So, since they’re being decided upon – I figure I’ll be a friendly little person on the internet and offer my unsolicited advice (you’re of course more than welcome to add yours). Those pieces are still being decided upon. For example, will it transmit ANT+ Speed/Power/Distance? Or just connect to ANT+ accessories (like HR/Cadence)? And the same goes for Bluetooth Smart. They’ve added the chipset to it, but haven’t decided to what extent they’d add support for either wireless solution. Though, I don’t think that’s a huge issue (annoying, perhaps, but not a show-stopper).īut what about their inclusion of ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart? Well that part is slightly up in the air.
So to be clear, the communication between the trainer and the controller is wired (not wireless). As such, since the controller requires power they’re routing the data from the CompuTrainer to the controller via the same wire as always. It still requires power to the trainer itself, but also still to the controller.
Now it’s important to note that this doesn’t make the entire CompuTrainer wireless. WiFi typically has a bit better range than ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart, especially in indoor settings – so for a trainer studio it might be more resilient than some ANT+/BT group solutions. This makes it far more ideal for operating within not just your house, but also trainer studios. So instead, it’ll also support the ability to have the CompuTrainer connect to your existing WiFi network. But obviously in a home/business setting that’d be annoying. Now the unit at the trade show was configured in a mode where you could connect from a laptop to the CompuTrainer’s WiFi network. And people wonder why WiFi interference is such an issue at trade shows…. Sure enough, there it is, nestled among 823 other WiFi networks on the show floor (RacerMate_CT_1). To show off its WiFi prowess, I cracked open my phone and went searching for some WiFi goodness. The left one is the new WiFi-enabled one. The new head unit looks identical to the existing head unit from the outside. They had the head unit (controller) on hand within their booth this year at Interbike, and were able to explain some of the direction they’re headed in. RacerMate, the maker of the CompuTrainer, is preparing to release a new controller that includes support for WiFi, ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart.
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