Riding with Computrainer

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spocket
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:10 am

Riding with Computrainer

Post by spocket »

Hi there!

Just had my first ride with VR and I really enjoyed it! Will definitely buy more videos if not all :) Brings a new life to my computrainer. RM Real Course Videos quality is bad, and while better with ErgVideos, I like to chose my power output on the fly; Velo Reality combines the best of both worlds :)

Overall, I had almost no glitches on a 1h45 ride. I do have a few questions..

>CPUTRAINER CALIBRATION Is there anyway to get into a mode to calibrate the computrainer (roll down calibration)? In all other softwares, when the video is paused, we can press F3 to release the trainer and put in calibration mode... F3 again on the controller allows to learn the press down force and get back ready to ride the video.

Right now, I found no way to calibrate the computrainer while connected with VR... had to ride my bike 10' with OEM software to warm up and calibrate, then close and start VR to ride (actually, after that VR does not find the computrainer.. so I had to reboot the PC)

Am I missing something? Calibration is quite important for the computrainer to give realistic output...

> POWER SOURCE When both computrainer and Powertap Power Meter are connected, it seems the VR program goes by (and display) the power provided by the computrainer and not the Powertap. I can tell because the power numbers were not matching the Ptap numbers and there was some drifting happening (which I see when I look at computrainer numbers using other programs).

Any way to force VR to work & display with power from Powertap when both are connected?

Nice job on the program and thanks in advance for your help!
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admin
Site Admin
Posts: 737
Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2013 5:46 pm

Re: Riding with Computrainer

Post by admin »

1) Calibration. Unfortunately we do not have Computrainer at the moment (it decided to die). I think you can do calibration right from head unit as far as I remember. So I'd just do some warm up then calibrate and then do a real ride. After spending couple of weeks with Computrainer I am bypassing calibration step since I've discovered that for as long as I did not change tire/tire pressure/press force calibration seem to stay the same.

2) I am willing to add functionality of using external power meter for Computrainer but I need someone to test it live. If you agree and have the ability to connect/communicate by Skype for quick test we can do it. Will probably take about 30 minutes or so, My Skype ID is poukhov_kostya. Let me know if you want to do it.
VeloReality Forum Administrator
Chriscywg
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:53 pm

Re: Riding with Computrainer

Post by Chriscywg »

Actually, you do not need to start up any OEM software to calibrate your computrainer.. I've had one coming on 10 years now and do the following procedure before I ever fire up any training software be it the the racermate software or ergvideo...

Computrainer on obviously, hit the F2 key on the controller, this will enter you into erg mode where you can manually set watts to the load generator. Use the + or - key to increase/decrease from the baseline 50 watts. When you are ready to do your calibration hit the + and - key together and spin up to 25mph and stop pedaling... a calibration number will occur.. I do this 3 times to make sure it is somewhat settled in.. once you are happy always remember to hit F3, this will save your calibration number.. so software mode is never required, calibrate off the software, load the software , find your computrainer and off ya go!!
alexsimmons
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2019 7:05 pm

Re: Riding with Computrainer

Post by alexsimmons »

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would post a solution to being able to perform a Computrainer roll down calibration while using the VeloReality Software.

While riding your CT with VeloReality, you will notice that if you remove the stereo plug which connects your PC to the Computrainer handlebar controller, the CT controller enters roll down calibration mode while the Veloreality software simply pauses. If you reinsert the stereo plug into the back of the CT controller, VeloReality restarts immediately right from where you left off.

So you can use this method to perform a roll down calibration procedure as normal (i.e. spin up past 25mph, stop pedalling to coast down and hit F3 to accept new calibration value).

Now of course no one really wants to be removing and replacing the stereo plug into and out of the back of the CT controller all that often, so all it really needs is a way to break the circuit with a switch you can flick on/off.

You could wire one up yourself, or do what I did and buy a cheap stereo splitter switch that has a 3.5mm stereo input and 2 x 3.5mm stereo outputs used for choosing to send the output to either of two channel options (or vice versa). I plug the CT's stereo cord into the input of the switch, and another stereo cord from one of the two outputs of the switch and into the CT's handlebar controller. One of the switch's output selections is called "Channel A", the other "Channel B".

Then all I have to do is choose which selection on the switch I want.

In my case Channel A is the channel that connects to the CT controller and is selected when I was to use the CT normally.

When I want to do a roll down calibration I simply select Channel B on the switch, which has nothing connected to it and hence it simply breaks the circuit in the same manner that removing the plug from the CT handlebar controller does. VeloReality immediately pauses the ride and the CT controller goes straight into calibration mode. I do my roll down calibration, hit F3 on the CT handlebar controller to accept the new roll down value and then switch back to Channel A to return to my VeloReality ride. VeloReality immediately recommences.

These sorts of switches can be picked up pretty cheaply at any electronics store or online.

This is an example of the sort of thing I mean:

Image

I got mine for about $US10. You'll also need another cord with 3.5mm stereo plugs on each end. I had a few lying around in a box of old cables but they can be picked up for a few bucks.

So now with VeloReality I can do a CT calibration at any time during a ride and I do not need to exit the software or waste 10-minutes doing a CT warm up before starting my VR ride. I usually do one at the start, another a couple of minutes later and usually again after about 10-minutes. By then it settles down. I have an SRM on my trainer bike as well so it's easy for me to see if the CT's power values are deviating much.

I find this has really helped me, as I am trying to get back to cycling and at present I am only capable of riding for 15-20 minutes on the trainer so wasting 10-minutes doing a CT warm up process is a PITA. This way I can simply get started and do CT calibrations whenever and however often I want.
Deb
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:04 am

Re: Riding with Computrainer

Post by Deb »

Hi alexsimmons, thanks for posting. I don’t know if there are very many of us computrainer folks still around, but that sounds like a clever solution. I decided a while ago to suck it up and do a 10 minute warmup watching TV and just consider it a bonus workout ;) but I like your approach.
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