Before I begin, I’m running a new KickR Snap trainer so without further or-due,….
What the FUF SUF? Yesterday I had Who Dares on my Fitness Kickstarter plan. I was in the 3rd, 9min, 30sec “race”, about to finish up the first threshold block and sprint BUT when the sprint came, zero resistance came on. Instead the resistance immediately dropped to the power for the 60rpm grind block. After finishing up the 60rpm grind block and the 110rpm threshold block, the third and final came up and the resistance came on. After the last sprint and getting my breathing back under control, I paused the video and rewound it back to about two minutes before the sprint that didn’t previously happen and started it again. This time as the sprint started, the resistance came on. I’ve noticed this resistance issue a few times with my new KickR Snap trainer….either the resistance didn’t come on at all or it was very late coming on. So far my experience with the KickR Snap has been good and this resistance issue isn’t a constant issue but I have to be honest here and say that I was expecting a bit of “complete accuracy” out of this brand new, technologically sound trainer.
You posted previously about whether it was necessary to do a spindown prior to each ride so my first question is…do you do a spindown prior to each ride?
In my response to your other post there is a ritual you ought to perform each and every time to ensure the most consistent and accurate experience.
I do not before each ride but prior to Who Dares yesterday, I did. The erg resistance worked fine up until that second to the last sprint in the the third 9min, 30sec “race”. But once the workout was over and I rewound to just before that sprint and redid it, it worked fine on the second time around.
So the Snap is a GREAT wheel on trainer but it’s not quite as responsive (or quick to respond) to very short sprint efforts like the shorter ones in Who Dares. If you can swap, on the fly, to level mode for the super short sprints then back to ERG you may have a better experience. On a keyboard, the ` key will put it in ERG while the number keys 0-9 in the corresponding level and you can switch back and forth while riding.
Part of the issue you had may have to do with the limitations of the trainer itself, some of it may be due the gearing you’re in and how fast the flywheel is spinning and some of it may be due to whether you’re using Ant+ or Bluetooth.
I LOVED my Snap when I had it and it served me exceptionally well for about a year until I upgraded to the direct drive Kickr. It’s not perfect, but for a wheel on trainer it’s maybe as close as you’re gonna get.
Do you pre-empt the sprint at all? i.e. did you start to ramp up your cadence just before the sprint? If so you trained will drop its resistance thinking it wants the steady FTP target and will be busy trying to do that and “miss” the sprint. Those short sprints are difficult for trainers to respond to, especially if the demand for resistance changes just before the effort due to your pedalling. Best work around might be to flick over to level for those sprint using a keyboard short cut, or even do the whole workout it level mode.
No. I learned very quickly that if you have an increase in cadence coming up along with an increase in power DO NOT increase your cadence until you feel the resistance coming on. The resistance just didn’t come on for that sprint yesterday but when I rewound and attempted it again, the resistance came on. Glitch in the Matrix I guess.
It can happen if there’s a bit of interference between the signal from your device and the trainer, it’s just more annoying when it’s on a super short interval as you end up missing it entirely.