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Issue with Smart Trainer Control on Edge 1040 and Zwift

Hello Guys,

I have been experiencing an issue while trying to control my Smart Trainer (Zwift hub) with my Edge 1040 device.

The problem arises when I use the Zwift app in free ride mode and disconnect the Smart Trainer's controllable feature from the Zwift app. I then connect the Smart Trainer (as a smart trainer, not as a sensor) to my Edge 1040 and follow a workout in the Edge using Erg mode, all while simultaneously free riding in the Zwift app.

The reason I use this setup, instead of having the Zwift app control the trainer for the workout, is due to participating in a Zwift event. In this particular event, you earn double XP while free riding, whereas in Workout mode, you only receive normal XP.

Initially, this setup works well. For instance, if I am following a workout that requires me to maintain 200W for 20 minutes, followed by 220W for 15 minutes, everything goes smoothly. I can see on the Edge display that the power changes to 220W after the initial 20 minutes, and the resistance in the Zwift hub also adjusts accordingly. I can observe my actual power output aligning with the specified values.

However, the issue I encounter is that the Edge intermittently drops the Smart Trainer signal and then attempts to reconnect it. For example, if I were following the 220W power when the signal was dropped, the Edge eventually reconnects, and the display shows 220W under "trainer power." I can still continue my workout at the correct power level.

The problem arises when I need to transition to a new power target, say, 240W for the next 10 minutes. At this point, the Edge correctly updates the displayed power to 240W, but the Smart Trainer fails to respond. Even when I attempt to manually adjust the power using the "+" or "-" buttons on the Edge, there is no change in the trainer's resistance.

I've also tried accessing the Edge's configuration settings under "smart trainer > set power" to change the power manually, but unfortunately, all subsequent power steps are ignored, and the Smart Trainer remains stuck at the last power level before the signal drop.

This recurrent issue with signal drops is becoming quite frustrating for me. Previously, I encountered signal drop problems with Di2, and now it's the Smart Trainer.

Is there something that I am overlooking? Is there a way to make the smart trainer respond again to the edge commands after the signal drops and the trainer is reconnected?

  • I have Justo and edge 840, I have connection, I start training with inteligent trainer, I have ERG mode, it is working and then after ca. 10 s it stops! Any recommendation ?

  • I have an Elite Justo and a Fenix 7 (i suppose its the same sensor hardware as the Edge-devices). I experience the same connection issues, with dropouts occuring upto every 5s during a ride. I have tried changing my wifi channel and stopped using the 2.4GHz wifi when training, however the constant ANT+ dropouts still occurs. it is most prominent when viewing the activity in garmin connect. My average power is completely wrong in the activity, because the dropouts can be as long as 4s duration and when occuring severeal times a miniute the average power is completely off. 

    there are no problems when using bluetooth with my phone etc, is there a way to forece garmin devices to use bluetooth smart instead of ANT+?

  • no, because the Bluetooth FTMS protocol support is not implemented into none of the Garmin devices. just the ANT+ FE-C... unfortunately the indoor trainer control with newer Garmin units is a nightmare or impossible right now... control your trainer via my Etraining app or any other apps (Zwift, Trainerroad, etc). yeah i know that these are not free but these WORK!!! 

  • Yeah thanks, I'm already using Mywhoosh mostly for trainer controll. The most annoying thing is that the training data is from the activity i record on my garmin is wrong because the power drops disrupts the average power my watch reads so ftp is recorded too low etc. and it would be nice to use the daily suggested workouts from the watch etc, but i guess i have to wait and hope for garmin to fix the stability in the future

  • I've got the excact same problems with my Edge 1040 and also with my Fenix 6x ... so I thought it might be a problem with my Zwift Hub Device. But reading this Thread it looks like it's a problem with Garmin itself?!?
    I've also got a Thread open @ Zwift about this problem: https://forums.zwift.com/t/zwifthub-garmin-fenix-6-flaky-connection/592587/1

    But also no solution in sight ... :-(

    Hope Garmin will fix this problem as it's really annoying and can ruin whole training ... last Training - 700W anaerobic Intervals ... dropout occured before the switch to 700W ... so Trainer never went to 700W ... really suxx ... :-/

    Andreas