Just lost a second ride in 2 weeks because ZWIFT doesn’t work properly with the WattBike Atom. Anyone else having issues?
What do you mean that you lost your ride. Did Zwift crash, what system do you use to Zwift.
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I am seeing a 9.1mile/50M36S ride on Zwift today.
Can you give us a run down of your setup.
Why do you think the Wattbike is causing issue with Zwift saving activities?
When moving down from power level 135 watts to 85 Watts bike grinds to almost a virtual halt. ERG switches off and comes back on but you are left grinding. This is the second time it has happened late in a ride
I don’t have the WattBike but this sound like the “spiral of death”. Try some of the suggestions form this
Hi John,
I also have an Atom and have had this problem (and I’ve spoken to others who have had the same thing). It seems that when you go under about 100watts with a very low cadence it really bogs down. It is like an extreme ‘spiral of death’ as it is really unresponsive to increasing cadence and keeps the torque the same making it super hard to pedal.
To get out of it I have to grind through to about 300watts at very low cadence and it gradually recognises that you are over power and decreases the torque, and goes back to normal. This can take about 20seconds though. What makes it worse is that the only time you are normally at under 100 watts and low cadence is in a recovery just after a HIIT or very hard interval, so 300 watts is tough!
I find it happens on all settings, erg and gears/free ride. It’s a niggle for me, I just actively try and keep my cadence higher when recovering from an interval (or going downhill after a steep climb). As far as training goes this is a good practice!! but sometimes you just can’t and it bogs.
Try it yourself by letting watts and cadence drop (~80 watts and 35rpm I find), and find the limit and just try and keep above it. At the end of the day, it will encourage you to keep cadence up in recovery and that is a good thing (and we are training here!), so I try and convince myself that it’s a good thing and it’s punishing me for bad practice!! It has made me naturally keep my cadence up during recovery 
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Hi Marcus
Many thanks for the comprehensive reply and for taking the time to help. I will bear this in mind for future rides.
I am assuming that the powers that be are working on a solution for this and that everything will be resolved soon. After all the monthly subscription and cost of an Atom are not exactly cheap.
While waiting for the fix, I will contact Trek and Canondale to see if they can get this functionality into my road bikes
Thanks again
John
That is a very good assumption, since CEO Eric Minn has a WattBike Atom at home.
Interview with Eric Min, Co-Founder and CEO of Zwift (Never Going Pro Podcast #5) | Zwift Insider Go to 19:15
From the Podcast:
Eric: I have a setup at home. I have the luxury of having a treadmill, and my bike with a smart trainer and then a smart bike, I’ve got a Wattbike Atom. And this way, any member of my family can join me as I work out.
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