Bkool Smart Bike experiences?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Steinhammer

New Member
Location
London
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


I think BKOOL(like the others), having seen Peleton's success are all trying to get their customers to move to a "walled garden" business model. I think that's the logic of the Smart Bike as a product. Across the field though, over the coming years, if all of your equipment and simulator are the same brand I suspect you're going to be looked after, but if you mix and matching the support is going to be close to zero.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
You are probably right, they will have to develop a system to exclude all others. That's great when your the best and market leader, Bkool aren't either. They went for a budget trainer, not a crap one, but budget and were unfortunately overtaken by high quality trainers and power meters almost immediately.

Zwift came along with lots of money and quality software engineers who provided a slick working platform(for the majority) of trainers. Numbers of users on Zwift rose rapidly. Zwift coped, yes they had a few glitches but were upfront and apologetic, sorted the issues quickly.

Bigringvr appeared with HD quality videos of famous climbs/routes and with the facility to upload you own videos and rides for you to practice on . I understand that their system is pretty easy to upload videos, where are Bkool can be problematic.

Bkool had a great idea with upload rides and also video but implementation was dire. Now there are multiple rides of the same route, so much so that even when this forum arranges a race users sometimes log onto the wrong race route and their race buddies are not there Also having so many routes has watered down the user base, to the point that rides can be completely devoid of any other rider. That is where the Zwift model succeeded, in ring fencing their users so competitive nature was instinctive(have you tried not to beat that rider just in front?)

I wish Bkool well, but I won't be using their platform, well at least paying for it. When my money is better spent elsewhere
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
I think BKOOL(like the others), having seen Peleton's success are all trying to get their customers to move to a "walled garden" business model. I think that's the logic of the Smart Bike as a product. Across the field though, over the coming years, if all of your equipment and simulator are the same brand I suspect you're going to be looked after, but if you mix and matching the support is going to be close to zero.

I don’t see it that way to be honest. Most turbos are designed to work across multiple platforms as the majority of manufacturers don’t operate user platforms. And I don’t think it’s hard either. Any turbo or spin bike with its own power meter and Bluetooth, ant+ etc can work across all the platforms if the developer plays ball. I know this from helping the guys at bigringvr to get the wattbike working with there software. Operators like Zwift want to make their software as inclusive as possible, and add features specifically for individual trainers. Why would you limit yourself to one platform? Escpecially Bkool.

I think it’s in Bkool’s interest to create a walled garden because they can’t compete in an open market. But it’s not in their customers interest. Because Bkool is an inferior product vs the market. Inferior hardware and inferior software.

I know you’ve got the bike and I’m not trying to offend you. But that thing with the gear shifting? It just seems crazy when you look at what else is out there.
 

s2ook

Active Member
Thanks for your review of the smart bike steinhammer.

Whether the bike is useful as a training tool depends on whether power levels are consistent between sessions. How have you found it in this regard?

The bike itself looks interesting but I think they've compromised too much to bring the product to market at a price point below the competition.

How difficult is it to fit shifters or simple blips? Even a good old fashioned dial would work. Maybe even a simple display like the tacx bike has to make it a standalone unit. I'm certain it would still be competitive privewise and have more universal appeal. Some kind of power meter wouldn't go amiss either rather than some kind of guesstimate using mass and gravity.

The bkool air is marketed to have a power meter built in so this could potentially be a game changer given the platform and market they're aiming for (neo/kickr)
 

s2ook

Active Member
I asked them some fairly basic questions about power accuracy/reliability/calibration and here's the latest response:

Hey ###, the bike is calibrated before leaving the factory.

You won't need to calibrate anything. The Bike is 2-3%(+-) accurate, just like our trainers. The power is estimated using the information you put into your account.

It's not filling me with confidence so far...
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
I asked them some fairly basic questions about power accuracy/reliability/calibration and here's the latest response:

Hey ###, the bike is calibrated before leaving the factory.

You won't need to calibrate anything. The Bike is 2-3%(+-) accurate, just like our trainers. The power is estimated using the information you put into your account.

It's not filling me with confidence so far...
Given we know their trainers are nowhere near +-3% accurate this just confirms that they have no desire to work towards a level playing field on their own platform.

They will still sell some trainers as their price point is tempting (that's why I initially went with a Pro), and they will still get users of their platform, but they will not be able to compete with Zwift in the long term and serious (or even semi serious) cyclists will just avoid them and purchase more accurate trainers. This is a real shame as their platform has some great things going for it but the company just can't be trusted to implement what we as users want (which is a level playing field for all trainers).
 

s2ook

Active Member
Given we know their trainers are nowhere near +-3% accurate this just confirms that they have no desire to work towards a level playing field on their own platform.

They will still sell some trainers as their price point is tempting (that's why I initially went with a Pro), and they will still get users of their platform, but they will not be able to compete with Zwift in the long term and serious (or even semi serious) cyclists will just avoid them and purchase more accurate trainers. This is a real shame as their platform has some great things going for it but the company just can't be trusted to implement what we as users want (which is a level playing field for all trainers).
If the bkool air has a built in power meter and a price point to match the kickr/neo then hopefully the simulation will reflect this and become more accurate to power output. I'll be surprised, however, if this is the case.

Why make a turbo trainer with a power meter and omit the same technology from the flagship unit (indoor bike)?
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Bkool have painted themselves into a corner. I doubt that any of their new products have a power meter. If they did, these products woild be disadvantaged/slower against the Bkool pro. They cant have that. I suspect they will employ the same calculation of using speed to estimate power.
 

s2ook

Active Member
Ok.

So, against my better judgment and advice, I bought a bkool smart bike.

Initial impressions (and these are very initial impressions) are that it's actually not bad.

The good:
Spin type classes are on the money.
The bike is easy to setup and wheel about
Its silent
Sprinting feels very solid- on par with a wattbike pro
Ergo sessions seem to maintain power zones well
Fixed gear and high inertia with excellent feel
Power feels consistent - opinion rather than justified belief. I'll check on power pedals if I can get some.
Bkool fitness app is easy to setup and quick


The not so good
The gears are a PITA and seem to increase resistance exponentially after 12.
Handlebars could be better
Saddle is on a par with sitting on a brick
The plastic covers below the water bottle holder are not sealed and any drips allows water around the edges
Apps and connections can be fiddly to setup.
Q factor feels odd but not excessively so. It's about 30mm wider than a wattbike (measured). A set of straight cranks would sort this and it appears the frame/cover clearance is sufficient.

Overall, I'm not blown away yet but its much better than my previous experirnce of virtual cycling on the tacx fortius.
 
OP
OP
K

keke

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the review! Any further comments a month later? No knee or hip pain from q factor?
 

s2ook

Active Member
I've been on holiday so I've not used it as much as I'd like to have done.

I've swapped the cranks out for some straight Shimano jobs which has shaved a few cm from the q factor. It no longer feels odd.

I need to use the simulator more as I've really only used the classes so far. I also need to buy some power pedals to determine accuracy (maybe in a few months).

Otherwise, it's still performing to expectations :smile:
 
OP
OP
K

keke

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the update!

I really wonder why they don't use straight cranks... Very odd.
 

DavidWooderson

New Member
So it seems the Bkool Smart Bike 2.0 has been quietly released.
Wow, interesting! I live in the US, and they only show the refurbished 1.0 on their site, and the cost is only $700 USD with free delivery, which is really enticing. But that Q-factor.. in the YouTube video embedded on the bkool product page, they pan behind the rider, and the distance between the pedals looks HUGE. That scares me. Even with a crankarm swap.
Edit: Here is the YouTube clip showing the wide Q-Factor in action. Her legs are flared out quite a bit.


View: https://youtu.be/FX9vNfH9oeU?t=44
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom