Elevation not syncing with resistance on my Wattbike Atom [August 2022]

Hi everyone, I have a Wattbike Atom and run Zwift on MacOS. Earlier this week, an update dropped (12.5.1), and the resistance on my Wattbike is no longer responding to grade changes on Zwift routes. The shifter on my Wattbike is connected to Zwift, so I can change resistance manually. Anyone else having this problem? My thought is that this issue is related to the update.

Have you still got the Controllable device paired?

Yes. My wattbike is paired with Zwift.

I mean specifically the Controllable device on the Pairing screen. As well as Power and Cadence, it’s essential that the Controllable device is paired too with your Wattbike, otherwise you will get the symptoms you describe.

Hi Steve, yes, Power Source + Cadence + Controllable all show as paired.

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Yes I’m having this issue on Bluetooth on windows. Ant+ works fine. I assumed it was related to this historical issue but perhaps something more recent had happened,? Windows Bluetooth Controllable not setting Wattbikes' resistance in ERG mode

For me, this problem cropped up this week. My virtual ride on Tuesday was fine. The only thing that’s changed is an upgrade to Mac OS.

Hi @Ryoma_Ohi welcome to Zwift forums.

When you update macOS - it resets your app permissions to the default (more restrictive) security settings, which restricts an app’s ability to use the Bluetooth radio chip. This is worth ruling out. Please follow these step by step instructions on resolving Bluetooth pairing issues after a macOS update.

After ruling this out - i have a few questions for context.

  1. Were you free riding (i.e. SIM mode), or in a workout (ERG mode) while having these issues?
  2. If you go into your game’s settings - where is the Trainer Difficulty slider set? If it’s all the way to the left (i.e. zero), that will affect the amount of resistance you feel on hills in free ride mode.

If you don’t recall how you were set up - would you mind logging in, checking for these two things, and reporting back?

Hi Shuji!

Thank you for your note. I typically don’t ride in ERG mode, and also did check the trainer difficulty setting. I am set to the middle of the sliding scale, as you have depicted in the photo. I am at work at the moment, but I will check the Bluetooth pairing when I get home. I will let you know!

Puck

Hey Wattbike Atom owners using macOS - if you’ve also had these symptoms in recent days, we were able to identify and reproduce this bug.

If you’re also having this issue - please weigh in on this thread to let us know.

  • We’re working on improving Bluetooth handling, and it’s been going well except for hiccups with specific trainers like this.
  • We’ve rolled back the affecting change on our end (i.e. server side) and you should be back in business.
  • A longer-term fix is in the works.

@shooj are you exclusively looking at Mac users here as I have identical problem with PC and a Wattbike Atom. The bike is new so don’t know if it is a long standing issue or related to a more recent release

For awareness, there was also a new Wattbike Atom firmware drop this week.

You need to know if its Atom V1 or V2 (V2 had firmware update, V1 didnt).

This very issue, used to present many iterations ago on Zwift, seemed to disappear a good while ago. Ant+ didnt seem to have this issue.

@Douglas_Cook
The thing we’re investigating is specifically on macOS, but sounds like we need to look into other OS platforms.

Curious - did you apply the Wattbike firmware update that Lee mentions?

For those weighing in - would you also let us know which version of the Wattbike firmware you’re using?

The issue existed last week with the previous update, have noticed new update available today but not yet tried it. Shall report back!

Updated to latest firmware, same issue exists. Atom Next Gen, Windows 10

I have also been having this issue for the past week, both in ERG mode and in freeride mode. My setup is Wattbike with MacOS.

When doing a workout the erg mode doesn’t work (even though switched on) - I have to use the gears to change resistance. When in free ride the resistance doesn’t change when going up or down hills.

I have a Wattbike Atom and it is running firmware version 1.02.01.

Any help would be appreciated.

MacOS version 11.6.8 (nacOS Big Sur)

@Lee_Godfrey we just made a backend change so your setup should be good to go again. Could you please let us know if you are still seeing this issue after your next log in?

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WIll do. Thank you

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