Not sure hat you mean by that. You only pay for the virtual training part which can also be used with various other trainers and power meters. The PBP works just fine with software like TrainerRoad, Peripedal, Zwift etc. or can be used as stand alone in slope mode. You can even control the PBP with a CycleOps Joule headunit. The PBP is a power meter so riding in slope mode sends out your power numbers for a Garmin to pick up and display.

I have no experience with the bluetooth version, but the ant+ one has been working great for me. It's awesome for any intervals longer than a minute in ERG mode. I use it with TrainerRoad and have played around with it on Zwift where it controls the resistance for you there as well based on the elevation/drafting/etc.

When Backcountry/Competitive Cyclist are running their occasional 20% off coupons, the Powerbeam Pro is hard to ignore. They have one going right now with "summer20" taking off 20%. The Powerbeam constantly makes the DCRainmaker recommendation list too.

When I bought one with 20% off it was $800 (compared to a full price Kickr), another ~$100 coming in from Active Junky, $100 in store credit and for some reason it included an 11 speed cassette too. It has all the features of a Kickr and Computrainer, plus it already comes with the ant+ stick to link it to your computer. I prefer trainers that you keep your wheel on for. Saris (parent company of Cycleops) has amazing customer service too.

So, uh..........get it.

Of course it can be used in slope mode but then why buy that trainer? It can be done for much less money with a KK.
It also works fine with the other software you mentioned but you have to pay more for that.

My two friends that have them are unable to use them with the software provided because they chose the virtual software and cannot go back.

They called saris to go back to software that's functional and they wouldn't do it.

It should come with stand-alone software like the CT does with no additional fee.

Perhaps I'm just being nit-picky and/or unreasonable or even uninformed of the current status of their software.

Yeah, I don't get his comment either. I know my PBP does a lot more than I ask of it, but I don't use any virtual trainer applications. Pretty much, I do two types of workouts on my trainer:

1. Spinervals DVD w PBP in slope mode. I'm watching my power as I follow the prescribed intervals. On rare occasions I will actually download the workout to Power Agent and review the file.

2. Watch movie w PBP in erg mode. This morning was a good example. Watched a martial arts movie with warm-up, then 7 x 2 mins V02 + 2 x 15 mins Z3. Just lock and load the watts you want and ready, set, sweat!

It really doesn't get any easier.

I got somewhat annoyed with the monthly fee ($5/month, for the iPad app, over 3 years is still less than a grand, though), and bought a Joule GPS on eBay for $130 with a powercal and can run erg workouts off that indefinitely without spending an extra dime (I will say the virtual training app is good for planning courses in google earth and pre-riding them without going there). I haven't tried it with Zwift yet, but that was one thing I was excited about hearing they opened it up for the PBP. Fact of the matter is, you get a solid trainer, with excellent customer service, at a good price. It takes a few seconds to react to changes in power or slope, though, which can be a bit frustrating on short intervals, and some of the algorithms on the virtual training site don't play nicely with a TT bike (for example power-speed calcs are based on height and weight, only, so if you have multiple bikes you need to keep going back and forth changing your height to have proper CdA's rather than simply inputting a CdA value).

Thank you! And everyone else. CompetitiveCyclist is a nice deal: no tax, free cassette (~$80 worth), free 2 day shipping, and Google Trusted Store $1k purchase protection.

Hey, reviving an old thread to see if anyone has had issues with erg mode, specifically when doing intervals above 400 watts or so. I've had a problem on several occasions with it just not sticking at the assigned wattage despite my best pedaling efforts. This is after calibration, which at this point I do for every ride. In the past calibration has fixed this issue, but not every time, and not the last several rides. Thanks!

Interesting. It's so rare I'm doing intervals short enough to need 400 watts, that I can't say for sure. Every so often I use my bike with a Power2Max to compare numbers and 8 watts (averages) is the most variance I have had (yes, I know they measure at separate locations and there should be variance).

Are you using TrainerRoad? I have had so many issues with the combination of the newer version (is it still called beta?) of TrainerRoad, ERG mode and the Powerbeam Pro. Calibrating kills ERG mode. ERG mode disappears because I looked at it funny. Plus the "minimal" screen is way bigger than the one from the "Classic" version of TrainerRoad. Even as two weeks ago, I still can't get the new version of TR and their ERG mode to play nicely with my Powerbeam Pro. I wouldn't be surprised of TrainerRoad is the issue and not the Powerbeam. I use the "Classic" version for trouble-free performance and occasionally checked the newer version to see if it's working.

EDIT: Now I'm not 100% sure if I used the last beta or the new/current version of TrainerRoad when ERG mode went out on me in early June. Sorry

Hey, I am using TrainerRoad and am actually not sure if I've uploaded the new version yet. I'll try to see if using the classic version will help. I've never really had a problem with accuracy, as I have a PowerTap wheel that I"ll occasionally use to check the numbers. Thank you.

Sorry to hear about the issues with your PBP man!

We recently had some ERG problems at wattages in the 250 range, but this is all cleared up now. When you open the app with a proper internet connection you'll be prompted to update the app. Have you made sure you're on the most up-to-date version? If you're still running into problems, go ahead and hit up support@trainerroad.com and they'll be happy to make sure you don't run into this in the future. :)

Cheers!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

Sorry to hear you're running into problems with your PBP too! :-/

The new version of the app is in full production. You're probably still using an older version of the beta though because they're different applications. If you download the full production version from the link below, I think you'll have some better luck. :)

Download for Windows

If you're having trouble with the initial pairing process in the new app after downloading the production version, click 'Device Troubleshooting' and your PBP should pop right up and pair. If you're still running into any issues, the good old boys at support@trainerroad.com will be sure to help get you dialed in.

Hope we can get some better results on the updated version man! Sorry again for any inconvenience!

Cheers,

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

Nick,

Thanks for your support. It's the most recent downloaded version as of ~10 days ago. I think we may have even spoke about a week after Powerbeam Support came out for the beta version. No problems with pairing. I can't get ERG mode to work again after any in-workout calibration with the Powerbeam Pro ant+.

I'm a huge TR fan and subscriber/member, so please don't take this as me complaining. Classic works fine for me and I like that version of the minimal screen better.

EDIT: Now I'm not 100% sure if I used the last beta or the new/current version of TrainerRoad. Sorry.

I was on my PBP for 4 hrs this morning, but I can only do 400+ watts for very short sprints -- I wish I had your problem. I have an old Joule 3 and lock in watts for erg mode with that. Never had a problem and I don't have any need for Trainer Road. My PBP has lasted and lasted.

You're most welcome!

Ah shoot! We probably did! I recently got moved over into TR's marketing side of things. :)

In any case, I'm going to relay this to our Support Development Specialists to try and replicate this. Do you have any open tickets with us right now?

And thanks for the love man — we just want to make sure you're able to use your PBP in it's full capacity within our newer version of the app too! Stoked you're able to use the older version in the meantime too though!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

Oh snap, I have 3 TrainerRoad applications on my computer!! I thought the 3rd was the companion app (for when two people were together, but I never actually tried it), but it turns out it's beta, classic and new/current. I deleted the old companion app instead of the beta app. I'm not 100% sure if I used beta or new/current that last workout where ERG mode disappeared when calibrating after 10-15 or so minutes. I'm still a little worthless that early in the morning.

I'll edit my last post too. I'll update this after trying the PBP on the new/current version (if I accidentally still used BETA before) and using ERG mode.

I couldn't get the new windows app to work consitently with my PBP. Tried several times but either the PBP or my power meter (quarq) would frequently drop out. Gave up and went back to old app and not had a problem since.

I used new/current this morning. Power2max controlling the Powerbeam with a Scosche HR monitor connected too. TR lost the connection to the PBP 1:14:00 in. The ant+ stick is ~3ft from the PBP and I have never had a dropout before. After about 8 attempts of trying to re-connect with the PBP (didn't see it, but saw other devices) it lost connection with all devices and crashed. No saved workout.

I opened up classic, everything connected instantly and I skipped ahead to the last 46 minutes of the workout. Everything worked as normal.

At this point, I have never had a successful workout with the former beta or new/current TR program and my Powerbeam Pro Ant+. It's been a near flawless combo on classic ~3x a week for well over a year. Using the PBP to control ERG mode always works great, but every once in a while I would get few seconds of wildly increasing resistance when using the P2M to control the PBP. That's been rare and fixes itself quickly though. I have even tried tricking TR in the past with multiple ant+ sticks and programs going and just couldn't faze classic. Especially with how much better the minimal screen is when extending to a tv, I'll probably stick with classic as long as I can.

Sounds identical problem. Either PBP drops out and won't reconnect or quarq drops out and resistance goes through the roof.

Happy to stick with old app but would rather issue was fixed as sure they'll come a point when old app isn't supported.

Asked about iOS app in the past but it didn't support PBP at the time - not sure if that's changed since.

Shoot! That's a bummer man. :(

Thank you for all your feedback with your experiences from both the Legacy (older version) and the new app as well. This is all useful information for the rest of the team to know so we can perfect the PBP interaction with TR. I'm sure you're a bit tired of going back and forth with us on the problem (especially since you're still able to use it seamlessly on the legacy app), but if you hit up support with this exact explanation of your issue I think we'll be able to get things back on track. They'll be able to take a look at your log files to see exactly what's going on here.

Thanks again — cheers!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

Dang! :(

We wholeheartedly agree on getting it fixed. And you're right, there isn't PBP compatibility on our iOS app. Not sure if that'll be added or not, I'll check.

When you get a chance, go ahead and send in an email to support@trainerroad.com with an explanation of your experience with your PBP and the new version of TR. We want to get this solved for all you PBP users ASAP, and your feedback will help us do so. :)

Thanks man!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad

I've raised tickets with support at TrainerRoad a couple of times in the past (last a couple of weeks ago when I resubscribed) but to be fair to them I've never spent any real time trying to get it to work.

Gave the new app a couple of tries again a couple of weeks ago without any luck but rather than spending any real time trying to resolve the problem just went back to using the old app as it's frustrating wasting time mid way through a session trying to get it working again.

They didn't really come up with any suggestions which put me off trying a bit but said they were willing to work together to get it working. When I've got a little more time I'll contact them again.

I had the same problem a while ago with the resistance spikes while trying to have my PM control the PBP. The spikes were absurd and when I contacted TR, blame was placed on the PBP and the way it talks to the computer over Ant+. And that was on the legacy app. I've tried the new app a few times, but every. single. time. I try to a do a spindown calibration, the app loses connection with the PBP right when I'm down to about 2 seconds or when I start coasting. Incredibly frustrating. I gave up and went to Zwift.

I'll add my $0.02.. I love my used computrainer. I bought a circa 1996 Computrainer that's been used every Fall/Winter for 20 years. I purchased it 3 months ago for $200 and spent $50 on an updated controller chip. It works GREAT, and I can't tell a difference in ride quality compared to my friend's 2 year old Computrainer. Also when I couldn't get it to pair with my new computer after buying it I called Computrainer and their customer service was amazing. He explained that I needed a newer chip in the controller and emailed me a link to order it. This fixed the issue and I could ride immediately. Depending on how close to a large city you are, these do pop up on Craigslist often.

I only have experience with Computrainer's though, so I can't compare to the Powerbeam Pro or Wahoo Kickr.

I'll add my name to the chorus.

I submitted calls earlier this year regarding the issue of resistance spikes with TR and my PowerBeam Pro and PowerTap. I am running on a Mac and was told to wait for the new Mac version to get the latest updates.

I did try to install TR on a Windows machine and was able to do a few rides without the spikes. In that configuration it would sometimes not give me enough resistance to hit the target power levels.

If I unpair the PowerTap it's much less frustrating, but doesn't match my power on the road.

I'm not on the trainer as much right now, but may have to look for an alternative by fall.

Thanks

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-- Scott

Totally understandable. :-/ You should be able to do this without any trouble at-all.

The rest of the team has the heads-up on everyone's concerns. We'll look forward to hearing back from you to get everything dialed in.

Thanks again man!

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Get Faster with TrainerRoad