2021 Orbea Gain m20i computer/bicycle synchronization

[ccguy]

I got a 2021 Orbea Gain M20i about three weeks ago and love the bike. I had to deal with two issues, which I solved, and am posting my experience in the hope thatches will help others. This thread is about a synchronization issue of the handlebar-mounted, Mahle Pulsar One computer display, new to the 2021 Gains, and the bicycle itself. I will post a second thread about problems I encountered with the carbon rims, centering and mounting tires and going tubeless.

The computer pairs with the bicycle power system and not only displays real time ride data and battery % levels but allows one to change the motor's power levels by pushing either of two buttons to go up or down power levels. This has the advantage that you can go down to a lower power level without having to cycle forward through all the power levels if you used the power button on the top tube. Also, you can keep your eyes on the road when using the computer and not look down at the button on the top tube.

On about half my rides this worked beautifully. On the other half it didn't. Then the computer initially powered up in the lowest power level and displayed power level 1. If I then pressed the "up" button to power level 2 or 3, the display would show a 2 or 3, but the motor's power did not change but stayed at level 1. After 30 sec or so, the computer display would revert to level 1. I could still use the bike's power button to change power levels without any problem. The display would correctly show the new power level, so the bike was communicating with the computer, but not the other way around.

I finally figured out what was happening. If I FIRST turned on the computer and THEN the bike's power button, the system worked perfectly. If I FIRST turned on the bike's power button and THEN the computer, its up/down buttons did not work to change power levels , as described above. Nowhere that I can find is this documented by Orbea.

Has anyone else encountered this problem, or is it unique to my bike?

 

[r1roman]

I have had that problem, so that you work well you have to turn on the bike and wait a minute and turn on the pulsar one, and then wait a bit to change modes or levels this is how it works well, if the first time you don't it works, redo the process, they are in the process of getting a software update in ebikemotion.

 

[ccguy]

An update on my original post about synchronization issues between the Pulsar One display and the Iwoc One control button on the bicycle. It's not as simple as the order in which the Pulsar and Iwoc button on the bike are turned one. I recently completed a ride and finished at power level three. I then turned off the Iwoc button and then the Pulsar display. One the next ride, I first turned on the Pulsar and then the Iwoc button. As the two paired, there Pulsar briefly flashed power level 3, as if it "remembered" the last power level I had ridden. Then, it briefly flashed power level 0 and then level 1, the normal power level when starting a ride. However, the Pulsar buttons no longer worked to change power levels on the bike. This could be cleared up by resetting the Pulsar, but it is inconvenient to have to reset time, kph/mph, etc. Obviously there is a problem with the Pulsar software, as r1roman pointed out, so we'll just have to wait for an update.

 

[StevenC56]

I rode my 2020 Orbea Gain M20i for the first time today. In the middle of my 10.5 mile ride the display on the OC display/control completely shut off for no reason. I had to power it back on, and of course the timer started back at zero again. Anybody else had this happen?

 

[ccguy]

Yes, I've had the problem described by StevenC56, and others, some of which I've described above. The issues appear randomly, and I've never been able to correlate them with anything that I've done (or not done) such as the order of turning on or off the computer or bike first. At this point, I would be happy if I could just get the display to reliably increase/decrease the power level of the motor and show the current speed and distance travelled. The other functions I can live without and can use Strava to replicate. One thing I have found is that when the power up/down button no longer changes power levels, I can simply hold down the IWOC button until the bike system turn off and then turn it on again. I can do this even when riding. It takes a few seconds at most and seems to restore function. A lot easier than stopping and resetting the PulsarOne from scratch, which also works. I have emailed Orbea about these issues, and they punted the question back to a local dealer where I brought the bike. They were clueless about the problem and contacted Orbea. After a week and a half, Orbea has yet to respond to the dealer. A clear failure on Orbea's part. They fail to recognize or acknowledge the problem nor want to do anything to solve it.

 

[Deleted member 46571]

I got a 2021 Orbea Gain M20i about three weeks ago and love the bike. I had to deal with two issues, which I solved, and am posting my experience in the hope thatches will help others. This thread is about a synchronization issue of the handlebar-mounted, Mahle Pulsar One computer display, new to the 2021 Gains, and the bicycle itself. I will post a second thread about problems I encountered with the carbon rims, centering and mounting tires and going tubeless.

The computer pairs with the bicycle power system and not only displays real time ride data and battery % levels but allows one to change the motor's power levels by pushing either of two buttons to go up or down power levels. This has the advantage that you can go down to a lower power level without having to cycle forward through all the power levels if you used the power button on the top tube. Also, you can keep your eyes on the road when using the computer and not look down at the button on the top tube.

On about half my rides this worked beautifully. On the other half it didn't. Then the computer initially powered up in the lowest power level and displayed power level 1. If I then pressed the "up" button to power level 2 or 3, the display would show a 2 or 3, but the motor's power did not change but stayed at level 1. After 30 sec or so, the computer display would revert to level 1. I could still use the bike's power button to change power levels without any problem. The display would correctly show the new power level, so the bike was communicating with the computer, but not the other way around.

I finally figured out what was happening. If I FIRST turned on the computer and THEN the bike's power button, the system worked perfectly. If I FIRST turned on the bike's power button and THEN the computer, its up/down buttons did not work to change power levels , as described above. Nowhere that I can find is this documented by Orbea.

Has anyone else encountered this problem, or is it unique to my bike?

Hi
I do the opposite I always switch on bike the first mr orbea original computer then the pulsa one
There are firmware in incompatibilities make sure you have the up to date firmware
There is nothing on the orbea site about this but head to the willer site and there is info there about different firmware

 

[ccguy]

Hi
I do the opposite I always switch on bike the first mr orbea original computer then the pulsa one
There are firmware in incompatibilities make sure you have the up to date firmware
There is nothing on the orbea site about this but head to the willer site and there is info there about different firmware

Thanks for the firmware tip. I've had my Gain since January, and my problems with the Pulsar One persist. The solutions that I thought worked before, including the one you suggested, sometimes work, sometimes not. Often, the Pulsar will work at the beginning of a ride and then fail to change power levels in the middle. There's absolutely no pattern that I can discern. In May my selling dealer replaced my original Pulsar with a new one under the warranty, and the problems remain. Either there is a defect that is specific to my bike, or I'm in need of a firmware update. I have asked several Orbea dealers in the Los Angeles area about an update, and they were all clueless, I suspect because they have no experience with the 2021 Gains since so few have been sold here and none have been available at all for the past several months. One local dealer kept my bike for 10 days and said they would contact Orbea about an update. They never hear back. I wrote Orbea for advice, and they told me to see a dealer. Very frustrating.

 

[Deleted member 46571]

Thanks for the firmware tip. I've had my Gain since January, and my problems with the Pulsar One persist. The solutions that I thought worked before, including the one you suggested, sometimes work, sometimes not. Often, the Pulsar will work at the beginning of a ride and then fail to change power levels in the middle. There's absolutely no pattern that I can discern. In May my selling dealer replaced my original Pulsar with a new one under the warranty, and the problems remain. Either there is a defect that is specific to my bike, or I'm in need of a firmware update. I have asked several Orbea dealers in the Los Angeles area about an update, and they were all clueless, I suspect because they have no experience with the 2021 Gains since so few have been sold here and none have been available at all for the past several months. One local dealer kept my bike for 10 days and said they would contact Orbea about an update. They never hear back. I wrote Orbea for advice, and they told me to see a dealer. Very frustrating.

Did you look at the willer site it shows firmware versions which some firmware work intermittently
With pulsa one and others work better cross referencing this with your firmware shown on the ebikemotion web interface for your bike
It to do with the IWOC button firmware
My 2019 work flawlessly
I had to add a Ant And lev dongle
As this was pre built in in version

 

[ccguy]

Yes, I did look at the Wilier site. I have firmware version iM2EM101 which is subject to all the issues I have faced. I will contact a local dealer about an upgrade to v. iM2EM121 which apparently solves the problems. Hopefully, with the info about specific firmware version I was able to get with your help, I won't get the run around this time.

 

[StevenC56]

How do I find out what firmware version my bike has?

 

[ccguy]

To find out your firmware version, you need to have registered your bike with Mahle/Ebikemotion through the Ebikemotion app.
If you've done so, go to ebikemotion.com in a web browser and log in. Click on "myebikes" and you will open a page listing Ebikemotion Battery/Controller/iWOC and the firmware versions for each. Look at the firmware version under iWOC.

 

[StevenC56]

To find out your firmware version, you need to have registered your bike with Mahle/Ebikemotion through the Ebikemotion app.
If you've done so, go to ebikemotion.com in a web browser and log in. Click on "myebikes" and you will open a page listing Ebikemotion Battery/Controller/iWOC and the firmware versions for each. Look at the firmware version under iWOC.

I don't see any place on the app to do so. I have an Ebikemotion account, but on the bike section it shows no bikes found. What am I missing? Also, when I login to my Ebikemotion account it takes me to an Orbea portal.

 

[Deleted member 46571]

I don't see any place on the app to do so. I have an Ebikemotion account, but on the bike section it shows no bikes found. What am I missing? Also, when I login to my Ebikemotion account it takes me to an Orbea portal.

I think I rember it a while now register on line at ebikemotion with you serial number of you bike
Not through the app
But you must use the same log in details on the app and web site for it to sync the data from app to web site

 

[r1roman]

In order for those to appear, you have to register a route with the ebikemotion application, even if it is only 500 meters, after that you will be able to see the data

 

[Lentilbake]

r1roman is right about registering an activity, all the eBike data appeared after I did this. I now know I'm on the iM2EM101 'limited' firmware. I've contacted Ribble to see if this can be updated but I'll expect they'll charge for it. Incidentally, when I did my little test activity this morning, I made sure the bike was switched on before the PulsarOne and App were activated and although the assist level came on at '1' it did react to the button and went down to zero and stayed there as it should.

Prior to getting the PulsarOne I tried the Garmin Remote which did very similar things to the PulsarOne and wouldn't actually allow me to select the '0' assist level at all. Sent that one back.

Bit disappointed in Mahle really, a device that they make specifically for the x35 system seems to be unreliable! I also really thing that the iWOC1 single button is a bad idea, it's dangerous to take hands off the bars to change assist levels and not being able to change levels up and down is a real pain. The iWOC triple controller is an option but it's hard wired in and only really works on flat bars (also you can't see the indication lights unless it's dark or you are going through a dark tunnel!). Shame really, x35 is a great system that suits the more experienced rider but lacks the control options it should have.

Will report back if/when I can get the firmware updated.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I was thinking about fitting a Pulsar One to a Ribble SLe, but having read a the above thread I don't think I will yet.
Having now owned an Orbea Gain for over 3 years, it was only earlier this year that I finally realised that to decrease power levels quickly, press the IWOC button quickly - to go from level 1 to 0, four quick presses of the button one after the other , from 2 to 1, four quick presses, and so on.
Prior to this I was scrolling through the settings - e.g. from 2 two pushes to 3, then 2 pushes to 1, allowing the setting to operate before moving to the next. Perhaps you all use the fast push method anyway.

 

[Lentilbake]

That IWOC single button thing was a big mistake IMHO! What were they thinking of? From a novice cyclist point of view do you really want to be looking down at the top tube, pushing buttons multiple times to change assist levels whilst trying to catch a glimpse of which light is flashing? On the other hand, an experienced cyclist would probably want to go up and down levels bi-directionally to smoothly transition gears and power level with the terrain. It also requires a hole in the frame top tube! Of course there's the IWOC triple which does have bi-directional capability but it's a hard wired thing and isn't really suitable for drop bars or retro fitting (it's also very difficult to see the indication lights on it unless it's dark or you're in a tunnel!). I think the PulsarOne is definitely the way to go and I'm going to stick with it for now and see if the firmware update fixes the issues.

Interestingly, Mahle were on the right track with the original IWOC ANT wireless control which, apparently, is now defunct (but oddly still features heavily in a lot of their advertising literature).

 

[youngoldbloke]

I use the app on my phone, mounted on the bars. so I rarely look at the button. I find using the Iwoc button without looking no more difficult than changing gear on a bike with down tube shifters.

 

[r1roman]

to solve this problem you have to update the battery, the seller has to ask ebikemotion cables and software, today update mine to solve the problem with pulsar one, everything has been perfect

 

[youngoldbloke]

I assume if you buy a new 2021 Gain with Pulsar One already fitted all would be set up anyway?