Hey all. Just checking in on something. Been using my old (15+ yrs old ribble winter bike) on a kickr snap (5 yrs old) and generally been good to me.
However decided to upgrade as my wife has expressed an interest. (And would never fit on the Ribble). So we’ve got a Wattbike Atom.
All good. However just wanted to check.
On the old kickr with power smoothing on and in Erg the power line was very very consistent. And felt very consistent. (And I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but liked it)
On the Wattbike. In ERG mode. The power is very variable. And feels quite variable. Don’t get me wrong. It feels more realistic. But wondering if this is everyone’s experience?
I’ve attached 2 pics to show the difference in how the power looks. And it really does feel as different as the graph shows.
Interested in anyone’s experience? Just to make sure I’ve not got some settings wrong etc. Thanks
Let’s hope they provide a firmware update. Not the end of the world. Lots to like. But when I need to increase to 300watts and it spikes at over 400. It’s a bit of a surprise!!
It settles a bit after a few seconds but is quite spiky!
@Rich_R Not sure about the Wattbike Atom but I have a Wahoo Kickr Core and don’t use power smoothing and my graphs look more like your 2nd graph. I don’t worry about the spikes - I just focus on doing the work. For me the spikes often happen when the ergometer adjusts the power and I get ahead of the prescribed cadence. I try to stick as close as possible to the target cadence through the power change to manage the spikes. I find that it is sometimes it is hard to do on efforts over FTP when I am fatigued.
It’s not a huge problem and the article shared earlier by DCRainmaker calls it out as an issue specific to the Wattbike.
It does settle as cadence settles but yes. When fatigued. Having to hit 100watts above target for a few seconds stings a little.
Still rule 5 right!!!
I’ve had my wattbike atom 1st gen for I think 3.5 years now.
Yep, it overshoots a lot. Try to be quick with your cadence changes, and try not to be changing your cadence as the unit is changing the power or it goes all over the place.
Yes, I too think of the massive power overshoots as being good for the sprint training.
You get used to it and can control it to a certain degree but difficult to eliminate. I still love my atom and use it anything from 2 to 6 days/week depending on the weather.
Briefly had a first gen early Wattbike and experienced exactly this. It made the bike unusable for me and I returned it during the initial free return period.
