Just got word from the dealer that Saris told them it has been pushed back all the way to May.
That is right, May. When I will be outdoors riding in 80-90 degree weather and it doesn’t get dark until 9 PM.
Goodbye sales…
Not good. I just put my deposit down. Say it aint so.
I talked with them on Tuesday morning. The computers are in production and I was told that the 400s and all Joules would start shipping out on Monday 3/8. It might depend on when the dealer put the order in but either way I need to call tomorrow to find out for sure.
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With CycleOps products you have to have low expectations. Don’t ever expect them to deliver a working product by date X or have features Y and Z “soon.” It’s not going to happen. What you get is what’s available now. Don’t hope for the future and don’t count on them delivering any product or feature until it’s actually in production and the early adopter customers have had enough time to expose all the bugs. Then you know what you’re getting.
If you want a 400 Pro and expect it to have virtual riding like the CT soon, you’re going to be disappointed. At the rate their software development progresses, it’s going to be anywhere from 5-20 years.
anyone ever get one of these and have anything to say about it, good or bad?
anyone ever get one of these and have anything to say about it, good or bad?
Hi,
Have bought one.
The bike looks very solid, very stable and well constructed.
But there are many problems with the electronic of the bike.
First:I had problems to pair the resistance unit (which controls the brake pads) with the Joule. It was solved by a call to Saris; you need to plug the bike, switch the Joule on, the unplug and immediately plug back the bike. It is a bit strange, but it is the only way to pair the resistance unit of the bike with the joule and you have to dot it every time you will use the bike.
Second: The biggest problem is the resistance unit. It is very hard if not impossible sometimes to make it increase resistance. For example, when the resistance type selected is “Watt”, in order to increase the power from 150W to 300W you have to ask for 400W with the joystick, stop pedalling so that the resistance unit “wakes up” and then once the resistance unit starts braking more, you have to decrease the power you ask with the joystick down to 300W. That just makes using saved workouts with intervals like for example 10 times (30 seconds at 150W , 3 minutes at 300W) simply impossible, as it takes around one minute to make the brake increase the power from 150W to 300W.
Same kind of problems when you use slope resistance. I have not tried gear resistance.
The first problem, as I said, was immediately solved by a call to Saris.
For the second, more complicated, I prefered to request their help by email, but after having sent 4 emails, I have had no answear.
So, I have asked my retailer about a return.
Hope this helps,
I purchased a Cycleops 400 Pro in April, '10. The bike is very well built and a pleasure to use. I have not had any electronic or programming issues except for a slight delay (15 seconds) when changing watt settings. Not a big deal for me. If you are looking a good programmable indoor trainer take a look at one of these units.
It sounds like your first issues has been fixed. If you have any other issues with that please contact us and let us know.
The second issue you are experiencing may just be a simple matter of not having the user setting correct on your Joule. Make sure the weight and age are set correctly in the user profile in Power Agent. Once those are correct you will need to go into configure device to transfer those settings to Joule. That should smooth the changes in resistance.
Hi Nolegs,
Did you try a saved workout ? Do the watts increase smoothly or do you have to stop pedaling then pedal again to make the resistance increase ?
It is more than a problem of lag with mine, the resistance will not increase if I dont dial at least 400W with the joystick and stop pedaling then pedal again.
And do you have to plug, unplug then plug again the bike to have it detected by the Joule (I have to do that eachtime I use the bike) ?
Thanks,
It sounds like your first issues has been fixed. If you have any other issues with that please contact us and let us know.
The second issue you are experiencing may just be a simple matter of not having the user setting correct on your Joule. Make sure the weight and age are set correctly in the user profile in Power Agent. Once those are correct you will need to go into configure device to transfer those settings to Joule. That should smooth the changes in resistance.
I have checked the settings, they are correctly set in both Power Agent and the Joule.
Just want to ditto KanT’s comments re 400 Pro.
I’ve been on the phone with Saris for about 2 weeks now trying to resolve issue, which can be summarized as follows:
RU unit is unresponsive to target wattage settings on Joule 3.0. The target wattage is showing a # and is not “—” That is important, because it means the Joule is communicating with the RU.
When RU (target wattage) is set below 120-130W, the actual wattage never declines below 120W or so (both in reading and in feel on bike). This is despite cycling anywhere from 70-90 cadence. In addition, a clicking noise/vibration is felt every 12 seconds or so. While the flywheel is heavy and the minimum target wattage of 30W may not be achievable, I would assume that sub-120W should be achievable.
Once target wattage is set above 120W, the clicking/vibration goes away. At 150W target, actual wattage is around 130W. At 200W target, wattage gets to around 150-160W and typically takes about 15sec to get there. But it never reaches 200W.
There seems to be multiple issues going on here. Saris has said they will send me an add-on piece of hardware that will constantly “wake” the RU unit. In my mind, that will solve the issue of the RU falling-asleep, which is evidenced by target wattage reading “—”, but it will not stop the unresponsiveness of the RU to changes AND the inability of the RU to reach a wattage below 120W.
If you bought it recently, just return it. The bugs aren’t going to be ironed out anytime soon.
Well if I can get it to work, I don’t mind being the guinea pig. But I obviously don’t want the return policy to lapse. Other than this issue, it’s a pretty sweet bike. Of course, it’s a BIG issue.
Also, the thing weighs a ton. I’d rather not go through the hassle of shipping if it can be fixed. I am placing trust in Saris, for now…
In software industry it is called beta testing, you debug and so you dont pay for it.
But here you pay and you debug.
Anyway, Saris is sending me the device too, that should solve the problem.
But, as you said, it is very likely that the lag between the resistance unit and the joule relates to the braking system itself.
If they had used an electromagnetic braking system similar to the one used for the powerbeam, it would have made a wonderful machine.
I’d like to know of you guys have had your issues resolved with the 400 Pro (i400)?
I’m thinking about getting one of the new 300 or 400 Pro’s and this thread concerns me.
It sounds like your first issues has been fixed.
The mind boggles. The fix sounded like something from windows 97.
Hi,
I sent back the bike to the retailer.
I have ordered the 2011 model as my retailer told me that everything was fixed.
Should receive it next week!
Are the '11 models out now? I want to make sure I get one of those and not a '10.
You have to check with your supplier. I have seen that competitivecyclist.com offers the 2011 model, hope this helps.
I appreciate it. I will check with my LBS.