Team BKool CycleChat

[Jeffro5]

I got a reply from bkool about the cadence/rpm jumping about. They wanna call me this week to provide telephone assistants to see if they can solve the problem. Not sure how they are going to do anything over phone.

Also I mentioned bad vibrations at about 20mph from the unit. Thought it was the fan grille , but now think it's the whole unit. Use one of there floor mats, and a turbo tyre.

Anyone else get vibration??

 

[RickB]

I got a reply from bkool about the cadence/rpm jumping about. They wanna call me this week to provide telephone assistants to see if they can solve the problem. Not sure how they are going to do anything over phone.

Also I mentioned bad vibrations at about 20mph from the unit. Thought it was the fan grille , but now think it's the whole unit. Use one of there floor mats.

Anyone else get vibration??

They're a pack of twisters. They told me they were working on the update to fix the cadence problem and it would be released in the next few weeks.

Seem to tell everyone a different story.
I don't get the vibration, though I did have to get a replacement unit as my first one was very noisy, even with the fan cover removed. Replacement one is fine.

 

[Jeffro5]

Think I'll push for a new unit. Lot of money spent and not 100% happy with this.

 

[kipster]

I got a reply from bkool about the cadence/rpm jumping about. They wanna call me this week to provide telephone assistants to see if they can solve the problem. Not sure how they are going to do anything over phone.

Also I mentioned bad vibrations at about 20mph from the unit. Thought it was the fan grille , but now think it's the whole unit. Use one of there floor mats, and a turbo tyre.

Anyone else get vibration??

Hi Jeffro5,

They'll use TeamViewer and probably upload some files to your computer (diagnostic tools), they may update your firmware.

I don't get vibrations, the occasional noise even with the cover removed I do get. I think I would get it replaced.

Kipster

 

[bobinski]

I had a go at Titch Hill last night. Deeply frustrating firstly because the warm up, which i started with 4 mins to go, suddenly went from 2 1/2 mins to the 10 second countdown and even though i stopped it wasn't recognised. Arghhh!. Everyone sped off. "Come back!" i shouted.Secondly, because the video kept freezing for minutes at a time and riders were constantly dropping in and out, perhaps to get their video feed sorted?. I thought it was my pc and stopped at first to click mouse etc. loosing even more time. 28 mins in the end but pretty sure i can do it in 26 if not a little faster. Still, not as fast as some on here...
I think its 3d always for me from now on.
But the real question is, why do i take it so seriously?

 

[BILL S]

I had a go at Titch Hill last night. Deeply frustrating firstly because the warm up, which i started with 4 mins to go, suddenly went from 2 1/2 mins to the 10 second countdown and even though i stopped it wasn't recognised. Arghhh!. Everyone sped off. "Come back!" i shouted.Secondly, because the video kept freezing for minutes at a time and riders were constantly dropping in and out, perhaps to get their video feed sorted?. I thought it was my pc and stopped at first to click mouse etc. loosing even more time. 28 mins in the end but pretty sure i can do it in 26 if not a little faster. Still, not as fast as some on here...
I think its 3d always for me from now on.
But the real question is, why do i take it so seriously?

That happened to me recently when I was trying to join a Live league ride. Apart from those I tend to challenge someone so I can race their ghost and give myself the full warmup. It seems there's always more chance of something going wrong when joining someone else's live session.

 

[LBHIFI]

I just rode the "Tour de France 2015 S18" stage and tried a change of tactics. My theory is that whenever you pedal and the speed is blue (calculated), it's just a waste of watts.If however you can pedal fast enough on a descend to make the speed white again, then you get some extra speed.
This is very much like the real world: you normally don't need to pedal hard to go fast on a descend.
But where it is not like the real world, is how hard you have to pedal to get the rpm's going downhill. You can pedal pretty hard on a 10% descend, and still have a "blue speed", meaning that all your effort is wasted - At least that is my theory.
Also I think that the initial momentum is part of the downhill speed calculation, so I tried to pedal like mad, just before going from straights to steep descends, to get a high initial speed. This repeated acceleration is pretty hard though, but still favorable I think, with these long steep descends.

 

[blazed]

Bought a bkool pro thinking it might be good practice for Stelvio Pass. Started climbing Mont Ventoux which I have climbed in person and was nothing like it. 5% grades on bkool seemed much harder than in real life, likewise with the 10% parts. Stopped the ride and loaded up Hardknott Pass. I was whizzing up 20%-30% grades without breaking a sweat. This is with the latest firmware. Seems like a bit of a toy which could be fun racing if you're not bothered about realism?

 

[BILL S]

Cracking time there LB. I might just need to battle your ghost again, and perhaps try out your tactics
I joined the race this evening but only managed the first few minutes before being summonsed to do something "more important". That hasn't happened before so I'll let it pass just this once. I had been hoping to draft some of those speedy guys too. Like Rick for example who flew past me down the hill just before I had to make an exit

 

[BILL S]

Bought a bkool pro thinking it might be good practice for Stelvio Pass. Started climbing Mont Ventoux which I have climbed in person and was nothing like it. 5% grades on bkool seemed much harder than in real life, likewise with the 10% parts. Stopped the ride and loaded up Hardknott Pass. I was whizzing up 20%-30% grades without breaking a sweat. This is with the latest firmware. Seems like a bit of a toy which could be fun racing if you're not bothered about realism?

There are one or two rides where you can whizz up some very steep hills but these are the minority. I havn't tried Hardknott Pass but it is probably one of these. Mostly its a pretty hard slog uphill as I think most would agree.
The bkool is just a bit of a toy in reality but its a very good toy and will probably have a massive effect on your fitness if you get into it in the way quite a few have on this board. The competitions can be pretty great.

 

[RickB]

Cracking time there LB. I might just need to battle your ghost again, and perhaps try out your tactics
I joined the race this evening but only managed the first few minutes before being summonsed to do something "more important". That hasn't happened before so I'll let it pass just this once. I had been hoping to draft some of those speedy guys too. Like Rick for example who flew past me down the hill just before I had to make an exit

I may have taken you on the downhill but you certainly would have stormed past me again (as many did!)

Looks like I have a new nemesis who goes by the name of Pablo. Been very close to him for both legs so far.

 

[RickB]

Bought a bkool pro thinking it might be good practice for Stelvio Pass. Started climbing Mont Ventoux which I have climbed in person and was nothing like it. 5% grades on bkool seemed much harder than in real life, likewise with the 10% parts. Stopped the ride and loaded up Hardknott Pass. I was whizzing up 20%-30% grades without breaking a sweat. This is with the latest firmware. Seems like a bit of a toy which could be fun racing if you're not bothered about realism?

Definitely stick with it for a while. You'll fall in love with it. Great fun and there's no way I'd push as hard if I was on any other sort of trainer.

 

[BILL S]

Definitely stick with it for a while. You'll fall in love with it. Great fun and there's no way I'd push as hard if I was on any other sort of trainer.

I would go as far as saying that there's no way you'd push so hard on the road either, unless you were actually road racing and in a sprint situation. The motivation is definitely there to push probably a bit harder than one should. Especially near the end of a ride or if you've got someone to catch or someone is closing in on you. I'm surprised it doesn't come with a bit of a health warning TBH. Or maybe it does and I just didn't read it.

 

[gbrown]

I'm surprised it doesn't come with a bit of a health warning TBH. Or maybe it does and I just didn't read it.

I can identify with this!

 

[gbrown]

I had a go at Titch Hill last night. Deeply frustrating firstly because the warm up, which i started with 4 mins to go, suddenly went from 2 1/2 mins to the 10 second countdown

If you join someone else's live session during the warm up, it only counts down all the way if the session owner keeps pedalling right to the end.

As soon as it recognises that the person who started the session has stopped pedalling it switches to a 10 second count down, in the same way it would if you stopped in your own warm up.

This is even if other riders are still pedalling. You have to stop pedalling within the 10 second count down, which is a challenge as it takes some time for the system to detect that you have stopped pedalling. My KICKR takes up to 30 seconds to spin down to a halt, which is hopeless if the session owner stops the countdown unexpectedly.

Geoff