Page 1 of 2

Square brackets

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:04 am
by RobP
Hi, very long-time TTS user, having a bit of a go with vride to mix things up a bit, rode as much of Ventoux as I had time for this morning. Software really nice and the video played really smoothly so well done. Just had a couple of questions:
- what is the value in the square brackets next to the gradient? Often, but not always, it's the same number, sometimes very different.
- do you think there will ever be an on-screen map, or would that be too much of a departure from the tidy and uncluttered vride visuals?

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:40 am
by admin
The value in brackets is the real road grade in %. The value to the right side is what it feels like after grade reduction settings are applied. Grade reduction settings are explained in details in user's guide or you could go to "Settings/Grade reduction" and play with it. Pretty self explanatory. When real grade and "feels like" grades are the same display numbers are green. Otherwise they turn yellow

About the map:

1) Yes we are thinking about map and I have collected quite a few different opinions on what it should be and how it has to be displayed.

2) We will definitely implement map but I am trying to come up with something truly innovative here. I think when done it will satisfy few requirements:

a) It is live and could show every rider in real time. Moving or last known position or having belong to particular event.
b) works across all platforms could run on your smartphone for example
c) displays not just map but any other real time data.
d) very customizable by any user with just a bit of tech abilities. so that various displays can be created/distributed by users.

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:24 am
by RobP
Ok; will have to have a look at the grade reduction, I didn't think that would be a thing as I'm using a Neo. Would have thought it should be turned off as the default?

And the maps stuff sounds awesome, I'll keep watching this space 8-)

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:24 pm
by admin
RobP wrote:...Would have thought it should be turned off as the default?...
By default good majority of customers have road bikes with gearing targeting mostly flat to moderate road grades. Many of those unfortunately are not exactly featherweight either. So when presented with 10-15% grade, improper gearing and no reduction they would be doing nothing but killing their knees. That is why it is on by default.

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:21 am
by Kiko
Can I just check that I've understood the instructions correctly?
It says "Somewhat less obvious is the “Grade reduction” section. It does not really matter much for
resistance trainers..............."
I've got a BKool Smart Pro Plus trainer, so I'm wondering if adjusting the grade will make a difference?

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:52 am
by admin
Kiko wrote:Can I just check that I've understood the instructions correctly?
It says "Somewhat less obvious is the “Grade reduction” section. It does not really matter much for
resistance trainers..............."
I've got a BKool Smart Pro Plus trainer, so I'm wondering if adjusting the grade will make a difference?
I guess that part starts in somewhat poetic way. Got to be fixed. Anyways "Resistance trainers" means dumb trainers that can not be controlled by computer. In your case it does matter as you have "smart trainer"

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 9:26 pm
by Kiko
admin wrote:
Kiko wrote:Can I just check that I've understood the instructions correctly?
It says "Somewhat less obvious is the “Grade reduction” section. It does not really matter much for
resistance trainers..............."
I've got a BKool Smart Pro Plus trainer, so I'm wondering if adjusting the grade will make a difference?
I guess that part starts in somewhat poetic way. Got to be fixed. Anyways "Resistance trainers" means dumb trainers that can not be controlled by computer. In your case it does matter as you have "smart trainer"
Thanks, I think I get it now!
I noticed that my ascent gradients only hit 5.8% max (real grade shown as 7%+), so I'm going to try the settings set at 3-15% and see what happens :twisted:
The setting was 5-10% before I touched it, but I ride a lot of hills and mountains and have low gearing and found it almost too easy, depending on the route of course!

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:45 am
by Kiko
I presume this whole issue also depends on the trainer being used?
My old Tacx was only capable of resisting to an equivalent gradient of around 4%, but I don't know what my Bkool can manage, other than it's more than 4%.

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 1:56 am
by Bradox78
Kiko wrote:I presume this whole issue also depends on the trainer being used?
My old Tacx was only capable of resisting to an equivalent gradient of around 4%, but I don't know what my Bkool can manage, other than it's more than 4%.
Yes, definitely.

I previously had an Elite RealAxiom smart trainer. Elite claims that it can replicate gradients of up to 10%. I reckoned rather 6-7% max. rather than 10%.

With this trainer, I was able to "climb" the Alpe d'Huez TdF climb in 40 minutes, a professional cyclist time :roll:

With the Veloreality Lynx VR trainer, I ride this climb in 60-65 minutes which is also my real time :

See my post :
https://veloreality.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=141

Re: Square brackets

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:33 pm
by Kiko
I did a ride with my new settings, and noticed that the 'feels like' grade was now higher than before, but still 1-2% below the 'real road grade'.
The spec for my trainer claims it's able to simulate 20% gradient, although I wonder if this might only apply to when it's used with the Bkool software.


No disrespect to Bkool but there is no way trainer of this type will simulate 20% except maybe for monsters like LA and feel anywhere close to real at much smaller grade. It is just a limitation of particular design. Also being ANT FE-C compliant means that there should not be any difference disregarding of what software performs control. ANT+ message is an ANT+ message. Its bytes do not bear special signature indicating their source ;)

Also keep in mind following things:

1) Your current speed is always calculated in our software based on current power reported either by trainer or power meter, current road grade (real, not corrected by grade reduction), your weight and some other parameters. It is not affected by grade reduction settings. Those just change "what it feels like" or you can consider it as an automatic virtual gears kicking in.

2) We can clamp the grade etc. but it is the trainer that determines resistance. If trainer is told "do me a 5%" but it feels like something else all complaints should go to trainer manufacturer.