Drivo Sim mode and ERG mode reverse resistance reactions ?

[chris.shaws]

I would really appreciate Elite Admin input on this. I've recently become proud owner of Elite Drivo, very pleased with it on the whole but I do think it could easily be better. It feels to me like the resistance command responses in Sim mode and ERG mode should be swapped. I'm on FW 058 and HW 008, I have NOT tried uploading new FW. In ERG mode I get the usual gradual response to resistance change commands, over 10-20 secs, when really we wish for this to happen within 2-3 secs. In Simulation mode, riding any of the many ride simulation apps, my Drivo responds almost immediately to any slight bump in the road. In real life that's not what happens. If you ride over a speed hump say you might absorb a little bit in the legs but essentially your speed/cadence/power all remain quite smooth as your inertia carries you over the hump with no real effect on your rythym. The same with a series of small rises and falls, a typical gently rolling road. You will feel this a little bit more IRL but there is still a good inertia effect which keeps things quite smooth. On the Drivo in Sim mode these changes are made almost instantly with no inertia effect. So riding along an almost flat road but with some very small bumps it becomes a very "choppy" ride and not lifelike.
If the Sim mode instead reacted like ERG mode currently does, a more gradual change to the resistance, it would in effect simulate that inertia effect and be much more like real life. Conversely, if ERG mode reacted as quickly and sharply as Sim mode currently does, it would give us the rapid resistance changes we seek from ERG mode, and which most trainers provide. I hope I've explained this clearly and I'd love to know if an update could be provided to swap these resistance reactions. It seems clear to me from the way Drivo currently responds in these two modes that it has the ability to be an absolutely first class trainer. I'd be very happy to test ride any changes.

[chris.shaws]

Bump....
Anyone else with Drivo agree with this or am I flying a kite?

[Elite Admin S]

Hi

Well, it's possible to increase reactiveness of a Drivo.
If you contact our customer care, they can give you instructions about this.
But please be careful: increasing the speed of the motor will also give you a less smooth feeling during the change of power/slope.
You'll have less time to adapt your pedaling (or gear). If this solution was suitable for all users, of course we would have set it as a standard.

Feel free to contact us and ask for it. You can give it a try and, in case, turn back

Regards

[chris.shaws]

Elite Admin S - thank you for your reply. If it's possible to roll back to current version then I would definitely like to change.
i have not used ERG mode on previous trainers but I find it almost unusable on the Drivo, for the shorter intervals especially. I understand perfectly what you are saying, and I appreciate the intention for the smooth change, it's just way too long and and far too easy to over or under effort without paying very close attention, just as you would in level mode. The problem is you can't "jump" up to a new resistance (as you might do in level mode) because the ERG mode will then oscillate wildly for some time, so it's worse than not having an ERG mode.

But my bigger concern was with the way Simulation (Slope) mode works - it seems to be the complete opposite, reacting far to quickly to any change in slope and not responding like a real ride would where inertia will smooth the change and any rolling road is taken smoothly. As you enter a 5% climb for instance the Drivo seems to immediately alter the resistance to that full 5% as if you were immediately half way up the climb already. I feel this should be a slower and smoother change to represent the element of inertia, in fact more like the current ERG mode functions, which leads me to believe the unit is surely capable of doing this.

My concern with changing the firmware was in case this slope mode was also made "sharper", but if a roll back to original firmware is possible then I'd love to try it to see if ERG mode becomes usable.

In every other respect I absolute love the Drivo so it would be great if I could make it the perfect experience.
Thank you.

[Elite Admin S]

Hi

The rollback is possible.
Contact the customer care and tell them that you may want to return to the standard speed.

Regards

[LyonSanks]

Hello...I've possessed an Elite Direto for just about a year now, and I also experience the ill effects of the ERG delay in exercises, which impacts short span runs. I either need to envision and increase early, or simply give a valiant effort and bomb the span.
On the old Zwift uphold site there was a string about this, and individuals referenced that it was an Elite issue, not Zwift, as Zwift just sends the necessary force prerequisite to the mentor, yet the coach is doing some power smoothing and thus the defer arriving at this force prerequisite.