Pioneer R8000 and Kickr SNAP

I’ve been running a Pioneer r8000 L/R power meter since the early Spring. I started to notice higher averaged power outdoor rides at the end of the Summer into the Fall. It’s certainly possible that my power has risen…but not this much. I did the Ramp test Monday and my FTP was freakishly high, like almost 5w/kg high! . I think the Pioneer is reporting high power numbers. After the Ramp, i did Carter and my Kickr (Erg and power match enabled) was really acting strange. I would do 250 watts and it felt like there was no resistance and felt like maybe 100-150 watts. I calibrated everything before the rides. Then today i did Scott Peak (because i wanted to get various readings including some V02) and the trainer just wasn’t acting right. I never felt any resistance until the 4 V02 intervals and i was trying to maintain a 105 cadence but my power was 100 watts higher than the prescribed power. Then in the valleys between the intervals, my power would drop to 50 and i couldn’t get the trainer to match up but then on another valley it was adding too much resistance and my power was around 350!

Any suggestions? I think the Pioneer is faulty but the way the trainer was acting has me frustrated. wasting time on this when i could be training.

Just a note on the Kickr, when i used it for power - it seemed more realistic to my actual power numbers. I just assumed using the Pioneer would allow me to get more accurate power and be consistent with outdoor rides.

What seems to be going on here is a faulty power meter skewing the PowerMatch calculation - the one which controls the power target sent to your trainer.

Since you mention when you used the SNAP alone for power it was more realistic, I would recommend unpairing the Pioneer and relying solely on the trainer for power and ERG control for now. You should experience a lot smoother of a workout just in using the trainer by itself.

Once you can get the Pioneer repaired or replaced, you can go back to your old setup and allow the power meter to record the power data and control your trainer at the same time.

That make sense to me and I just requested Pioneer to repair/replace. What a bummer! My Fitness/Fatigue profile is probably all messed up now due to the incorrect power readings over the last 2-3 months. Now I have to retest my FTP again

I’m sorry to hear that, Michael! Hopefully they’re able to get you sorted so you can get back to training soon. And just look at it as another “opportunity” to test your FTP! :wink:
It’s great to get experience with the tests to make sure you’re always performing at your best when it matters.

Have you tried measuring power between the two at the same time to compare? ie: using a head unit or the Pioneer mobile app (assuming there is one), do a workout and record the power files and then upload them to DC Rainmaker’s power comparison tool or something similar to review.

It would be interesting to see where and when they differ. I use a Stages L/R (r8000) paired to a 2017 Wahoo Kickr and it definitely behaves weirdly sometimes but it’s nothing that doing a spindown/calibration, unplugging/re-plugging, or rebooting my computer won’t fix.

The Kickr also has a setting/check box called “Control w/ ANT+ Power Meter” and when I checked this, the system worked noticeably better. Your Snap might have the same box so I would recommend checking that and giving it a try.