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Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems
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This past weekend I purchased a used Tacx Bushido smart trainer. I have tried three different devices and my laptop (via ANT+ only, as I don't have a Bluetooth dongle, but ordered one to try) and the trainer doesn't show up anywhere. The Tacx app can't find it and I also tried Trainer Road and nothing. The trainer doesn't show up as an available connection listed under my phone's bluetooth connections either. It's like there is no signal coming at all. It is a wireless trainer, so it's run via the power generated form pedaling. When I start pedaling, the lights on the trainer come on indicating it's working, but I can't get a connection anywhere. Has anyone out there had issues that could recommend any help? I've contacted Tacx support but haven't heard back.

One thing I noticed on quite a few troubleshooting and online forums is that you have to disconnect a connection prior to creating a new one. Does this mean that the previous owner has to connect and then disconnect with their app before I can? Even so, you would think I could still see the connection listed on my phone, even if I couldn't connect to it.

I don't have any reason to believe I was sold something defective. The guy who sold it to me has been communicative and helpful in troubleshooting and has offered a refund if I can't get it to work. He says he has used it as recently as last week with no issues.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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What color are the lights? If they are just red, it's not working correctly.

I had that problem after a move. Turns out that the unit can shift internally and can be fixed by simply pushing on the gray caps (the big gray circles on the ends of the resistance unit, using top photo in link for reference). Basically just push on both caps at the same time. If something shifted out, it'll push back in.

https://tacx.com/product/bushido-smart/
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [cujo] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. Gave it a try, but no luck.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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Haven't had much issues with mine, but will need to troubleshoot my wife's vortex soon.

Anyways since you mentioned it's a new purchase. You may or may not be aware that there's 2 TACX apps. One is for training and the other is for service/calibration.

Try that one and see if the issue is fixed. TACX Training and TACX Utility. Hope this helps.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Chan wrote:
Haven't had much issues with mine, but will need to troubleshoot my wife's vortex soon.

Anyways since you mentioned it's a new purchase. You may or may not be aware that there's 2 TACX apps. One is for training and the other is for service/calibration.

Try that one and see if the issue is fixed. TACX Training and TACX Utility. Hope this helps.

I have always had much better success using the Tacx Utility app - hope that helps
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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Regarding the connection, no the previous owner wouldn't mess anything up. I think it's more of like "current session".
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [4Ring] [ In reply to ]
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I have tried both the utility and the training apps. Neither have detected the trainer.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [cujo] [ In reply to ]
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cujo wrote:
What color are the lights? If they are just red, it's not working correctly.

The lights are green.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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Swim_Bike_Rum wrote:
cujo wrote:
What color are the lights? If they are just red, it's not working correctly.

The lights are green.

Is the bike on the trainer? If so ride for a few mins, get it warmed up. Just trying to think of what I have done in the past to connect.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [4Ring] [ In reply to ]
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4Ring wrote:
Swim_Bike_Rum wrote:
cujo wrote:
What color are the lights? If they are just red, it's not working correctly.

The lights are green.

Is the bike on the trainer? If so ride for a few mins, get it warmed up. Just trying to think of what I have done in the past to connect.

The guy I bought it from mentioned it sometimes takes riding it for a while. I rode it for about 15 minutes yesterday and still got nothing. I’ve got a recovery spin scheduled tomorrow so I’ll keep the bike on it and see if it wakes up.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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Shouldn't have to ride nearly that long to connect. I ride for about 3 seconds and it starts connecting. I've never had to spin more than 5.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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Update: The previous owner overnighted me an ANT+ dongle for android phones. It was a bit of a shot in the dark since a) the tacx apps made the dongle obsolete, and b) it is an ANT+ dongle which is a one way connection and therefore couldn't control the trainer anyway. But it was worth a shot. So I plug it in and all of a sudden, the Tacx app recognizes my trainer. Not only that, but the app is able to control the trainer. Obviously the dongle can't do that since it's ANT+ and not Bluetooth so I unplug it and it goes on to work without it. Now, even without the dongle, the trainer and phone app connect. It was almost as though it was a passkey and "unlocked" it somehow. The bad news is that only the Tacx app recognizes the trainer (so I can't use Trainer Road, which was really why I wanted a smart trainer) and only the android phone will work (other phones and an ipad still don't recognize it). I'm in contact with Tacx support, but they haven't been much help. So for now, I'm recreating the trainer road workouts in the Tacx app and doing them that way.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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Welcome to Tacx ownership.
Best answer is sell it and move on to a trainer that works and supports it's products.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Swim_Bike_Rum] [ In reply to ]
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What version do you have? I bought a second hand bushido a couple of years ago and had pretty much the same issues as you. I finally got a response back from TACX support saying that my trainer is from 2011 and is not a Smart trainer (it is the Bushido T1980).

It works as a smart trainer when running the tacx trainer software on the laptop, but no functionality beyond that.
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Re: Tacx Bushido Conneciton Problems [Mattyd83] [ In reply to ]
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Yep. Same model and same response from Tacx. They said it wasn't a smart trainer and could only be used via laptop. I was able to use it with an android phone once the dongle was plugged in (but it only needed to be plugged in once then it worked without it), and it operates as a smart trainer from their app. I still haven't received the BT dongle that I ordered from amazon for my laptop yet, so I don't know how that will work. The guy I bought it from said he was able to use zwift with it as well. I don't use zwift so I can't comment on that. As of now, I'm just recreating the trainer road workouts in the tacx app and starting the workout on my phone to control the trainer at the same time as starting the TR workout on my laptop which reads from my bike's PM. So I get the trainer controlled and still track my workouts through TR. It's not as big of a pain in the ass as it sounds lol.
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