Arion Digital Smart B+ resistance much too high

[dizpark]

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?

[Elite Admin S]

I've seen that you've already solved the problem with our customer care.

Regards

[jsti1000]

resistance much too high on my elite qubo digital smart b+ on downhills and flat road. Riding uphill is litle easier....?help

[jsti1000]

and yes power numbers are mess

[Elite Admin S]

Probabily a wrong calibration.
Contact the customer care at [email protected]

Regards

[dydavide]

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.

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?

I have the same issue of dizpark. But instead of getting my calibration routine till the end, I must stop after measuring P2 because it seems that the trainer is not triggering when I try to stay at P3 power. At the end I bike at very high power for at least 10 min long and I need to break it because I think I m gonna get a heart attack. To me is there is something wrong with the calibration procedure. I can imagine that you have to stay around a value for a long time because it must converge to a steady value. BUT the latency is so big, that the small red bike on the screen goes further away from the ideal position even if I ride with constant power for minutes. Pursuing the bike on the screen leads to much bigger fluctuation and the impossibility to complete the calibration routine.

So please:
1) are there other ways to make this calibration?
2) is it possible to change the software in the future to correct this issue and to avoid that one person stay so long perfectly steady at a power level?
3) is it possible to see which values are found during the calibration and not at the end?

[ejqueipo]

Hi guys,

I have just started with my Arion smart b+, and as commented in the first post the resistente is very high. I have not even able to do the calibration as I was on the edge of a heart attach. I am not a pro but I have been training with a basic elite before and the lower power levels were too much softer. Any ideas ? Thanks so much!

[dydavide]

Hi guys,

I have just started with my Arion smart b+, and as commented in the first post the resistente is very high. I have not even able to do the calibration as I was on the edge of a heart attach. I am not a pro but I have been training with a basic elite before and the lower power levels were too much softer. Any ideas ? Thanks so much!

I have the same problem like you.
I don't know why the support doesn't say anything about it.
To me the arion digital are not well calibrated in the factory. And the calibration must be done at the very beginning before start training with it.

But how to calibrate the thing without getting an heart attack?
I really don't know. I m going trying to increase at first P3 manually so - I hope - the resistance will be less at the beginning.
I let you know

Any suggestion is very welcome

[carsten1iedel]

Hello!
You are not allone with this problem. #metoo.....After the "Training-Test", the Arion (E-Trainer) calls me "Ausflugsradler"...translated: to-the-next-restaurant-biker...Ok, I am not a Pro-Biker, but on the road, I am able to reach a avarage speed about 31 -32km/h over one hour. Last 100km ride, one week ago with an avarage of 27,2 km/h. Outdoor I am riding a mid-high touring recumbment-bike with 15kg, on the Arion I am using a Moutainbike-Hardtail with racing-slics. The FTP-Test result is 144. For the calculation of my real opinions I am using the software from Kreuzotter.de and when I am calculating my real power-speed values outdoor, the software is quiet near at reality.
So, today, I calculated 15 speet to power values with Kreuzotter and I tried to calibrate my Arion with this…..not realy sucsessfull. I can understand, that the Arion cannot show real power values at low speed, because the frictional resistance on the rolls is higher than on the street. But I expect, that speed over 20 km/h can be depict more real. I did the "manual calibration" because I do not have an extern powermeter. When the sofstware asked for the power value, I entered this dependent from the speed, calculated by the Kreuzotter software. So I filled P1, P2 and P3. Afterwards I tested the speed to power relation with "gradually Training". I controlled at speed 20, 25, 29 (my expected FTP at 185), 30, 34, 36, 40. It does not fit together. So I tried to change the P-Values manually and I was able to ajust them for small sector of 4-5 km/h. But when the sectors between 25 and 30 m/h where nearly correct, the values below and above this sector where totally incorrect. Over 40km distance, I tried very much combinations, but I found no logical pattern.
It would help to understand the values of P1-P3...how are they influencing the riding-profile? How can I handle them? Does anyone have a Kombination, that nearly portrais reality?...….
If anyone has values, measured with an extern powermeter during the calibration for P1, P2 and P3 with a quite similar bike-Setup, I would try this, may be it is better than "try and error".

Thanks, greeting and Keep on rolling!

Carsten