Team BKool CycleChat

[Rod McG]

I probably didn't wait as much as you thought Rob. I was knackered after a day out with my Mrs on her new mobility scooter. That little machine is impressive with its 8mph top speed and its tiny little battery that seems to go on forever. I'm not doing that again without my bike.

My wife has a similar scooter which I struggle to keep up with. She laughs that passers-by think that she is trying to escape, with me running after her!

 

[BILL S]

Yes, you only beat me by one second, you must have been totally knackered, I'll look for revenge on Monday morning! But don't think I have a hope in hell of getting close to your Thursday time, very impressive.

2 words for Thursday nights performance: Fairy Dust
There's not a hope in hell I can make that kind of power in the real world. Lucky if I could manage 2/3 of that. Good luck on Monday.

 

[BILL S]

My wife has a similar scooter which I struggle to keep up with. She laughs that passers-by think that she is trying to escape, with me running after her!

Yes, my wife seems to find it quite amusing too. She wont be laughing next weekend when we go out on her newly converted electric trike and my canyon. Her trike is now throttle control instead of pedal assist (might be bending a law slightly there) but I don't think it'll be a match for the canyon

 

[shimceltic]

On the app I notice it says so many hundred online but most events seem to be 1 or 2 people. Are there any set times for events starting?

 

[bobinski]

Yes, my wife seems to find it quite amusing too. She wont be laughing next weekend when we go out on her newly converted electric trike and my canyon. Her trike is now throttle control instead of pedal assist (might be bending a law slightly there) but I don't think it'll be a match for the canyon

Can you get her signed up to Strava so we can compare

 

[Benji77]

2 words for Thursday nights performance: Fairy Dust
There's not a hope in hell I can make that kind of power in the real world. Lucky if I could manage 2/3 of that. Good luck on Monday.

Hi, I keep hearing different views about how accurate bkool... I've got my powertap pedals connected, so I know that the watts I see in bkool are correct, but does that then accurately translate to the correct road speed and correct simulation of gradient? So far, I am noticing that it seems quite realistic but interested to know if there are any other views!!??

 

[Aleman]

I was putting out 420W as my best 20 minute power on Thursday. .. and at times was recording over 8W/kg! I don't have a power meter but from my heart rate and the actual effort I think it was probably closer to 240 to 250 watts. A restart of the pro unit has solved the issue, and today it was recording muchore sensible numbers.

Thing being that you can't predict when you are going to get a huge handful of fairy dust. Restarting the trainer each session is one way to stop it happening though

 

[LBHIFI]

I was putting out 420W as my best 20 minute power on Thursday. .. and at times was recording over 8W/kg! I don't have a power meter but from my heart rate and the actual effort I think it was probably closer to 240 to 250 watts. A restart of the pro unit has solved the issue, and today it was recording muchore sensible numbers.

Thing being that you can't predict when you are going to get a huge handful of fairy dust. Restarting the trainer each session is one way to stop it happening though

That is the problem with the Pro unit in a nutshell. It is just too inconsistent to use for anything that resemble serious training. I was using the new BSim to watch the Chaingang race and noticed that there was now a "Connect to power source" option. Has anyone tried that yet?
Also noticed that the Filter function didn't work when I wanted to search for "Bill", but I just chose the first one with more than one rider

 

[Benji77]

That is the problem with the Pro unit in a nutshell. It is just too inconsistent to use for anything that resemble serious training. I was using the new BSim to watch the Chaingang race and noticed that there was now a "Connect to power source" option. Has anyone tried that yet?
Also noticed that the Filter function didn't work when I wanted to search for "Bill", but I just chose the first one with more than one rider

Yes, I've got my powertap pedals connected to BSim and so the readings are spot on. Also feel like the gradients are very realistic. Seem to be going faster than I would on the road, but might be due to the absence of junctions to navigate!

 

[BILL S]

Hi, I keep hearing different views about how accurate bkool... I've got my powertap pedals connected, so I know that the watts I see in bkool are correct, but does that then accurately translate to the correct road speed and correct simulation of gradient? So far, I am noticing that it seems quite realistic but interested to know if there are any other views!!??

Hi Benji. There seems to be quite a range of accuracy with power reading and mine has often read high compared to some of the others. Having met some of the guys here and been able to compare real world performance, we were very similar in the rw whereas I had the advantage on the bkool. I seem to be at a bkool disadvantage up hills but have an advantage on the flat. No idea why and it has also varied a lot after bkool have changed their algorithms. I think most of us gave up a long time ago trying to make it a completely fair playing field.

 

[Bored Man]

Hi Benji. There seems to be quite a range of accuracy with power reading and mine has often read high compared to some of the others. Having met some of the guys here and been able to compare real world performance, we were very similar in the rw whereas I had the advantage on the bkool. I seem to be at a bkool disadvantage up hills but have an advantage on the flat. No idea why and it has also varied a lot after bkool have changed their algorithms. I think most of us gave up a long time ago trying to make it a completely fair playing field.

 

[Benji77]

Hi Benji. There seems to be quite a range of accuracy with power reading and mine has often read high compared to some of the others. Having met some of the guys here and been able to compare real world performance, we were very similar in the rw whereas I had the advantage on the bkool. I seem to be at a bkool disadvantage up hills but have an advantage on the flat. No idea why and it has also varied a lot after bkool have changed their algorithms. I think most of us gave up a long time ago trying to make it a completely fair playing field.

Thanks Bill, I did a few comparisons between what I am doing on BKOOL and similar segments in STRAVA (both based on powertap). I know that BKOOL is spot on when I use powertap for power readings, but it seems like my speed in BKOOL is about 5-10% faster, which could be attibuted to a number of environmental factors (e.g. if I + my bike were more aero in real life, then the real life readings would be faster!) and using the BSim is certainly "feels" about right. In any case, it's a whole lot of fun and a huge motivation for training... and in the end the errors will all be relative so I intend to just crack on and enjoy it

 

[Whorty]

Thanks Bill, I did a few comparisons between what I am doing on BKOOL and similar segments in STRAVA (both based on powertap). I know that BKOOL is spot on when I use powertap for power readings, but it seems like my speed in BKOOL is about 5-10% faster, which could be attibuted to a number of environmental factors (e.g. if I + my bike were more aero in real life, then the real life readings would be faster!) and using the BSim is certainly "feels" about right. In any case, it's a whole lot of fun and a huge motivation for training... and in the end the errors will all be relative so I intend to just crack on and enjoy it

Most, if not all, the complaints on Bkool with regards to power over-reading and speed is related to the Bkool Pro trainer (or their other trainers). I'd say my Kickr reads fine on BSIM too, like your pedals, but that there is the problem. If proper power meters are reading correctly, the speed will also be more accurate. But then you race against those on the Bkool's own trainers and you are at a big disadvantage. I have a Pro trainer and on BSIM I just can't match my Pro power/times compared to the Kickr.

If everyone uses the Bkool trainers, or everyone used none Bkool trainers, then races would be fair. This is why most of us who have none Bkool trainers have now gone to the dark side. This is a shame though as we loved racing on the BSIM.

If all you want is a good workout though the BSIM works well enough and is fun.

 

[AAAC 76C]

I see the leagues are back up to the old game of not updating!

 

[shimceltic]

Where do you view the leagues?