I recently purchased a Kickr v5 (the new version) and I am experiencing Bluetooth signal dropouts during my rides. I am trying to debug if this is a problem of the Kickr unit, the software (Zwift) or the Hardware (Computer) and would appreciate any input you can give me.
I’ve been browsing online and looking at common troubleshooting solutions. This is my configuration and what I’ve tried so far:
The laptop sits at 2-3 steps from the Kickr unit
I connect the Kickr to my Mac laptop through Bluetooth.
Kickr software is up to date
I also have a HR strap and a cadence sensor on Bluetooth (tried disconnected the cadence sensor and use the Kickr one and I still observed dropouts)
No other bluetooth devices are enabled in the house (phone, mouse, etc.)
My laptop is connected on a 5Ghz wifi
A fan sits in front of me and the bike but I usually use it at a low power setting and I should be blocking most of the air to the Kickr
Once a dropout occurs it stays dropped, it doesn’t reconnect by default after some time or is just a momentary drop of power.
Unpairing the device on Zwift and searching again doesn’t immediately solve the issue, it takes some time for it to appear again
Unpairing the Kickr bluetooth connection from the Mac, immediately makes the trainer to appear again in the Zwift connection screen.
I am also attaching an image on how the sensors screen looks like when the dropout happens (in case it helps to recognize different use cases)
You mention that your body and bike block most of the air from the fan. Is it possible that your Kickr is just overheating? You might try putting the fan in a place where it blows directly onto the Kickr to, at least, look at this as a possibility.
I don’t pair with the Mac, but when Zwift pairs with the Kickr, the Bluetooth connection appears anyways in the Mac. Disconnecting it from the Mac fixes the issue, but I am not sure how to prevent it. As soon as I pair with Zwift, the connection appears on the laptop, not sure I am explaining myself.
Attaching an image of what I see on the MAC bluetooth connections once I pair the Kickr through zwift.
Yeah it is weird, because it works, until it stops working
Going to try to bridge it through the Companion App, which should be closer to the trainer and then communicate through wifi with my laptop. Can you think of any drawback doing that? I could study installing an ANT+ dongle closer to the bike too, but want to avoid that if it is not necessary. It just seems that Mac BLE is not the most reliable connection source.
many people find that ANT+ is more stable and more reliable, count me in on that too. I used BLE but had tons of dropouts, switched to ANT+ and they are very, very rare now.
I’ll have to double check this when I get home. I’ve never looked to see if the trainer appears in the device list once it is paired via Zwift.
To start with a clean slate, you could the Bluetooth icon bringing up the hidden options. Select “Remove all devices” and then once again selecting “Reset the Bluetooth module”.
I too have bluetooth dropouts from Kickr V5 to Zwift.
It disconnects for 8-10 seconds.
The Tickr heartrate also using the bluetooth connection does not suffer any dropouts.
In the log I see:
ble : exception caught in windows ble characteristic value write()
ble : sending device - data loss [name: power]
When using my Quarq to zwift with BLE I have no problems. Iam starting to believe the Kickr V5 have some issues.
There aren’t that many occurrences of this, so it’s probably not a general issue. Mine doesn’t have any for example. But my Garmin HRM Pro does drop connection frequently - so much that I’m thinking about buying an extension cable so that it’ll be closer and have a more direct line of sight.
