Arion Digital Smart B+ resistance much too high
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:38 pm
I am an owner of a new Arion Digital Smart B+. I have set the rollers up as per instructions and right from the start the resistance appears to be too high/ too strong.
Rollers appear to power up correctly. When plugged in - there is humming, clicking noise. Rollers connect successfully in various ways a) through ANT+ to my Garmin Edge 520 head unit b) to PC via ANT+USB dongle, and 3) via bluetooth to my Android phone with My E- Training app.
The problem is that the resistance seems to be way too high. And it it the same high resistance, both when the rollers are connected to any of the above devices/apps and also when no device is connected (i.e. rollers only plugged in to electricity). And I am NOT talking (an not worried) about power number mismatch between external power meter and Elite rollers, I am talking about the minimum resistance to be much higher than I expected.
I am not a very strong rider (my FTP is about 185 W, I am 84 kg), but even so the resistance seems to be much higher that the trainer's power graph suggests.
On a cyclocross bike, in my easiest gear 36 front and 32 rear and in the easiet (Level 1) roller resistance setting I am reaching close to 150W (4iiii crank based power meter) at the speed of 17 km/h and cadence on 90 RPM. The same beahaviour (high resistance) is the same both if I set it from My E-training app, from Garmin 520 or even with the app/ head unit/PC disconnected.
This does not seam to be a connectivity or app issue. The rollers react to signals requesting resistance change. For instance, when connected to Garmin Edge 520, when I change the resistance level of the trainer from Garmin Edge, I can hear humming/whirring sound every time I change the resistance, also there is a corresponging increase in resistance. The same with My E-Training app. But I should note that the resistance change is quite minimal. It seems that the minimum power possible is too high and too close to max power possible.
I contacted Elite support, and they suggested calibration. The calibration brought the power numbers of the external power meter and the elite app (power numbers sent by Arion Digital) closer, but that does not solve the baseline resistance issue.
After calibration the numbers are P1 - 223, P2- 360, P3 - 438. These are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the default values of 129, 190 and 210 for these rollers.
When performing calibration, when I was hitting 40 km/h (and almost having a heart attack ) the power meter was reading 438 W which is significantly higher than the Minimum power graph here suggests (about 200 W).
I am awaiting for response from Elite, but decided to post here as well.
1) Has anyone experienced anything similar on their Arion Digital Smart B+?
2) What are your calibration numbers?
3) Do you know how should the rollers should behave when plugged in but not connected to any device/app? Should the rollers than be at their easiest resistance level?
Rollers appear to power up correctly. When plugged in - there is humming, clicking noise. Rollers connect successfully in various ways a) through ANT+ to my Garmin Edge 520 head unit b) to PC via ANT+USB dongle, and 3) via bluetooth to my Android phone with My E- Training app.
The problem is that the resistance seems to be way too high. And it it the same high resistance, both when the rollers are connected to any of the above devices/apps and also when no device is connected (i.e. rollers only plugged in to electricity). And I am NOT talking (an not worried) about power number mismatch between external power meter and Elite rollers, I am talking about the minimum resistance to be much higher than I expected.
I am not a very strong rider (my FTP is about 185 W, I am 84 kg), but even so the resistance seems to be much higher that the trainer's power graph suggests.
On a cyclocross bike, in my easiest gear 36 front and 32 rear and in the easiet (Level 1) roller resistance setting I am reaching close to 150W (4iiii crank based power meter) at the speed of 17 km/h and cadence on 90 RPM. The same beahaviour (high resistance) is the same both if I set it from My E-training app, from Garmin 520 or even with the app/ head unit/PC disconnected.
This does not seam to be a connectivity or app issue. The rollers react to signals requesting resistance change. For instance, when connected to Garmin Edge 520, when I change the resistance level of the trainer from Garmin Edge, I can hear humming/whirring sound every time I change the resistance, also there is a corresponging increase in resistance. The same with My E-Training app. But I should note that the resistance change is quite minimal. It seems that the minimum power possible is too high and too close to max power possible.
I contacted Elite support, and they suggested calibration. The calibration brought the power numbers of the external power meter and the elite app (power numbers sent by Arion Digital) closer, but that does not solve the baseline resistance issue.
After calibration the numbers are P1 - 223, P2- 360, P3 - 438. These are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the default values of 129, 190 and 210 for these rollers.
When performing calibration, when I was hitting 40 km/h (and almost having a heart attack ) the power meter was reading 438 W which is significantly higher than the Minimum power graph here suggests (about 200 W).
I am awaiting for response from Elite, but decided to post here as well.
1) Has anyone experienced anything similar on their Arion Digital Smart B+?
2) What are your calibration numbers?
3) Do you know how should the rollers should behave when plugged in but not connected to any device/app? Should the rollers than be at their easiest resistance level?