Wattbike atom gear drops and resistance falls

Bugs and Support
#1

Using wattbike atom with Zwift. Both up to date firmware and app. Running iOS 13.1.2 on iPad.

I am having an intermittent problem where I can be riding quite happily on say a 1% and gear 11 and then suddenly the resistance will drop for a couple of seconds and then return.

More worrying is that every now and again the gear will drop to 1 and have zero resistance even if climbing at 7% gears will then not change up until a period of time has passed. I had this once on a couple of rides a week or two ago and then tonight 3 times.

My internet connection seems strong and doing speed tests my ping is around 20, download around 20mbps and upload 9.

I have seen this in the forums a couple of times but I wonder if I should be messaging wattbike and zwift about this? If it is gonna happen 3 times a ride then it will probably make it just a little to annoying.

Cheers for your help gang.

Dave

#2

Hi Dave, Ive experienced the exact same problem on my last couple of rides. Have you found a resolution? Thanks Paul

#3

Sadly not yet. I was going to drop both zwift and wattbike a line direct.

#4

It worked fine tonight. What about you?

#5

Last night was ok for a short ride, but this morning, I had drop outs again. I will contact Zwift today as it is getting frustrating. Also had issues following latest IOS update

#6

interesting. I was about an hour last night with no probs I probably won’t get on mine again till Thursday but will probably ping a message into both Zwift and Wattbike today.

#7

I had the below response from Zwift earlier, will try and make a few adjustments to see if that helps. It’ll be interesting to hear what Watt Bike say.

"I took a peek at your account and can see that you’re having trouble with your Bluetooth LE (BLE) devices in Zwift. The usual cause for BLE dropouts is wireless signal interference. We’ve written a guide describing the most common interference sources​ in the article “BLE vs ANT+ Interference Troubleshooting Tips​” which should help you eliminate them.

Please give that a try, and let us know how it goes."

#8

How is going for you? My last couple have been free of the drops to zero but do get the annoying 3 revolutions spike in resistance then back to what it should be… You know like riding along at 0% and suddenly feeling like 3-5% for 3 revs then back to norm.

Strange

#9

How is going for you? My last couple have been free of the drops to zero but do get the annoying 3 revolutions spike in resistance then back to what it should be… You know like riding along at 0% and suddenly feeling like 3-5% for 3 revs then back to norm.

Strange

#10

Today was the first time in a while with no drops at all. The ride before it dropped back to gear 6 but was able to increase gears straight away, this happened 5 times in an hour ride. I’ve stopped using my Garmin with ANT+ HRM strap, that has seemed to help and stopped it dropping out all together.

#11

Did these suggestions work at all?

I had been having issues which sound similar this last week, but tonight it seemed to just give up. I had next to no resistance. ERG mode wasn’t working, and it wouldn’t change gear when riding on Zwift. I tried the Wattbike hub app, but the connection would drop after 5 - 10 seconds.

Did Wattbike come back to you?

#12

No not really. Still having issues. Zwift don’t believe it is anything their end. Wattbike are putting together a number of fixes for me to try. the latest being to update firmware using an older device. It may be worth contacting Wattbike too. That way they will have 2 people providing feedback which may help find a solution.

#13

I must admit that I haven’t been riding as much as I’d like but the last time I did mine was actually fine. The odd bit of increased resistance for a few revs but none of the dropping gears to zero and no resistance. I do plan to get on it later so I will let you know.

Paul which email address are you using for Wattbike?

#14

I managed to get a solution for my issue, turns out I had a faulty power cable. Although the rear power switch light was on, the circuit board wasn’t getting sufficient power to sustain the connection. Wattbike are sending a replacement (confirmed issue with a working adapter loaned by a friend). Two helpful hints I wasn’t aware of before this process;

  1. Look into the frame of the bike where the left crank enters the shell, there should be a red light glowing when the bike is on. This indicates the circuit board is getting sufficient power. If there is no light, either the cable has gone or the circuit has blown. The latter means a trip to the Wattbike workshop, so always best to try a new cable first.
  2. Wattbike have beta firmware available on the hub app that can, in certain circumstances, improve performance and, or, resolve power fluctuation/connection issues. It can be turned on in settings on the Hub app and updates in the same way as new firmware. This wasn’t a solution to my issue, but I found the suggestion on another forum and thought it worth sharing.