Hello Stuart,
I notice this tread a little too late. But would like to give feedback nonetheless.
I made contact with Roberto myself too and can confirm that it is pleasant to deal with him. He is very friendly, helpful and very fast in answering.
He proposed me to install an app to monitor the bluetooth connection with the treadmill. I did so and send him some screenshots. He came back with ideas which would work, but he needed more screenshots. And after I send these too, he came to the conclusion that my treadmill, a Bowflex BXT56 (that’s the European model number, in the US it is T22) actually is blocking the bluetooth connection to change features (like the incline or speed).
He further proposed me to support me in my communication with Bowflex, so he could explain them what is needed.
My quest for a normal contact in Bowflex was not succesful until now.
-I contacted the support responsible for Germany, no answer whatsoever
-I contacted the support responsible for the Netherlands, they were wondering how deep I went into technical issues to described the issue, but were not able to support “Better I contact Bowflex in US with my issue”. I asked for a contact person and never got an answer on that.
-I used the support option in the JRNY software on the treadmill to contact Bowflex and I did receive an answer. When I explained them in detail (the UI on the treadmill is not convenient for extended mails) I was informed that my ticket got a status something like ‘noticed’, clearly stating they will not work on it further
I thought it was a safety issue, that they do not allow the auto incline. But I noticed that the JRNY software itself allows auto-incline. So it is not a security issue, I think they just would like to keep this option to themselves so people will take the JRNY membership. For me this is a no-go, I find things which I dislike too much there:
-the videos provided are 5km videos, auto-incline works for the first 5km and will stick at the last incline value after that. The video will loop but incline does not change anymore.
-I find the video much less attractive compared with a Zwift screen where much more information is provided
-the game feeling and contact with others is not available in JRNY either
-and I dislike the feeling of bumping into other people, for whatever reason I do not feel this in Zwift, even if my Avatar actually really runs into somebody else. The person who filmed the video can run slower and move to avoid an accident, but as I do not know where this person is going (left or right) I feel I am kind of moving on the treadmill to avoid the accident myself. Same is valid for Kinomap by the way
So for the moment I seem stuck with a nice treadmill without auto-incline. Today I ran 12km in one of the Zwift worlds and I was bored by changing the incline towards what Zwift is showing me. Auto incline is so much easier, or better ‘would be’ as I do not posses it (yet).