Auto Trip Reset: Feature or Failure?

[Velocomp]

We implemented an "Auto Trip Reset" feature in iBike FW 400.

When your iBike goes to sleep and stays asleep for 4 hours or more, then the iBike assumes the day's ride is done. It performs an Auto Trip Reset, so when your next day's ride begins you don't have to do a manual Trip Reset.

We have had one complaint about this feature and wanted to see if there was a wider-spread concern about it.

Fire away with your comments!

[JR_70]

Great addition as far as I am concerned...I find the feature helpful in that I don't have to remember to trip reset. 4 hours (for me) is ample time before resetting.

Just my $0.02 - thanks.

[lorduintah]

I think anyone who has had a bike sit for 4 hours and have the iBike go to sleep and then start up - it IS a new trip. How that can cause someone trouble is beyond me.

Tom

[marshr]

I like the feature. I forgot that is was part of new code and when i commute in and out to work, unfortunately i do work longer than 4 hours but up side is i do not have to do trip reset. So, it works for me.

[Ratman]

I think anyone who has had a bike sit for 4 hours and have the iBike go to sleep and then start up - it IS a new trip. How that can cause someone trouble is beyond me.

Tom

Let me help you with that, Tom. As but one scenario, I drive to the bike club departure point in the morning. We ride our bikes to the club picnic and socialize for more than 4 hours. We get back on our bikes in the afternoon and return to the original departure point.

If I wish to view that as one ride, why should I have to go to the trouble of combining those sessions after the fact when we're talking about automating something that takes holding one button down for a couple of seconds? In general, I do not like having processes going on in the background that are transparent to the user under the assumption that we all want these processes to happen (i.e., what we now have in multiple forms in FW4.00)...now that is "beyond ME"! All of this added automation for "convenience," as it requires more programming, inevitably introduces new "bugs," which have been amply reported in this forum since FW 4.00's release. I can't count the number of wacky/confusing results I've seen regarding calibration procedures, profile changes, etc. because some processing was going on without my asking for it or knowing about it -- all in the spirit of "simplification." It certainly seems reasonable to expect the user be cognizant enough about what they're doing on the bike to know when to start and stop a ride file.

You know what they say when we ass-u-me things? I mean, what's next -- we automate the iBike to push the pedals for us? The time doing all of this "automation" would be much better spent creating a single operation manual that includes a thorough explanation (including the currently undocumented features) in the iBikeIII hardware and software (as opposed to having to search several different manuals for answers to questions). This would undoubtedly cut down the frequency of the same questions being asked over and over on this forum, too.

[lorduintah]

Leave it to someone who went to the big blue to have trouble being polite and resorting to some off color response. If you were in a race and stopped for 4 hours, that time would count against you - even though you were stopped. At what point does stopping become excessive? I think you have made a valid argument for 4 hours - so can John change the time to 6 or 8?

Tom

[Ratman]

Leave it to someone who went to the big blue to have trouble being polite and resorting to some off color response. If you were in a race and stopped for 4 hours, that time would count against you - even though you were stopped. At what point does stopping become excessive? I think you have made a valid argument for 4 hours - so can John change the time to 6 or 8?

Tom

I'm sorry that you feel my comments were impolite and "off color" (the last characterization is usually reserved for something bordering on profanity--how does what I said qualify??). I was merely pointing out that an alternative viewpoint could exist. Why ridicule this possibility by having to state that it's beyond your comprehension that anyone could have such a belief (one that, apparently, you see as being extremely foolish)?

IBikes aren't used solely for races. I still stand behind my comments that automating something as fundamental as a trip reset is over-the-top.

[jparker]

Intead of having a heated debate maybe all we need to do is ask John and the guys to consider having the trip reset put in the user or racer mode so the feature of auto trip reset can be turned on or off as it is for other features in the ibike. Just a thought

[lorduintah]

jparker - not a bad choice. I am wondering if there is still enough space in the firmware to handle this alternative. It just may be that opening up the window to a longer time may be the option - as I posed 6-8 hours? What constitutes a "new" ride? It appears there are going to be at least several definitions. And certainly there seems to have been a few who have voiced issue with the 4 hour limit. Overall, I like the feature of an automatic reset - it is one less detail I have to concern myself when starting up a ride - just run the battery check, zero the wind and then you can run a sanity check on the tilt - off you go.

Tom

[jparker]

Tom if I'm not mistaken it seems I read on one of the topics that John said when they rollout the next firmware update it fix current bugs and continue to tweak it's features so I think they have room but only they know and I'm sure John is reading this thread since he asked the question. Personally this is not a big issue to me I'm more concerned about the wattage accuracy but I think if you can give the users an option it will just be another good feature for an already great product that already has more features than any other cycling computer on the market. user!!

[bex]

I guess allowing so much input from users causes these conflicts.
Not really given to much thought to this but what about 3 levels of firmware.
Say
Recreational, sport and racer
Make certain functions available to each user group.
Charge a small fee to up/downgrade. This would likely reduce the incidence of "I think I'll try this fw this week"
Just a thought

Bex

[nigeld]

Feature.

[pjboyle]

Feature. I like the new automated state.

PJBoyle

[bex]

Feature

[R Mc]

feature

[racerfern]

Feature

[wellmt]

I don't have a strong feeling either way and can see both sides of the argument. It's no big deal to do a trip reset manually, on the other hand 4 hours to me is clearly a different ride.

If a menu option was implemented a better idea might be a number between 1 - N hours that you can set for the auto-trip reset rather than simply on or off?

Personally, I don't think we need yet another menu option just to control trip resets though, and I think it might be better going forward to have certain minor iBike options only set through the iBike software rather than clutter the iBike unit's menus.

[N3GWIR]

John’s question elicited a few interesting and revealing responses beyond the proposed Auto Re-Set feature. I am ambivalent about the new feature however I believe that Mr. Ratajack’s comment (regarding multiple forms in FW4.00 which requires more programming, and inevitably introduces new "bugs") might have some validity. I try to be tolerant of ideas that are not part of “group think” because in the market place, criticism is always more important than praise. John obviously knows that and that’s probably one reason why he is so responsive.

I think that the introduction of FW400 has caused confusion because, while it might be easy to set up the basic (not so accurate) quick-start option, there is evidently a fair bit if confusion going on (if the forum posts are any indication) regarding the advanced calibration procedures, profile changes, etc. I might be a little too pedantic but I am still not totally clear about a definitive new procedure and conditions required for calibrating the Gen III iAero FW 400 using a DFPM. e.g. What types of conditions cause good and bad results and why do almost identical Cal rides produce different results?

Like jparker and others I too am more concerned about ease of use and wattage accuracy/consistency than the addition of new software “bells and whistles”.
A better backlit display is probably a desirable (but costly) upgrade but than can follow once the unit attains its ultimate operational integrity. In the meantime I get the iBike power displayed on my Garmin 705

Finally I think the suggestion that more resources should be applied to producing better/clearer manuals and instructions is a good one. The iBike is a promising, cost effective and useful product and this forum is a good way of improving it provided we all hold fast to that objective.

[lungbuster]

I like this feature. I like being able to ride to work, hang up the bike for the day then come out and start riding with the trip reset.
I do believe you are able to merge two files in iB3, is that correct?
I would like to see a more comprehensive manual on how to maximise the iBike's features and how to analyse the data more rigorously, but at the moment I am still getting used to the basics.

Is this where I insert my qual's?
B.Sc. (Hons) La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia
Stress less people

[Russ]

I too am somewhat ambivalent about this 4 hour feature. It is doable to stitch the files together. I would like to see an ease of use improvement there such that I could simply keep pulling in ride files from the iBike directly to ultimately write out the combo file and the individuals ones as well without having to start from scratch for each piece, place it in a file and then pull those in one at a time to append. Just my two cents worth on that, though it isn't something I do a whole lot, so back burner priority is fine with me.

Keep the new tweeks and features coming, I say, the forward progress is well worth the effort to learn new twists.

Thanks for a great product and support!

Russ

[MultiRider]

I like the auto-reset but would like it to be 10+ hours. Like some others, if I ride somewhere and spend many hours there and then ride back, I'd like it to be one ride. But that is rare enough that it isn't a big deal to me. I definitely like the auto-reset, though, as I have forgotten to reset multiple times in the past and had multi-day rides that were actually separate rides.

Not that I want to "get into it" with other iBike forum users, but I, too, felt that Ratman's comments were off-color. Specifically the hyphenated word "assume". Not to mention overly defensive. He made a good point that I partially agree with, but I don't agree with the delivery.

[tytrike]

Auto reset after 4 hours is almost always more reliable than me rembering.
BUT NOT ALWAYS!
I do long multi-day trips with stops that can go over the 4 hour range.
A one-ride recording is best.
Could you include a switch for this feature in "user"?

[Velocomp]

If the ride is split into pieces you can rejoin it in Isaac software.

This is the first posting on this topic in 4 years. This has not been a big issue, and sometimes leaving things alone is the best solution...