Has anybody else using an Elite Direto experienced a loud rumble noise? It started suddenly in the middle of a ride and it sounds like a motorcycle “grrrrrrrr”. The noise increases in frequency with cadence. After taking off the covers I didn’t notice any bearings issue. I also performed the “tab glueing” procedure recommended by Elite support who seems like blindly recommending that “fix” to everybody who complains about any kind if noise without paying attention at the description and multiple videos I sent. I have owned this trainer for less than 3 years but only use it for about 4 months every year so not a lot of use. Disappointed at the quality.
My direto started making a horrible racket after a couple years, they sent me a new one to replace it
I’d reach out to customer service
I’m glad they came through for you but my experience has been very bad. Elite had the audacity to ask me to ship it to Italy and pay for shipping and repair which will add up to close to what I paid for the Direto and probably wait months. It was a terrible mistake to buy a product without support in the States. Although I only really used it for about 12 months (during Virginia winters) I am willing to pay for repair if it’s something reasonable. If you are willing to take your chances and risk all your investment will go to waste as soon as your warranty expires then by all means buy a Direto. I threw the piece of junk into the trash and bought a Wahoo kickr. You can immediately notice the superior design and quality AND is made right here in the States and with local support.
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I have a first gen Drivo. The white one. Used through winter and a bit in the sunny months.
I had a rumbling sound on mine and after a bit of research on Web I found a note that said to grease the belt.
I took off the small hatch on right hand side and using a small paint brush coated in Park Grease I coated the saw looking belt that can be seen inside.
You have to rotate the pedals by hand, which is hard, or get someone to turn using their legs which is easier.
Once you have done this it should help your trainer.
I do it now every winter to keep it going. I’m level 46 now so that’s lots of km on this trainer.
Try it to see if it helps you.
Hmm, I also read that you should never grease the belt because otherwise it will be slipping forever.
To confirm what I said above, see Elite Direto Belt Tension - Page 4 - Official Forum
In summary, it’s fine to grease a Drivo belt, but you should never so do for Direto.
The noise is not normal. I might have broken the Direto. Below is Elite response and wanting to be fair, I do remember that a few days before the noise began, during a sprint the rear lifted with Direto attached so the impact on the floor when it came down might have been too much for the bearing on the freewheel side where Elite say the problem is. Basically, the Direto is done because you need a calibration machine to replace damaged bearings. But even IF the slamming caused the issue I still find the quality of the bearings very questionable and the design flawed because when the bearings fail you can’t really get it repair specially if you are in the US. It’s crazy Elite asked me to pay for shipping to Italy from the States to replace a part that only cost a few dollars. So in the end I’m still very disappointed and will never buy again from them. I’m now on a Kickr Core and what a difference MUCH more quiet compated to Direto when new. Looks solid and far better quality. And if something goes wrong (knock on wood) it is made and suppoeted here in the States!
“Good morning,
the problem is caused by the small metal pulley and the bearings on the shaft of the flywheel that need to be changed.
The problem is that to change the bearings on that side it is necessary to change the entire shaft with the power sensor.
The procedure to replace the power sensor can be done also by you if you are in confidence with mechanical operations.
The problem is that, after the replacement, the power sensor needs to be calibrated with special machinery that we have only on Elite.
If we don’t calibrate the power sensor you will have a measure of the power completely wrong.
This is the reason for which the only way to repair the trainer is on Elite.
This noise isn’t connected to a defect of the trainer. Sometimes there is the possibility that some parts of the trainer need to be changed,
Unfortunately, with the trainer out of warranty, we can’t cover the cost of the fixing. Please note that it is very high due to the shipment because Your country is very distance from Italy.”
Sorry to hear about your broken Direto. Unless something has changed recently, I don’t think that the Kickr is made in the US, for what it’s worth.
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You are correct, Steve.
Sorry for the thread derail, but for the sake of precision, KICKR '18 and KICKR v5 were/are made in Vietnam (as listed on my product and on Wahoo’s site). The KICKR Core (Part#: WFBKTR4) is made in China. Wahoo don’t list that information anywhere on their site, for some odd reason.
Wahoo support is US-based, of course, and very good in my limited experience from 2019.
Okay so fed up with the noise i stripped covers off.
Left hand side looking from back is a motorised thread moves two magnets.
Clean old grease off thread, regrease cycle power a few times. Magnets will wind in and out.
Clean grease off, regrease thread, middle and end behind flywheel. Cycle power, as threads clean out, should go quieter.
Now operating totally silent.
Hope that helps.
In my case the problem were the bearings. Shipping cost and time to repair wasn’t worth it so I ended buying a new trainer. I got a wahoo and have experienced power drops from the beginning so it seems I can’t win. To be fair, after throwing away the elite direto I realized the bearings probably got damaged from one speint where the rear lifted and slammed back on the ground. Although I think that shouldn’t have damaged the bearings. So probably low quality after all
Have you spoken to a bike shop about replacing the bearings in the Direto? If it gets fixed you could either ride it or sell it.
Or, let’s talk about your power dropouts with the Wahoo trainer, or talk to Wahoo support about that. You might want to start a new topic, but I would get a support case opened with Wahoo anyway.