Who recognizes Levo 2019 TCU bluetooth connection issues?

[Maastricht]

Hi all,

May I ask to all of you who has or has had TCU bluetooth connection with the Levo 2019? My TCU was replaced 5 until 6 months ago as I wasn't able to connect with the bike when using both BLEvo and MC. I tried with both Android and IOS versions of BLEvo and MC. I have heared @Rob Hancill has had similar issues and I believe @bowser has issues now too.

Despite my earlier post this week where I wrote I was very happy with the stability and connection time:
Third ride back after shock swap and bike turns off - EMTB Forums

as a reaction on this post of @Specialized Rider Care of June 25th:
Third ride back after shock swap and bike turns off - EMTB Forums

on my initial question:
@Specialized Rider Care , are there more riders complaining like me about the bluetooth connection reliability? Is there any chance you would update the TCU of Dayton Industrial?
https://fccid.io/O4GTTHMI/Test-Report/Test-Report-3938630

I must now share I have had yesterday and today similar connection issues again. After a very nice ride with @Vilt where all worked fine, I came home and wanted to connect my bike again to change a setting. However I couldn't get a connection anymore between BLEvo which runs on my BV6000 android phone and the TCU. I then tried MC and also there no connection possible.

I have been sitting yesterday on a chair next to the bike and for >1,5 hours I have been trying to get a connection again by changing virtually every setting possible. Switching bluetooth on and off of the phone, restarting the phone, unpairing and pairing the TCU, trying to connect via MC, trying to connect via BLEvo, factory reset of the TCU, disconnect power cable of the bike, etc. Unfortunately no success!

Last night I left the power cable disconnected in the hope this could maybe help. This morning I spend another two hours where again I wasn't able to connect. I not even only tried to connect with my the BV6000 which I normally use for BLEvo only but also with my wifes LG G7 I have tried several times to connect with MC and BLEvo. All attempts were unfortunately unsuccesfull. Then we went away with the family and again I left the power cable disconnected.

When we came home I tried again to connect with my iPhone. After pairing process, my iPhone instantly connected via BLEvo and MC with the bike. Then I unpaired the iPhone and tried the BV6000 and surprise surprise, it worked again with both MC and BLEvo. The strange thing is that when these issues occur it's every time a combination of both BLEvo and MC not being able to connect to the bike. So I can't fingerpoint to BLEvo nor I can fingerpoint to MC. Therefore I think that the issue lies within the bluetooth chip of the TCU.

Does anyone else recognizes these issues here on the forum?

@Specialized Rider Care , I have heared that there is a new 2.034 TCU firmware release. Currently I am riding with firmware 2.026. I am wondering if you can share more information about the changes between version 2.026 and 2.034. Would it be possible that 2.034 has a more stable bluetooth connection process? I am happy to invest a couple of hours of my time again and plan a visit at my LBS (as they are the only ones who can perform the firmware update) but I like to understand upfront if this makes sense in relation to the connection issues I have had now several times.

Thanks in advance for your support and response!

 

[Mikerb]

I have no problems connecting to the bike (using a Samsung android phone) . I only use it however to change settings since I have never been able to make the Lets ride function record more than an initial segment of a ride.
A few things you could look at. Firstly, there are a few versions of Bluetooth all of which are supposed to be backward compatible but I would only trust that if your phone is running Bluetooth 4.1 or 4.2 ( or maybe BT5 if its really new). There may still be issues of connectivity between BT Smart and BT Classic though......…...so it would be useful to know which version of BT is in the TCU. Check what versions you are using. Secondly, I do not know about Blevo but MC does not auto shut down. You have to physically close it. If you are not doing that the previous connection or failed connection could still be uncleared. If you use different devices to pair, to be absolutely sure it is best to switch the first device off before trying the second. Bluetooth is easily disrupted by conflicting signals using the same bandwidth ( everything from front door bells to baby monitors!) and other higher frequency signals. So you are best keeping distance from wifi hubs etc. Lastly some devices turn the BT adaptor off if the battery is below a certain level, so make sure both devices are sufficiently charged.

 

[Rusty]

^^ that ^^

Was given an iphone as a present and since I hate them with a passion I was going to use it on my levo instead of buying a Garmin. As I had hooked up my Galaxy previously I found it would not connect. Made sure I killed the app on the Galaxy by rebooting and I was able to connect successfully.

Also found that with all the electronics in my garage I had issues connecting both the Levo and my Scott with Shimano from my phone, but if I rolled them outside they connected quickly and stayed connected when I roll them back in. Never thought bluetooth would react like that.

 

[Al Boneta]

I use an IPhone and have had no problems connecting and I work in a shop full of Levos. I often connect to a customer’s bike to double check firmware and whether or not they have screwed up settings. This is the only time I ever use the MC app. BLEvo Is the same story.

This goes on for awhile

 

[Indigo]

... Also found that with all the electronics in my garage I had issues connecting both the Levo and my Scott with Shimano from my phone, but if I rolled them outside they connected quickly and stayed connected when I roll them back in. Never thought bluetooth would react like that.

Bluetooth uses same 2.4 GHz radio spectrum as Wi-Fi

Most Wi-Fi connected devices from 2013 onward, support both 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. The later allows much higher data speeds provided by Wi-Fi routers that support 802.11n or the 3x faster 802.11ac standard which only operates on 5 GHz. Currently all such routers also transmit on 2.4 GHz for backwards compatibility to support older devices. With most such routers you can turn off either radio, I switched off the 2.4 GHz radio on mine this morning and even my old iPhone 5 (2013) and iPad 3 (2012) still connect fine. Only 1 device (a SONOS soundbar) was no longer connected, but an Ethernet cable will soon fix that.

With 1 less Wi-Fi using 2.4 GHz there will be less interference and my neighbours will be happy.

 

[Maastricht]

I have no problems connecting to the bike (using a Samsung android phone) . I only use it however to change settings since I have never been able to make the Lets ride function record more than an initial segment of a ride.
A few things you could look at. Firstly, there are a few versions of Bluetooth all of which are supposed to be backward compatible but I would only trust that if your phone is running Bluetooth 4.1 or 4.2 ( or maybe BT5 if its really new). There may still be issues of connectivity between BT Smart and BT Classic though......…...so it would be useful to know which version of BT is in the TCU. Check what versions you are using. Secondly, I do not know about Blevo but MC does not auto shut down. You have to physically close it. If you are not doing that the previous connection or failed connection could still be uncleared. If you use different devices to pair, to be absolutely sure it is best to switch the first device off before trying the second. Bluetooth is easily disrupted by conflicting signals using the same bandwidth ( everything from front door bells to baby monitors!) and other higher frequency signals. So you are best keeping distance from wifi hubs etc. Lastly some devices turn the BT adaptor off if the battery is below a certain level, so make sure both devices are sufficiently charged.

Thanks for ideas and support!

I think my usage is different to yours as I use BLEvo with every ride. Mostly I ride with normal mtb group (no emtbs) and in these cases I always use BLEvo smart power functions (to let the bike behave as much as possible as a non emtb), maps and ride recording. As soon as the BV6000 is connected the connection never failed anymore. Sometimes it does get disconnected but that's mostly when the bike is standing still for a few minutes as the Levo is programmed to automatically switch off. In case this happens I just power on the bike and BLEvo automatically reconnects.

So to summarize I connect the BV6000 very often to the bike but only sometimes have severe issues with the first connection to the device after taking the bike out of our garage.

I always physically close the app completely to start all over again. Saturday and sunday I have tried this procedure and many more a douzen times without success.

Specs of the phones I tried:
BV6000
Android 7.0
Bluetooth 4.0
where I have followed the instructions below which I found on internet:
Bluetooth (and apps using it) will degrade their playback performance if battery saver option is enabled. This is due to an aggressive battery policy made by google, as this problem is not only present in blackview smartphones but also in google's ones!

You must disable the battery optimization optionfor the bluetooth services and for every app that will use bluetooth to transmit data (spotify, music player, and so on...) After that, your bluetooth performance will be perfect.

How to?

1) Go to settings -> Battery
2) Tap on the "3 dots" in the upper right corner of the app
3) Tap on "Battery optimization"
4) Select "All apps" from the drop down menu
5) Tap on the desired app and select "Don't optimize"

As i wrote before, you have to disable battery optimization for every bluetooth service (Bluetooth MIDI service, BT Tool, Bluetooth sharing) and for every app that will use bluetooth to transmit data (your music player, Call manager, telephone dialer app and so on). You will find everything in the "All apps" list in the Battery optimization settings.

LG G7 Thinq
Android 9.0
Bluetooth 5.0

iPhone 8
ios 12.4
Bluetooth 5.0

All devices where sufficiently charged.

When I was having the connection issues (which have taken several hours) both the BV6000 as the LG G7 Thinq were not able to connect to the TCU with MC or BLEvo.

I wasn't aware about potential interference. At the opposite side of the street where we live we have a small forest. In case I have issues again I will walk there with the bike to make sure that I eliminate as much interference as possible. However I must say too that 5-6 months ago my original TCU is replaced by my LBS due to similar issues where I couldn't connect to the bike anymore when using the BV6000 and iPhone 6 (at that time) when using MC or BLEvo. Not only at home it was impossible to connect but also at the shop (different environment) it was unable to connect. I even had a moment where I noticed 2 MAC addresses coupled to the same bike. I have shared this information with Specialized too.

I don't know the bluetooth version of the TCU. I have the feeling you have much more knowledge about this topic than me can you maybe understand which version they use based on the documents of Specialized's subsupplier Dayton Industrial?
https://fccid.io/O4GTTHMI/Test-Report/Test-Report-3938630

Thanks for your support and thoughts once again!

 

[Maastricht]

^^ that ^^

Was given an iphone as a present and since I hate them with a passion I was going to use it on my levo instead of buying a Garmin. As I had hooked up my Galaxy previously I found it would not connect. Made sure I killed the app on the Galaxy by rebooting and I was able to connect successfully.

Also found that with all the electronics in my garage I had issues connecting both the Levo and my Scott with Shimano from my phone, but if I rolled them outside they connected quickly and stayed connected when I roll them back in. Never thought bluetooth would react like that.

I will certainly try your approach next time to eliminate any potential interference.

 

[Maastricht]

Bluetooth uses same 2.4 GHz radio spectrum as Wi-Fi

Most Wi-Fi connected devices from 2013 onward, support both 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. The later allows much higher data speeds provided by Wi-Fi routers that support 802.11n or the 3x faster 802.11ac standard which only operates on 5 GHz. Currently all such routers also transmit on 2.4 GHz for backwards compatibility to support older devices. With most such routers you can turn off either radio, I switched off the 2.4 GHz radio on mine this morning and even my old iPhone 5 (2013) and iPad 3 (2012) still connect fine. Only 1 device (a SONOS soundbar) was no longer connected, but an Ethernet cable will soon fix that.

With 1 less Wi-Fi using 2.4 GHz there will be less interference and my neighbours will be happy.

5-6 ago when my original TCU was replaced I had a 2,4Ghz router. Since about 2 months I have a new router Netgear Nighthawk R8000 which automatically selects the best connection band for devices either 2,4Ghz or 5Ghz. Only thing I am still wondering, if interference would cause the issue why wasn't I able to connect at my LBS where I went for the warranty the first time the issue happened.

Maybe I have to accept there are some things in life where I will not find the answer.

I hope @Specialized Rider Care is willing to contribute to this thread too by explaining us which bluetooth version the TCU has and what the difference is between firmware 2.025 and 2.034.

 

[bowser]

That's interesting about bluetooth using the 2.4ghz network. My home 2.4ghz is maxed (laptops, kids computers, security cameras, power monitors etc with around 20 items connected it has maxed out the limit of my router).

Today I decided to test my Blevo connection before going for a ride, again it initially connected fine then when i went to make a setting change it failed to re-connect. I then went into my bluetooth settings and deleted the connection to my bike, restated the bike, restarted the phone and tried to connect using Blevo but no good. Tried to connect using MC and no good. Tried a few more times but was running out of daylight so i just went for a ride, up in the bush i tried to connect again and it worked. I left it at that and didn't try changing any settings again.

Once I returned home i tried to change settings (which is did) and it reloaded the parameters fine, repeated around 4 or 5 times without any issues. Worked fine just like it did prior to the last Blevo Android update.

I will need out to work fine a few more times before I comment on if it is fixed or not

 

[Kave]

I have problems as well with the Levo and BV6000. Somtimes the bike connects, sometimes both HRM and bike and sometimes only bike.
Whats worse is that usually the first connection, ie Bike monitor works most of the time and when I go to start a ride I no longer have the bike connected. This is problematic. I usually restart the Bv6000 to solve it, but alas right now it won’t connect to my HRM. The iphone just connects to it. @Maastricht I think you are experiencing the same issues, plus you have even more, because when my BV6000 cant connect, the iPhone sees it as well as the HRM.

 

[Mikerb]

Devices like HRMs typically use bluetooth smart. To ensure reliable connection from a bt classis device, that device needs to be bt smart ready.

 

[Maastricht]

I have problems as well with the Levo and BV6000. Somtimes the bike connects, sometimes both HRM and bike and sometimes only bike.
Whats worse is that usually the first connection, ie Bike monitor works most of the time and when I go to start a ride I no longer have the bike connected. This is problematic. I usually restart the Bv6000 to solve it, but alas right now it won’t connect to my HRM. The iphone just connects to it. @Maastricht I think you are experiencing the same issues, plus you have even more, because when my BV6000 cant connect, the iPhone sees it as well as the HRM.

Thanks for your contribution!

I didn't mention it in my initial post but I use BLEvo which is not only connected to the bike but also connected to a bluetooth RC (Remote Control O_Synce) and a Wahoo Tickr bluetooth heart rate belt.

In last BLEvo version Paolo has improved the connection to any available RC and HR auxiliaries. Today I have the feeling this improved bluetooth connection for accessories is a real improvement.

Nevertheless, before we think the bluetooth bike connection issue is related to the accessories, the accessories were not connected to BLEvo (and MC) when I was having the bike connection issues. I wish I would be able to find out where the issue came from and if firmware update 2.034 would potentially solve these issues.

@Kave, maybe you can follow steps below to make sure you have no battery saving mode which relates to issues with your HR when using the BV6000. Also make sure you don't pair the HR belt not directly to the BV6000 via the phone bluetooth menu but pair it via BLEvo configuration page.

Bluetooth (and apps using it) will degrade their playback performance if battery saver option is enabled. This is due to an aggressive battery policy made by google, as this problem is not only present in blackview smartphones but also in google's ones!

You must disable the battery optimization optionfor the bluetooth services and for every app that will use bluetooth to transmit data (spotify, music player, and so on...) After that, your bluetooth performance will be perfect.

How to?

1) Go to settings -> Battery
2) Tap on the "3 dots" in the upper right corner of the app
3) Tap on "Battery optimization"
4) Select "All apps" from the drop down menu
5) Tap on the desired app and select "Don't optimize"

As i wrote before, you have to disable battery optimization for every bluetooth service (Bluetooth MIDI service, BT Tool, Bluetooth sharing) and for every app that will use bluetooth to transmit data (your music player, Call manager, telephone dialer app and so on). You will find everything in the "All apps" list in the Battery optimization settings.

 

[Maastricht]

I just tried a new test today, wear HR belt, start RC, start bike. Start BV6000 and BLEvo wait in home page for three blue lights. (new procedure since last update) Takes a a few seconds, then "Bike Setup" and connection is established within 3 seconds to all devices. I then disconnected and connected the bike and the devices again and did this three times. All good connection there within 3 seconds. (even if it would cost 60-90 seconds I would be fine with it but not almost 4 hours)

After the test above I closed BLEvo and tried MC which gave the same result -> instant connection.

Only thing I can conclude today is that when having issues I have the issue on several different phones with BLEvo and MC at the same time. Therefore I still suspect the TCU for causing such issue. Luckily it doesn't happen very often but if it happens it's highly irritating.

 

[PaoloBLEvo]

I just tried a new test today, wear HR belt, start RC, start bike. Start BV6000 and BLEvo wait in home page for three blue lights. (new procedure since last update) Takes a a few seconds, then "Bike Setup" and connection is established within 3 seconds to all devices. I then disconnected and connected the bike and the devices again and did this three times. All good connection there within 3 seconds. (even if it would cost 60-90 seconds I would be fine with it but not almost 4 hours)

After the test above I closed BLEvo and tried MC which gave the same result -> instant connection.

Only thing I can conclude today is that when having issues I have the issue on several different phones with BLEvo and MC at the same time. Therefore I still suspect the TCU for causing such issue. Luckily it doesn't happen very often but if it happens it's highly irritating.

I don't want to point the finger to the TCU.. Because with iPhone the connection works well.. I think the issue is inside Android and/or how is handled the Bluetooth chip of the Android phone.

 

[Maastricht]

I don't want to point the finger to the TCU.. Because with iPhone the connection works well.. I think the issue is inside Android and/or how is handled the Bluetooth chip of the Android phone.

Hi Paolo,

You have much more knowledge than me about this topic but I only started to suspect the TCU after first time it got replaced 5-6 months ago and I wasn't able to connect with both the BV6000 and iPhone 6 at that time. Also at the LBS they didn't succeed to connect to the TCU anymore and therefore I blamed the TCU. When they replaced the TCU both devices (BV6000 and iPhone) worked again like before.

In case I would end up in future connection issues again I will go to forest next door to exclude interference and will try to connect with my iPhone 8 as well to make sure and find out if the issue is related to Android only. Now I only focussed on my wifes Android phone to LG G7 Thinq to try and find a solution or explanation.

 

[Mikerb]

If you have v 4 or later of the Android os you should be OK. It is much more likely to be interference in the 2.4 mhz bandwidth if the phones bt is set up ok

 

[Mikerb]

The bt chip in your original TCU may well have failed but that resulted in a complete non connect. It is a mistake to infer from that that intermittent connection failures are due to the TCU.

 

[Maastricht]

The bt chip in your original TCU may well have failed but that resulted in a complete non connect. It is a mistake to infer from that that intermittent connection failures are due to the TCU.

Thanks for your replies! Highly appreciated!

I understand where you are coming from. I will keep all reactions in mind and will act accordingly in case the issues will come back.

 

[Mikerb]

When using more than one bt device using a phone there may well be sequencing issues. Each bt connection is initially established with an asych handshake. If both devices are switched on I can see scope for comms errors. I dont know blevo but if I eas using for example MC and bt headphones I would keep the headphones off until the MC connection was established.

 

[Mikerb]

Note also that from andriod marshmallow (os v6) onward location services must be enabled on the phone (gps). Google made confirmation of location part of the connection handshake (they never explained why!)

 

[Maastricht]

When using more than one bt device using a phone there may well be sequencing issues. Each bt connection is initially established with an asych handshake. If both devices are switched on I can see scope for comms errors. I dont know blevo but if I eas using for example MC and bt headphones I would keep the headphones off until the MC connection was established.

Just speaking for myself (and to avoid in particular the issues which we are discussing in this thread) I only use the BV6000 specifically as a bike computer. Only a few apps are installed like Strava, MC and BLEvo. Only the bike is paired to the bluetooth list so no other devices and only my wifi home network is linked to upload BLEvo ride on Strava when I return home. HR and RC are connected via BLEvo. Also not sure exactly why this has been designed in this way but Paolo will have his reasons for this. Nevertheless also without connecting the HR and RC I had all these issues when connecting the bike only.

Sometimes when I ride alone I use BT headphones but these are linked to my iPhone (carry in bag pack) as I want to avoid them to potentially influence the BV6000 which I use as bike computer only.

 

[Mikerb]

I dont use any Apple devices so no idea if the same applies to iPhone

 

[Maastricht]

Note also that from andriod marshmallow (os v6) onward location services must be enabled on the phone (gps). Google made confirmation of location part of the connection handshake (they never explained why!)

I guess nowadays they want to know all of us with their "assistant" services but GPS is always turned on at my side as I use the BV6000 for logging and following GPX tracks in BLEvo.

 

[Mikerb]

Just speaking for myself (and to avoid in particular the issues which we are discussing in this thread) I only use the BV6000 specifically as a bike computer. Only a few apps are installed like Strava, MC and BLEvo. Only the bike is paired to the bluetooth list so no other devices and only my wifi home network is linked to upload BLEvo ride on Strava when I return home. HR and RC are connected via BLEvo. Also not sure exactly why this has been designed in this way but Paolo will have his reasons for this. Nevertheless also without connecting the HR and RC I had all these issues when connecting the bike only.

Sometimes when I ride alone I use BT headphones but these are linked to my iPhone (carry in bag pack) as I want to avoid them to potentially influence the BV6000 which I use as bike computer only.

HR and RC are connected via blevo.....fine but blevo is an app not a device....the bt adaptor in the BV6000 is making those connections.

 

[Maastricht]

HR and RC are connected via blevo.....fine but blevo is an app not a device....the bt adaptor in the BV6000 is making those connections.

Yeah, sorry my previous post was confusing. I know they are finally connected to the bt adaptor of the BV6000. I meant it more in the sense of your earlier sequence post. I think, but am not 100% sure, that this is the reason that Paolo asked to connect the RC and HR via BLEvo to the BV6000. I think in this case he has the sequence in his own control. Again not sure and for me this part is not very important as it works and therefore I was primarily focussed on the bike connection issue.

Again highly appreciate your support where all puzzle pieces help and I see that I learn every day new things as well!

 

[PaoloBLEvo]

BLEvo connects the BT devices in sequence.. a phone can connect 8 different devices at the same time.. The connection procedure cannot be done in parallel, but when one device is connecting to the phone, the phone have to wait before start the connection with another device..
This sequence is handled by BLEvo. In the past was not handled well... now it is better but, maybe, there are some issue again in particular cases...
In any case the BT connection under iOS is handled in very simple way and it is more robust than under Android phone.. maybe for "low cost" phone..

 

[Kave]

I tried today and it worked much better with the hrm and the latest version. However, on my first attempt it failed. I started Blevo and the Bike. I had bike and hrm blue, started the activity but neither bike or hrm reported any data in Blevo. I turned off bike and Bluetooth on the BV6000 for a minute then no problem.

 

[Maastricht]

Just wanted to share with all of you that I rode yesterday 40km and connection between BV6000 BLEvo, RC and HR belt was instantly connected. During my 2 hour ride the connection was very stable and when returning home I tried another 3 times to disconnect and connect the bike. All attemps resulted in successfull connections within 3-5 seconds. So for now the earlier issue I reported seems to have vanished as quickly as it popped up.

 

[55plusmxinsanity]

No one mentioned re-setting the TCU? I did it and my MC updated itself.

 

[bowser]

How do you do that?