Update Firmware on Elite Sterzo Smart [June 2021]

See the screenshot in my earlier post.

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Oups ! Thanks !!

@shooj Thanks for the heads-up. Please note that the Support Hub article link (Steering with a STERZO SMART) is giving me an error 404:
Have upgraded successfully thanks to all the contributors to this thread.

Any reason why after the countdown I still have to click OK to clear the screen from the steering “message”? It used to go away on its own.

@Roule_Thoune
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. It’s 404’ing in several languages, but not others. We’ll get on that right away.

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All - we’re getting clarification from Elite on the particulars of this latest firmware update. Please stand by.

Thx Shuji. Hope to get the info on the changes in the latest FW. I couldn’t find a change log

Hi everyone, thanks for your patience. We checked in with our friends at Elite to ask for more insight into their latest firmware update. Here’s what it does:

  1. It improves and simplifies the initial pairing procedure. It especially helps the reconnection process should the Sterzo Smart ever disconnect.
  2. Security improvements were made to deter hacks to the Sterzo system. There were people hacking and selling fake Sterzos.

As stated previously - this latest firmware is required for the Sterzo Smart to pair with the upcoming Zwift version 1.14 releasing mid-June. Please update at your earliest convenience.

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Will Zwift open the API or have Keyboard access for steering at some point for those the prefer having a button on the handle bar or use a joystick.

Hope it improves pairing to my Mac. It often takes a loooong time, if at all

TBD. Steering is still very much in development, so we’re not able to discuss any details just yet.

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Hi @Drew_Bullen

How did you get to that page on their website. (Wow I forgot how painful it is to navigate around the Elite site)

I assume it is this one.
https://support.elite-it.com/en/login

EDIT: finally got the firmware updated

Check out the solution post above for an image that contains the correct link and how to register.

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  1. Security improvements were made to deter hacks to the Sterzo system. There were people hacking and selling fake Sterzos.

Zwift -

I call nonsense. I can find no evidence whatsoever online of fake Sterzos being sold. What I can find, and have personally played with, is a small community that have reverse-engineered the Sterzo protocol and are making DIY devices that implement that protocol to do steering in a different way from Sterzo (a device that I own, with ergonomics I found immensely disappointing).

This announcement simply sounds like Zwift locking down the steering protocol to a single device and manufacturer. The nature of the change sounds very much like some sort of key-based system is being implemented that will make it impossible to develop a compatible device without access to the private key (probably in breach of the DMCA). While I understand what is currently happening could be called ‘hacking the Sterzo system’, exactly the same ‘hacking’ options exist with the freely available BLE and ANT+ power meter standards that lead to the use of power simulators, and nobody is talking about locking these down (nor should they).

If this is the case, I think this is immensely disappointing. Although the steering protocol was not published, it was essentially opened up via simple protocol analysis and was available for people to develop their own devices (I have personally developed a handlebar mounted steering device that is immensely more realistic that the Sterzo). While the subset of Zwifters who are also electronics hobbyists is obviously not large, it feels like the usual route of ‘lock it down’ is being taken, rather than the route of encouraging innovation and allowing users to play with a new technology.

Disappointed.

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Yes this whole Zwift / Elite steering thing smells dodgy.

I have a Sterzo and it’s a massive waste of money that seems to be going nowhere.

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My opinion only: The concept of the Sterzo is based on the fundamentally flawed concept that you steer a bike in motion by turning the handlebars to any significant degree.

I have no idea how the product got through basic UE/Ergonomic testing, and how no rider said to the engineers:

“I get where you’re going with this mate, but the thing is you don’t actually steer a bike by turning the handlebars left and right. You steer a bike by applying pressure to the handlebars in the direction that you want to turn unless you’re doing around walking pace. Yes, the steerer turns a little, but it’s magnitude is barely perceptible, other things happen too and the degree of freedom that you’ve built into this thing just feels weird and is really nothing like riding a bike whatsoever. Have you actually ridden a bike before?”.

You can have a steering device in Zwift that feels approximately realistic (at least the inputs are similar) with no moving parts whatsoever, but not like the Sterzo works (and so definitely not a 'fake Sterzo"). I guess not for long though.

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No Elite Sterzo Smart Steering

I have updated my Elite Sterzo Smart to the latest firmware, but Zwift is convinced that this is not the case.

Running on Windows 10 20H2 and have tried 21H1 with June 2021 cumulative update too - with the same result. Running latest Intel Bluetooth stack.



2021-06-16 09_13_28-Intel® Driver & Support Assistant and 43 more pages - Personal - Microsoft​ Edge

@_Jay_VCT
I spliced your question into the Sterzo firmware thread already in progress.

With this version of their firmware, Elite requires that you register on their support site per @Drew_Bullen post above. Did you perform that step?

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Hi Shuji, Thanks for move my message to this thread - I hadn’t spotted it.

Yes, all registered with Elite’s website and the firmware update ran as expected. As you can see the Sterzo device is reporting firmware version 21 to the upgrade app - which is the latest version.

Zwift pairs reasonably quickly with the Sterzo device and I can confirm that the blue indicator light is on on the Sterzo device, so Zwift has made a connection to the device - I’ve done this without my phone in the area and no other Bluetooth controllers around, so it is definitely Zwift that has grabbed the Sterzo device.

Within a couple of seconds of making the connection, Zwift pups up the firmware update error message and I can proceed no further with using the Sterzo device.

It seems that Zwift is incorrectly interrogating the Sterzo Device to obtain the firmware version.

What now?

Jay.

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Sorry to hear @_Jay_VCT

I tested my Sterzo with the new firmware and the new Zwift update on Windows 10 and it is working.