Direto power off by around 50 watts

[ian_thompson_]

Anyone move the calibration on there Direto to match their PM numbers? Trying to think of a work around?

Not sure how many points id have to move it down to equal out the 20-25 watt difference?

[iztok.obreza]

Ima having same problem as others. Direto is showing to low wattage output. Yesterdays ride: Direto 217W, Stages 239W. It's really annoying coz I used my previous trainer also for Zwift races, but with Direto I'm mostly not even able to hold a wheel.
I already calibrated Direto few times, but problem persists. Idea mentioned above would be perfect. If we could somehow manipulate with calibration values we could ger proper numbers out of it.

[maciej]

Same issue here - i've noticed it after a period of spring/summer time when i was not using Direto. I see some "correlation though - in ERG mode it starts to (more or less - taking in account power smoothness on 2 different dash units) catch-up with stages after 10-15mins of riding. Stages is pretty accurate - almost no difference comparing to lab trainer. BTW - i've compared it on 2 bikes connected to the trainer where i have 2 different stages PMs. When i am doing one leg drills - it's a bit too much off as well (e.g. stages/unit multiplies the value by 2 and Direto reads real power) which tells me there is some issue with direto.

BR,
MCC

[anichols.wmt]

My Elite Direto isn't holding resistance period, on Zwift or The elite App. It seems many people have had the same issue. Is this the only $900 trainer that has these issues? With Wahoo, Powertap, or the others do you have to mess with calibration or belts etc?

[ryanrenton96]

Did anyone solve the issue of power decrease after calibration? After I calibrated it, I have to work harder to sustain same wattage as before. (I didn't make any changes to belt or anything, just calibration in the app). It is possible of course that the new numbers are correct and I am just not as powerful as I thought! How can I tell if it is accurate or not? I don't have any other power meter or anything.
There is also a grinding/vibration coming from the trainer that I have emailed support about, so it could be linked to that maybe.

[Elite Admin S]

Hi guys

A little resume.

The Direto belt at the beginning has a tendency to loose a little. This is its way to adapt to the mechanic of the trainer and it's absolutely normal.
The calibration procedure "measures" how much the belt has loosened to adjust the power reading.
So, it's normal to have a decrease of the offset value, but this will correct the power reading as well.

But it may happen that the value decreases too much.
In this case, usually appears also some issue (noise, slipping at high power, sudden drop in power).
In these cases, it's necessary to tighten the belt.
To do it, we always prefer if you contact us. We will give you detailed instructions to not damage the belt and also check the result to be sure that all is ok. So, be patient and contact us at [email protected]

That said, there are also cases in which the offset continues to decrease. This may mean that the belt is ripping off, for example.
So, it's really important to contact us in these cases. We'll give you instructions on how to check the belt status and how to replace it, if necessary.

Finally, another possible problem is that power is not correct even if the offset is ok.
These cases are quite rare, but we had some. Again, the solution is to contact us to check if the power sensor is working properly.



Now, one additional (but important) note.
If the difference between Direto power and your power sensor is little, the cause may be another one.
Direto measures power on the hub, while most of the power sensors measure it on the crank.
This adds some frictions (and so, some power watts). In some cases this may add a difference up to a 5% (but usually less!).
If you do a research on the net, you'll find many articles about this
But don't hesitate to contact us anyway to check!

That's all folks!

[ad_stevenson]

Hi Team.

Some admin points.
I have contacted Elite Team by email, I have discussed this, I have sent pictures of the inter workings of my trainer and have been advised on trainer calibration by them.
2year old Direto, used for Zwift ~13,000 km.
I decided to calibrate using eTraining. The result was a -7 difference. I tightened the drive band to achieve an zero offset difference. I could barely ride.

So I calibrated to my Powertap P1 pedals, per the below image (quite good alignment) and that required me to adjust the band such that I went back to a -7 calibration offset.



It all makes you wonder right?

Now I am not saying that the P1 are perfect, at higher cadences vs SRM they are also about 1% different (>90rpm).

So the whole idea that you can compare trainers / powermeters on a program like Zwift and expect results that are close to real life is flawed. My choice to calibrate to my road powermeter gives me a reference point between the real and virtual world.

This is referred to as an external calibration - but it does show (in my case) that and internal calibration using the Elite software is not appropriate.

[Elite Admin S]

Hi

Definitely this is a strange situation.

There may be different causes:
1. the guy that has written the offset number on the trainer have done a mistake
2. something wrong happened during the calibration procedure (but there are also quite a lot of final checks, so it's quite strange).
3. during shipment something has settle on the trainer and power has changed a little

Not easy to understand which is the cause in your particular case.

Regards

[ad_stevenson]

Hi

Definitely this is a strange situation.

There may be different causes:
1. the guy that has written the offset number on the trainer have done a mistake
2. something wrong happened during the calibration procedure (but there are also quite a lot of final checks, so it's quite strange).
3. during shipment something has settle on the trainer and power has changed a little

Not easy to understand which is the cause in your particular case.

Regards

Thanks just to confirm:

1. you checked the number on your system it is correct.
2. I have done like 50 calibrations using the eTraining ap. I spin it up to 25kph as instructed etc.
3. maybe, but the trainer is solid, no issues with it. I am not complaining about it in general, just that the calibration procedure did not work for me.

My other observation is, it is the one that concerns me, I think that the calibration drifted over time. Where I thought I was getting stronger, the trainer band was probably loosening. But I am talking over two years so that is to be expected. Just tough that you have to externally calibrate to get a reliable reset.

[Elite Admin S]

Hi

Sorry, the second point was about calibration in our factory. I was not clear.
I really don't know what else may be the cause, but I still think that your case is quite unique.

So, continue to use the trainer and let's see how it behaves over time. I don't think it will change, but I may be wrong.
Keep your new offset (-7) as your new reference.

Regards