Issue(s) with Specialized App & 'Smart Control'

[GuruUno]

I'll attempt to summarize.
Planned a ride, set the Specialized app control to 35-mile expected distance, left all other setting as is, never really care about remaining battery, elevation, etc., just set it and forget it.
Worked as advertised, been using since I learned that I preferred it over manually switching between Eco/Sport/Turbo and having to monitor my needs.
All in all, met my expectations, regardless of other(s) opinions or experiences.

Today, set out for a ride, set it at 35 miles, went about my ride. Stopped for lunch, turned off the bike via the display/power button, came back, and usually once I turn the display/power back on, it resumes to the Smart configuration previously set and I resume my ride to completion. However, a few times in the last week or 3, especially today, it does not "resume" from where left off after turning back on, goes to Eco, and if I manually hit the handlebar controls to go to Sport or Turbo, I get no assistance whatsoever. Dead as a doornail. So I get the iPhone out of the trunk bag, go to the Mission Control app, I try to hit the resume button, no response. I hit the Stop button, then I go to the joystick controller icon, tap it, the configuration screen pops up, I verify the initial settings for Smart Control (35 miles), and press set/go/ride,(whatever it is), and then Smart Control jumps back on the LCD screen of the display on the handlebars and off I go.

Odd thing though, I have reduced power. My opinion is that somehow, at the pause for my lunch I had 54% remaining battery, and once getting the Smart Control to resume, it provided me 35 miles on the remaining 46% of battery, hence the reduced assistance.

Upon returning home, I zeroed out the ride on the display, I had 33% remaining after 30 miles and tried to ride in Eco/Sport/Turbo, no assistance. So, then I used the F2 button, went 10-20-30-40-50-60-70-80-90-100% and had the response as expected with each choice.

Previously after a similar experience, the next morning I start out a new ride, set the Specialized App to 35 miles as described in the first part of this post, all is well and I do my ride, return in 1:30 min to 2 hrs. with no issues.

Am I doing something wrong, is something occurring that may be associated to the new updated software or is it an indication of further lurking problems that may lie ahead?

Much appreciate any input from those that may have had any similar occurrences or magic secret to avoid the issue, or is it time to get Specialized to interpret the logs to chime in?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Are you talking about the Specialized App? Mission Control has been dead for a quite long while!
If I ride solo on either of my two longer rides planned for this weekend, I will use the Specialized App with Smart Control and tell you of the outcome.

 

[GuruUno]

Yes, the Specialized App (the newer replacement issued not the old Orange Mission Control app, the new black 'Specialized' app).
I reworded to post to reflect the Specialized app referenced.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bob, I have indeed made a realistic Smart Control ride on Saturday.

• Started the ride (Vado 6.0) with the 96% battery
• Set Smart Control to:
  • Ride for 72.5 km
  • With predicted Elevation Gain of 200 m
  • Demanded 10% battery at the ride end.

I was on a gravel ride together with a buddy of mine who is a flexible person and keeps the tempo of the other rider. Importantly: I never switched the system off during the ride, and Smart Control was properly going in Auto-Pause on our stops.

As usual, Smart Control started with a very low assistance. As we progressed against a strong headwind, I was getting more assistance until the speed stabilized at the figure I could live with. After we turned the ride direction and were both assisted by a tailwind, I was getting more and more assistance, which was bad as I had to pedal more and more lightly not to drop my mate. The ride was completed at the predicted 72.5 km and 16% battery was left.

The ride data stored to the Specialized cloud seem to be reasonable now. However, the data I got instantly post ride seemed weird. For example, Specialized App thought the total ride time was an absurd 7 hours at funnily low speed of 9 km/h! There was a clear message the app did not trust all the data. Yet, the ride data I can read now look totally fine.

I think Specialized App/Smart Control may occasionally give up due to "electronic gremlins". I believe Smart Control is vulnerable at most when you turn the system off for a longer stop. For that reason, I do not use Smart Control on most of my rides (just applying a gut feeling for fixed assistance level) and only rely on my Wahoo for the ride data.

 

[GuruUno]

I did a 23/24 mi. ride with no issues today.
But, as previously referenced, it's odd that I have the experiences I referenced.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

There was a funny moment, though. I discovered I was getting very little assistance at some point. It was weird! We stopped. I tried to figure out what was happening but to no avail. We restarted the ride and it looked very badly! Until I discovered I had hit the minus button to go OFF

 

[GuruUno]

My issue occurred again a few times since last posting(s), so I thought I'd clarify a few items.
Prior to starting out on a ride, I always select my anticipated distance and add 5 miles. Usually 30-35 is the selected total. I set no other items, such as how much remaining battery, etc.
I ride, works as expected, and for the most part all is well.
But, as previously stated, sometimes I have issues, and most recently, I came close to the 30 miles which was set in Smart Control, and at about 22%-25% remaining battery being displayed, I got kicked out of Smart directly into Eco, but Eco offered zero assistance and it was like I was pedaling in a concrete slurry until completely stopped and I had to exert massive effort. Pushing into Sport or Turbo made no difference.
However, hitting the F2 button and increasing the percentage in 10% increments, and going all the way to 100% gave me sufficient assistance to complete my ride with a little effort, but nothing like Turbo or even Sport assistance. At the end of the example ride, I had done 35 miles (5 more than the inital Smart setting of 30 miles) and after all of the adjusting, I had maybe 4% remaining on the battery.
So, in the end, Smart Control, I'd assume is smart enough to say, "OK, you set it for 30 miles, you go 30 miles, no more Smart Control", but the odd part is that the complete "un-assistance" that the bike changed to after it reached the setting desired.
Overall, I find everything else with Smart Control to be a more pleasurable ride, no fumbling between Eco, Sport and Turbo or 10% increments, and all I actually do is continuously upshift and downshift the mechanical gears to keep my cadence between 65-80 depending on my desired level of participation.
As previously stated, I feel this is the best e-bike I've owned and have zero regrets. I just hope that the next generation gives more of what already is but makes it even better. If they ever do make a next one.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Sounds strange!

 

[Mike Tod]

My Vado SL2 6 has had the same issue with losing the Smart control after e.g. a coffee break. Have to reset via the App which of course then does not log your complete trip !
I've been using Smart since buying my SL4 some 5 years ago so do (did...) know how it works. Also today I noticed the bike battery icon on the phone is constantly flashing the state of charge. Am sure that's never happened before......

 

[GuruUno]

Whew! At least I can now cancel my psychotherapy appointments. I thought it was me only.
Further analysis indicates to me that if you set the parameter/distance (and that item only, as I always do), once you reach the set parameter (say 35 miles for a 'Smart' ride), if your battery percentage is above 20%, all works normally. However, if you push the envelop and consume a good porting of the battery and achieve the parallel distance set, sometimes when below 20% of battery remaining the bike will basically feel like you are pulling a cement truck and the only resolve is to do as I previously gave as my solution (10%, 20%, 30%, etc., with F2 button to select manual settings), or stop, end the ride on the interface of the phone, bypass Smart Control and use the 'normal' Eco/Sport/Turbo choices.

Hey come on Specialized, we'll beta test for ya, just keep us in the loop!

 

[Mike Tod]

I've not noticed it in that much detail but on several occasions yes the Smart setting has not worked properly after a very brief stop - e.g swig of water. It seems to go into "limp" mode conserving the battery as much as possible. Also no way to cancel it from the bike, you need to use the App. So much so I stopped using it for 2+ months. Recently however (I always use Time rather than Distance) it has been behaving as expected. I can only assume/hope the App has been updated, which I assume controls it rather than software on the bike.....

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Guys,
I need to confirm part of your observations. As you might know, I normally use the Specialized App only for setting my e-bikes up, and I generally don't use Smart Control

Yesterday (last Sunday), I decided giving Smart Control a decent try. My plan was to ride for 67.5 km, and even if my area was flat, I gave a generous 100 m Elevation Gain to the spec. I was using the main battery and a Range Extender on my Vado SL. I set 10% of the total batteries' charge at the ride end.

It was going almost perfectly. The distance was dropping in Smart Control ideally. However, the Elevation Gain was "eaten" very fast despite lack of hills en route. I added another 100 m and continued the ride.

As I stopped for a lunch, I switched the motor off. Upon the ride restart, I easily managed to reconnect the App and Smart Control to my e-bike, and I didn't expect any issues. I was wrong. At some point of my ride, I needed to change my ride plan from asphalt to off-road. I needed TURBO boost at some moment, so I pressed the + button on the remote. Usually, it gives you a short boost and soon the system goes back to SMART. Not this time. Pressing the remote button kicked the Smart Control off as effectively as it would not return at all! (Fortunately, the e-bike didn't go into the limp mode). I continued the ride in the preset SPORT mode until I could get on the road. Meanwhile, the App was recording the ride properly.

Now, I was 15 km from home with Smart Control totally disappeared. I had to terminate the ride recording in the App, restart the App and set the Smart Control for 15 km, 0 m Elevation Gain and 20% total batteries charge left. It gave me a 72% boost, and eventually I reached home with 24% total battery charge.

The total Elevation Gain for the entire ride was just 50 m... How come Smart Control was "eating" the elevation gain spec remains a mystery to me.
--------------
I could not rely on Smart Control for a demanding ride. What I usually do is setting the assistance based on my experience and navigating/recording with a Wahoo (Vado SL) or a Garmin (Vado 6.0). You guys riding Mastermind e-bikes have the Range and Range Trend calculated, and Microtune to adjust the assistance as you ride. Why to use the unreliable Smart Control?

 

[GuruUno]

I only on a very few occasions ever set elevation, or for that matter any other setting(s), and ALWAYS every time I go for a ride, I ALWAYS just set Smart Control as to the expectation of the total distance of the ride +5 miles. On rare occasions I set it to +10 miles for the expected ride. I never set anything else, as I'm mostly interested in being able to complete the planned ride with a safety margin. Once or twice I got perilously close to running out of battery power with only 3% or 4% remaining, albeit because of wind, cold, hills, etc., and if I am going on a ride that I'm not familiar with or had ever done, I'll always add +10 miles. Reason is one time I did run out and had to pedal home with zero power and 5 miles was a challenge never wanting to do that again!

Back to you experience. I seem to when at 20% or slightly less always have the bike kick out of Smart Control and to a Eco or Sport mode. It USED to be a normal 'kick out', but lately it is like I'm peddling in a cement tub and as previously explained, I have to do the manual override by percentages to get back any assistance, usually 100% to equal any benefit. However just this week I stopped, left the bike on, locked it, came back and it was off, turned it on and had to go into the app, and just hit the "joystick" icon to slide the distance to a nominal number of what the total ride was minus the distance already travelled, and bam, got the smart control back. (If I had planned 35 miles, set Smart Control for 35 mi., did 15 miles, lost Smart Control, I 'reset' it for 20 miles to get functionality back. Previously, I'd have to end the ride, start a new ride, etc., and reset the parameters, etc., so if it was all due to my not knowing or the functionaly of the software, I'll never know, but surely it is a bug.

Regardless, I wholeheartedly believe in the Smart Control performance for MY needs simply because of the way it provides me the assistance without having to manually keep switching between Eco/Sport/Turbo, it's for me a 1-stop setting and all I do is like a maniac keep shifting the gears to keep my cadence at a comfortable pace. I absolutely love it.

So, will it ever be fixed? Will the software team at Specialized take our input and attempt to recreate and change something? Who knows, as today I just watched a story today about Specialized shutting down the Colorado facility and transferring 50 employees to Morgan Hill facility. Good, bad or indifferent, it's unknown if the priorities of the company will care right now about something like this, who knows (my opinion).

See: https://bicycleretailer.com/industr...n-hill-footprint-relocates-colorado-employees
and:

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bob: You say you need Smart Control for your peace of mind. Aren't the Range and Range Trend fields as well as Micro Tune mode even better because they are reliable? Yours is a Mastermind e-bike, isn't it?

P.S. My issue was that after Smart Control got kicked off, the joystick icon didn't return...

 

[GuruUno]

Never tried those. Mastermind it is.
Thats no joy
I may have the no joystick at one time.
btw, you see the new ecvt motors for e-bikes on YouTube?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

btw, you see the new ecvt motors for e-bikes on YouTube?

There are thousands of revolutionary bike inventions that pave the Hell's floor

 

[GuruUno]

OK, today was another experiment. Set out for 22 pre-set Smart ride, stopped for a few items at the store, came back to bike, it was kicked out of Smart mode and in ECO.
OK, I THOUGHT, NOT A BIG WHOOP, I'LL DO A MANUAL ECO/SMART/TURBO RIDE.
Well, all 3 modes were dead cement, no assistance whatsoever.
So, back to the F2, 100%, rode home, dropped of the groceries and set off to experiment.
Brainstorm! When you go to the 'Settings' portion of the app, all 3 were at zero, bottom left corner.
So, I randomly set each a bit different, did a manual ride with the 3 choices, all worked.
Tried Smart again, worked.
Not sure if any of the Auto record, end, timer may or may have anything to do with the loss of Smart Control.
At times, the bluetooth disconnects after a stop/turn-off, sometimes it auto-reconnects.
So, not sure if I'm onto something with the software, but at anytime, if I use Smart, I gain power/control again, now that I've reset the settings.
Anyone know if there is a 'default' OOB (Out-of-the box) reset for the 3 mode settings?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bob, ironically, something like setting the assistance to zero happened to me not once and not twice as the result of BLEvo (that's why I stopped using BLEvo).
Regarding the default settings: Nobody can remember that but just select the Universal preset in the Specialized App under Tune.

 

[Mike Tod]

35, 60 and 100% are the defaults