ERG Mode does not work for Cristopeit ET 6 Pro (partial-smart trainer)

Mobile Apps Current Bugs or Issues
#1

Hi there,
Me and my wife bought us an ergometer to get/stay in shape. We are no bike-freaks at all but I am convinced that a structured training plan like TrainerDay offers is more motivating to keep it up. So me and my wife started a premium plan and let coach Jack build us a training plan. So far, so good. The only thing from being perfect is that the App does not control the resistance in ERG-mode at all. I tried it on 3 android devices, all with the same result. So I thought it could be a problem with the smart trainer (its actually a 400$ ergometer from a german discounter) but everything else is actually working: Fast finding, and auto reconnect. Receiving and displaying all values from the ergometer, controlling the resistance in resistance mode. Because it is so close to perfect I thought I would write here.

Here are some screenshots ( I tried to keep RPM by 50, workout: Trainer Day - Workout: Erg Mode Test). Startvalue is already false and change of profile does not change anything. Before 1:30 I turned off ERG-Mode. Something happens then: sometimes it gets more harder, sometings easier but only for a shot while then it turnes back to the (wrong) start setting. After 2 Minutes I pressed +Button to increase resistance. Then It goes to the set resistance mode (18%, wich is less then start setting)

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I would gladly provide more information if you need any more data or tests.

Best regards
Risto

#2

What’s the exact make and model of the Ergometer? Or do you have manual/spec sheet?
Is it coming with its own specific app? If so, does that app provide possibly a firmware update? And is it working with that app?
Some tech stuff needs to be checked before we can help.

1 Like
#3

Hi,

It is an Cristopeit ET 6 Pro: Ergometer ET 6 Pro von Christopeit Sport

It does not come with an own App but is advertised to work with Kinomap. And also free MyFitHome App. I tried both: I can select the concrete model in the apps. In Kinomap I tried a video-workout an it worked but I think it only sets resistance according to the slope. In the other app the workout profiles are also contolled by changing resistance levels. So no regulated ERG-Mode (Change of resistance according to target power and RPM).
I guess it is not intended to do a firmware update. Hope that helps.

Best regards
Risto

#4

There is at least one other app that can control this ergometer, but I can’t find any clear statement on FTMS compatibility (FTMS is the protocol used for Smart trainers).
MyHomeFIT app (Android only) is free to use with adds or a add-free version for a one time payment of 10€.
It looks like it should be controllable in Power mode but I can’t make out what protocol is needed.
Here’s a YouTube link explaining it all from 22:30 mark on. It’s in German so I only understand partly what he’s saying… Maybe someone with good knowledge of German can give extra help?

#5

Hi,
thank you for checking. I watched the video but the protocol ist not mentioned. But I saw that the MyHomeFit-App has a Watt-Program, so I will check that (should be same as ERG-Mode, as far as I unserstand).

#6

I had a similar issue once with a completely different app (I think TrainerRoad but may have been the Wahoo app) and a completely different trainer (Wahoo Kickr), where the power was all over the place. Turning everything off and on again, reconnecting etc. finally got it working (had to do it a few times, of course just as I was getting ready for a ramp test). Some sort of weird glitch/connection issue. However, this only happened once and I have done at least a hundred sessions. More common is that the phone just won’t connect to the Kickr when starting and for that restarting everything has worked.

I would try the restarting and reconnecting (removing the bike from the phone bluetooth pairing as well) and also possibly trying to have the phone in different locations/positions (I have heard that sometimes that has an effect on how well the connection works).

#7

One thing you could try is pressing + at the bottom of workout screen and if that does nothing turning on slope mode in our settings and press + a few times during a workout and see if that increases intensity. Let me know on these. You trainer might respond to these and is so I can give you some other ideas. But many people train by adjusting the intensity manually to match the target. I also have a spin bike that I do manual settings and I like it but ERG is very useful as well.

#8

Hi Guys, thank you for your feedback and sorry for my delayed response.

  1. I Tried the Watt-Programm of the MyFitHome-App: It worked as expected (Checking RPM of the last x seconds and adjusting resistance-stage of the ergometer to reach target value in Watt)
  2. @Anssi_L: The behaviour is pretty consistent, I reconnected/restarted several times
  3. @Alex : I tried that also, in ERG-Mode the +Button has no effect, if I uncheck ERG-Mode I can control the resistance. I also did a workout by manually adjusting the intensity. But it would be cool to not keep track of the workout profile during the complete workout (e.g. to watch a youtube video instead)
#9

You could switch to slope mode in our settings and press + - and see if it works, my guess is it does not but this should be the same as using zwift. And if your trainer worked with Zwift I would assume it would be advertised. I don’t think your trainer supports slope mode or ERG but does support resistance mode. If I am right, some software vendor could do something to simulate erg mode for your trainer but it is a lot of work. We have automatic slope mode which is kind of similar but does not try to hit ERG targets.

We have audio interval change sounds but like one other user requested, in and our of “zone”warnings would help paying less attention to the training. Just thinking aloud.

#10

Hi @Alex,
I just tried it after changing sim/slope toggle button to “on”.
No difference in ERG-mode. If I uncheck ERG-Mode it says 1% and each click on +Button changes the value in 1%-steps and also increases the resistance in the ergometer. Negative values are like 0%. This is probably the mode used by Kinomap-App to set resistance according to mountain slope.

Maybe I had a wrong expectation to the ERG-Mode. I thought in that case the App is controlling the resistance based on RPM and Target-Watt. But as far as I understand this should do the smart trainer. Is there a possibility to implement a new mode “auto resistance mode”? It should be a controlling circuit with inputs:

  • current resistance level
  • target power
  • current rpm
    and output is new resistance level (absolute level or next lower/higher level)

Just as an idea to support these kind of “dumb smart trainer”.

#11

Ok yes, interesting. So supports slope and resistance but not ERG. Since this is the only device that we have heard of that does this I can’t really afford to make an ERG simulator although I do see it could likely be possible to make it semi-accurate and allow you to not pay attention. What I can suggest is that you can use our automated slope mode to create your own workouts that operates by automatically changing the slope percentage (i.e. resistance). It will take some work on your part and can’t easily be done with CJ plans but if you have the time and motivation I can tell you how to do this.

#12

Hi Alex, thank you for your feedback. I can completely understand that this feature request won’t be realized if this is such a rare case. So I would highly appreciate If you could show me how to use/apply automated slope mode. I would definetely give that a try.

#13

So generally you can read this thread.
https://forums.trainerday.com/t/slope-mode-like-erg-mode-completed/

Here are the steps you need to do

  1. Take a ramp test. You can do this manually in our app, just adjust the watts to try to hit the target it shows.
  2. Determine your natural RPM when not thinking about it after you are warmed up for 10 minutes or so. It’s likely different at different intensities but just for a baseline
  3. Create conversion chart from slope % to watts
  4. Copy a workout from our DB and add slope %.

See below for more details.

I would determine what is your natural cadence and then create an approximate watts watts conversion for different slopes.

Below is an example
At 60rpm
0% = 50w
1% = 80w
2% = 100w

Then you can find any workout in our database and copy it and add your percentage based on the watts you see, but make sure your FTP is semi-accurate first.

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If you are decent in excel you could do this with formulas so the whole conversion process only takes a minute or so. You can copy and paste from our workout editor to excel and back.

That’s it. :slight_smile: If your RPM is semi-consistent this should be accurate enough for training purposes. Let me know if you have any more questions.