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+--- Thread: Will there be FE-C resistance support? (/showthread.php?tid=470)
Will there be FE-C resistance support? - Luelue - 10-28-2020
Hi, I just got a Kickr Snap and wanted to know if there is any hope for FE-C resistance control in VZFit explorer at some point?
I suppose FE-C is what Zwift use to control resistance and that my Kickr Snap does not support FTMS since I don't get any resistance in VZFit.
I am new to all this, and it's been hard to find consistent information, Rainmaker and Sufferfest says the Snap does support FTMS, while Wahoo support told me it does not, and that they don't know if it will be supported. I read that the Kickr Core supports FTMS now, so there might be hope for the Snap too at some point?
I really like the Snap because of the 12% max incline, but I am considering exchanging it if there is no hope for resistance control in VZFit at any point, either with a Snap firmware upgrade or if VZFit will support FE-C in the future.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this, is the only option to get resistance in VZFit to exchange the Snap?
RE: Will there be FE-C resistance support? - Luelue - 10-28-2020
Sorry, I am now more confused. As I understand, fe-c is an ant+ extension protocol, but I never used ant to connect to zwift to get resistance control (I don't have an ant dongle). Does that mean my kickr snap has ftms since I get resistance in zwift? Or does zwift use their own Bluetooth code to connect to the snap?
RE: Will there be FE-C resistance support? - emalafeew - 10-29-2020
Check out the Smart Bike thread here https://forums.vzfit.com/showthread.php?tid=436&pid=3125#pid3125
I just posted a tool to help folks determine if their devices support FTMS resistance control. It's the same tool we've used forever to diagnose connection problems, but for this level of reporting you'll need familiarity with "adb" to inspect its logs.
We haven't been planning to add ANT+ FE-C support, as the trend in devices is toward Bluetooth and FTMS for control. But we can revisit that after our Oculus Store release.
RE: Will there be FE-C resistance support? - Luelue - 10-30-2020
Thanks for the info, I will try the tool but dont have much hope for the Snap, I did try another tool called BLE FTMS from Gaetano and it did not show any connection, but I guess there could be various reasons for that.
At this point there seems to be three options:
1.Ant support with Facebook and Quest seems a bit far off, I suppose that would require both an Ant dongle attached to the quest and drivers.
2.I did find some Ant to FTMS converter thing from Cable I think it was, from 2018, but another gadget and another source of error.
3.Wahoo releases a FTMS firmware update, but who know when that will happen.
I think it will be easier to just exchange the Snap for another trainer, but which one, both manufacturers and reviewers report different things regarding FTMS support.
Not to mention the "wiggle room" from the Smart Bike thread :
"It has controllable resistance and claims to support FTMS, so should work, but there's always wiggle room. Perhaps they just report power and speed from FTMS and only support resistance control from ANT-FEC or a proprietary protocol (like the Cyclops M2, a similar priced trainer)."
The Elite Tuo trainer seems promising, but being magnetic it will require a new wheel and tyre, might consider cashing out for a Kickr Core at that point, but even then I can't be sure of full FTMS support.
RE: Will there be FE-C resistance support? - emalafeew - 10-30-2020
Our tool will report precisely whether it has FTMS-controllable resistance, removing that "wiggle room" from FTMS claims. But manufacturers would have to run it and tell us what it says for their bikes, so that we could relay that information on our device-compatibility page. We can make such requests but it might be more impactful coming directly from our customers.
Before then I should update that tool to print such data directly to the screen, rather than to adb logs. I can do that after we get the current build out.
RE: Will there be FE-C resistance support? - Luelue - 10-30-2020
It would indeed be nice to expand the trainer list on that page with more than the Magnus. Being new to all this it's not easy to find the right trainer.
All in due time, right now I'm really enjoying Explorer as it is and looking forward to spending the winter finding new routes to try next summer.