Team BKool CycleChat

[Randyberlin]

Admins,

There are 2 BKOOL friends PTC7 and Tracey CBM who both did the league ride. I’ve commented on their Bkool page and asked them to join the league.
I gave them the link to here as well.

 

[keithaitch]

Admins,

There are 2 BKOOL friends PTC7 and Tracey CBM who both did the league ride. I’ve commented on their Bkool page and asked them to join the league.
I gave them the link to here as well.

@Randy I've seen Tracey and have approved her request to join the league and rides. How did you write on their Bkool page? That could be the answer in looking for to contact new members of the league to get them more involved.

 

[Rod McG]

[/QUOTE]
Morning Rod,

Yes trying to compare speed in particular will be a challenge, the simulator seems to create it's own 'virtual' speed under certain conditions, my TACX can only simulate up to around 8% inclines so the Bkool simulator compensates on steeper gradients by reducing the speed, likewise for descents I expect if you didn't pedal at all the sim would still roll you down a hill at a fair lick. Whereas the Garmin is likely to be reading data direct from your sensor which wont factor in the virtual speeds, this is probably the same if the Garmin was connected to the Bkool Pro. I'm no expert but it might be a case of apples and pears here. Hope I've understood your setup and I'm not talking bllx.
I would definitely try out changing the sensor to the Bkool Pro, it'll be interesting to see what that does to the power data too.👍
[/QUOTE]
@AndyMacca
Changing to Bkool from my speed/cadence sensor made no real difference on my repeat downhill ride. The cadence was lower in Bkool but the power was still 8% higher, and the speed again about 10% lower. It is not easy to work it all out as first you need to know which sensor is being used and then the algorithm that the data is put through before display. Neither is clear so I think I have taken this as far as I can. However, I am not sure that it matters much, it's close enough for me. The key is consistency, and to be vaguely similar to others.

 

[owdgeezer]

Hi all, I'm new to Bkool and what I've tried up to now certainly gets me working/sweating hard. When I've done workouts I seem to have trouble working out how to get the best out of them, if I try and keep withing the displayed power limit (the ERG thing) I have to pedal so slow that the cadence stops recording what am I doing wrong? I really want to get the best I can over winter. Any help most appreciated.

 

[Whorty]

I am a spanner what can I say..

I could lie and say I wanted to take one for the team but actually I wanted a painfully undulating course to test out how truly bad the lunatic gears are on my new toy (Wattbike Atom, birthday present last week from HID ) and it was painful (still) - with the gears, I was always in the wrong one, the signal from the BSim takes an age to change gradient (incline and decline) so looking at the upcoming % isn't enough, if you're changing from flat to 4% and drop a load of cogs then you'll be almost freewheeling until the 4% lands like a brick wall so instead you have to just wait for the pain then react to it. Bkool say they're in the process of "certifying it" so hopefully it's part of their 'focus' on software and wont take too long. Having said all that it does seem to register watts more quickly than the Tacx and more of them 👍 so a more competitive time but my ave HR was 10BPM higher - that's more to do with being chased by my own ghost though so not really a useful power comparison.👻👻👻👻

I get a similar experience on the NEO2. The gradients change on screen, but hit the bike a good few seconds later meaning I'm either in the wrong gear, or I have to try and anticipate which gear I 'may' need. I definitely lose time when going from a -ve gradient to +ve.

 

[theboxers]

Hi all, I'm new to Bkool and what I've tried up to now certainly gets me working/sweating hard. When I've done workouts I seem to have trouble working out how to get the best out of them, if I try and keep withing the displayed power limit (the ERG thing) I have to pedal so slow that the cadence stops recording what am I doing wrong? I really want to get the best I can over winter. Any help most appreciated.

When in ERG mode I find it better to be in the small ring at the front and mid point on the cassette. This normally allows a reasonable cadence, for me 85 to 95, for any power level. The trainer will try to have a resistance for the required power at the speed of the trainer. This is easier for the trainer at lower speeds.

There is an effect where you get into the spiral of death. The power level is requested but the trainer works out that at the current speed the resistance is too low so ups the resistance. This can, if the power level required is high enough, cause the cadence to drop and therefore the speed will go down. Which means the power required is not being produced so the trainer increases the resistance and round and round.

What you need to do is allow the trainer to catch up with you. An increase in power required is simple and the resistance goes up, you just need to maintain the cadence. A drop is slightly more problematic. You need to maintain you cadence and allow the trainer to adjust. This can take several seconds. Allow the trainer to do the adjustment work don't try to do it. You may be outside the lines for a few seconds but it will not hurt the overall rating of the workout.

TL : DR
Maintain your cadence, let the trainer do the work.

 

[keithaitch]

Welcome to bkool, it is indeed a great way to workout. In addition to this chat we have weekly group races with a whole range of levels. You are bound to find somebody who will become your nemisis and haunt your sleeping hours. If you are interested search for the Chaingang in bkool and the weekly stages will automatically appear in your simulator feed. You can do the stages whenever you like, but we all try to meet for the races on Thursday at 18:00 and Saturday 17:00 UK TIME.
If your are interested in the group races I'll give you more precise details here of how to join a race session.

 

[Bored Man]

Hi all, I'm new to Bkool and what I've tried up to now certainly gets me working/sweating hard. When I've done workouts I seem to have trouble working out how to get the best out of them, if I try and keep withing the displayed power limit (the ERG thing) I have to pedal so slow that the cadence stops recording what am I doing wrong? I really want to get the best I can over winter. Any help most appreciated.

 

[Randyberlin]

@Randy I've seen Tracey and have approved her request to join the league and rides. How did you write on their Bkool page? That could be the answer in looking for to contact new members of the league to get them more involved.

If they're a friend you can comment on their ride. PTC7 is an early friend
. Tracey just recently friended me.

 

[Brusgaard]

BSIM version 5.06 has been released today.
Changelog:
- Compatibility with Elite Direto X.
- Fix: fixed a bug in Mac OSX versions 10.8 and 10.9 that prevented the use of the application. Remember that bluetooth support is only available from Mac OSX 10.10, but you can continue training for ANT+.
- Fix: the ERG for the Bkool Classic rollers has been recovered from version 2.04.
- Fix: fixed bug that caused Wahoo Tickr X heartrate sensor to be detected as Speed & Cadence.
- Fix: solved the problems with Wahoo rollers cadence value.

Not mentioned in the changelog, but "draft riders" are back at the top of the screen - but now with a stupid black background bar filling almost the entire screen horizontally.
Paint+messages still FUBAR with no "space" possible.


BSIM 5.07 (and later) will bring a nice enhancement for us/those who start races, as the countdown will continue, even if we leave the session/BSIM crashes etc. 5.07 is currently being using in the Danish league due to the many problems with big number attending the races. It is not yet available for public download.

 

[microkid]

Installed and updated

 

[Bored Man]

BSIM version 5.06 has been released today.
Changelog:
- Compatibility with Elite Direto X.
- Fix: fixed a bug in Mac OSX versions 10.8 and 10.9 that prevented the use of the application. Remember that bluetooth support is only available from Mac OSX 10.10, but you can continue training for ANT+.
- Fix: the ERG for the Bkool Classic rollers has been recovered from version 2.04.
- Fix: fixed bug that caused Wahoo Tickr X heartrate sensor to be detected as Speed & Cadence.
- Fix: solved the problems with Wahoo rollers cadence value.

Not mentioned in the changelog, but "draft riders" are back at the top of the screen - but now with a stupid black background bar filling almost the entire screen horizontally.
Paint+messages still FUBAR with no "space" possible.


BSIM 5.07 (and later) will bring a nice enhancement for us/those who start races, as the countdown will continue, even if we leave the session/BSIM crashes etc. 5.07 is currently being using in the Danish league due to the many problems with big number attending the races. It is not yet available for public download.

Thanks @Brusgaard Sir. Will the recent update clear my nose up?

 

[keithaitch]

If they're a friend you can comment on their ride. PTC7 is an early friend
. Tracey just recently friended me.

Thanks I'll try it when I get home, the mobile version doesn't let you.

 

[keithaitch]

BSIM version 5.06 has been released today.
Changelog:
- Compatibility with Elite Direto X.
- Fix: fixed a bug in Mac OSX versions 10.8 and 10.9 that prevented the use of the application. Remember that bluetooth support is only available from Mac OSX 10.10, but you can continue training for ANT+.
- Fix: the ERG for the Bkool Classic rollers has been recovered from version 2.04.
- Fix: fixed bug that caused Wahoo Tickr X heartrate sensor to be detected as Speed & Cadence.
- Fix: solved the problems with Wahoo rollers cadence value.

Not mentioned in the changelog, but "draft riders" are back at the top of the screen - but now with a stupid black background bar filling almost the entire screen horizontally.
Paint+messages still FUBAR with no "space" possible.


BSIM 5.07 (and later) will bring a nice enhancement for us/those who start races, as the countdown will continue, even if we leave the session/BSIM crashes etc. 5.07 is currently being using in the Danish league due to the many problems with big number attending the races. It is not yet available for public download.

Thanks for the update! Do we know yet if the drafting effect is the same as before, nothing, or back to the old version which made it worth you while to wait for somebody or make a huge effort to catch them so you could draft and save energy.

 

[Brusgaard]

Thanks for the update! Do we know yet if the drafting effect is the same as before, nothing, or back to the old version which made it worth you while to wait for somebody or make a huge effort to catch them so you could draft and save energy.

I presume nothing has changed in that regard, else they would/should have mentioned it in the changelog.