Bkool FAQ

[borchgrevink]

OK, sounds like a good theory. But, I made my own FTP with 5% incline for 30 minutes. Same result.Not possible to keep the power as on Alpe. Shouldn't this actually NOT happen if Bkool isn't giving the correct resistance as you described? Or, is maybe Bkool's problem with correct resistance only happening with even higher incline than 5%, maybe like on Alpe with 8-12%. Maybe I'm totally wrong here :-)

Will try to make an FTP with 10% incline for 30 minutes to check!

Sorry to hear about your illness!

 

[frogdr1ver]

Has anyone compared the power that the bkool displays against an actual power meter?

 

[theboxers]

Has anyone compared the power that the bkool displays against an actual power meter?

Yes several of us have. The readings differ from 0-30 watts for me depending on slope. The steeper it is the closer the values for me. Mine was on vectors.

I think powertap hubs have been tried as well with similar results.

 

[borchgrevink]

Yes several of us have. The readings differ from 0-30 watts for me depending on slope. The steeper it is the closer the values for me. Mine was on vectors.

I think powertap hubs have been tried as well with similar results.

Isn't that opposite of what other have experienced here? I had the impression that Bkool is a bit generous with power when incline is high?

 

[gbrown]

Isn't that opposite of what other have experienced here? I had the impression that Bkool is a bit generous with power when incline is high?

I compared my bkool pro very carefully with a powertap hub and yes, it was generous with the power when the incline was high. Well, really it was when the power was high, which was normally on a steep incline, but not always. I still have loads of GPX traces of various sustained speeds and power levels for the bkool and the power tap, taken last winter, overlaid in golden cheetah.

I found the bkool was actually a little low at very low power figures, but as soon as the power climbs it started to get more and more generous, and at around 250 Watts to 300 Watts the bkool figures were very high by comparison to the powertap, as much as 25% too high.

This has varied slightly from release to release of the simulator software, and I presume will vary from trainer to trainer depending on calibration, and I'm sure factors like rider weight will also give variations, as the simulated weight has a big affect on the resistance required, but in most cases the bkool power figures seem to be on the generous side, as you might expect!

This is separate to the limitation of the simulation on very steep climbs, where depending on weight the ability to simulate a steep gradient fails as the electro-magnetic resistance of the unit maxes out. This can be anywhere from 15% down to 7% depending on weight, so for a heavy rider on a steep incline, I would not trust the figures at all. Certainly I could over power the bkool pro's resistance and cycle up steep slopes at a speed I had no chance of achieving in the real world. Heavy riders with trainers with lower resistance maximums would experience this at even lower gradients.

This became much harder when I swapped the bkool pro for a Wahoo KICKR, which had a much higher maximum resistance capacity (quoted at 2000W compared to 1200W), and it only really seemed to reach a maximum resistance around 18%-20% for my c. 75 Kg weight at the time.

Note that Bkool only claim to be able to simulate gradients UP TO 20%, which I am sure is true for riders around 50 Kg! Marketing is a wonderful thing ...

In the main thread we had a discussion about the 1200W claims and the difference between torque and power, although I make no claims on the accuracy of the observations and speculations ...

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/team-bkool-cyclechat.144689/post-3525607

Cheers,

Geoff

 

[theboxers]

Isn't that opposite of what other have experienced here? I had the impression that Bkool is a bit generous with power when incline is high?

Possibly, I am just reporting what I have found on my classic with v2.04 firmware (iirc). For me, my current ftp on bkool of 199w, came off of a ride average of 210w. The vectors reported 201w for a 20 minute average on the same session (a PB), one of the T100 stages. At lower to flat gradients I am getting an over read of up to 30w compared to the vectors.

I find, with my set up, that acceleration up to any speed and the power readings are almost identical. Once I am no longer accelerating and I am just holding a steady speed the power differences start to come in. How much depends on slope, cadence, speed and weight. The thing is it is a pretty consistant, for me, with my setup.

 

[gbrown]

Possibly, I am just reporting what I have found on my classic with v2.04 firmware (iirc). For me, my current ftp on bkool of 199w, came off of a ride average of 210w. The vectors reported 201w for a 20 minute average on the same session (a PB), one of the T100 stages. At lower to flat gradients I am getting an over read of up to 30w compared to the vectors.

I find, with my set up, that acceleration up to any speed and the power readings are almost identical. Once I am no longer accelerating and I am just holding a steady speed the power differences start to come in. How much depends on slope, cadence, speed and weight. The thing is it is a pretty consistant, for me, with my setup.

Perhaps we should start a new thread for further discussion of power, so as not to clutter the FAQ thread?

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/power-readings-in-bkool.192765/

Please feel free to continue discussing the FAQ's here, or making suggestions for updates/additions.

Geoff

 

[Winnershsaint]

1 trainer in household Go Bkool Pro. Daughter home from uni wants to use it. Can multiple users have separate accounts on same trainer. If so how.

 

[theboxers]

1 trainer in household Go Bkool Pro. Daughter home from uni wants to use it. Can multiple users have separate accounts on same trainer. If so how.

Bsim allows multiple users to one trainer. Just setup an account with bkool for your daughter. You can go for the free basic one or do a month on month subscription for about £8/month. Then get her to log in to bsim, via the new user button, with her bkool id and all should be good.

I have not tried this as I am only running one account.

 

[gbrown]

1 trainer in household Go Bkool Pro. Daughter home from uni wants to use it. Can multiple users have separate accounts on same trainer. If so how.

You can have multiple accounts on the same trainer, but if you want premium features on them all (e.g. 3D or video views) then you have to pay for multiple accounts.

It's easy to do, just set up the separate accounts in the normal way. There is no problem with each running against the same trainer, you just login to the Bkool simulation software with the relevant account name, and it will pair to the sensors in the normal way.

To avoid forking out for multiple premium accounts, the few times my wife wanted to use our trainer with bkool, I just changed my gender and weight accordingly and she rode using my account, complete with 3D, etc. Then I switched it back. The only problem wiuth sharing the one account is that one use may affect the fitness rating of the other, this can be avoided if the secondary user just discards sessions at the end, rather than saving them.

It would be nice if a premium subscription could be shared between a family (in a single household), that would add extra value to the premium subscription, and I can't see many households paying for multiple subscriptions, so little to lose.

Geoff

 

[Winnershsaint]

You can have multiple accounts on the same trainer, but if you want premium features on them all (e.g. 3D or video views) then you have to pay for multiple accounts.

It's easy to do, just set up the separate accounts in the normal way. There is no problem with each running against the same trainer, you just login to the Bkool simulation software with the relevant account name, and it will pair to the sensors in the normal way.

To avoid forking out for multiple premium accounts, the few times my wife wanted to use our trainer with bkool, I just changed my gender and weight accordingly and she rode using my account, complete with 3D, etc. Then I switched it back. The only problem wiuth sharing the one account is that one use may affect the fitness rating of the other, this can be avoided if the secondary user just discards sessions at the end, rather than saving them.

It would be nice if a premium subscription could be shared between a family (in a single household), that would add extra value to the premium subscription, and I can't see many households paying for multiple subscriptions, so little to lose.

Geoff

Thanks Geoff
I got to the same conclusion, and logged on to my account and let her ride and at the end she noted her time/distance etc and uploaded it manually to Strava and discarded the ride. That said it really is a shame that you can't have a least one extra account for a family member per trainer. She had never seen it in action before and loved being able to follow a video route. Even better that it was around a place with a comedy name. She has travelled independently of us to southern Spain since she was sixteen mainly to the area around Cartagena, but found a virtual ride near Peniscola, highly amusing.

 

[g00se]

Something else to add... You can only use the Velodrome simulations if you have a Bkool Pro or a Bkool Classic

 

[gbrown]

Something else to add... You can only use the Velodrome simulations if you have a Bkool Pro or a Bkool Classic

Is that true, I've used them in the past with my Wahoo KICKR?

Geoff

 

[g00se]

Is that true, I've used them in the past with my Wahoo KICKR?

Geoff

A friend has a Kickr and can't run the velodrome. The bkool site says it's no available either - maybe it's a recent change?

The bottom of this page says Bkool trainers only:

http://www.bkool.com/velodrome

 

[gbrown]

A friend has a Kickr and can't run the velodrome. The bkool site says it's no available either - maybe it's a recent change?

The bottom of this page says Bkool trainers only:

http://www.bkool.com/velodrome

Wow, that is a change, and not a good one!

Another black mark for a level playing field ...

Geoff