Just about says it all really lol
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theboxers
TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
- Location
- OTC (on the couch)
Translation of 'We guess'They've now replied to my question of:
How do you measure power output?
With
We have our own system
You may be consistant, but you're consistantly wrong.
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They've now replied to my question of:
How do you measure power output?
With
We have our own system
They forgot to include the image in the email.
A system for not actually answering or don't know? I seriously hope the technicians designing and making theses so called systems are not the same as those answering on Facebook
I'm also really intrigued as to how my weight affects power measurement...
It takes 3 days to get a response and that's the most considered reply they can give.
Wow. I'm speechless.
I'm also really intrigued as to how my weight affects power measurement...
It takes 3 days to get a response and that's the most considered reply they can give.
Wow. I'm speechless.
berty bassett
Legendary Member
- Location
- I'boro
its typical bkool - in the end you either think - that answer to my question was very deep and thought provoking without actually answering or
i have just been fobbed off again
i hope they read these forums occasionally and i would love to know how it makes them feel
<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
I’m not going to say I told you so. Well I guess this counts...
Seriously though... it’s just hard to believe how incompetent they are until you see it for yourself. The only thing I will say is that the pro unit and Bkool software that goes with it was great fun to race on and served a purpose for me and lots of the guys here. It’s on the cheaper end of the market, and it does a job, so in that sense the value was there. But.... and it is a Jenifer Lopez proportioned Butt... If you want accuracy or consistency or reliability.... forget it. That’s fine if those things aren’t top of your list, but in your case they are.
I ran the tacx Fortius for a while on TTS3 software. That was maybe 7 years ago now I think. It was awful. Setup, boot up, logon, warm up, roll-down calibration. Finally ready to roll, crash, motor locks up etc. Even when I did get to do a session it was so unreliable powerwise that it was chaotic. There was 30 to 40w difference between workouts.I’m not going to say I told you so. Well I guess this counts...
Seriously though... it’s just hard to believe how incompetent they are until you see it for yourself. The only thing I will say is that the pro unit and Bkool software that goes with it was great fun to race on and served a purpose for me and lots of the guys here. It’s on the cheaper end of the market, and it does a job, so in that sense the value was there. But.... and it is a Jenifer Lopez proportioned Butt... If you want accuracy or consistency or reliability.... forget it. That’s fine if those things aren’t top of your list, but in your case they are.
In those days tacx were beyond awful for customer service as well. It seems like they've matured. I hope bkool do the same. The platform looks good and is innovative at a price point which is affordable.
Next up, bkool air...
<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
One thing Bkool have on their side from what I can tell is a decent sized user base. What they don’t have is good management. The only way I see the experience improving is if they get bought out by more competent people, who see value because of the user base, and the potential in the platform.
Steinhammer
New Member
- Location
- London
I've got one recently, and I'd say that most of the comments on this thread are fair, but some are not, and many are missing the point of the product.
My first observation would be that the comments about it being an expensive rebranded product are way off the mark. In terms of the hardware the bike is unbelievable value. So far as I can see there is no other way to get the combination of near silent magnetic resistance, watt and cadence measurement, and bluetooth plus without spending crazy money. The most obvious way, buying a Tour de France or a decent quality standard magnetic spin bike like the Keiser M3 and slapping a pair of Garmin Vectors on it would be between £2500 and £3000, and in the latter case the resistance wouldn't be controlled by whatever programme you were using. I bought my Bkool Smart Bike for £999.
My second observation is that I think this product (the bike and the simulator together) is aimed squarely at the fitness market than the cycling enthusiast market. You can see that in the far-apart pedals, the lack of frame adjustability, the fitness style handlebars etc. Its obvious competitor is the over £2000 peleton bike, which is nothing more than a felt pad spin bike with a white boxed android tablet slapped on top. Again, compared to that it's ridiculously good value (as is the much lower monthly subscription). What it's best at is giving you a spinning lesson where the instructor is automatically changing the resistance for you, whether you like it or not. For me it's really important that you can race ghosts and bots or watch video versions of your routes or go in a velodrome because I find training brain-numbing and need something to keep me distracted for 35 minutes. Zwift and trainer road didn't work for me in that regard. but if you're the kind of person who is happy to plug away on a power trainer for hours you're probably going to consider most of what Bkool does to be gimmicky.
Third observation. Bkool's software is still wonky and the support is still crap. Whoever came up with the idea of splitting the session management, the simulator and the gear change between (respectively) a website, an application and another phone application should locked up in Arkham Asylum. It really feels sometime like someone high up in that company, either in development or in management, is a moron or a lunatic. Whatever the cause, they should stop innovating and consolidate and fix their existing platforms before they do anything else.
In conclusion: I think its a brilliantly good value product for the fitness market, albeit one with some noticeable flaws. If you want gamified blasts of almost silent , cycle-based exercise for under an hour or two its the best thing out there right now. If you're a serious cyclist looking for a training tool it's probably not for you.
My first observation would be that the comments about it being an expensive rebranded product are way off the mark. In terms of the hardware the bike is unbelievable value. So far as I can see there is no other way to get the combination of near silent magnetic resistance, watt and cadence measurement, and bluetooth plus without spending crazy money. The most obvious way, buying a Tour de France or a decent quality standard magnetic spin bike like the Keiser M3 and slapping a pair of Garmin Vectors on it would be between £2500 and £3000, and in the latter case the resistance wouldn't be controlled by whatever programme you were using. I bought my Bkool Smart Bike for £999.
My second observation is that I think this product (the bike and the simulator together) is aimed squarely at the fitness market than the cycling enthusiast market. You can see that in the far-apart pedals, the lack of frame adjustability, the fitness style handlebars etc. Its obvious competitor is the over £2000 peleton bike, which is nothing more than a felt pad spin bike with a white boxed android tablet slapped on top. Again, compared to that it's ridiculously good value (as is the much lower monthly subscription). What it's best at is giving you a spinning lesson where the instructor is automatically changing the resistance for you, whether you like it or not. For me it's really important that you can race ghosts and bots or watch video versions of your routes or go in a velodrome because I find training brain-numbing and need something to keep me distracted for 35 minutes. Zwift and trainer road didn't work for me in that regard. but if you're the kind of person who is happy to plug away on a power trainer for hours you're probably going to consider most of what Bkool does to be gimmicky.
Third observation. Bkool's software is still wonky and the support is still crap. Whoever came up with the idea of splitting the session management, the simulator and the gear change between (respectively) a website, an application and another phone application should locked up in Arkham Asylum. It really feels sometime like someone high up in that company, either in development or in management, is a moron or a lunatic. Whatever the cause, they should stop innovating and consolidate and fix their existing platforms before they do anything else.
In conclusion: I think its a brilliantly good value product for the fitness market, albeit one with some noticeable flaws. If you want gamified blasts of almost silent , cycle-based exercise for under an hour or two its the best thing out there right now. If you're a serious cyclist looking for a training tool it's probably not for you.
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<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
Fair enough steinhammer.
It’s sounds like your happy with its functionality as a spin bike. I can see that it’s at its best when you don’t have to manually shift gear. Have I got it right that when you do want to manually change gear you have to do it via a phone app?
It’s sounds like your happy with its functionality as a spin bike. I can see that it’s at its best when you don’t have to manually shift gear. Have I got it right that when you do want to manually change gear you have to do it via a phone app?
Steinhammer
New Member
- Location
- London
Yes, and it's clunky - not in the sense of delay, but in the sense of having a phone open next to your tablet/pc and 15 gears, and you can only go up or down one increment at a time. I think they'll fix it eventually, but at the moment it's a bit of a disaster. Even when fixed, I can't see it being a direct substitute for a real bike on a turbo trainer with feedback resistance in terms of realism. Ergo mode on the other hand works quite well (apart from being on a separate device). You set your output level and then tweak it as necessary. I suspect a dedicated ergo trainer wouldn't bother adjusting the power level, and would rather try to maintain a single power level using the session creating tools to set up a course with varying resistances over time.
<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
How can they improve the set up? Are there buttons of some sort on the hoods for future use?
It sounds like it’s not much good for racing with that set up. I get what you’re saying about the price point. But it seems like a big compromise if you want it for anything other than erg mode.
For what it’s worth I’ve had a brilliant time racing on Bkool over the last few years. If you’re interested in joining in there’s races organised thorough the Bkool main thread and all the guys are really nice.
From my own point of view I don’t have a Bkool turbo anymore but I’m following this with interest as I’d like to see non Bkool turbo’s have parity with Bkool units on bsim. I was hoping that if Bkool released the bike with its own power meter it would force them to change the way the software works. Have you had a race on bsim yet? I’m wondering if you felt like you left the start line slowly, or noticed your avatar responding in relation to other racers when the gradient changed.
I pretty much guarantee they won't sort out the issues. It's been 2 years or more since Bkool released a Sim update which screwed with their whole setup. My Kickr went from being ok on Bkool to pointless with a massive lag at start of races. Their own trainer went from being to cheat the system by on off sawtooth technique to dead stops on transition from decline to incline . Then there was the sticky plaster of blue speed numbers . We won't mention the wildly inaccurate power and speed rradings
Here is the video of my Kickr trying to get off the line hitting 700W with abysmal
accelerationin in speed
View: https://youtu.be/S941X6ZFCCk
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