Update Firmware on Elite Sterzo Smart [June 2021]

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

1 Like

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.

2 Likes
  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.

16 Likes

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.

4 Likes

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.

1 Like

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?

2 Likes

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.

1 Like

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.

Sorry to see you’re experiencing this PITA, @_Jay_VCT.
I don’t know if my information is of any use, @shooj, but my Sterzo Smart (updated to firmware rev 21 and working fine with game running on 2018 iPad Pro following today’s update) is listed in Elite’s Upgrado app as being hardware rev 2, while Jay’s is rev 8. Could there be a difference in how the different builds are operating vis-à-vis the firmware and PC OS, etc.?

2 Likes

Good comment.

2 Likes

@_Jay_VCT

Hm. I’ve forwarded this to the subject expert at Zwift HQ, and we might have to consult with our colleagues at Elite to find out. Stand by please.

1 Like

That is very interesting, i was thinking of doing the same, now i will take an original sterzo, take out and keep the tiny electronics board (just for establishing the comms protocol)
Its sensors will be replaced by similar sensor but on the handlebars. I could even fool the sterzo electronics by using smart sensors based on DA converters and its own arduino.
The sterzo board will not see the difference

Matter of time before new and better sterzo clones will appear which are really smart.

Totally agree, steering should be an open protocol for anyone and everyone to implement at will! Imagine having to pay Zwift to get your power meter or HR monitor to play ball with Zwift. This is no different.

1 Like

Very impressive. Of course, nobody “sells fake Sterzos”, there are people who reverse-engineered the (proprietary) protocol. Which would never have happened if a) it was an open standard, and/or b) Zwift supported manufacturers who paid the license and implemented the protocol. Piling bad business decisions on top of bad business decisions.

5 Likes

I can’t seem to get the upgrado app to connect with the sterzo…suggestions?

Just a couple of thoughts:

  1. Is your SS already actively paired to another device? (Maybe it can only link with one at a time, so you’d need to close the other device.)
  2. Is the SS ‘awake’ and flashing its blue and green LEDs? (Necessary, IIRC.)

When upgrading mine, following the help from others in this thread, I had to wait about 15 secs to see my SS finally appear in the list of ‘trainers’ in the Upgrado app before being able to click on its name and then follow the prompts to update the firmware.
Hoping this helps.

Hi, yes woke it up, the app found it, but when I choose it gets caught up when trying to connect to it, and eventually times out…will try again. Couldn’t connect for whatever reason.

1 Like

I’m suffering the exact same symptoms. Win10, sterzo upgrade ok. Upgrado app on Android says firmware is v21 with hardware v2.

Re-pair with Zwift = error to upgrade msg…