Wattbike Atom Next Gen

General Discussion
#1

Hi

Ive had a next gen Wattbike Atom for a few weeks but not sure if it’s working correctly or not. So interested to know if other next gen users are seeing the same?

My issues -

  1. I have to pair the controllers with the wattbike every time i start it up. E. G. By holding down all 3 buttons on right shifter for a few seconds.

  2. Wattbike claim that next gen shifting is more instant with Zwift. But when i try general riding i find its “variable”. Most of the time it’s fine but i get periods where the gear shift is very laggy.

  3. Doing workouts in ERG mode is unusable. The power, and thus the resistance, jumps wildly all over the place. I’m now using gear mode for workouts as that works better. I didn’t have this issue with my tacx flow. I raised this with wattbike who say the bike is very power accurate and sames many times per second. They suggest the issue is my pedalling efficiency.

Anyone having similar issues? Thanks.

#2

Hi
I have a Watt bike Atom but it’s the original version. I had an issue with the power being all over the place, ended up making them take it back to their factory to look at and turned out one of the crank torque sensors was faulty. They had also previously told me it was my peddling technique too!
I would suggest checking the batteries in the controllers. The ones that shipped with my bike lasted about a month!
Jim

#3

Thanks, Jim.

#4

I’m having similar difficulties with ERG mode and the Wattbike Atom NG. It may well be that my pedalling efficiency is poor to be honest as I’m pretty new to cycling in general, but I get no real issues maintaining consistent power when in sim mode.

I’m finding it near impossible to maintain high cadence and relatively low power output (like on the rest sections of workouts), the numbers jump all over the place so wildly that it’s just impossible.

#5

Yes, that’s exactly my experience too. I can’t believe this is all down to pedaling technique.

#6

Just started using my atom Ng( finally turned up)
I am Having the exact same problems
Plus Bluetooth pairing
And not very smooth road feel

#7

After being persistent, wattbike arranged for an engineer to visit. Turns out the flywheel was out of alignment and the battery on left shifter was weak.

Bike is much better now, I would say good road feel and I can do workouts in erg mode. There is still a bit of power fluctuation but more credible now that it is my pedal mashing technique and tbh if I just concentrate on cadence in erg I don’t feel resistance change once I get near the target watts,

#8

My Wattbike Atom was delivered back in August. It stopped working about 7 weeks ago. Overnight there was virtually no resistance. 2 engineers came and went, and the 2nd said it had to go back. Something to do with a sensor. That was a month ago. I’ve I’ve heard nothing since other than I should have been contacted last week re. delivery for this week. No contact as yet. I also had a few problems with bluetooth, and the controller batteries failed. I’m still using my old turbo trainer which is 100% more accurate because it works! Not very happy at all with Wattbike to be honest!!

#9

Can anyone help please?
I have had the NG for 1 month now
Number of connectivity issues with both hub app and Zwift - cadence and watt drops out (watts will sometimes say 2000 but I’m not doing that, other times if I go above 200 cuts out and all resistance is lost)
Tried Bluetooth on 3 different phones- 2 iPhones and 1 Huawei
Also tried ANT on computer (desktop Mac)
Tried resetting shifters on hub app now won’t re-pair
Tried closing all Bluetooth connections in the house etc etc
Tearing my hair out now!!

#10

Don’t know if it will help, I was having some issues getting the response I wanted from customer support so I sent an email to the ceo.

Richard.baker@wattbike.com

4 hours later I had customer services contacting me to confirm an engineer visit.

#11

Thanks Alan. Is your bike ok now?

#12

Yes, all ok now after engineer visit

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#13

So an engineer came out and said that sweat had got into the electrics at the back of the bike and corroded it. Apparently this is a flaw in the next generation.

1 Like
#14

Oh, that’s not good!

#15

Hi, my reply probably will be of relatively little use because I have a Wahoo Kickr Bike. Yet, I thought a comparison per your list of issues can help you to figure out if it is an issue with zwift or with your trainer.

  1. Kickr Bike connects to Zwift automatically within about 5 seconds. No reconnection is needed.
  2. Shifting on Kickr Bike has always been instant. I do not know if it happens entirely on the bike or through Zwift, as shifting does not necessarily change the power, but changes cadence and torque.
  3. I found there are two adjustments which have impact on power variability in ERG. (a) there is a 3 seconds power readings averaging in Zwift. (b) there is a similar slider in Wahoo app. With only (a) enabled, I see power fluctuations within perhaps 10-20 watts around the target. With (a) and (b) enabled, fluctuations of power in ERG mode is around +/- 1 to 2 watts, so power line at the bottom of the screen in Zwift is perfectly flat.

So it seems, #1 and #2 are Wattbike issues, #3 maybe can be fixed in configuration. Good luck with your trainer!

#16

Reading other post I think so far I have been lucky although I too find erg stability an issue. The gear shifting in sim mode on zwift and other platforms like fulgaz has been instant and i like the gear readings on the screen. My pedalling efficiency score has been getting better with practice I didn’t realise my left leg was actually stronger than my right so focus on putting more power on rhs is working. Erg is a really tough workout so good in someways if you want a fight with the bike especially if your short intervals vary by 200 watts as it can be overshot by a long way. I hope they get the firmware right but loving the bike. I am 6’2 and although crank length is less than my real bike I am now thinking of changing my real bike crank length to match the wattbike as there are advantages of shorter crank lengths. I found turbos were making my bike creak a lot when you put the power down. Now for wish list I just want firmware so I can use left shifter to go down a gear and right shifter to go up plus use left and right buttons to steer.

#17

I am having same issues on Atom NG, ERG mode not working but it used to. Good to get CEO email as I had major issues with delivery timelines and struggled to get any responses. If the issue really is sweat then the NG is supposed to be designed more securely for this.

I haven’t tried ERG in Atom app but will do that today. I will also look into pedalling to see if that could be it but I doubt it as I had ERG issues in a recovery type workout where resistance wasn’t that high.

#18

I have an issue with my Wattbike Next Generation where it will suddenly drop or spike power when training in ERG mode. Today for example I was in the middle of a 10 minute interval at ~350W and the bike unannounced spiked up to 520W which caught me by surprise and I actually tweaked my knee tendon.

Wattbike installed a new sensor about 3 weeks ago and since then it mostly drops ~30% of power a handful of times during a training session which is annoying but it doesn’t hurt as much as when it suddenly spikes 30% of power.

I feel like I am going round in circles with Wattbike and Zwift just to understand where the issues lays.

#19

I’m having similar issues to the OP. Wildly fluctuating in ERG mode and instant changes in power output. Sometimes 2-3 per second. Zwift is set to 3second average. Guess I’ll be contacting Wattbike as it’s not specific to me or my bike.

#20

Sounds exactly,like my issue, which turned out to be the flywheel out of alignment, since fixed it’s been spot on.