Hi there, first time posting but have searched the forums to see if anyone has a similar problem or preferably a solution.
Basically, I can ride whatever course I like in any of the worlds with no problem….apart from the Alpe du Zwift. All seems to be working well until maybe a mile up the hill when the bike just grinds to a halt and moves to the side of the road. Sometimes it will start moving again in seconds but other times it’s minutes. I might get another half mile and it happens again. After a few miles of this I give up as there’s no real point wasting time and going nowhere.
I don’t have this problem on any other climb and it’s not a new problem, it’s always happened so I don’t usually bother with the Alpe anymore.
Any ideas or solutions?
I wonder if your trainer is overheating. But a mile is not very far into the climb, so if that’s happening I would expect it to show up on some of the shorter KOMs that have similar gradient. Which trainer are you using? If you put Trainer Difficulty at zero in Zwift settings, does the problem still happen?
That’s also symptomatic of an ANT+ dropout.
Are you actually using Ant+ and if so how far is the dongle from the trainer.
I know this sounds ridiculous but i recall when i first starting having issues with the range it only affected going uphill.
Thanks for the replies, appreciate them.
Firstly, I’m using a cheapo Tacx Flow but I’m just a fat bloke using it to lose weight, lol. I did wonder about it overheating but it just seems weird that it’s always that hill and not far into it and I’m certainly not going hard or fast. I have no issues with other climbs on different routes.
My bluetooth connection is only a couple of feet from the trainer.
I’ve had a thought, if I try the route again but do it on the Zwift App rather than on my computer and it still happens, then it’s definitely not the bluetooth connector.
If it’s an overheating issue, then that’s disappointing as I’m not sure how I can solve this apart from having a fan on the ground beside it.
Sounds like either overheating (which the Tacx Flow is notorious for) or maybe wheel slippage on the trainer when the resistance gets high. Make sure you follow Tacx’s instructions for tyre pressure and how to tension the roller.
Putting Trainer Difficulty at zero will make resistance on climbs the same as level ground. If that helps then overheating is more likely to be the reason. There may be a low Trainer Difficulty setting that isn’t zero where you can get a good result.
To add to Steve’s comment, if you’re not using a trainer-specific tire then you should try that as well.
Hi, thanks again for the suggestions, sorry I haven’t replied sooner but I’ve been on holiday.
I didn’t really fancy adjusting the settings as I assumed this would just make the climbing easier and less realistic.
I didn’t realise that overheating was an issue with the Flow until you mentioned it so I did some googling about it and bought a small fan.
Tried it last night, managed to get all the way up the Alpe without it cutting out once, RESULT.
Thanks once again for all your help and advice, appreciate it.
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