Team BKool CycleChat

[burndust]

I've sent them an email...yeah its pretty annoying when you've done a 50 miler your legs are detroyed and then it doesnt show up..lucky i've been using my garmin edge as backup

 

[Snaily]

Thought I'd have a play on the BKool today even though the weather is great for outdoors. As I am between bikes I setup my Specialized Sirrus Comp (my commuter bike) on the Bkool and have a blast at the Alpe D'Huez ascent followed by the descent. An hour and 23 mins to go up and 10 mins to come down lol. Although the bike was running a triple chainset I found you could spin the legs easier but getting a half decent speed was hard.

The descents are awful and I think its something that could be improved upon, 52mph around tight hairpin bends? I don't think I would be staying on my bike in reality!

 

[burndust]

Well no further forward with bkool i did get a response saying it will eventually appear...i have my doubts...both sessions are in my expired sessions

 

[Snaily]

I getting increasingly frustrated with my BKOOL, the ANT+ keeps dropping connection every minute or so and tonight when I tried to do a ride I had no resistance changes, tried rebooting, unplugging and reconnecting but no joy. BSim status shows everything is connected and everything is paired ok. Mind you Col de la Madeleine was easy going up at 20mph lol (I did disconnect and delete the ride)
I have emailed BKOOL and they replied promptly saying they will give me phone assistance which I have yet to arrange. I fear a communication Brummie/Spanish breakdown
Anyone else have any issues with the hardware?

 

[harly]

Am having exactly the same problems snaily ive had to abandon loads of rides , it does seem to be getting worse , its annoying when it shows a decent conection but just suddenely stops working ,or i carry on rideing the course without moving the peddles, i have my laptop less than a foot away from the bkool thinking maybees something was blocking the signal but its no different , no wonder there saying we can have free videos, i actually got a decent steady conection when i tried my garmin ant + dongle i wish id kept that instead of selling it

 

[Snaily]

Tried my trainer again today, again the machine wont adjust the resistance and the ANT+ keeps dropping every few seconds, when reconnecting to BSim it will say valid ANT+ device not found even though it is showing as connected in the status screen.

Just contacted Wiggle customer services to maybe try and return for a full refund.

Another thing I have noticed is when Im on the trainer the bike sounds and feels ropey, as if the gear changes aren't clean and smooth. I have noticed this with 2 different bikes and both run nice and smooth on the road.

 

[burndust]

I had the same issues now and again..but since i started using my laptop on the mains rather than battery its been ok..apart from rides that dont appear.i think the simulator uses a hell of alot of system resources tbh do you use wifi snaily

 

[Snaily]

I use on a desktop with wired connection, high end gaming pc.

I have a support call with BKool tomorrow afternoon where they are going to use Teamviewer to remote access my pc.

 

[burndust]

Keep us posted snaily..i really hope bkool are going to sort their issues out as it has great potential to be a great product

 

[Snaily]

Ok today I tried the BKOOL and the ANT+ connected to the USB at the rear of the PC instead of the USB hub I usually use and I now I have the resistance working but the ANT+ still drops every 20 seconds or so. I'm off to buy a new hub and a m USB lead as I feel the hub and the lead are the problem.

I also have just come off the phone to the BKOOL tech support man who took control of my PC using TeamViewer to download a new version of BSim which he said should rectify the ANT+ drop outs, apparently the new version comes out publicly next week.

Will keep updated when I get the hub in a few.

 

[burndust]

Well i'm glad bkool are releasing updates and are just not ignoring the software issues

 

[Snaily]

Some numpty, not naming anyone , reserved the wrong item at Argos, namely the USB cable. Having one delivered tomorrow.

 

[burndust]

So i've always been a bit sceptical about bkools power readings...but my gym at work has just got a couple of those WATT Bikes had a bash today and my power readings were pretty similar

 

[burndust]

On the subject of the usb cable that runs from the trainer to the pc what purpose does it serve?...i dont use it

 

[harly]

On the subject of the usb cable that runs from the trainer to the pc what purpose does it serve?...i dont use it

Its there for any bkool updates