Wattbike Atom ERG mode problem

TrainerRoad Software
1

I recently purchased a wattbike atom and when using the ERG mode with trainerroad on bluetooth it seems to drop off and the resistance just goes so no matter you can never get the power back up.

Will an ANT+ connection help or is this a known issue?

2

Best to contact support@trainerroad.com for this type of issue.

That said, I seem to have seen comments about issues with ERG and Atoms, so it is a possible issue. Contact them and they should get you answers quickly.

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I have an Atom V1 and Iā€™ve no issues with running TR. I have Zwift on as a distraction on my PC and run TR on my Android tablet. When you say your BT connection drops, at which point? Can you give more details and Iā€™ll try to help.

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I also have Atom v1. I have had no issues with ERG mode with Bluetooth. FulGaz works fine too.

5

I have the New Aton V2 and there are horrendous issues with erg but not the same as yours. I previously had the V2 and had no issues with erg other than the lag in response which was a hardware issue mostly.if you have Bluetooth issues itā€™s probably some kind of interference somewhere perhaps?

With the V2 it massively overshoots and then undershoots the power in erg on TR which makes it on the verge of unusable for me.

I really wish WB would fix this but also that TR would allow us to turn off erg and just use resistance for the WB Atom (currently not possible) I love TR and appreciate this is not totally their problem but if I wasnā€™t grandfathered in at $99 I wouldnā€™t be able to justify resubscribing unless this was fixed at either end.

I know DC rainmaker has been on the verge of publishing his review and testing software updates attempting to fix the issue but as yet I donā€™t believe there had been any success!

Iā€™ll likely be selling my Atom and moving to something like the kickr/Neo 2 once I have the space to accommodate.

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6

Worth reading DC Rainmakerā€™s report. He is also finding the same ERG issues.

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TR need to catch up with zwift and allow erg to be toggled on & off. Donā€™t hold much hope tbfā€¦

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Already possible.

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9

Doesnā€™t work on the atom. Well it didnā€™t last week when I tried and when support gave me an update on the issue last week.

Itā€™s simply not a priority for TR.

Edit - it needs to be able to drop into gear modeā€¦ it canā€™t do it. There a finicky workarounds but itā€™s not worth the hassle

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@Nate_Pearson I just wanted to highlight the issue here and although itā€™s not technically your problem itā€™s something you should be aware of as it will affect a lot of potential users. Please check dcrainmakers recent review of the Atom2020 for details but as a long term trainerroad user and Atom 2020 owner this has left me with a sour taste in my mouth and if I weā€™re not grandfathered in at my yearly TR sub I couldnā€™t justify the cost as TR is currently unuseable in erg mode for me now and that Iā€™m going to have to use zwift or something else that I can use virtual roads or something to train on until this issue is fixed.

Iā€™m hoping the TR could perhaps speak with Wattbike and maybe help fix the erg issue as this being wattbikes flagship product and if itā€™s not playing nice with erg mode this isnā€™t going to help anyone including TR. Even if the option to turn of erg for TR on the Atom in the interim could be done it would help but we canā€™t even do that.

Thanks for reading

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Quick fix, implement gear mode for the Atom and let us toggle erg\off with the gearing.

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Hey, Tom! Merged your post into this thread of the same topic. There are some good tips and workarounds here to mitigate the Wattbike issues (including the DCrainmaker article you mentioned), but we definitely hear you that its a frustrating experience. I would contact support@trainerroad.com for this type of issue, so they can look at your devices and even ride logs to see if thereā€™s a potential firmware update or setting that could help! :+1:

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Wish I could ā€œLikeā€ this post multiple times.

Solution really is that simple. TR is the only major platform that doesnā€™t support this.

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14

I have an atom v1 and there is a (very intermittent) issue in ERG mode when using TR.

Sometimes when at the very start of a session, for whatever reason the Wattbike appears to not ā€˜catchā€™ or get itself settled into a ā€˜syncā€™ with the power reading and then no matter how fast or slow you pedal the power wonā€™t get up to the prescribed value on the TR screen.

So for example TR screen shows a target power of 132watts and no matter how slow or fast you pedal the actual power recorded wonā€™t get up to it - instead hovering at say 100 watts for example and fluctuating a few watts either way.

Iā€™ve found two workarounds:

  1. When you begin pedalling keep it suuuuuper slow and build up the cadence slowly. This seems to allow the Wattbike power to ā€˜catchā€™ and then sync with TR - you know when this succeeds because the pedal resistance goes from being very light to firm then ā€˜heavyā€™ at which point you can increase cadence to your normal range. The Wattbike makes a slight clunk-clunk-clunk noise when pedalling really slow as it seems to ā€˜catchā€™, which is an indicator this approach is working.

  2. If option #01 fails then switch off the Wattbike and exit the app. Leave for a minute. Switch on the Wattbike first, then open the app and try again.

I did raise this ā€˜issueā€™ with Wattbike and even took a video and shared with their team but there was no solution offered.

Hope this helps. :+1:t2:

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15

I have a Wattbike Atom Nect Generation. I have had some issues with intermittent resistance drop outs.

I share the Atom with my wife who uses the Wattbike Hub app.

The advice is to power off the bike after each workout so any previous app/workout settings/config is not contaminating the next workout.

This seems to help.

I have also been informed by TrainerRoad that they are expecting a test Atom in a few weeks so they can work on ironing out known issues, and, enable Manual mode.

This gives me hope that a lot of the issues will be resolved in the next 2-3 months.

Itā€™s disappointing that Wattbike didnā€™t prioritise TrainerRoad to have access to the new Atom months ago. It affects both their reputations.

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16

I have the Atom v1, and have experienced no issues - I have also tried to keep the firmware up-to-date, so maybe that will in case you have not updated it yet.

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For better or worse, this only impacts the Next Gen (Atom 2020/ATOM X) units, which use an entirely different electromagnetic drivetrain system. Whereas the old system was a stepper motor.

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Thatā€™s good to hear that TR are receiving an atom so they can work with wattbike.

Wattbike owners also received an email this week from the CEO which mentions future updates in the works fo fix current issues people are facing and that they will be released with the the details too.

This canā€™t come quick enough as the V2 is not in a completely useable state but IF the issues get sorted then it will be a fantastic but of kit.

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19

Hi - Iā€™m thinking of buying an Atom NG and need ERG to work properly. Apparently there was a beta firmware upgrade in December, are there an NG users that have performed that update and can report on any improvements to ERG on the Atom NG?

Thanks

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Honestly I have tried it twice after the update and while better it is still an issue in ERG mode - sometimes the power just under shoots and you drop dramatically. For me this is a particular problem I think as my cadence is not great! Honestly, I wish I had ordered the old version as Iā€™d prefer ERG.

When I last spoke with trainerroad they were still waiting for a bike to arrive but that was before christmas.

I am making the workouts in zwift and then doing them there in the meantime which is less of an issue for me but if you need the ERG I would avoid atm.

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