GIANT RideControl App 2.0

[Anna]

I finally got my Road E fixed with new EVO display from Giant. I was really nervous because the phone app still wanted to update the firmware, even though the bike shop had installed all the updates they could find with their dealer tool. I even tried getting older APKs of Ridecontrol app for Android, but they still wanted to upgrade. Finally did the upgrade successfully and able to connect. Really happy to discover that this new unit cleared out the +1200 miles that the old display showed for ODO on top of my real mileage (the old mileage was 'added' after a firmware upgrade from 1.5 years ago). Now it is again showing the real mileage that matches my Strava gear tracking. So going forward, I hope to skip any future firmware updates by not updating my app... but will see if Giant allows this.

Good luck with that! The app refused to connect to my bike unless I updated. Lost all of last year‘s saved rides. On the other hand, new app is more accurate. Interestingly, Apple Watch and this App concur on distance ridden now. Cheers!

 

[Alan111S]

Yeah I tried the little bike icon on the Android version and that used to work but doesn't any more.

On some longer rides I worked out that if the bike disconnects all you have to do is restart the app, then resume the ride and the reconnect prompt will appear.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Ride Control 2 app becomes better and better. Brother Jacek is now recording his Trance E+ rides with RC2 on iPhone and then sends the data to Strava. It works pretty well now.

 

[RandallS]

Update went seamlessly. Now to see if it improves anything as all I've ever used it for has been to check on battery level. I use Strava on Android phone as well as on my Samsung Smartwatch. The watch gives me heart rate data but i trash the Strava report, as it typically gets flagged by Strava as a non compliant ride report as i haven't been able to find how to mark the report as an e-bike ride like I can on my Samsung phone.

I'm a little envious of the data output from the Specialized system, but not enough to shell out Specialized $$$.
It isn't a "need", just would be a "nice to have".

 

[RandallS]

Update went seamlessly. Now to see if it improves anything as all I've ever used it for has been to check on battery level. I use Strava on Android phone as well as on my Samsung Smartwatch. The watch gives me heart rate data but i trash the Strava report, as it typically gets flagged by Strava as a non compliant ride report as i haven't been able to find how to mark the report as an e-bike ride like I can on my Samsung phone.

I'm a little envious of the data output from the Specialized system, but not enough to shell out Specialized $$$.
It isn't a "need", just would be a "nice to have".

Tried it out today on trails.
Meh... didn't show cadence or battery level while using ride mode, and still hasn't output the ride to Strava.
I have re-prompted it to output to Strava again, so we'll see. (I waited 15 minutes before posting - it still hasn't shown up and no errors).
I'll come back and edit this post if it comes through but I am not holding my breath.

Pus one final big deal to me - it shows a supposed "Elevation Gain" almost double the amount recorded on my Strava app on my watch.

Finally, I really haven't used "Smart Assist" much but thought I'd give it a go, as I was riding some of the more technical sections up on the nearby park.
It was reasonably OK, but I found it "surged" a bit so I would certainly not call it as feeling "natural" as some have described it (including Giant).
I certainly wouldn't use it if I had any plans for a longer ride, as in my opinion it sucks up the electrons pretty fast!

 

[TourBiker]

After the last update with this app, my bike was bricked. Lucky enough my LBS was able to revive it (at no cost ).
As I used the app for adapting the powerlevels and checking the bike status, I didn't want to update the bike again with the risc of bricking again.
However I figured out a way to get into the app settings, bypassing the popup with the "mandatory" firmware upgrade .
Following are the steps:
1. Disable the wifi and mobile data on your phone. You can use the 'Flightmodus' for that, but re-enable Bluetooth again. The app however will also ask for enabling Bluetooth if you didn't.
2. Start the app and connect to your ebike. It will not ask to update the Giant firmware (as it has no internet connection) and you can access all the functionality of the app after connecting to the ebike.
3. Enable wifi/mobile data again / turn of 'flightmode'. The app will now connect to maps, navigation etc. and full functionality is at your hands.

Success.

 

[butomus]

New ride control app update out for android version 1.7.1.2

 

[bstaggs]

Anyone else getting this? Any ideas?

 

[Pim1955]

Remove and re-install app. Works in some cases…

 

[RandallS]

Mine worked a charm (for a change) but the remove and reinstall is a good plan of action. Giant really needs to up their game with the app. Poor effort.

 

[startupped]

After the last update with this app, my bike was bricked. Lucky enough my LBS was able to revive it (at no cost ).
As I used the app for adapting the powerlevels and checking the bike status, I didn't want to update the bike again with the risc of bricking again.
However I figured out a way to get into the app settings, bypassing the popup with the "mandatory" firmware upgrade .
Following are the steps:
1. Disable the wifi and mobile data on your phone. You can use the 'Flightmodus' for that, but re-enable Bluetooth again. The app however will also ask for enabling Bluetooth if you didn't.
2. Start the app and connect to your ebike. It will not ask to update the Giant firmware (as it has no internet connection) and you can access all the functionality of the app after connecting to the ebike.
3. Enable wifi/mobile data again / turn of 'flightmode'. The app will now connect to maps, navigation etc. and full functionality is at your hands.

Success.

Your trick works a treat. I'm not risking updates after bricking my controller once, and so I did this and able to get in and adjust the levels, etc. without having to apply the update.

 

[conix67]

What works well with this app? I'm glad there's an app but many of the features do not work reliably or data it provides are inaccurate.

What I use it for and works (knock on the wood):

• Firmware update
• Obtain current battery level in %
• Sync drive motor tuning

What I tried and does not work

• Trip planning - just too limiting and not accurate, gave up on this and using Google Maps

What works somewhat

• Ride and history
  • as long as the connection is maintained, records trip details which is useful
  • loses connection randomly and it's not obvious, so lost data on full trips time to time - I think this happens if I stop for few minutes for a break or other reasons, but the app doesn't notify you of the lost connection
  • some metrics are highly inaccurate - elevations, power numbers
  • history does not keep the battery consumption (shows all 0s)

Not sure how to provide feedback to Giant on these app issues and suggestions. Whoever is developing the app may not be testing it on the actual bike with actual trips.

 

[jabberwocky]

I personally just use it to adjust assist levels and thats basically it. Garmin is vastly superior for any ride tracking metric you want and I already have an Edge 530 (that I use on multiple bikes, electric and not). Proper tracking/logging/navigation is difficult enough that even companies that do only those things struggle to get them right sometimes, so I don't hold out hope that Giant will ever really do it well.

 

[conix67]

I personally just use it to adjust assist levels and thats basically it. Garmin is vastly superior for any ride tracking metric you want and I already have an Edge 530 (that I use on multiple bikes, electric and not). Proper tracking/logging/navigation is difficult enough that even companies that do only those things struggle to get them right sometimes, so I don't hold out hope that Giant will ever really do it well.

off topic but very interested in this. Does Edge 530 provide route planning and navigation based on that? Something that's as good as google maps would suffice for me. It's a pricey add on but sounds like worth the price if it fills the gap.

 

[jabberwocky]

off topic but very interested in this. Does Edge 530 provide route planning and navigation based on that? Something that's as good as google maps would suffice for me. It's a pricey add on but sounds like worth the price if it fills the gap.

For following a preplanned route its great. For on the fly navigation, not sure. I've used Garmins for 16 years, and the older ones were pretty useless for on the fly navigation but they have supposedly gotten a lot better. I just don't use mine for that so not sure how well it works. I'd look at DCRainmakers review to get more info, hes super in depth.

For preplanning routes, I generally create my route on RideWithGPS and then upload to the Garmin and it works very well, telling you where to turn and such.

For stats and tracking, its fantastic. I replaced my Ridecontrol Evo with the Ridecontrol One (no screen, buttons only) and the Garmin syncs with the bike and displays ebike battery percentage and mode, as well as all the usual stats (speed, ride time, distance, heart rate, etc). It also syncs with my EMTB (YT Decoy with Shimano motor) and displays all the same info. And tracks stats on my non-electric bikes. As someone who rides several bikes its great to have one device that handles everything consistently.

 

[conix67]

For following a preplanned route its great. For on the fly navigation, not sure. I've used Garmins for 16 years, and the older ones were pretty useless for on the fly navigation but they have supposedly gotten a lot better. I just don't use mine for that so not sure how well it works. I'd look at DCRainmakers review to get more info, hes super in depth.

For preplanning routes, I generally create my route on RideWithGPS and then upload to the Garmin and it works very well, telling you where to turn and such.

For stats and tracking, its fantastic. I replaced my Ridecontrol Evo with the Ridecontrol One (no screen, buttons only) and the Garmin syncs with the bike and displays ebike battery percentage and mode, as well as all the usual stats (speed, ride time, distance, heart rate, etc). It also syncs with my EMTB (YT Decoy with Shimano motor) and displays all the same info. And tracks stats on my non-electric bikes. As someone who rides several bikes its great to have one device that handles everything consistently.

I'm definitely getting one. One question - does it have feature similar to the "ride" option in Giant's Ride Control app that just records your ride and provide metrics, without route planning?

 

[jabberwocky]

I'm definitely getting one. One question - does it have feature similar to the "ride" option in Giant's Ride Control app that just records your ride and provide metrics, without route planning?

Yes, absolutely. I usually ride stuff I know and don't plan out ahead of time, and just use it to record.

 

[bstaggs]

I reinstalled the app and still getting the same error when trying to connect to my 2020 Revolt E+ Pro. However I connected and updated to my wife’s 2021 Revolt E+ Pro without issue. I was thinking that perhaps the firmware is too far out of date to work with the app. Is it possible for my dealer to update the firmware via USB?

 

[conix67]

Yes, absolutely. I usually ride stuff I know and don't plan out ahead of time, and just use it to record.

Sorry for another off topic question - I got my Garmin Edge 530 today, it's very cool, still learning all the features. One question I have is - any particular reason to use RideWithGPS to build the pre-planned route over Garmin Connect? Uploading is easier with the Garmin Connect..

 

[DaveMatthews]

Sorry for another off topic question - I got my Garmin Edge 530 today, it's very cool, still learning all the features. One question I have is - any particular reason to use RideWithGPS to build the pre-planned route over Garmin Connect? Uploading is easier with the Garmin Connect..

I've found that different apps find different routes (RWGPS/Komoot/etc).
Try whatever works for you in your area.
I found a way to work with Komoot last year that I did not know existed.
Not sure what engine Connect uses.