Bkool - issues and ideas - what do you want to tell Bkool?

[gbrown]

Hello, newbie here needing advice please.

First, how do I join a Bkool challenge? I signed up for Minori - Vetri Sul Mare this evening but I was the only live body on the session! Where had everyone else gone?

Secondly, can I stop seeing on my home page that someone has'beaten my time'? I'm a 68 year old novice cyclist and will be beaten by most people. Seeing some muppet boasting of beating me by 20 minutes over 10 miles is just annoying, especially as I had not seen or accepted a challenge.

Make sure you have disabled Solo Mode in your simulator settings, otherwise you won't see anyone else in the sessions.

This is covered in the Bkool FAQ, worth a read if you haven't already.

Although you can disable Notifications (On Challenges) in the Settings under your user profile (top right of the Bkool web site) I'm not sure if you can stop them filling your Home page.

You could try changing your privacy settings to make challenge private (nobody). That may stop people challenging you or more likely stop them posting the challenges on your Home page. I have mine set to Groups and friends and don't see too many challenges.

 

[kapelmuur]

Thanks for your reply, my challenge setting is 'nobody', but that doesn't stop the challenges. What puzzles me is why someone who is much faster should bother, what's the point of beating someone so much slower? I would ask tham but when I click on a user name with the intention of sending a message I get 'Page forbidden'.

Solo mode is disabled and I have joined live sessions which I've enjoyed even when lagging behind. However, I was unable to join the session scheduled by Bkool and it didn't appear as a live session.

 

[bobinski]

I would like the simple and straightforward ability to calibrate the machine against known parameters. Wahoo has this facility with its turbo's. Perhaps only bkool can only do so remotely but its a shame we cannot.

 

[cppatrik]

Another great idea, we are going to add your comments to the list!

I would like to see "virtual speed" as an option actually. Turn in on/off the same way as you do for wind resistance.

 

[cppatrik]

Hi!
Findings regarding Bkool 2.541:
The previous verision of sim was working perfectly together with my Kickr. The only thing that was lacking was virtual speed. The situation now however is far from great.
# Vitual speed has been implemented. Good but there should be a way to turn it off.
# Startup time=time until sim actually reads correct speed watts etc has been raised from: Right away to 30 seconds. This is kind of frustrating.
# Sometimes on a 0% stage sometimes the sim just "grabbs" the kickr and holds it for like 30 seconds.Also quite frustrating.

 

[PA5DD]

I think you will find these issues already occurred with V2.54. I personally am not able to pair my Kickr using V2.541.

Downgrade V2.54 available here: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bkool.com/game/bsim2setup-v2.54.exe

 

[cppatrik]

I think you will find these issues already occurred with V2.54. I personally am not able to pair my Kickr using V2.541.

Downgrade V2.54 available here: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bkool.com/game/bsim2setup-v2.54.exe

Hi!
Not sure what you mean? You mean these issues are in 2.54 also or that if i downgrade, i'll get rid of my issues?
Personally i would like 2.53. Anyone?

 

[PA5DD]

Hi!
Not sure what you mean? You mean these issues are in 2.54 also or that if i downgrade, i'll get rid of my issues?
Personally i would like 2.53. Anyone?

Yes, that's what I mean (in V2.54 also). I would like V2.53 too, but didn't find it.

Separate from that I can't pair my Kickr using V2.541, but that does work with V2.54.

 

[cppatrik]

Yes, that's what I mean (in V2.54 also). I would like V2.53 too, but didn't find it.

Separate from that I can't pair my Kickr using V2.541, but that does work with V2.54.

Ok! Thanks for claifying. I've not heard from others that there should be issues pairing in latest version. Have you tried to manually pair the kickr?

 

[PA5DD]

Ok! Thanks for claifying. I've not heard from others that there should be issues pairing in latest version. Have you tried to manually pair the kickr?

Yes I have. It only shows the speed & power ANT+ transmissions from the KICKR, not the ANT+ FE-C trainer signal. I'm thinking that if you have it manually paired before you upgrade, then it might work. I always auto-pair because I have an external power meter, and auto is the only way to pair it together with a smart trainer.

 

[cppatrik]

Yes I have. It only shows the speed & power ANT+ transmissions from the KICKR, not the ANT+ FE-C trainer signal. I'm thinking that if you have it manually paired before you upgrade, then it might work. I always auto-pair because I have an external power meter, and auto is the only way to pair it together with a smart trainer.

For the late reply! Been i St Petersburg doing site survey. I'm curious: You have latest kickr firmware - yes?

 

[cppatrik]

One thing that's bugging me: I see other members posting issues/requests her and Bkool answers. I write a mail to Bkool about my isues/requests and nothing happens until I post my issues here! The Bkool replies to my mail but not in this thread. The main request from me to Bkool is that i would like Bkool to have their previous versions of (assuming windows user here) bsim2setup.exe. Bkool answers in a way that states: Unfortunately when we develop a new version all previous ones are automatically destroyed permanently.

As this isn't the case in reality i would really like to know Bkools reluctance for us (premium users) to gain access to previous versions. I mean this is a paid for feature that we're having issues with.
B.R.

 

[PA5DD]

For the late reply! Been i St Petersburg doing site survey. I'm curious: You have latest kickr firmware - yes?

Yes, I use the latest ordinary Kickr firmware. Checked it last week with my son's smartphone :-)

I share your frustration. In a way it's good when they do not respond, because that means they acknowledge the issue. Their policy seem to be only to post good news.

 

[g00se]

As this isn't the case in reality i would really like to know Bkools reluctance for us (premium users) to gain access to previous versions. I mean this is a paid for feature that we're having issues with.
B.R.

No doubt it will be to do with testing and consistency with the API calls against their servers. They will develop a new version of the software and possibly make modifications to their servers to accommodate the changes. There is no guarantee an old version of the application will work with the current server software and it will need a lot more testing resources to check if that was to be their policy.

 

[Bonno]

Really starting to grate now are riders at the top of the rankings chart doing a (for eg.) 20K course in 1 second
Did a 30K ride recently and the top 5 overall in the rankings were all sub 5minutes!!