Team BKool CycleChat

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berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
although i aint using bkool at moment i did the update today just incase - also thinking of dipping my toe in zwift to see what its like on a rainy day , but don't want to do too much in the sweat box shed as weight has dropped to an all time low even though i am now on shakes and even growing my hair to add weight ! but on the plus side i just did my fastest 100 average so bkool does work
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
Any Londoners likely to sign up for the DD? I ask because i don't drive and if any are driving up can i cadge a lift:smile: Will obviously contribute grudgingly to cost of petrol and less grudgingly to a slap up motorway meal^_^

Bob, I would be happy to take you to Wales. I'm pretty sure I'll be going next year and should easily have enough room for you and your bike.
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
Have tried doing the firmware update 4 times and failed every time! :cursing: Anyone else having diffs?

Dis stage 4 there this morning rather than heading out with the club. Completely different effort required to Bkool! Was almost odd busting myself that much for so long right from the start so no real improvement in my Bkool result - maybe worse if anything!! :laugh:
Rick, I was having trouble with the update but this afternoon I took the unit down from the loft and sat it next to my laptop in the living room. No USB extension, just had the dongle right next to the unit. It then updated without any problem. Now interested to see if it will feel any different.
 

LBHIFI

Veteran
Location
Liseleje
Rick, I was having trouble with the update but this afternoon I took the unit down from the loft and sat it next to my laptop in the living room. No USB extension, just had the dongle right next to the unit. It then updated without any problem. Now interested to see if it will feel any different.
I just got the firmware (I placed it right next to the dongle without extension cable too) and did some short tests. My superpower is definitely gone. The superpower was when I went into a +11% ascent carrying good speed, and the speed would just slowly decrease (with blue numbers). I only needed to pedal to prevent stopping the session. From discussions here during the winter/spring, it seems I'm not the only one to have that power, and "the slingshot" is probably related to the "superpower".

In my 1st test I got stuck in 50/11 on a 19% section and had to stop the session, and start another one before I could pedal again. This could indicate that the on/off is history too, and would make it very important to be prepared for the steep sections, since you would have to get off the bike if caught in the wrong gear.

My second test was to check if the "half-speed" was still a problem, and I'm glad to say it's not. This was when I powered up to a speed beyond 70 kph, and suddenly both power and speed would drop to half, sometimes a complete stop. This prevented me sprinting at the finish line, except if it was uphill. It also put a restriction on my downhill.

So first impression is that things seem to have moved in the right direction:smile:
 

rob01792

Über Member
Location
swansea
Just signed up to DD 2017. May be madness, but I'm willing to give it a go! Gonna have to get some training in over the next 12 months now :bicycle:

first for team white I'm 90% sure ill do it but after today ride 50 miles 2000ft accents after 40 miles I was done but kept going just need to find extra 70 miles with 10000ft more climbing I got a lot of work to do
 

gbrown

Geoff on Bkool
Location
South Somerset
first for team white I'm 90% sure ill do it but after today ride 50 miles 2000ft accents after 40 miles I was done but kept going just need to find extra 70 miles with 10000ft more climbing I got a lot of work to do

There will be two shorter routes alongside the main 121 miles (12,227 feet of climbing), 95 miles (9,957 feet) and a 60 mile route to be confirmed.

Personally 60 miles was always enough for me (I never got beyond 70 miles), although I might have managed 95 at a push! :B)
 
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gbrown

Geoff on Bkool
Location
South Somerset
I just got the firmware (I placed it right next to the dongle without extension cable too) and did some short tests. My superpower is definitely gone. The superpower was when I went into a +11% ascent carrying good speed, and the speed would just slowly decrease (with blue numbers). I only needed to pedal to prevent stopping the session. From discussions here during the winter/spring, it seems I'm not the only one to have that power, and "the slingshot" is probably related to the "superpower".

In my 1st test I got stuck in 50/11 on a 19% section and had to stop the session, and start another one before I could pedal again. This could indicate that the on/off is history too, and would make it very important to be prepared for the steep sections, since you would have to get off the bike if caught in the wrong gear.

My second test was to check if the "half-speed" was still a problem, and I'm glad to say it's not. This was when I powered up to a speed beyond 70 kph, and suddenly both power and speed would drop to half, sometimes a complete stop. This prevented me sprinting at the finish line, except if it was uphill. It also put a restriction on my downhill.

So first impression is that things seem to have moved in the right direction:smile:

I find it amazing that changes to the firmware alone can make such significant changes to things like momentum and blue numbers!

If I were sitting down to design the system I would presume that most of these "adjustments" of the simulation would be done in the software, and the firmware would mainly just apply the requested resistance and feed back the wheel speed. I wonder what reasons there were for putting such complex algorithms into the firmware?

For sure the ANT+ F-EC protocol is unlikely to have them, and nor would other makes of trainer. This may explain why the other trainers, like the KICKR, were treated so differently in respect of downhill speeds, etc. It is really strange that these things would be the responsibility of the firmware, rather than the simulation software. This would mean they would need coding twice, once for the bkool firmware and once in the simulation software for all trainers apart from the bkool!

I have to say, I remain very impressed by the bkool software in general, while at the same time being surprised by how many flaws it seems to have, and how little testing there seems to be before releases. If I had the resources, I'd love to get involved in doing something similar. Sounds (even) more interesting than designing the security and networking software I've done up to now... ;)
 

rob01792

Über Member
Location
swansea
There will be two shorter routes alongside the main 121 miles (12,227 feet of climbing), 95 miles (9,957 feet) and a 60 mile route to be confirmed.

Personally 60 miles was always enough for me (I never got beyond 70 miles), although I might have managed 95 at a push! :B)

its not the same tho and I don't think they include the devil staircase and elbow I think the 95 is only 1 of them forget which 1
theres a few rides go up there from my way obviously a different way round as I'm in Swansea there was 1 last week and i know of 1 next month
it just 1 of those ride at ive wanted to do 1 off the guys even done an article in cycling weekly
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
its not the same tho and I don't think they include the devil staircase and elbow I think the 95 is only 1 of them forget which 1
theres a few rides go up there from my way obviously a different way round as I'm in Swansea there was 1 last week and i know of 1 next month
it just 1 of those ride at ive wanted to do 1 off the guys even done an article in cycling weekly
We'll make it mate, however painful it is. So long as we stick to the training over the next 12 months, and in my case shed a couple of stone, then it should be do able. On your own it would be hard, but in a group somehow it feels easier somehow. A few years ago when I was heavier and less fit I did the 3 Peaks Challenge with work colleagues; it was not wanting to let anyone else down that drove me on to get to the top of the last mountain. If we can get 3 or 4 of us at the same pace we'll get each other through :hugs:
 
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AAAC 76C

Large Member
Location
LIVING THE DREAM
I find it amazing that changes to the firmware alone can make such significant changes to things like momentum and blue numbers!

If I were sitting down to design the system I would presume that most of these "adjustments" of the simulation would be done in the software, and the firmware would mainly just apply the requested resistance and feed back the wheel speed. I wonder what reasons there were for putting such complex algorithms into the firmware?

For sure the ANT+ F-EC protocol is unlikely to have them, and nor would other makes of trainer. This may explain why the other trainers, like the KICKR, were treated so differently in respect of downhill speeds, etc. It is really strange that these things would be the responsibility of the firmware, rather than the simulation software. This would mean they would need coding twice, once for the bkool firmware and once in the simulation software for all trainers apart from the bkool!

I have to say, I remain very impressed by the bkool software in general, while at the same time being surprised by how many flaws it seems to have, and how little testing there seems to be before releases. If I had the resources, I'd love to get involved in doing something similar. Sounds (even) more interesting than designing the security and networking software I've done up to now... ;)

Got to agree with you there GB. You would think that all the trainer would receive is commands to set a resistance which it can do in a fraction of a second and in return send a speed signal to the SW in the PC simulator and let the simulator decide what to do next based on the 'conditions'
 

berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
would someone do me a favour ! just tried out the new update nipping round central park and although there was resistance - it didnt seem to ever kick in to the normal pain level - not wanting to blow my own trumpet but ROOTATOOTTEETOOT! can someone try the route and put me in my place as i dont think thigs are working as they should - cheers
 

AAAC 76C

Large Member
Location
LIVING THE DREAM
Could send Carruthers to collect you trouble is you would have to risk your bikes being suctioned to the top of the car a very scary experience

Sorry to disappoint you Soarer but helicopters don't suck or blow, accepting the engines of course.
They simply have wings that rotate and create a lower pressure above the wing thus creating lift.
However close to the ground you get what is called ground effect.
Because of the relative high pressure below the wing the high pressure air moves toward the low pressure in an effort to equalize it just like the vortexes you sometimes see at the wing tips of airliners .
This creates a cycle of air from the bottom to the top of the rotor disk. As this cycle of ground effect air approaches you it will create quite a force of air that will pick up any loose objects and blow them away from the disc but if they become airborne they can get drawn into the rotating airflow and down into the top of the disc.
The most dramatic effect of this is seen in snow or sandy conditions where the former will create a white out of airborne snow and the latter a brown out of airborne sand. The latter is by far the worse to be caught in and with a helicopter the size of a Chinook the effect is extremely dramatic.
Away from the ground in a high hover if you stick your hand out of the window you will feel no downdraft at all.
 
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