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Hi all,
I have recently had my new atom delivered. Looks lovely and works fine in the watt bike app. The problem I’m having is with zwift. I have done an FTP test and signed up to do the ‘Build me up’ plan and while I understand that the FTP test asks you to use gears on the 20 min section, I can not get erg mode to engage in the normal workout mode.
10 min warm up spinning at 100W and then it moves up to 165W and nothing, just says ‘more power’. Tried looking at the companion app and the incline thing isn’t there (because it’s a planned erg workout I guess?). Have tried other workouts - Emily’s 30 min (mainly because I was fed up of the 10 min warm up to find out it didn’t work) and still doesn’t change the resistance.
The resistance does move if I change gear but a) that’s not how it should work and b) when intervals move quickly I don’t stand a chance of finding the right gear.
My set up is an atom paired to an iPad, but also tried with my iPhone (8 I think?).
As others have said watt bike will likely shrug their shoulders and point me at zwift customer support and I suspect vice versa.
Has anyone else had this issue? Or know how to fix it?
I've found with my Elite Suito that if Zwift connects to the "wrong" thing from the trainer (just reporting power or similar) then it won't control the resistance and ERG mode isn't possible.
Could be a similar issue? Are there multiple options when you pair to the trainer?
^ good shout that. I've never used a wattbike but yeah, check in the pairing screen and pick something with "FE-C" in the name if it's there
Thanks I selected the first thing that came up, so I will wait to see if zwift picks another option. Would be great if this is a quick fix!
I’ve an Atom v1 with the same set up as you. Hate to break it to you but ERG mode is woeful with Zwift and is well documented on the forums. Wattbike aren’t interested as the tech works fine with their in house app. Zwift on the other hand need to make updates for every brand of smart turbo going, the latest steering update caused loads of issues with Wattbike owners...now resolved with the latest update.
I’ve turned ERG off. That said, I never had any issues in the lower watt range. The problem for me was the death spiral where going from 700W (for 5 sec) to 100W would just increase the resistance to a point where I couldn’t turn the pedals. Utterly pointless.
The gear changes on the Atom are proper fast, for me, negating the need for ERG anyway.
The resistance does move if I change gear but a) that’s not how it should work
This is confusing though. Because it shouldn’t allow gear changes in ERG. It’s definitely turned on??
Thanks Paino. Is there a place to turn Erg mode “on” on zwift? I assumed it was automatic.
But yes, the gear changes are the only thing that move the resistance.
Hear what you’re saying about the devs (to be expected). Wonder whether we’ll see any improvements after this announcement: https://www.apadmi.com/news-and-events/apadmi-wattbike-driving-innovation/
If you're using the Zwift companion app, when you do a workout a little box appears to the left, under the big power ring thing, and either says ERG on or incline (with a little graphy icon to show incline). If you tap it, it swaps between ERG and settable resistance.
Had the new watt bike since Christmas and the erg mode is poor it fluctuates widely around the target - see DC rainmakers review. I don't use Zwift yet but I've heard this makes some of the training modes unusable but the faster gear changes on the V2 make it much better in the zwift racing.
Apparently, the erg mode was the same when the v1 was released but it improved with firmware updates.
We did find that a couple of times in Fulgaz it looked like the controller was connected but there was no change in resistance with changing gradient but a couple of re-boots fixed that.
I share it with the missus and we've really enjoyed it.
Don’t know how to quote, but @andeh I’ve read about that incline symbol and seen pictures but when I’m doing the planned workouts it doesn’t appear on the companion app. I guess that’s because they are meant to be erg only? Does anyone else not see this symbol on certain workouts?
The incline button only appears when ERG mode is switched off. It's one or the other
Edit: actually I might be spouting bollocks. Seems sometimes it isn't there at all, unsure of the reason though.
Through a combination of reinstalling the app, making sure the watt bike app was in ergo mode and repairing all my devices it now seemed to work. It dropped out on some high cadence efforts but overall really good - much more enjoyable!
Thanks for all the comments and help.