform Tools:
adb shell am start -a io.hammerhead.action.APP_INFO --es manifestUrl https://www.xertonline.com/app/manifest.json
I have only tested one scenario so far which was to start EBC on my Pixel phone, select Indoors, no workout selected, then run in Magic Buckets mode with top level HIT ratio for the day (no workout selected on Training page or scheduled on Planner).
Magic Buckets ran as expected. I kept Challenge Level low (1-3) initially while learning how the different data pages and fields worked. After completing the intervals, I decided to see how high up the CL ladder I could go on my own. I did that by executing short intervals with short rests – i.e. Ronnestad-style; roughly 20/20s. I got as high as CL 7 before legs and head said UGH – that was enough for the day. Tried again a little later and the assessment was confirmed.
Finished up with a long fill of Low pts.
NOTE to others running the BETA. You can essentially go for a BT at any time by pitting yourself against the CL gauge ladder. Good luck.
Initial feedback and suggestions (IMO) –
Saved activity got named Climber on XO instead of expected Difficult Polar Climber Ride. Difficulty got as high as 80 and XO analysis showed 3 diamonds.**
Elevation should be 0 ft for an Indoors MB or workout ride.** (see image below)
Suggest adding a Reset (to default) function when defining page fields or option to reset all pages and settings (?). It’s easy to swipe and tap and change a field unintentionally and not remember what it was.
Brightness: System vs Dark. Is there a difference or is System to indicate default?
When in Dark mode Activity page buttons need a lighter grey border (or white?) so it’s obvious they are “buttons” you can tap. Currently borders blend into the background.
This –
When in Dark mode can activity thumbnail chart have a small white border around image, so MPA line isn’t lost at top? Or add white 3-5px border to all charts which would be invisible in Light mode.
This –
When you don’t select a workout for Indoors the page views should default to MB fields when you tap Start. It may work that way already, but I played around before I started my test, so I wasn’t sure.
High/Orange bucket color looks brownish in Dark Mode. Can color be set closer to yellow?
No target arrow for interval and recovery targets. Is that not functioning yet? Will it be bowtie arrows like Remote/Session Player gauge works? I like that better than overlapping arrows.
Could Options gear icon be moved lower and instead show cadence rpm in upper left and HR bpm in upper right like XMB screen on Garmin? I really like being able to glance at top portion of screen to view the crucial metrics.
Stumbled onto the MB summary screen with Recover Days, etc. shown. Is that something that will display when you’re done with your session?
Can you make green checkboxes twice as large? (different font size than the field label)
I didn’t like the rainbow gauge dropping down when intervals were finished. I think it would be better if gauge remains in a fixed position.
When done and saved a Continue button is shown. That’s nice if you want to keep pedaling on trainer and see live stats, but since it’s not recording anything will that be confusing?
Related issue/bug** – EBC connection triggers a change to prior selected workout on XO when the app connects to XO. For example, if you select a workout on the Training page and then start EBC it gets changed to another workout. Only sticks if you have added the workout to Planner and Start time is within next 30 minutes.
All in all a solid update. Will test a workout under ERG control next.
Another XMB Indoor test –
For those new to Magic Buckets riding indoors is a great way to learn how it works.
Initially I was going to ride a selected workout under ERG control and see what happens if I switched to XMB mid-way through. However, I decided not to select the workout in EBC, tapped Indoor, then Start, and swiped to the MB pages.
My selected workout on XO was SMART - Iron Man 120 which is XSS: 153 ( 146 | 6.5 | 0.6 ) so that’s the XSS targets that EBC loaded.
During this test I didn’t try to exceed Challenge Level 2 which was the level the Magic Buckets workout generator on XO recommended for the day. That kept Difficulty in line with the workout target (3 diamonds).
I decided to extend the warm-up and ride easy for 20 minutes. That’s one benefit of XMB. You control when you want to execute your first interval.
I ended each interval as soon as Challenge Level displayed 2. Then waited until Recovery countdown went to 0 before the next effort. I could have gone earlier and shortened the workout but full recovery felt right for the day.
When I finished filling the High/Peak buckets there was about 15 minutes left to ride easy and complete the Low bucket target.
Here’s the result –
Both are Mixed Climber with associated strain scores and Difficulty level.
Outdoor results will vary along the way, but XMB adjusts in real-time to ensure you get the job done to the best of your ability on any particular day.
As I’ve said long before XMB was introduced, Xert is the elastic-fantastic way to train by power.
I’ll continue to ride some indoor workouts under ERG control, but XMB provides me with the freedom to ride whichever way I prefer. Next test will be outdoors on a mini phone.
Another idea (not useful?) would be to mark the Challenge Level gauge. For example, if CL 2 is recommended the gauge could have a dot indicator. Clear that dot during your interval and you’re reached the target CL. Or treat it as a minimum effort to shoot for.
Example –
Another idea on Endurance days would be “Endurance” changes to “Cooldown” with a lower watt target like it works now with Intervals. As soon as Endurance reaches 5 minutes left (or zero?), switch to Cooldown. You don’t really need a target so watts could simply change to - - - (blank).
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Will test a workout under ERG control next.
