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Smart bike
#1
I’ve been using VZFit for a while and I’m pretty happy with it, but I have reached the limit of my cheap bike’s resistance and so I was considering an upgrade... I noticed that you say indirectly that control is coming soon, that would allow you to register gear shifts and resistance changes to simulate the hills, correct?  I am definitely interested in that, but it would be good to know where on your roadmap that is.  I’d really like to stay with VZ and Quest/2 rather than go to Zwift or similar.  My problem at the moment is that I know the cadence that I have but not the force being applied, so I have to keep myself honest with the resistance and the “difficulty” really doesn’t mean a lot.  I also backed the Whipr on Kickstarter and it would be very cool to link that with the VZFit apps.  I was looking at the Wattbike Atom but I am not committed to anything.
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#2
(09-23-2020, 03:38 AM)Faye Wrote: I’ve been using VZFit for a while and I’m pretty happy with it, but I have reached the limit of my cheap bike’s resistance and so I was considering an upgrade... I noticed that you say indirectly that control is coming soon, that would allow you to register gear shifts and resistance changes to simulate the hills, correct?  I am definitely interested in that, but it would be good to know where on your roadmap that is.  I’d really like to stay with VZ and Quest/2 rather than go to Zwift or similar.  My problem at the moment is that I know the cadence that I have but not the force being applied, so I have to keep myself honest with the resistance and the “difficulty” really doesn’t mean a lot.  I also backed the Whipr on Kickstarter and it would be very cool to link that with the VZFit apps.  I was looking at the Wattbike Atom but I am not committed to anything.

Adding Bluetooth FTMS resistance control, simply connected to our difficulty setting, is planned for this sprint.  We're aiming to have a release build by the end of this week.  

Regarding the Atom, it's website says it supports Bluetooth Smart Control but doesn't explicitly say FTMS.  For some reason manufacturer's never specify the precise Bluetooth profiles (like FTMS) they support, I suppose because even within a profile there are optional features.  Many reviews of it do list FTMS but the devil is always in the details.
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#3
(09-23-2020, 01:16 PM)emalafeew Wrote:
(09-23-2020, 03:38 AM)Faye Wrote: I’ve been using VZFit for a while and I’m pretty happy with it, but I have reached the limit of my cheap bike’s resistance and so I was considering an upgrade... I noticed that you say indirectly that control is coming soon, that would allow you to register gear shifts and resistance changes to simulate the hills, correct?  I am definitely interested in that, but it would be good to know where on your roadmap that is.  I’d really like to stay with VZ and Quest/2 rather than go to Zwift or similar.  My problem at the moment is that I know the cadence that I have but not the force being applied, so I have to keep myself honest with the resistance and the “difficulty” really doesn’t mean a lot.  I also backed the Whipr on Kickstarter and it would be very cool to link that with the VZFit apps.  I was looking at the Wattbike Atom but I am not committed to anything.

Adding Bluetooth FTMS resistance control, simply connected to our difficulty setting, is planned for this sprint.  We're aiming to have a release build by the end of this week.  

Regarding the Atom, it's website says it supports Bluetooth Smart Control but doesn't explicitly say FTMS.  For some reason manufacturer's never specify the precise Bluetooth profiles (like FTMS) they support, I suppose because even within a profile there are optional features.  Many reviews of it do list FTMS but the devil is always in the details.

FTMS resistance control is exactly the thing I was hoping would be implemented.  Just to confirm.  If I connect one of these bikes, I don’t need the cadence sensor separately, correct?  Oh, will you also pull power/distance from the bike?

Thanks for your reply, it is really helpful.
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#4
(09-23-2020, 03:35 PM)Faye Wrote:
(09-23-2020, 01:16 PM)emalafeew Wrote:
(09-23-2020, 03:38 AM)Faye Wrote: I’ve been using VZFit for a while and I’m pretty happy with it, but I have reached the limit of my cheap bike’s resistance and so I was considering an upgrade... I noticed that you say indirectly that control is coming soon, that would allow you to register gear shifts and resistance changes to simulate the hills, correct?  I am definitely interested in that, but it would be good to know where on your roadmap that is.  I’d really like to stay with VZ and Quest/2 rather than go to Zwift or similar.  My problem at the moment is that I know the cadence that I have but not the force being applied, so I have to keep myself honest with the resistance and the “difficulty” really doesn’t mean a lot.  I also backed the Whipr on Kickstarter and it would be very cool to link that with the VZFit apps.  I was looking at the Wattbike Atom but I am not committed to anything.

Adding Bluetooth FTMS resistance control, simply connected to our difficulty setting, is planned for this sprint.  We're aiming to have a release build by the end of this week.  

Regarding the Atom, it's website says it supports Bluetooth Smart Control but doesn't explicitly say FTMS.  For some reason manufacturer's never specify the precise Bluetooth profiles (like FTMS) they support, I suppose because even within a profile there are optional features.  Many reviews of it do list FTMS but the devil is always in the details.

FTMS resistance control is exactly the thing I was hoping would be implemented.  Just to confirm.  If I connect one of these bikes, I don’t need the cadence sensor separately, correct?  Oh, will you also pull power/distance from the bike?

Thanks for your reply, it is really helpful.

Correct, an FTMS-compatible bike will give us speed and power directly so no need for separate cadence sensor.
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#5
We have reached out to Wattbike and they do support the FTMS channel, they were not 100% clear as to whether or not resistance control would work over FTMS but their reply seemed to indicate that it would.
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#6
(09-24-2020, 03:38 AM)Snowpelt Wrote: We have reached out to Wattbike and they do support the FTMS channel, they were not 100% clear as to whether or not resistance control would work over FTMS but their reply seemed to indicate that it would.

Hi,
and what about support to other less expensive bike trainers, for example this? Will be VZ Explorer compatible to create terrain simulation resistance on this device?

https://tacx.com/product/flow-smart/

Thanks for getting info.

Best Wishes
Daniel
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#7
Dcrainmaker review for Tacx Flow Smart is here

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/04/tacx...ent-page-6

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).
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#8
(09-25-2020, 11:14 PM)emalafeew Wrote: Dcrainmaker review for Tacx Flow Smart is here

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/04/tacx...ent-page-6

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).

Hi Eric,
thanks for quick response. So just for sure, can VZ Fit resistance option be compatible also with ANT-FEC or a proprietary protocols? Or do you have some other recommendations for trainer in similar price range, which is available in Europe and it should work with VZ fit resistance option i Exploer?

Thank you in advance
Daniel
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#9
Daniel, without additional hardware, the Quest can’t talk to ANT but it can talk to Bluetooth FTMS profile. It would be cool if a USB ANT adapter were supported, but it seems like that’d be up to Facebook to allow you to install the drivers.
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#10
(09-26-2020, 09:23 AM)Faye Wrote: Daniel, without additional hardware, the Quest can’t talk to ANT but it can talk to Bluetooth FTMS profile.  It would be cool if a USB ANT adapter were supported, but it seems like that’d be up to Facebook to allow you to install the drivers.

Thanks for info Faye. So the best way to be sure is ask the trainer producer, if his trainer is realizing the resistance control just only on FTMS, right? I have functional stationery bike now, but if will buy the trainer for my real bike, I must be sure, that this will be working with VZ Explorer in Quest. Thanks.

Best Wishes
Daniel
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