Issue with ERG mode and PowerMatch

TrainerRoad Software
1

First time riding the Kickr Core in PowerMatch ERG mode. I decided to give the ramp test a go and everything was going great until about the 14:30 mark where the trainer started to reduce resistance continually. I jumped into the menu really quick and switched the trainer out of ERG mode and into resistance mode so that I could finish the ramp test. As such, the results of this test needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

However, my estimate is that my FTP should be 277 based on the peak 1 minute power achieved at the end of this test. This is only a small step up from my prior test of 274 so Iā€™m just going to run with it instead of doing another test.

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What do you guys think? Has anyone else had this problem? I was pretty stoked on my new trainer up until this issue now Iā€™m not even sure if itā€™s worth the money over my standard trainer.

2

Soā€¦what powermeter were you powermatching against and how did you have it setup?

In particular - are you using Wahoo powermatch or TrainerRoad powermatch?

3

Iā€™m using a Stages Gen2 Power Meter.

Itā€™s paired via TrainerRoad powermatch.

I canā€™t seem to get the Wahoo powermatch to work, everytime I try to click the toggle in the app it just disappears.

4

Hard to say what the issue is - most people have better experiences using Wahooā€™s powermatch, but I use the TrainerRoad powermatch exclusively and have zero issues

Iā€™d suggest that it is likely a connectivity problem and youā€™re seeing a drop because the application cannot properly control the trainer (either a connection drop to the power meter or the trainer could cause this although since you have power reporting consistently it is likely a connection drop to the trainer)

You should likely email the support team at TrainerRoad to see if they can see connectivity issues with your setup

5

As @trpnhntr mentioned, this could be an issue caused by a signal disruption. If you reach out to our Support Team, they will be able to look into your log files and determine the cause with certainty. Iā€™d recommend shooting them an email at support@trainerroad.com.

While you await a response, check out our article on Device Dropouts to see if there is anywhere that you could improve the strength of your signal connection:

Another tip that I find helps improve PowerMatch performance is using an easier gear than usual. Shift into your small chainring, and choose an easy-intermediate gear in the back. This lowers the inertia of the freewheel, making it easier to control. PowerMatch has a lot of variables, so by making it easier for the ERG command to execute, it noticeably boosts performance.

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6

Thank you for the tips, I went ahead and emailed support.

I believe I was already using the best practices on those items though. I was riding in something like the 39x20 gear and Iā€™m not sure how much better reception I could get as Iā€™m recording with my iPhone that is mounted to the bicycle. So itā€™s about as close as it could get.

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7

Is there a way to look at the log files directly from the trainer? I know support can do it, but can I in some way. Iā€™ve so had enough of erg mode, it works sometimes, but mostly not, and itā€™s stressing me out that I never know if I can train properly or spend the whole time fighting erg mode.

Iā€™ve spoke with support before, they were very helpful, but nothing fixed my rubbish trainer. I donā€™t want to contact them the whole time, so is there a way to look at this myself?

8

Unfortunately, log files cannot be viewed by anyone except TR Support Agents and Admin :pensive:.

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9

https://trainerroad.recruiterbox.com/

2 Likes
10

I did another couple of rides tonight.

I did 30 minutes on Zwift and also had issues, but as this is the TrainerRoad forum Iā€™ll resist complaing about those.

I then did West Vidette -1 on TrainerRoad with the same settings that I used for the ramp test yesterday.

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This time as you can see, I had no issues. However, I also never pushed the power up over FTP as in the ramp test. So Iā€™m still a bit concerned that ERG mode is going to fail again. I also have some suspicion that the power numbers coming out of the Kickr are very inaccurate, but Iā€™m not sure that this matters since Iā€™m using PowerMatch.

Two other things, is there a way to see the power reported per the Kickr from my TrainerRoad file? This way I could compare what was going on from the Kickr side of things against the data from my powermeter? I have not yet received a response from support on the Ramp Test.

Secondly, I emailed Wahoo about using the PowerMatch function in the Wahoo Fitness app and this is what they responded to me.

*" Hi Benjamin,

Thanks for reaching out to Wahoo Fitness Support, and thank you for letting us know about your experience with the Kickr Core. We apologize for the issue and have raised a ticket with our developers.

Since we have an open ticket with our development team, all customer service tickets related to the issue (including this one) will be marked as ā€œOn-Holdā€ and merged with the developer ticket to be monitored internally. This process allows us to send automatic notifications to you via email when changes are complete. Full release notes are posted on https://support.wahoofitness.com

Be sure to keep your app and device up-to-date to receive the fix, when available.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience and support as we strive to serve you better. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns in the meantime.

Thanks for being a Wahoo customer,
Margo"

11

Thanks @Bryce. I was hoping it was just hidden somewhere.

And lol @jplucas14, I wish, but while I think I can read a log file, I havenā€™t even heard of half the things TR is developed in. Theyā€™d also need to open a UK base first :slightly_frowning_face:

12

Iā€™ve also contacted TR support after issues during a ramp test (power stopped increasing about 2-3 minutes from the end, ahhh), but it wasnā€™t the only problem (about 50% of my rides, erg didnā€™t work). Support confirmed there were errors coming from my trainer, but they didnā€™t seem to have a way to fix it.

Most of the things they said were to follow ā€˜good trainer practiseā€™, small gear, stable cadence, calibrate after warming the trainer up, etc. They also said to make sure the firmware of both trainer and powermeter is up to date.

What I didnā€™t know was that the calibration is stored in the trainer, and TR just send a calibration request, so it doesnā€™t matter which app you use for calibration. You could try the wahoo app in case it does something extra with the data.

For checking power from the kickr directly, maybe you can pair it with a garmin etc and just record the ride? Not sure how helpful that is though.