AeroPod, PowerPod and Newton

I new to using the trainer mode on my ibike, so I may just not have a clue what I am doing.

I happened to be looking at the unit mid-interval tracking my effort when "trainer off" appeared on the display and watts dropped by about half or more. I stopped, went to the user setting and made sure trainer mode was on. I turned the unit off, then back on, I got the Trainer On message after the wind cal. I started my work out again with my eyes now glued to the unit, and a minute later Trainer Off appeared again.

I was training with a fan blowing on me from the front. I turned the fan down a setting and just soft pedaled for awhile and it didn't happen again. My workout was kind of shot mentally, so I gave it up for the day.

So, what am I seeing? Does the unit think I am out on the road because of the fan blowing and switch modes? Do I have a defective unit, or something in between?

Thanks for your input in advance,

GrittyGoober wrote:I new to using the trainer mode on my ibike, so I may just not have a clue what I am doing.

I happened to be looking at the unit mid-interval tracking my effort when "trainer off" appeared on the display and watts dropped by about half or more. I stopped, went to the user setting and made sure trainer mode was on. I turned the unit off, then back on, I got the Trainer On message after the wind cal. I started my work out again with my eyes now glued to the unit, and a minute later Trainer Off appeared again.

I was training with a fan blowing on me from the front. I turned the fan down a setting and just soft pedaled for awhile and it didn't happen again. My workout was kind of shot mentally, so I gave it up for the day.

So, what am I seeing? Does the unit think I am out on the road because of the fan blowing and switch modes? Do I have a defective unit, or something in between?

Thanks for your input in advance,

I've seen the same thing, although my trainer setup was using an old wired mount I had lying around. In my case the problem appeared to be battery related, for some reason "trainer Mode" appears to be more sensitive to voltage levels and without the extra battery in the wireless mount it was causing problems. I also had a very large industrial fan blowing directly at me and the wind port, so I wouldn't rule out what you suggested either. Easy to test, I'm going to stick a lump of blu-tack (Elmer's Tack) in the wind port next time.

There is a feature in the FW that turns off the trainer mode automatically if measured wind speed is too high. Why do we do this? Because we got complaints that people would do outdoor rides and, forgetting to turn off their indoor trainer mode, would get weird watts...

If you're riding indoors with your indoor trainer function do two things;

1) do a Cal Wind prior to starting the ride, making sure that your fan isn't blowing on your wind port while doing the calibration

2) try to keep the cooling fan from blasting into the wind port during the indoor trainer ride

Great info! Thanks. It is an easy matter to re-position the fan, and it makes sense to have the FW switch if it thinks it is out on the road.

I appreciate the quick response,

Gritty