Current Issues with Elite Direto Trainers

I have made a little video of my experience on erg mode on Zwift,it’s a Youtube link.

The video is unavailable for me, unfortunately.

The resistance in my workout ride last night felt a lot more stable than the previous ride, and the graphs in Strava show much better defined power curves.

Emily’s Short Mix:

Last week’s workout graph:

Last night’s workout graph:

I sandwiched a “free ride” between these and the resistance seemed to be fine and followed the elevation changes well on the route.

Things I changed after the first workout:
Smoothing in Elite app from 2 to 6
Unpaired/paired my Directo to Zwift on Apple TV 4K
Disabled device connection in companion app settings
Removed Wahoo cadence pod from shoe (use this for outdoor ride)

No clue if any or all of this had anything to do with the better feel in the second workout or not.

Try now I have check the link

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I replied in your video. Ciao Fabrizio.

For what it’s worth: last night I had my first ride on Zwift in a long time where the resistance was closer to expected. Resistance levels were still a bit off, I would say - I cannot climb an 8% climb on the big ring, middle of the cassette, usually.

The only differences from last time:

  • Had “forgotten” the Elite on my Wahoo computer
  • Had slightly readjusted belt tension

I will continue to test.

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Thanks for your reports.

Hey folks, me again (you can reference my issues reported earlier un thus thread).

I followed the advice in this thread to adjust circumference size in MyETrainig and it worked! Went into MyETraining and added Direto as a new trainer. I’ve accepted the default value of 2070mm (this later displays as 171 in the settings screen). Before that I had 173mm set as circumference following some Internet advice (apparently valid only for receiveing devices)

I closed the app, started Zwift and the first thing I did was run the power calibration in the sensor selection screen. FYI previously I couldnt spin up the trainer higher than 4km/h (in the calibration screen), this time around I was able to put 40km/h - I had to use large cog - and I let it freewheel to 0. Seems ok! I joined Innsbruck and first time in month I was able to put sprint power in flats in free ride mode withouting the invoking jet engine sound so it seems my problem was solved. Tomorrow I’m going to join a group ride and see if it still workds - if not I’ll report back

Thanks for the update Aleksander. On my last two rides I had somewhat better resistance and in my case, it correlated with my Wahoo not having the Direto registered as a sensor. I am not 100% sure that this is the cause of it, but it seems like it could be.

@Nico
I’ve found that the Wahoo Elemnt creates some trouble.

Once you connect it to the trainer, Elemnt sets the rider weigth to 0. Of course this creates some problem to the simulation expecially on uphill.

Moreover, even if you don’t start any program/workout, it continues to send to the trainer the command to brake at 10% of the max.

Not sure that could be your the case, but if the trainer is simulating an uphill and receives that commands, likely the resistance will go very low.

Luklily Zwift sends the simulation commands very often (every 1 sec, I belive) so it fixes that resistance quickly.

the only way to prevent Elemnt to send commands is to set it in Passive Mode.

In order to set the right weigth to the trainer is to use the Elite myEtraining app. once you start a trainig session/program, the app sends the rider+bike weigth to the trainer.

‘Calibrating trainer multiple times’ - I don’t think this means what you think it means.

When you use Elite’s MyETraining app to go into ‘advanced configuration’ and click ‘trainer calibration’ and are instructed to ‘start pedaling’ etc… this process doesn’t actually do anything to calibrate the trainer or make it more accurate!!

All it does is display your trainer’s current ‘offset’.

You must compare this number to the one that is hand-written on a sticker located on the bottom of your trainer.

IF the value you get from the app is different (usually lower) by more than 5… then you need to adjust your trainer’s belt tension to really re-calibrate the trainer. The process is simple enough, and doesn’t need to be done often - but there’s a ton of confusion and misinformation online about this topic and the Elite manual is hardly clear about it.

This should help:

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Also…

If you connect to your trainer via bluetooth (as you might with the E-training app during a calibration check, or with any other app) - you MUST cycle the power on the trainer (unplug it, or cycle the outlet w/ a power strip on/off switch) if you’re using ANT+ FE-C in Zwift to control resistance.

If, at any time during a Zwift ride, you open the E-training app on a mobile device to check calibration? ZWIFT’s Resistance control will be lost - and it won’t resume unless you 1. Close the app. 2. Cycle trainer power off and on. And 3. Enter the Zwift pairing screen to un-pair and pair again (or, close Zwift and re-launch).

I’m frustrated because zwift worked normally for me for the last two sessions. I had “forgotten” the Direto on my wahoo. Then I used the wahoo for erg mode and had zwift on my record power from my power meter.

Today I wanted to zwift normally and made sure to forget the trainer on the wahoo and connected zwift as before. Again random resistance with resistance going super high, releasing, etc.

What did I miss? Is it possible that the trainer had my weight wrong? Though I don’t understand why the trainer would have my weight stored…

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Hello, if it can comfort yourself, it’s the problem that is gripping too many Elite users lately. And it’s happening to me too. Personally, I have seen a problem with the Garmin cadence sensors, you have to use the Elite one. Try that first.

When you use Elite’s MyETraining app to go into ‘advanced configuration’ and click ‘trainer calibration’ and are instructed to ‘start pedaling’ etc… this process doesn’t actually do anything to calibrate the trainer or make it more accurate!!

that’s not true. The Calibration porcedure actually does something to the trainer.
It adjusts the microvariations of the all frictions of the trainer.

While it’s correct that if the offset value that comes after the calibration is different by more 5 for the hand-written value, than probably you need to tension the belt. The re-tensioning the belt is an uncommon operation and you’d better conctact the Elite support before perform that.

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Sorry, there is nothing in any forum post, document, or blog from Elite that confirms this - and I suspect this is why many Direto users have issues. The spindown ‘calibration’ is a check on the trainer’s internals, not an adjustment in and of itself.

With time and use, the reported offset that you get from the app changes. Out of the box, my reported offset was 6396 and my factory sticker value is 6400. For months, this value never changed. Then it went to 6395 and, again for several months, it remained there. After a year (and approx 4000 virtual miles and the vertical equivalent of several times up Mt. Everest), it was at 6392 and it was time to adjust.

It’s not that you ‘probably’ need to adjust the belt to maintain accurate readings and trainer performance - you do need to adjust it if it is different from the value on your sticker by more than 5 (as I mentioned above, as elite instructs users to do here: Direto calibration - Page 3 - Official Forum).

Once it’s reset to match the factory value, the trainer is truly and properly calibrated, and the process of checking the offset through the app every few weeks to confirm that it stays there begins again.

There’s no need to check with Elite support - because if you do? They will tell you the same thing.

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Hooray! Thanks to @Gaetano_Mercante I seem to have it solved: during my Zwift session, where resistance initially didn’t work yesterday, I was able to solve it. Here are the steps I took:

  • Made sure my Wahoo Elemnt was not connected to the trainer anymore
  • Disconnected the trainer from Zwift (whilst still riding, power coming from power meter)
  • Connected MyETraining app to the trainer, “started” a workout in level mode
  • Ended the workout and disconnected the app
  • Reconnected the trainer under FE-C (not Realtrainer), power meter still giving power

Everything is working as anticipated, with resistance changing with slope, etc.

I hope this is the end of the saga, a big thank you to @Gaetano_Mercante!

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Hi all

Just got my Direto last week and is my first smart trainer. Not happy with the issues going on and it’s making the workouts tougher than normal.

My set up is

Power and cadence source : quarq d4 ant+
HRM : Garmin ant+
Controllable power source : Direto II
Windows 10 on laptop and using an ant+ stick and wired receiver.

My issues have been much as everyone has discussed above. Drop outs ( never experienced before with my old setup), resistance fluctuations in both erg mode, sim mode. I even switched erg mode off today during a workout and it had no effect, then I stopped and unpaired the Direto completely and it was still fluctuating.

As far as adjusting tension belts on the Direto, mine arrived with a sticker over the hole where the adjustments are made with a picture of a hand with a cross through it…indicating to me that it should not be touched.

Hope this can be resolved soon!

Graham, have you tried controlling the Direto outside of Zwift, with a bike computer or app? If so, with which?

No need to adjust it as long as your reported offset = the value on the sticker under your trainer. Any difference between the two numbers should be <5.

A couple things you could try to narrow the source of your issues:

  1. Use the Elite App to set resistance to a fixed value (power mode). Pick a wattage you can sustain for awhile. Use your quarq to send power data to a head unit (e.g. Garmin). Resistance should be steady at a given cadence, and the power measurement from your Quarq should agree with the value you’ve set in the Elite app. If it doesn’t, check your trainer calibration.

  2. Pair the trainer as power source AND controllable trainer in Zwift (via ANT+ FEC).
    Try a ride and see if there is any improvement/difference. Using the Quarq as your power source could result in some latency issues. It shouldn’t, really, but it’s worth trying a ride w/o it just to see.