A beginners journey - help appreciated!

Hey all,

I’ve always been a footballer/runner and have only transitioned to Cycling recently after neglecting my fitness for too long. I recently got my setup to begin gaining some confidence indoors before I make the jump to outdoors hopefully at some point in the summer (alongside Zwift).

Info about setup:

  • B’Twin Triban 500 SE (Budget bike to get started)
  • Elite Suito-T
  • 8 Speed Shimano Cassette
  • New i3 laptop, Windows 10 (updated, drivers etc.)

I have a few queries which I’m hoping people will be able to provide some insight into.

1. Issues with the two highest gears:

I have worked through alignment, limiting screws and the barrel adjusters. I’ve got it to the point where the gears shift down fast and smooth, alongside the gears shifting up fast and smooth until the final two gears. No matter what I do I just can’t seem to get them to play ball. Adjusting the adjuster either way begins to ruin the smooth flow of the other gear changes from the point I’m currently at.

In the final two highest gears the sound becomes more noticable and generally feels uncomfortable to cycle in.

I have also ensured the cassette is compatible and have placed a 1.85mm spacer (which was suggested by a bike shop) given the 8, 9 and 10 speed being the same in principle.

2. Issues with Wahoo Tickr:

When connecting to my iPad the Wahoo Tickr showcases my HR without any issue for the entire ride. However, when connected to the laptop the Tickr can be found via Bluetooth and ANT+ (I’ve tried both) but often loses signal or just doesn’t display a HR reading.

I’ve removed any syncs to other apps or programs such as Wahoo’s app etc. as I’ve read online that this can sometimes conflict with the transmission.

I’d like to find a fix for this because the iPad and isn’t ideal and much prefer immersing myself in the environment when connected to a larger TV.

3. Zwift crashing

I currently use my partners laptop which is new as of two weeks ago. It has absolutely nothing on it and surpasses the requirements for Zwift. On my 2nd ride ever with this laptop (my toughest ride to date) I got a mere 450m from the finish line of my ride before my laptop crashed.

I read online that unfortunately, even over five years after inception that we do not have an option to resume a previously unfinished ride. At this current time I’m trying to build up a portfolio of rides with different aspects to begin my goal of completing monthly/bi-monthly fitness tests.

I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this and if so, do you have any fixes? Also, is there anyway to harvest the data collected during that ride? It just shows as incomplete with minimal data on the Companion app.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can shed some light on some of these queries.

Cheers,
Lee

Hi there. If your laptop’s i3 processor is a 10th or 11th generation (and you’re using its integrated graphics), there’s bad news. There’s been an issue with the game crashing sporadically on those processors for several months and Zwift will only say “we’re working on it, use something else”. The current thread can be found here: Intel integrated graphics gen 10 and 11

You should be able to recover the incomplete .fit file from Documents\Zwift\Activities but there’s no way to upload it back into Zwift.

Hi Dave,

Thanks again for coming to my aid!

I do unfortunately have an 11th generation. Hopefully they’ll fix it soon as it must be game breaking for many others apart from me. It’s disappointing to hear that there are such large issues from a platform that charges to use their product monthly.

Cheers,
Lee

Hi @LeeS91

I have seen similar issues with other games with that processor.

Hi Gerrie,

Appreciate the response.

Its unfortunate but manageable. I’ll stick to the iPad for now until they hopefully find a fix or Windows releases a patch. Its the smallest issue out of the three anyway. I’m more determined to fix the first two.

Cheers,
Lee

Tickr problem goes away if you use the iPad. :wink:

Haha, you are absolutely correct.

Two down, one to go.

Is your bike 8speed and the cassette on the trainer also 8 speed?

It is indeed. I purchased a Shimano 8 Speed Cassette to go with my 8 speed bike. It works really nicely. It’s just the final two highest gears.

I also should note that switching through the three cogs on the front derailleur is also smooth.

I don’t know if you saw this.

That’s actually the exact video I used.

I’m at the point now where if I adjust the barrel adjuster anymore (in either direction) I begin to lose the seamless changes in other gears.

I’m wondering if there’s an additional section that I need to go back to or play around with?

Appreciate the continued help Gerrie!

Check your spacers between the cassette cogs. I’ve seen them get switched around and the spacing is off resulting in odd shifting.

When you say the highest 2 gears, do you mean the largest 2 (easiest) or the smallest 2 (hardest)?
It could be your chain is too tight or too loose.

What chainring are you using in the front?
Is your bike a 1x8 or 2x8 or 3x8?

A bent derailer hanger can cause weird shifting.
You have a new bike so unlikely unless roughed up in shipping.

At any point, when you shift does the derailer not move?

If your barrel adjusters are too far in or out, you may want to readjust and take the slack out of the cable by loosening the lock nut and pull out the slack.

Hi Tim,

Appreciate the detailed response.

When I refer to the two highest gears I mean the highest (smallest) in difficulty.

I use a 3x8 chain on the front.

I’ve had an indepedent local shop take a look at it shortly after I bought it and they noted that it wasn’t bent.

The shift always moves, it just becomes a little more delayed on the final two tiny cogs.

I’ve not tried the bottom one. I’ll have a look into that. Do you possibly have a video?

This is another area that crossed my mind after doing some research but it would seem that the 1.85mm spacer is sufficient.

Appreciate the response!

Check the limit screw.
Either that or the cable is too tight.
When you loosen the cable screw, the derailer should drop down to the smallest gear.
If not, adjust the limit screw until it does.
If it does drop down, then the cable tension was too much.
Make sure the other set screw is set right by pushing the derailer toward the wheel while turning the pedals.

If the set screw for the higher (bigger) gears is not allowing the derailer to easily get into the biggest (easiest) gear, you may be applying more tension to the cable to get it into the gear but then there’s not enough slack to let the derailer slide all the way to the smallest gear.

I would disconnect the cable and see if the derailer goes to the lowest and highest gears.
Then reconnect when in the smallest gear and adjust the tension from there.

It could also be that there is friction in the system caused by dirt in the cable or derailleur that is too much for the return spring to fully pull back the cage to the small cogs. (Worst case, a fatigued return spring, but that takes quite a while.) To check if this is the case, shift to the smallest cog, observe the noise, gently pull the moving parts of the derailleur outwards and see if the noise disappears after that. To remedy, detach cable from derailleur and the bits of cable housing from their receptacles, move things around to loosen dirt, maybe add some WD-40, and clean the moving parts of the rear derailleur. Replace the cable (and possibly housing) if it feels like the cable isn’t moving completely freely.

Also, generally you should only be using the smallest cogs with the big chainring, using them with the small chainring(s) will be a bit crunchy no matter what, so make sure that isn’t your problem as well.

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the detailed response.

I’ll work through this today!

Cheers.

Hi Anna,

Thanks for the detailed response also!

I’ll go through and test this also.

Cheers.

I’m no help on the technical issues.

But I just wanted to say Welcome to Zwift.

Glad to have another member of the community. There are lots of people here on the forums who are very helpful.

Good luck with your Zwift journey!

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