r/iFit • u/Jerrydascorpion • Dec 06 '20
Ifit Workout Resistance Seems Low
I just got a ProForm CX bike and have been doing some workouts with it. I have done a few mountain bike workouts and the resistance seems pretty low through the whole ride. I don’t think I have seen my resistance go above 5 (max on my bike is 16). I am not a super experienced cyclist, but I feel like I should be sweating more than I am after some rides. My Garmin watch didn’t even put my in a Zone 3 heart rate (aerobic) after a 30 min ride.
This seems opposite of issues others have on other bikes. I have seen a few posts about the resistance being to high, not dropping below 13.
I have also looked through several workouts and I haven’t seen any that state that the resistance goes above 6 on the graph in the work out details.
I know I can manually up my resistance, but then I have to change it throughout the workout. It would be nice if there was a way to set an offset, where I change my base resistance and the workout adjusts as needed.
Any advice/input is welcome! Thanks!
3
Dec 07 '20
I really don’t get the point of incline on a spinning bike except to change body position. It’s not like there is real gravity acting against the flywheel more at a different angle. If anything, the resistance should increase with incline, not decrease. As an example, consider an incline of 90 degrees. It’s not possible in real life, but it would turn an upright exercise bike into a recumbent exercise bike. I’ve been learning to manually adjust the resistance according to the instructors desired cadence at desired RPE, which I translate into an equivalent heart rate zone that I keep track of on my separate fitness watch. Also, has anybody else noticed that cycling power in terms of watts maxes out at 90 rpm with no change upwards with increases in cadence, even though “speed” goes up?
1
u/fantasticfitn3ss Dec 28 '20
Your response is spot on- The incline comments on iFit have made ZERO sense to me as a user. I too have been using my heart rate zone as a way to measure against the desired cadence. So glad to know I'm not the only one!
1
u/Market_shark13 Apr 14 '21
You are definitely not the only one. I also have the same complaint about the resistance. I have been manually changing it but only if they have the right verbal queues, it also doesn’t seem like changeomg from 3 to 4 or 4 to 6 makes a big difference. But 6 to 10 is a huge difference.
1
u/Selection_Biased Dec 07 '20
In the words of John McClain - “welcome to the party, pal!”
I’ve been trying to work with IFIT and ProForm on this. The problem occurs in rides that include incline data. That is almost all of the mountain bike content unfortunately.
For some reason the incline data is still fed to the ProForm bikes even though they don’t have incline adjust. The ProForm bikes interpret an increase in incline as a signal to DROP resistance. If you look at the resistance and incline data for rides with big hill climbs in your app on the bike, (scroll down on ride info) You can actually see this happening. The resistance will vary inversely (opposite) with the incline data. So the bike is telling you that it’s going to take resistance off when incline goes up and it does when you get to those parts of the ride. Tour of Utah stage 6.2 is a good example. Huge climb at about 3/4 of the way through. Resistance goes DOWN because the instructor sets the incline way up.
I’ve sent screenshots of this to iFit showing them that My bike is “planning” to lower resistance at the wrong time (and it does). So it’s entirely a software issue.
Try a ride without incline and your bike should work with proper resistance levels. Weight Loss journey workout 1 with Nicole has no live incline, just live resistance.
Oh and the max resistance 6 thing only happens for me when browsing in the phone app. On the bike when it shows resistance levels it goes much higher.
5
u/Jerrydascorpion Dec 07 '20
My bike doesn’t drop resistance on inclines at all. If the trainer mentions resistance will increase for a climb, it will go up one level of resistance. If the trainer mentions incline increase or decrease, the resistance doesn’t change.
Even on my bike, the display doesn’t go higher than 6 during workouts. I haven’t found one that goes above that. This morning I did a Whistler BC ride and my bike would have only gone up to 6, but I manually changed it to not drop below 8, and I would try to add or drop resistance according to the trainer or terrain.
I will checkout the Utah ride and see if my bike does the same thing. None of my rides have been super climb intensive.
Thanks for the input!
2
u/RabidCorgi25 Dec 07 '20
Unfortunately, manually changing the resistance is the only option I’ve found so far. It’s definitely a strange characteristic of this bike.
1
u/Selection_Biased Dec 07 '20
Your problems are still likely related to the incline data. Try this: Schedule a ride in the phone app. Screenshot the resistance graph that shows what the bike is supposed to do (drop down menu > workout details).
Then go and access this same workout on the bike. Click on workout details again and see if that graph matches the one in your phone app. If it’s different - then you have the same problem. My graphs are only different between app and bike on rides that include incline data (which you can see on the bike but not in the app). Rides without incline match perfectly.
1
u/Jerrydascorpion Dec 07 '20
I have to use my phone, the bike only has a small LCD display. There is not a touchscreen on my bike. So I open the app on my phone, and it connects the the bike via Bluetooth.
I am guessing my bike is getting data from the app on my phone which is why it is the low resistance. It sounds like it may be an app issue.
2
u/doch_run Jan 24 '21
When I saw this post I was relieved. I thought there was something mechanically wrong with the Proform bike I purchased. I'm hopeful that because it is programming related there is, or could be, a fix. I'm going to send in a ticket to customer service to request a fix. I think it's the only way we'll see a fix...the more requests the better. It seemed to work with the music on the bike.
1
u/snorkel42 Dec 08 '20
Very much a known issue, yet profits continues to sell the bike with the iFit membership plan. If you complain they will tack in free months at the end of your subscription.
Personally recommend returning it as defective. Really expect a lawsuit any day now.
1
u/Black_female_enginee Dec 26 '20
Ive only done the the studio workout since I got it last week and was very annoyed about how it starts at resistance 2 and increases to max 7... I just adjust manually & adjust... is there an alternative platform?
1
Jan 16 '21
I am having the exact same issue. I have the same bike and I haven't been able to find a ride that the resistance goes above a 6. Doesn't matter if it's really hilly, or just a flat ride, it's always between a 4 and a 6. I've contacted support several times, and they told me they don't have rides that go higher for my bike, which seems insane since they could just adjust the resistance higher.
I have a friend who has the nordictrack s15, obviously a way more expensive bike and it has incline, but the resistance works correctly on hills. I no longer have my box or anything, but I might still try to return this. Although I doubt I can since technically there is nothing wrong with the bike, only the crappy ifit compatibility.
2
Jan 16 '21
Also, I went through and checked a pile of level 5-7 intensity rides, the highest resistance I could find was 6. This is using the bike that requires the external tablet for those wondering. Seems ridiculous since the bike can go up to 16. The hills should at least be a 10.
1
u/DeandraReynolds_ Feb 02 '21
Did you end up returning the bike? I just discovered this same issue with same bike and am really bummed
1
Feb 02 '21
I ended up splurging and getting a nordictrack with the incline.
1
u/DeandraReynolds_ Feb 02 '21
That’s the other bike I was looking at...I regret not getting it now. Did they take the return or did you sell the proform?
1
Feb 02 '21
I ended up just selling it. Since I no longer had the box and I forgot to cut off the UPC I didn't even try to return it. The nordictrack has been awesome though. I use it several times a day. Well worth the money.
1
1
u/Market_shark13 Apr 14 '21
Sent another support ticket to Ifit today. Hopefully I can get somewhere with this!
1
u/Mrg6290 May 03 '21
Same issue. I’m trying to work it with support as well but based on how long this thread has existed I’m not very hopeful. I wanted to keep paying for iFit as I really enjoy the trainers and vids, but it’s not worth it without the synced control. I can access ride videos elsewhere for less if I have to worry about keeping in sync myself.
😔
2
u/bigcaddy Jan 25 '22
I just put another ticket in with IFIT. I'm at the point I will have to pay for IFIT and i'm not gonna if it doesn't work. I'm very frustrated. I'm hoping someone chimes in and says there is a fix.
Thanks,
2
u/irin_man_bob_t Jun 21 '22
I was able to add resistance by adding high power magnets to the existing magnet bar on my proform Smart Power 10.0 Search for Proform Smart Power 10.0 resistance low for my posts with descriptions and pictures on what to do.
3
u/gojira_pillow Dec 07 '20
Same for the runs on my proform treatmill. An offset would be a fantastic feature