Ride Control Firmware

[Browneye]

I have not tried another OS. I'm using IOS and don't have an android device and I'm pretty sure there isn't a mac or pc app outside of what a dealer might have.

Try borrowing a buddy's 'droid phone. If you can connect and run the firmware update then perhaps your iphone will work.
And yes, just the two smartphone apps.

Otherwise, drop it to the dealer for an update, have them help you set it up.

>snip
Also stating the obvious, what a piss poor effort by Giant for releasing such a poorly developed app and software - for goodness sake, one of the worlds biggest bike businesses and such a crap tech experience that lets us owners and our bikes down.
>snip

Not obvious at all. In fact, just the opposite - it works great, very nicely developed, easy to setup, does what it's supposed to do. I have three bikes on two iPhones. An outstanding experience that never let me down. [shrug]
I say 'kudos' to them.

 

[Kiwi_Giant]

Not obvious at all. In fact, just the opposite - it works great, very nicely developed, easy to setup, does what it's supposed to do. I have three bikes on two iPhones. An outstanding experience that never let me down. [shrug]
I say 'kudos' to them.

Gosh - I hope this is sarcasm, in this thread alone you have queried the activation of walk mode after an update to the firmware and earlier this month you queried auto features on the 2019 models. You've also assisted a number of owners who have had difficulties connecting to the app or the had the dreaded "contact dealer" message. This hardly speaks to an "outstanding experience". Changes to basic features are not documented anywhere, information on features in version changes on both App websites are vague at best. Additional features and the applicable models are nowhere to be found. All I can say is that you are easily satisfied and in the minority.

If this were a car, currently a lot of customers would be driving their auto transmission with the sick shift in manual, having found that it has mysteriously moved from a column change to the floor. More users would now be unable to find reverse, as it also moved from the floor to the column. They all have found the manufacturer to be uncontactable and the dealership unable to assist as they have not been told about the changes.

 

[Oscar56]

I am not really disappointed in the app because I did not expect to use it beyond checking my battery level and adjusting my assist levels. Set your expectations low and you will be pleased. I just hope that a future update does not leave me in the situation of not being able to "talk" to my bike.

 

[Browneye]

Gosh - I hope this is sarcasm, in this thread alone you have queried the activation of walk mode after an update to the firmware and earlier this month you queried auto features on the 2019 models. You've also assisted a number of owners who have had difficulties connecting to the app or the had the dreaded "contact dealer" message. This hardly speaks to an "outstanding experience". Changes to basic features are not documented anywhere, information on features in version changes on both App websites are vague at best. Additional features and the applicable models are nowhere to be found. All I can say is that you are easily satisfied and in the minority.

If this were a car, currently a lot of customers would be driving their auto transmission with the sick shift in manual, having found that it has mysteriously moved from a column change to the floor. More users would now be unable to find reverse, as it also moved from the floor to the column. They all have found the manufacturer to be uncontactable and the dealership unable to assist as they have not been told about the changes.

Gosh, it's not. Just offering a counter-claim to your rant.
Your car analogy is beyond silly. Actually, it's ridiculous.

See your dealer for assistance - that's what they're there for. They're just standing by, waiting to serve you.

 

[Kiwi_Giant]

See your dealer for assistance - that's what they're there for. They're just standing by, waiting to serve you.

This coming from a "serial poster" with most posts starting with "I haven't had that issue...." or "I don't know anything about that issue..." then post some redundant information or opinion (sorry, rant) is a bit rich

Sorry, I do not choose to brown-nose Giant or post sycophantic opinion based on a overt jealousy of those with cycle features which I do not have as some do here. You will find if that if you take the time to actually read the posts of others here that there are quite a few posts here and on other forums that are less than flattering. You should probably start with the feedback on the Apple Apps and Google play store to gauge that my opinion of this software is in the majority by a large margin.

I have spoken with my dealer and Giant, both admit that they know very little about what features are occurring in an update.

Standby "Happy-clapping" for the Giant App will now continue below.

 

[Browneye]

Haters gonna hate.

You're so miserable. That's a shame. You can be on ignore. I don't dabble in such silliness. Thousands of happy owners and you want to rant because you can't figure it out. Not only do you not want to figure it out, you just want to complain. Got it. Then the personal insults start. For god's sakes. B-Bye.

And yes, the hundreds of bikes from my lbs work as built, as do mine. Flawlessly. Maybe you need a new dealer instead of ragging on the company and anybody here that disagrees with you.

 

[pmcdonald]

Them's fighting words Kiwi

Look, the apps clearly have some issues. They suffer from terminally low store ratings, and if they're spannering some people's bikes on firmware upgrades (which, correct me if I'm wrong, it mandates to continue using the app) then that's totally unacceptable.

My experience is I can only get the app to connect to my bike if I:

1. Disconnect the bike via the app (it never remembers the connection anyway)
2. Restart the phone
3. Connect fresh via the app

I also hold my breath whenever a firmware update shows up.

I'm using a newish Android made by the West's favourite Chinese smartphone giant.

Edit: @Browneye no-one is saying the bikes are rubbish (I really like mine, which I believe you steered me towards!), merely there's persistent and ignored issues with the app. I don't know how widespread it is but a sampling of users here and on the app stores points to it being not nothing.

 

[Browneye]

>snip

Edit: @Browneye no-one is saying the bikes are rubbish (I really like mine, which I believe you steered me towards!), merely there's persistent and ignored issues with the app. I don't know how widespread it is but a sampling of users here and on the app stores points to it being not nothing.

Agree absolutely. So, is it the app? Or the BT connector on the bike? Seems like the former if the dealer can connect to it with BT, so I get it. The first thing to try is another device. Can the dealer get a device to connect to it? Perhaps there's a compatibility issue with the particular smartphone, or it's security settings. I work with software all day long - you should hear people rag on Microsoft. LOL. But I don't have time for all that. We work on it 'till we figure it out - and sometimes it just doesn't.

The bike has to be powered up and bt turned on the phone. When it scans, if it finds a bike, it will connect to it - I have two on mine - and renaming them and saving them means either connects when you turn on the app - you choose. If your app isn't finding your bike then the BT unit in the bike isn't working. You have to allow location, and you have to allow cellular data - if you have wifi only it won't work. I had to restart wife's phone and re-setup to get it working a second time, but it has been fine since. And you have to have a login account for the app so your settings and ride data can be saved - it doesn't save it on the phone. I had to create a new login and password one time. Nothing works if you don't login. Maybe try using a different email account and setting the app up from scratch - uninstall, reinstall, resetup.

They can be balky when first setting up, but you just have to go thru the cycle again and make sure everything can get connected. You don't log out when your ride quits - you set location tracking to 'never' and it will shut that off, then put it back to 'when using' and it will reconnect without issue the next time.

Good luck.

 

[Kiwi_Giant]

Them's fighting words Kiwi

Not really, I've seen his ignorant opinionated posts for sometime and as I said the "Happy-clapping" for the Giant App will now continue (gosh and it did). As you say the bike is not rubbish and I genuinely like it. Well built and a good product.

Unfortunately serial posters, sometimes referred to as trolls love to throw insults such as "your rant", "beyond silly", "it's ridiculous", "your so miserable", "such silliness".... and then call you a hater just because you don't brown-nose Giant over an atrocious piece of software that has a multitude of complaints over many forums and websites.

I am glad he was able to offer you some advice but what he fails to realise is that he has been on ignore for some time by me (and probably by many other members). Given the number of posts he makes in every thread its the only way you can now read them all in a day. I can't believe he finds the time to do any actual riding.

 

[Oscar56]

I suspect that Giant is not the author of the app, it has been contracted out to a 3rd party. But if your contract with the 3rd party is either poorly written or not financially beneficial to the 3rd party you will get what you pay for. In the end it is the consumer who suffers, not Giant.

I have learned not to use the app beyond checking the battery level after a ride and adjusting the assist levels.

 

[iskjone]

Gee, introduce a bug in an update and the freaking world goes ape s*it. Its the end of the world, run!

 

[NZ-Howie]

I suspect that Giant is not the author of the app, it has been contracted out to a 3rd party. But if your contract with the 3rd party is either poorly written or not financially beneficial to the 3rd party you will get what you pay for. In the end it is the consumer who suffers, not Giant.

I have learned not to use the app beyond checking the battery level after a ride and adjusting the assist levels.

Yep, I’m agreed,the app leaves a lot to be desired.

So after the firmware update and re learning how it is configured, I have re-set my power levels so that I do 90% of my riding in level 1 or 2 and get on with it, and ride manually (ie. not using auto) I don’t use the app anymore.

To summaries, I like the hardware but not the software

This is my 2nd Giant e- first is a Full E which I still have, used by family now, and has been faultless. It has some features that I feel are better than my new bike (charge port works without dongle off the bike and the info screen was handy)

I hope the Trance e3 works out to be as reliable and as much fun - so far, so good

 

[Kiwi_Giant]

As Oscar says and I would agree, it appear that Giant have farmed out development of the app. This is a real shame and a missed opportunity by Giant as we all know in this age what can be done with well authored software.

 

[JRAD100]

Hi there

I'm in the UK. (London). I have had a Giant Road E + Pro for a year or so. I downloaded the App (iPhone) immediately despite the appalling reviews. The reviews were right. Hopeless. The bike is excellent. Very pleased. I'm mystified as to why such an otherwise outstanding company does not take the trouble to sort out this potentially helpful software. But I'm very happy with my Garmin and have not missed the Giant app. I now find that, for the first time, I need it. A friend suggested that if he pressed the light button five times, I could reset the bike to the US settings. It didn't work. Worse, the Ride Control Evo is now malfunctioning. OK, it's my fault. Mea culpa. It cuts out at a much lower speed than it should and the power supply is coming and going at any speed over 12 mph. I reloaded the App onto my phone, hoping it might have been sorted. It hasn't. It connects to my Ridecontrol EVO without difficulty but, when I try to do anything - install the uptodate software being the objective - it immediately defaults to 'Contact Dealer' and switches off. I can see from the forum that this is a common problem. I would contact the very helpful dealer but, sadly, they are closed due to Covid. I've tried all the usual things. Switch the controller off, disconnect the battery, re-install the software on my phone etc all to no avail. The bike is still rideable, but the power surges and occasional cut off are infuriating. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a fix that I can try in the absence of the normal dealer service. Thanks.

 

[Kiwi_Giant]

Hi there

I'm in the UK. (London). I have had a Giant Road E + Pro for a year or so. I downloaded the App (iPhone) immediately despite the appalling reviews. The reviews were right. Hopeless. The bike is excellent. Very pleased. I'm mystified as to why such an otherwise outstanding company does not take the trouble to sort out this potentially helpful software. But I'm very happy with my Garmin and have not missed the Giant app. I now find that, for the first time, I need it. A friend suggested that if he pressed the light button five times, I could reset the bike to the US settings. It didn't work. Worse, the Ride Control Evo is now malfunctioning. OK, it's my fault. Mea culpa. It cuts out at a much lower speed than it should and the power supply is coming and going at any speed over 12 mph. I reloaded the App onto my phone, hoping it might have been sorted. It hasn't. It connects to my Ridecontrol EVO without difficulty but, when I try to do anything - install the uptodate software being the objective - it immediately defaults to 'Contact Dealer' and switches off. I can see from the forum that this is a common problem. I would contact the very helpful dealer but, sadly, they are closed due to Covid. I've tried all the usual things. Switch the controller off, disconnect the battery, re-install the software on my phone etc all to no avail. The bike is still rideable, but the power surges and occasional cut off are infuriating. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a fix that I can try in the absence of the normal dealer service. Thanks.

Hi JRAD.

Others who have experienced connections issues such as you have described with the iOS version (on an iPone or iPad) have found that connecting with an android based device with the Giant RideControl e-bike App installed and attempting to carrying out an update has worked for them . This then allowed them to connect with the iOS based device.

It's worth a try in this period of lockdown until you can get to a dealer. If you don't have an android based device you may need to borrow one. Hope this helps.

 

[JRAD100]

Hi JRAD.

Others who have experienced connections issues such as you have described with the iOS version (on an iPone or iPad) have found that connecting with an android based device with the Giant RideControl e-bike App installed and attempting to carrying out an update has worked for them . This then allowed them to connect with the iOS based device.

It's worth a try in this period of lockdown until you can get to a dealer. If you don't have an android based device you may need to borrow one. Hope this helps.

 

[JRAD100]

Thanks for that. Sadly I don’t have an Android and I don’t know anyone who does...and anyway in lockdown it would be difficult to borrow one. Hmmm. Back to the drawing board. I did email Giant but haven’t heard anything.

 

[mbray]

Hi there

I'm in the UK. (London). I have had a Giant Road E + Pro for a year or so. I downloaded the App (iPhone) immediately despite the appalling reviews. The reviews were right. Hopeless. The bike is excellent. Very pleased. I'm mystified as to why such an otherwise outstanding company does not take the trouble to sort out this potentially helpful software. But I'm very happy with my Garmin and have not missed the Giant app. I now find that, for the first time, I need it. A friend suggested that if he pressed the light button five times, I could reset the bike to the US settings. It didn't work. Worse, the Ride Control Evo is now malfunctioning. OK, it's my fault. Mea culpa. It cuts out at a much lower speed than it should and the power supply is coming and going at any speed over 12 mph. I reloaded the App onto my phone, hoping it might have been sorted. It hasn't. It connects to my Ridecontrol EVO without difficulty but, when I try to do anything - install the uptodate software being the objective - it immediately defaults to 'Contact Dealer' and switches off. I can see from the forum that this is a common problem. I would contact the very helpful dealer but, sadly, they are closed due to Covid. I've tried all the usual things. Switch the controller off, disconnect the battery, re-install the software on my phone etc all to no avail. The bike is still rideable, but the power surges and occasional cut off are infuriating. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a fix that I can try in the absence of the normal dealer service. Thanks.

Those are exactly the symptoms that I have on my Quick E - power delivery variable despite constant torque and cadence and no amount of fiddling can solve it. It's a great bike for commuting but will be a pain to use on Ralph Allen Drive (if anyone knows it in Bath) without steady power delivery. I am hoping the company will get it sorted soon!

 

[pmcdonald]

Hi there

I'm in the UK. (London). I have had a Giant Road E + Pro for a year or so. I downloaded the App (iPhone) immediately despite the appalling reviews. The reviews were right. Hopeless. The bike is excellent. Very pleased. I'm mystified as to why such an otherwise outstanding company does not take the trouble to sort out this potentially helpful software. But I'm very happy with my Garmin and have not missed the Giant app. I now find that, for the first time, I need it. A friend suggested that if he pressed the light button five times, I could reset the bike to the US settings. It didn't work. Worse, the Ride Control Evo is now malfunctioning. OK, it's my fault. Mea culpa. It cuts out at a much lower speed than it should and the power supply is coming and going at any speed over 12 mph. I reloaded the App onto my phone, hoping it might have been sorted. It hasn't. It connects to my Ridecontrol EVO without difficulty but, when I try to do anything - install the uptodate software being the objective - it immediately defaults to 'Contact Dealer' and switches off. I can see from the forum that this is a common problem. I would contact the very helpful dealer but, sadly, they are closed due to Covid. I've tried all the usual things. Switch the controller off, disconnect the battery, re-install the software on my phone etc all to no avail. The bike is still rideable, but the power surges and occasional cut off are infuriating. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a fix that I can try in the absence of the normal dealer service. Thanks.

Long shot but you haven't inadvertently put it in demo mode by playing with the lights? More info here: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/i-got-my-quick-e.23985/post-161087

 

[mbray]

Long shot but you haven't inadvertently put it in demo mode by playing with the lights? More info here: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/i-got-my-quick-e.23985/post-161087

I haven't had any problems getting power to work up to the stated 15.5mph, but what happens is that power comes in for a number of crank rotations at full power (as you can now see on the display) and then drops to three bars of power for several rotations, then comes back in for a bit and so on. The diagnostics in the app say that all is well. In addition, the demo-mode fix doesn't seem to have any effect with this version.