Related

Problems with ERG mode on the Tacx NEO Bike

mbwelchutah
over 4 years ago

Hi, I was wondering if others have had problems with the Tacx NEO bike in ERG mode?  I first noticed the problem using Trainer Road.  I'd increase the cadence and the watts would go up rather than staying the same.  If I entered into a recovery phase the watts would be about 20 to 30% higher than prescribed in the program.  I've had Kickr products and the concordance was always great.  The trainer followed the program watts within less than 1%.  If I increased my cadence, wattage would stay the same.  I'm 65 years old so I don't have the FTP of someone 20 and maybe this is just an old guy problem, but I don't think so.  I'm using the latest version of Tacx firmware (really they need to come up with a different numbering scheme--- 0.0.39 doesn't inspire a lot of confidence....but then the product does feel very beta), and the latest version of Trainer Road on an iPhone 11 with the latest version of the software.  I've also tried it with the Tacx software and Zwift with a similar problem.  I know the problem has been described before, first in a September 2019 review by DC Rainmaker and then on the Trainer Road forums.  I guess I thought Tacx/Garmin would have had a solution before now.  Thanks 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to jkbnz

    During workouts on zwift. When I increase the cadence, the watts would go up rather than staying the same. And when I enter into a recovery phase the watts would be about 20 to 30% higher than prescribed in the program.

    If I increased my cadence, the wattage should stay the same.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 8190976

    I'm not sure if it was deliberate, but you've posted this in the NEO Bike forum rather than the NEO 2T forum, so even though the issue you're experiencing may be similar to those of the NEO Bike from a couple of years ago, the reasons (and fixes) may be totally different.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to NeilJonesOnline

    Thanks Neil, I was unaware. This forum popped up on Google when searching the issue. Apologies for to all who’ve received a notification.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    3 years on and this is still an unresolved issue even with the latest firmware 0.0.45.

    Here are a few variables I found affects the behavior of the bike in ERG mode at low power:

    1. Even when the bike is plugged in, having the handlebar fans run and/or a device plugged in to the usb port affects the minimum power the bike is able to maintain. (e.g. min power at 100 rpm: about 100 watts with everything turned off vs 180 watts with everything on)
    2. Pedal stroke smoothness is a big factor. For instance at 80 rpm it can maintain about 80 watts with smooth pedaling vs up to 140 watts with very choppy strokes.
    3. since firmware 0.0.40 (strangely, I think), gear shifting was enabled in ERG and resistance mode. The gear ratio now affects the minimum power. For instance, in the longest gear ratio of 5x (50/10) with fans and USB off, the bike can maintain about 80 watts. At the smallest ratio of 0.55x (22/40), it can maintain about 40 watts.

    Now, I think this is entirely a firmware design issue since the bike is clearly able to maintain 0 watts at max cadence when plugged in and using the old Tacx Utility app's Isotonic mode. It's also able to simulate very low resistance and negative resistance in slope mode. So why is there no fix?