Maybe I got lucky. So far my victory has been working like a dream. Just did a few races today and the 10Hz Race Response works great and realizing my Tacx neo wasn’t the best for racing. Virtual shifting is awesome. Makes riding zwift a lot more enjoyable.
Just to weigh in with similar issues, coming from a Neo 2T to the Victory and it definitely seems like a downgrade. I’m feeling minor vibrations (not cobblestones, but not smooth by any stretch).
There’s something about the ride feel that I can’t quite figure out, it’s almost like I can’t pedal smoothly on the Victory, as if the trainer is grabbing as soon as I let up at the bottom of the pedal stroke. It just feels subjectively harder to ride than my old trainer.
I do love the virtual shifting, super smooth and responsive. The race mode seems nice and the power does change really quickly, almost too quickly. I have a decent left/right imbalance of about 53/47 and the 10hz mode makes my Zwift graph at the bottom jump around a lot. I suspect this might just be reading the ups and downs of my imbalance.
However, I was consistently seeing about 10-15w lower power on the JBV than my Quark Crank PM on the 4.9 firmware. After upgrading to 4.12, my results are mixed. My first ride on 4.12, the power was spot on, only 4.9w lower than the Quark at 245w vs 240w @ 86 rpm. After that ride, I did a manual spin down calibration and rode again, this time with Coco. That ride was back to 10w difference (5%) at 204w vs 194w @ 82rpm. Maybe it’s the race mode, but the power graph is very jagged, jumping up and down much more erratically than I’m used to seeing.
I’m communicating with JBV support, they suggested the firmware update and I’ve sent additional data afterwards. Initially, I thought the power was fixed, but after the second ride, I’m not so sure. I haven’t had any issues with WiFi connectivity, I’m bridging my HR monitor and connecting Play Controllers to the Apple TV BT spots. That’s all working brilliantly.
At this point, I’m going to ride my Neo 2T again and see if it’s as different as I remember. If it is, this JBV is probably going back.
I’ve been dual recording rides for about 600 km now and am seeing similar results. Most of the time it reads 15-20 watts low. However; under certain circumstances, it will read within 1-2% of my Quarq power meter.
I’m beginning to hypothesize that the Victory likes to run hot, so low cadence/high gear or prolonged power >200 watts seems to be what it needs to get “warmed up”. Shane (GPLama) mentioned something interesting with the NEO 2T getting calibrated at a facility with no heat regulation during a heat wave. Aren’t these trainers made in Vietnam? EDIT: To add, also the first “wave” for NA was assembled in late summer (more heat!!)
I’d concur with that. I’ve had 2 rides where the Victory felt normal.
1 - Bologna TTT. Felt hard on the 6km run in and start of first climb - then it settled down so much I did an extra 2 climbs (first climb - 266w for 10 minutes)
2 - Big foot hills. Over an hour the ride felt hard. Then Volcano (250w for 8+ minutes) - immediately felt like the brakes were off by time started pushing pace at the bottom.
I have done other efforts - 275 for 2 mins, 220 for 4 mins amongst others - but that didnt seem to do the trick.
Could partially explain why mine felt better towards the end of a 1.5h ride yesterday.
The hottest it’s been in my garage is 5c (lowest is 0c) since I started using it… so probably not ideal conditions!
Edit - Anyone have any good suggestions for holding the trainer down? I’m fairly light, but I’ve managed to tip it over a few times already getting on / off. I’m wondering if I can get a couple of small sandbags or something.
I also came for a Tacx Neo 2t and I find the victory a little more smooth. I’m not getting the vibration everyone is talking about or maybe I’m not noticing it? My victory is setup on an indoor training mat on carpet. If Tacx Neo ever decided to include virtual shifting I’d maybe switch back. The only thing that might keep me from going back is the race response, because I’m loving that feature in the victory right now.(I’m not getting dropped anymore 
)
I wonder if that could be it. I’ve in general loved my victory. I haven’t dual recorded, but it feels in line with what my Neo 2 reported and my assiomas (on a different bike) read outdoor. I’ve done the grade ftp test and it came out 5W lower than what I thought my ftp was (and intervals.icu estimated my ftp bang on what I thought my ftp was for the same ride). Doing workouts the efforts seem correct.
Anyway my setup is in the basement and it is probably around 22-25°C.
The vibration isn’t a huge concern, mine doesn’t seem bad enough to be a showstopper. Some of it could be attributable to the SRAM flattop chain, which I’ve heard doesn’t jive with Zwift Cog as well.
My bigger issue is the ride feel and the inconsistent power readings. The same workouts I’ve been doing for years on the 2T just feel harder. When I get to the bottom of the pedal stroke it almost feels like there’s a dead spot or it’s not as smooth…it’s hard to explain. The adage “pedaling squares” comes to mind. Also, having the trainer consistently read 10-20w lower (particularly early in the workout before it warms up) tends to make everything feel a bit harder as well.
Yeah, I guess I haven’t noticed any of that because I’ve yet to try a workout with it. I’m sure and hoping that will all get fixed with a update.
Some of this may just be me not be used to a real flywheel and the feel/limitations that come with it. For all the missing features on the Neo 2T, the virtual flywheel may be unmatched in terms of ride feel. It’s like an old school Cadillac that has a buttery ride feel vs. a Kia with a bunch of wiz bang features.
I have about 120 miles on my Victory. WIFI has been stable for me, getting it to connect can be a bit of a chore. It acts connected but when I start the ride I have no shifter and then I realize I am not actually connected. I just turn everything off and power it back up and it works fine.
I did my first early morning ride this morning and I wonder if the power wasn’t low because it really kicked my butt. Could have been because my other rides were after I had been up a couple hours and blood was flowing already. Sounds like plenty of people are sending data with other power meters so I would assume a future update will take care of it.
Overall, very pleased.
I’ve been following this thread as a fellow preorder-er. I received mine last week and haven’t run into many of the issues mentioned here and am overall very happy with it. It’s my first smart trainer, coming from using plain old rollers for years and years. I have, however, seen a few dropouts while using Wi-Fi and some momentary cadence drops, but it’s nothing showstopping for me, personally. The cadence, in my experience, is typically resolved by coasting for ~5 seconds. When I begin to pedal again, it usually goes back to being correct.
With that being said, I did want to share what I saw over on the JetBlack site in case it can help anyone here. This may be helpful for those experiencing strange ride feel and/or cadence issues:
Pro Tip: Make sure to fully close the JetBlack Trainer app before attempting to connect to Zwift or any other training app.
If you are getting inconsistent readings or ride feel when using BLE on Zwift or App.
For best ride feel and accuracy it is recommended to be connected to only ONE controllable device when training on VICTORY. For example if you are connected to the JetBlack App and also then connect to Zwift without closing the JetBlack App, your trainer will be DOUBLE CONNECTED and receiving signals from both apps to control the trainer. This can result in confused cadence and power readings and a lumpy, inconsistent ride feel under foot.
- To avoid this – CLOSE the JetBlack Smart Trainer App BEFORE connecting to Zwift.
- If connected to both and feeling these double connected symptoms, FIX this by disconnecting from JetBlack App and Zwift App and reconnecting just with Zwift/your preferred app.
Additionally, I thought this was notable and relevant regarding some of the talk here about warming up the trainer:
- While your VICTORY has auto-calibration after 3 seconds of free-wheeling, manual calibration is recommended especially when changes in the ambient temperature.
- We recommend manual calibration of your VICTORY after unboxing, moving the unit or with the change in season.
- Spin down calibration will ensure the trainer transmits the most accurate wattage numbers.
- Before you start Zwifting or training on other apps, calibrate your VICTORY by performing a manual spin down calibration.
- You can use the JetBlack Smart Trainer App or any app which supports a spin down.
- Warm up your trainer for 10 minutes, ensuring that it reaches a temperature like that of a typical training session before proceeding with a spin down.
- To perform spin down, download the JetBlack Smart Trainer and select SPIN DOWN.
These are pulled from the “Victory Trainer Information & Setup” page:
jetblackcycling[dot]com/instructions/victory-trainer-information-set-up/
Posted this on the TrainerRoad forums, but it’s worth posting here too…
Much happier with the accuracy on tonight’s session. I think if I’m honest the problem may have been with the crank PM (I had struggled to update the firmware as the app is garbage).
(Blue is Stages Gen 2 Crank PM)
Differences were on bits were I stood up for a few secs and on the hard starts. I think it was 1.5 - 2% overall which seems fine to me for steady state… though there are some bigger discrepancies in the hard starts (more like 5-7%).
So if anything for me, the Victory reads consistently slightly higher than the power meter. That particular session was done without a spindown after warmup as I wanted to see if it was adjusting to the temperature change OK.
I know I’m not having the “double connection” problem. Hearing all these comments about buttery smooth makes me confident I have a wonky Victory.
I wanted to follow up on my original post - I contacted JB on Sunday and they responded to me within 2 hours and recommended I download firmware 4.12 (Kudos for customer service there). I did what they instructed yesterday and took it for another spin today. To my surprise my issues were completely resolved. ERG mode was able to keep up with the target unlike before, it smoothed out my data quite a bit and overall I am very pleased with the first ride on the new(?) firmware. I dual recorded with my Quarq and the Victory was 2 watts higher average over a hour ride, that’s reasonable to me. The session felt “right” where as my previous session was kicking my ass. Also, as I noted in my previous post, my ride quality feels amazing, its smooth, no vibrations, and solid.
All the issues that are popping up as people receive their pre-orders doesn’t make me feel comfortable though, so I guess I won’t be selling my Wahoo just yet. I will ride some more and see if it stays consistent.
Sounds like you got a good one!
Anyone else get a spindown option (gear icon) during pairing sometimes but not all the time?
Yes, on some Zwift sessions I see the calibration icon but on others just the usual connection options for controllable, power source, cadence, play controllers and HR.
I agree with you Aaron. The Neo 2T for road feel was amazing but I sold it and went with the JBV to move with the times to embrace Zwift ride frame, virtual shifting, Zwift cog, race mode, Wi-Fi connect, HR bridge etc. If Neo 2T had those capabilities I would have stayed with it.
For me I am hoping JetBlack fix the wireless drops, bad cadence readings and “ghost” watts on a descent. 18W remains on screen when freewheeling.
Yesterday I did Tour de Zwift ride 1. Within 5 minutes I lost control due to a wireless drop. I unplugged the JBV and quickly powered it back on. Connections were made I had gear controls again but my HR did not reconnect. I then had the cadence issue reporting 1/2.
I hope JetBlack and Zwift work together to make virtual shifting smoother/realistic. I find going up a gear is too harsh. I use the SRAM setup and say I am on gear 2:6 and at that point have a high cadence, if I then go to gear 2:7 it then feels too hard. I have to return to gear 2:6.
I noticed the low-cadence problem for the first time yesterday. I went back and checked every ride I had recorded on the Victory and it had only happened once. It seems like there is an issue if you put in a hard effort, then soft pedal at like <50w just enough to keep up with the flywheel spinning down, then ramp back into another effort. Then it seems like there is a chance that it stops detecting one leg and the cadence cuts in half. The power readings stay fine though, so I wouldn’t have even noticed if I didn’t just happen to look at the data in Strava after, and it had no affect on the race I was doing at the time.
I contacted JetBlack and sent them the details as best as I could, and they replied overnight saying their engineer also found the bug and they expect to have a new firmware release soon.
I’ve sent in a support request about the vibration, but I’m not expecting anything useful back from them.
What concerns me now is that I get stuck in a loop of replacements that may or may not be better, all the while my training goes downhill. I’d say it’s better the devil you know, but I’m finding the vibration so distracting that it’s going to mess with my training quality anyway.