Nero and Power Meter Link

[emailfordye]

I'm trying to understand the Power Meter Link and how it interacts with the Nero Rollers.

As far I have understood the documentation, I should activate my power meter first before switching the rollers on.
I have done this.

Now I switch over to Rouvy and select the trainer and select the Ant+ FEC Trainer (they don't have an Elite Nero Profile defined).

The training program will have a set wattage, for example 140 watts. The screen will show 140 watts. There is resistance felt on the trainer, however the external power meter reported different watts, namely a wattage of around 122 watts, showing usual pedaling variation. It is very consistent, just lower than I expected. I was expecting the trainer to get the actual watts from pedals to adjust the resistance accordingly. It seems like the trainer is using its own resistance algorithm based on previous calibration and ignoring what the power meter is reporting. Perhaps the link isn't working.

Does it sound like I've done something wrong? Do you have any tips that I should try? Or have I misunderstood the Power Meter Link Feature?

And an additional question: I don't see the cycling dynamics data via the data the trainer is transmitting. Is this feature available or should I record the power dynamics data from the power meters with a second device?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[emailfordye]

Since I didn't get any assistance, I can post my results here of what I think I've learned.

The PML does seem to work. It does take the rollers some time (5-10 seconds) to catch up to the desired resistance range. It's probably the communication from software to trainer to power meter and back that takes time to find the appropriate resistance plus the servo transit time.

However the better solution for me was to set up my trainer as "Elite Direto" and add the power meter sensors separately. Now my Rouvy Workouts record the cycling dynamics data and needs only one to two seconds to adapt to the power zones, depending how far apart the zones are from each other (Z1 to Z5 change, for example). The servo controlling the magnetic resistance within the rollers seems to need to time to move from position x to position y, in this situation.

The delay can be better understood with the MyETraining App and the recommended resistance test (https://elitesrl.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/a ... f4ed87a0cf). Set the resistance in the to "1" and then to "9". Mine needs about 2.19 seconds to make the adjustment. "1" to "16" about 4 seconds. So it makes sense.

Hopefully this can help somebody in the future if they want to try out the PML. It's probably a better option for those who have limited resources, like those limited to Bluetooth. I know my Bluetooth on the computer can only handle 3 channels (ie. 3 devices, for example Heart Rate Monitor and Power Meter and Cadence), so my trainer would have could replace both power meter and cadence to transmit everything over one channel, freeing up a Bluetooth Channel. I have an Ant+ receiver on the computer, so I'm not limited to channel availability (actually there are 10 channels, so there is a limit, but difficult to max out).

[alecorna95]

Hi,

I didn't understand if you finally managed to read the power values with PML. I have a pair of Assioma pedals and Nero rollers. The Nero seems recognizing the pedals via ANT+ (the serial ID under PML configuration menu in My ETraining App is the one of my pedals).
However, the power shown by the application on the screen (either ETraining or Rouvy) is not the one measured by Assioma power meters, I verified this fact empirically by displaying at the same time the power on my Garmin bike computer. Most likely the value I see on the screen is the one estimated by Nero rollers. In fact, it does not change even when I enable "half power" mode in the PML, while I would expect it should double somehow..

Honestly, I don't figure out why and any help is appreciated.
I think I'll buy an ANT+ USB stick and connect directly the PC to the Assioma to solve the issue.

Regards,
Alessandro

[emailfordye]

Hi,

I thought I was the only one running this kind of setup. I'm also riding on Rouvy. My Rouvy sensor setup is:

Power <- Assioma
Cadence <- Assioma
Control -> Nero
HRM <- Chest strap

I do have the PML setup as well in the My ETraining App, and using my Nero as power source is not as reliable as using the pedals direct. I get a lot of dropped signals from the Nero. It might be the location of the ANT+ receiver to the Nero (approximately 3 meters apart). I have recorded the same effort with Rouvy using the power data from Nero vial PML and my head unit recording the pedals direct. The frequency of updates from Nero are less than the pedals (yes, I can provide .fit files), but the power numbers look pretty good, except for the dropped signals. I won't do a comparison like dcrainmaker, but theoretically I could.

I'm not certain if this helps you, but I'm glad I'm not the only riding this combination.

Regards,
Terry