Tts4 with non tacx trainers?

Madships · Fri Mar 06, 2020 6:23 pm

I have used my fortius and various incarnations of tts for years now, and have a large number of rlvs in my collection. However due to 'life' i could do with replacing my fortius with a quieter trainer- is it possible to use tts4 with a kickr or saris h3? I can't recall if tts4 will run trainers over ant+ fe-c, and tacx/ Garmin have done a pretty good job of scouring useful info from the Internet. I know I could get a tacx neo and that should work, but the way they have pulled support for tts4 has left a bitter taste in my mouth so I am looking at other options!

wilf · Sat Mar 07, 2020 2:52 pm

I know that the bearer of bad news will be killed

But unfortunately it is the case that TTS4 only works with Tacx's own trainers.

So either buy a neo or forget TTS4.

Have fun with what you choose.

Madships · Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:45 pm

I had found a tacx video that seemed to show it could see generic FE-C trainers, so emboldened I have ordered a saris. if it doesn't work, then i guess I will just have to accept defeat and walk away from TTS. will let you know how I get on!

kostya416 · Sat Mar 07, 2020 7:00 pm

Madships wrote: ↑Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:45 pm I had found a tacx video that seemed to show it could see generic FE-C trainers, so emboldened I have ordered a saris. if it doesn't work, then i guess I will just have to accept defeat and walk away from TTS. will let you know how I get on!

You can get subscription with Veloreality. Streaming 720p subscription is so far free and the library has something around 400 videos. This should let you get by for a while.

Sat Mar 07, 2020 7:03 pm

I believe that whether a particular trainer will work with TTS4 depends on the software's drivers, not the video. There are third-party sellers of TTS compatible videos that will work with other software as well, so perhaps that is the source of confusion.

ms6073 · Mon Mar 09, 2020 1:17 pm

wilf wrote: ↑Sat Mar 07, 2020 2:52 pmBut unfortunately it is the case that TTS4 only works with Tacx's own trainers.

I think you are confusing the Tacx Desktop App which is BT with TTS. I say this because I recall there being a number of members on the old forums hosted by Tacx that used TTS with BKOOL and ELITE smart trainers via ANT+, the key being that TTS has to at least be updated to v 4.16 or newer (I think this is when the ANT+ FE-C protocol was added to the stack) and the trainers had to be ANT+ FE-C compatible. As for a trainer to replace the Fortius, the Flux S and Flux 2 are nearly as quiet as the Neo and are nearly half the price of a Neo 2/2T.

Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:34 pm

I'm using TTS4 with an ancient BKool Connect - USB cable from the trainer to the computer, and am Ant+ USB stick - it needs both. Works fine.

TTS4 should work with any ANT+ trainers

ms6073 · Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:37 pm

nzuraw wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:34 pmTTS4 should work with any ANT+ trainers

Correction, TTS4 should work with any ANT+ FE-C compatible trainers. TTS still uses private ANT+ to communicate with Tacx legacy trainers such as the non-smart Bushido, Genius, and Vortex.

Tue Mar 10, 2020 9:55 pm

ms6073 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:37 pm
nzuraw wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:34 pmTTS4 should work with any ANT+ trainers
Correction, TTS4 should work with any ANT+ FE-C compatible trainers. TTS still uses private ANT+ to communicate with Tacx legacy trainers such as the non-smart Bushido, Genius, and Vortex.

Oops, quite right

wilf · Wed Mar 11, 2020 2:26 pm

wilf wrote: ↑Sat Mar 07, 2020 2:52 pm
But unfortunately it is the case that TTS4 only works with Tacx's own trainers.

I have to admit to my shame, I was wrong.

I was just at my local bike shop and tested TTS4 with Wahoo KickR and Cycleops Hammer H2 with ANT+ FE-C .

Both trainers were recognized, the KickR even with the logo and name. The CycleOps runs as an unknown device.

They both only delivered the wattage. Cadence and speed I could not see. The speed was calculated from watts, incline and weight. Sometimes I felt it was slow to calculate.
I had this with my Flux even before I attached an external cadence sensor.
So go ahead and test what else we can do with TTS4.

Greetings from Hamburg (first day in spring time with sun)

Wilf

Madships · Fri Mar 13, 2020 5:59 pm

Well I tried connecting tts to my quaq powermeter, and that worked fine so I am relatively confident. The new trainer comes any day now, so will let you know how I get on.

Fri Mar 13, 2020 6:03 pm

Madships wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2020 5:59 pm Well I tried connecting tts to my quaq powermeter, and that worked fine so I am relatively confident. The new trainer comes any day now, so will let you know how I get on.

Please keep us posted on your results. Keep in mind that a third-party ANT+ power meter is not the same thing as a trainer brake. I've always been able to use my PowerTap power meter (along with other third-party ANT+ cadence and speed sensors) with TTS without any problem.

Madships · Sun Mar 15, 2020 10:46 am

OK, got the new turbo (saris h3), and just done a quick shakedown test. Tts found the trainer as a FE-C trainer no problem, and on both real life video and virtual reality it worked as expected- resistance adjusted with gradient and TTS displayed watts, speed, and cadence. There appeared to be a little bit of lag in displayed power and cadence (around a second), but apart from that everything is as expected. So would say off the back of this that tts4 can run non tacx FE-C trainers just fine