Giant App Issues

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Hi,

If anyone has issues with their Giant App / Bike, please can you detail it here? I'll forward all the details to Giant direct. Please be as specific as possible which may help pinpoint the issue easier.

Thanks
Rob.

 

[Duke]

How could i reach 4848 watt ???

 

[Dominic1212]

Hi,

1. no reconnect to bike when leaving Bluetooth range and reenter ergo no data will be recorded
2. recorded km are way off. 30km in real life will sometimes result in 180 in app

will go on a ride tomorrow and will try the app again to find more ;-)


THX Rob!

 

[Tourbiker]

- Coupling EVO display with Komoot.
- Reliable OTA update procedure
- Toggle for default lights on/off
- Toggle for default power mode auto/eco

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Thanks. If anyone can report with any bricking issues that’d be great.

 

[TheLob]

Maybe not related to your issues, but I was a bit worried when I did the requested update this morning on my 2019 Fathom E+3 29er.
Was going out for a short cycle this morning, I opened the Ridecontrol app on my IPhone 7, but it was requesting an update, so I closed the app again with the intention of doing the update later.
Later, after my cycle, I went to do the update. “Ridecontrol Module 3-3” all appeared to go well, the update via WiFi/Bluetooth only took about 10minutes.
This is were I started to get worried. I switched the bike off as I needed to recharge the battery after the morning cycle, but the light which is linked to the bikes wiring stayed on ??? I was able to switch the light off via the Ridecontrol light switch ?? It was switching on & off even with the Bike NOT switched on.
I then tried to switch the bike on with the Ridecontrol switch and it would not switch on. My heart sank a bit, “oh no I’ve bricked it” but I remembered reading in one of the forums about removing the battery to do a reset (JAP START)
I proceeded to remove the battery and refit, luckily everything appears to normal again.
Worryingly when I did the same update to my wife’s 2020 Giant Liv Amiti E + 4, the same thing happened.
Surely you shouldn’t have to remove the battery after an update.
But be aware you may have to.
We haven’t ridden either of the bikes since the update so fingers crossed, all is well.

 

[goroncy]

Reign e+ 2022 has a problem with the newest firmware. Changing display brightness will put the bike in state in which the bicycle will turn itself off every time after 30 seconds. When you turn the bike on again it will show blue line as usual. No changes in assist level are possible in this "bricked" state. Bike will turn itself off in 30 seconds. After switching it on again all the indication lights are "on" and white. The bike will switch itself off in 30 seconds. And the cycle continues - blue line, white lines, blue line ...

 

[andyb2]

A way to postpone an update and contiune to use the app would be nice. The only time I connect the app to the bike is to go for a ride, and having to update right away can be a pain.

 

[Tourbiker]

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 it 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.

An option in the app to bypass the upgrade would be nice

 

[Mikerb]

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 it 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.

An option in the app to bypass the upgrade would be nice

reading that what a stupid way to design an App!! Your script suggests the app auto searches for update instructions from the Giant server at the same time as it establishes a blutooth connection to a bike. That opens the blutooth connection to all manner of potential viruses/hacks on the Giant server being served directly onto any connected bike!! The app should only connect to the update on the Giant server by specific request by the user!!

 

[mummyb0t]

Yeah, mines currently "bricked", same pattern as Goroncy. Reign E+ 1 2022. New Zealand based.

Had the bike a ~2 weeks, latest firmware. Two nights ago I played with the LED brightness in the app.

1) Bike turns on as normal in auto-mode, can't change power levels, after 30 secs turns itself off.
2) The next time you turn it on, all 10 headunit lights are on and all white, stays on for 30 second, then turns itself off.
repeat.

When the bike is on, it "works", and gives you assistance, but only for the 30secs. Will call my LBS today, but not expecting much from the previous comments.

thanks again.

 

[trailaddict]

I have no big issues using the app, but I do have some wishes:
- set assitance level of Auto-Mode
- have 10% increments instead of only 3 different settings for the power level
- delete my old bike from the app
- using the app without internet access to change settings even when being offline
- a change log and a history for all SW chamges

 

[Gills]

Reign 2022
Further to mummyb0t and goroncy

We have all experienced issues immediately after a software update via the app.

Background
I took the bike for a brief ride the day I got it - no issues and it worked perfectly in all modes.
The following day I used the app to load the latest S/W and it caused the bike to be un-ridable.

S/W Update

• When I downloaded the latest S/W version the app advised me I was operating in 4g instead of wifi and asked if I wanted to cancel the update.
• I did cancel and re-started while in wifi zone.
• Otherwise no issues with the update.

Symptoms

• Turn the bike on - showed full battery and Greenlight or on alternate attempts to power up it showed all 5 power lights.
• After around 30 seconds the power would go off.
• Could not change power settings / go into walk mode or basically do anything - but the bike was powered and could be ridden before it turned itself off.
• I managed to get the app to check if there were any issues with the battery / controller / motor but self diagnotic reported all OK.
• Removal and reinstallation of the battery had no effect

Lbs Investigation

• I am based in NZ and the Giant service team in Australia advised the lbs on what to do. To my knowledge they mostly trialed different hardware swap-outs.
• The bike had the latest S/W installed and their diagnostics indicated no issues.
• I did suggest a full firmware reinstallation but the lbs do not have the tools to do this.
• Using a controller from another bike and bypassing the existing one was their only solution. A temporary Ergo 1 was couriered over from Australia and installed.
• The faulty controller is still on the bike (otherwise there would be a hole in the top tube) and will be replaced in January.
• Presumably, someone will look at the original controller then - but potentially it is more cost-effective to just scrap it.

I have no complaints with either the lbs or Giant, they worked hard to ensure I was bck up and riding ASAP.
But it was disapointing to have this happen on my first e-bike, just before my first proper ride

 

[mummyb0t]

My bike has come right! Fixed?!? It was dead for about 48hrs, then I checked the bike tonight, its working again as expected. Little concerning.

I've done nothing to it, didn't reconnect the app, didn't remove the battery, it just sorted itself.

One other thing I noticed when the bike was not working, in the App, I had no RideControl GO section when connected to the bike. So I'm guessing, my issue was software or hardware on the new top tube headunit. The fact that it has fixed itself makes me lean towards it be hardware issue, like some others have been reporting.

Anyways, I'll update my LBS on monday, and I'm not gonna play with the app for a bit, and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the input and updates from everyone.

 

[Tourbiker]

Found some old release information on the German Giant/Liv webpage:
• 1.5.0 = Speicherung der individuellen Motor Tuning Daten (= Einstellung der individuellen prozentualen Motor-Unterstützung) bei Smart Gateway SyncDrive Pro Motoren
• 1.6.0 = Spiegelung der Navigationshinweise auf das RideDash EVO – SG Display
• 1.7.0 = E-Bike / Bluetooth Geräte Namen ändern und E-Bikes in der Liste entfernen
• 1.8.0 = Navigations-Anbindung an Komoot

Unfortunatly Giant stopped with further release notes.
The coupling with Komoot never showed up.

Here is the link: Die neue GIANT RideControl App | Liv Cycling DE
Also some FAQ is provided how to recover from an erroneous update.

 

[goroncy]

My bike has come right! Fixed?!? It was dead for about 48hrs, then I checked the bike tonight, its working again as expected. Little concerning.

I've done nothing to it, didn't reconnect the app, didn't remove the battery, it just sorted itself.

One other thing I noticed when the bike was not working, in the App, I had no RideControl GO section when connected to the bike. So I'm guessing, my issue was software or hardware on the new top tube headunit. The fact that it has fixed itself makes me lean towards it be hardware issue, like some others have been reporting.

Anyways, I'll update my LBS on monday, and I'm not gonna play with the app for a bit, and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the input and updates from everyone.

Whatever that is seems that people from all over the world are affected. Would be great if Giant could come up with some solution for that.

 

[Goughy75]

There is a bug in the app that won't let me see how many miles the bike has done. It will only show it in kilometres even though I have selected imperial.

 

[Duke]

Looks like it is really the problem of ride control go. If the section of the app is not there you might have the problem. That's what Giant says on their HP :
Ride Control Go issues:
This is currently the most critical problem, which did not occur at all internally in the course of the test, but has now happened a few times. Unfortunately the Bluetooth module on the RideControl seems to be defective in some cases, which is not noticeable without using the app, but when attempting a Bluetooth connection to the app, the RideControl control unit is "shot" ... Otherwise the already known solutions also help here. • Unplug the RideControl from the main cable • Remove the battery from the bike, briefly press the power button on the remote, reinsert the battery. All requests for more features in the app (navigation, German, Komoot, etc.) are known and will be implemented in the course of the next updates

 

[Kingerz]

2021 Trance E+2
App insisted on updating app before connecting and then went into an endless loop. The fix was to turn off wifi before connecting to the bike,but this has been corrected in recent app updates.
Bike reports 96% battery health from brand new and sometimes this varies lol.
Takes forever (can be 10 hours after 99%) to get to 100% unless it's charged OUT of the bike, when it is fine.
I'm not ever going to update the on-bike firmware after all the horror stories, as the bike is great and works so well now.

 

[goroncy]

Looks like it is really the problem of ride control go. If the section of the app is not there you might have the problem. That's what Giant says on their HP :
Ride Control Go issues:
This is currently the most critical problem, which did not occur at all internally in the course of the test, but has now happened a few times. Unfortunately the Bluetooth module on the RideControl seems to be defective in some cases, which is not noticeable without using the app, but when attempting a Bluetooth connection to the app, the RideControl control unit is "shot" ... Otherwise the already known solutions also help here. • Unplug the RideControl from the main cable • Remove the battery from the bike, briefly press the power button on the remote, reinsert the battery. All requests for more features in the app (navigation, German, Komoot, etc.) are known and will be implemented in the course of the next updates

So what will be the fix in that case? RideControl Go unit replacement? They only mention how to fix it temporary.

 

[jorgeromen]

Hi,

If anyone has issues with their Giant App / Bike, please can you detail it here? I'll forward all the details to Giant direct. Please be as specific as possible which may help pinpoint the issue easier.

Thanks
Rob.

How to display the watts properly in Garmin? I've been using the pwoermeter by connecting my ebike to Garmin device (830) but it shows only 40W on average and it should be more than ~100W (my estimation). Thank you in advance if you can help me

 

[Dominic1212]

How to display the watts properly in Garmin? I've been using the pwoermeter by connecting my ebike to Garmin device (830) but it shows only 40W on average and it should be more than ~100W (my estimation). Thank you in advance if you can help me

correct power readings would be great! Using an Garmin 830

 

[Trancer]

Anyone tried the new update 1.12.0.3?

 

[trailaddict]

Not yet. At least there is some Information what is included in this release.

 

[Duke]

Me

 

[malc101]

The requirement for an internet connection makes it unusable for most of my rides, and sometimes I want to change my power levels but I can't with no connection. It needs a home screen that shows main battery and Plus battery levels, and current wattage that is always available with/without internet.

Additionally, Giant needs to tell us which ride data is recorded against our logins for use by anyone other than ourselves.

Thanks.

 

[Goughy75]

The requirement for an internet connection makes it unusable for most of my rides, and sometimes I want to change my power levels but I can't with no connection. It needs a home screen that shows main battery and Plus battery levels, and current wattage that is always available with/without internet.

Additionally, Giant needs to tell us which ride data is recorded against our logins for use by anyone other than ourselves.

Thanks.

I agree with this. The app requires a Internet connection to view data on the battery and to tune the motor. Its ridiculous as the very nature of these bikes means we could be without a signal. We need to be able to see all the data from the bike without a signal on the phone.

 

[malc101]

Thinking about this bit more, the problem is not the App, it is the entire digital user interface (UX).

I did try to communicate this with Giant, but I got bounced back to the, "Talk to your LBS", thing. LBS' are new to this all, and they are bike people, not tech people for the most part.

My background: I've worked in the tech world in aircraft electronics and in consumer facing applications. My role these days is in project management, and I am most passionate about ensuring that systems meet the business users goal. In other words, I prevent the tech team from running away with the show building something that is neat, but misses the necessary requirements. In order to do this I add a strong business advocate to the team. In my opinion, Giant did not/does not have a proper UX advocate on their team. Everything is askew, as though the development team built the stuff at their desks without trying it out, and more importantly, they built it without having a representative of the end user community giving feedback.

Six months ago I bought a Haibike Full Seven, with the Yamaha engine. I rode it a lot and managed to get around 50 miles/4,000 ft out of its 500wh battery. After a while, I wanted more range, so the Giant Trance, with a tunable App, and with 625wh +240wh boost pack checked all the boxes. I bought the bike and at first it seemed like it was a bit of magic. Cush ride on fire roads, lots of battery, built by a major manufacturer, and AN APP.

Within two rides I was second guessing my decision. The damn app went off line on my remote rides, so I could not see my battery values or alter the ride parameters. I was pissed, then noticed on this forum that everyone had this complaint and others about the App and generally getting info from the bike. I then hooked up my Garmin 830. Great, now I can see battery info! After the first ride I realized that was mostly bad info that was being displayed via ANT+ on Garmin. The battery shows 100% with or without the booster at first, and there is no way to tell what the value of each individual battery is. Yes the range changes, but that shows like 140 miles at the start of a 40 mile ride. I am in the blind. Additionally, once in a while my ride settings get set back to the default high power settings and I can't change these values until I am back within mobile range. I tried looking at the BLE data but that has the same handful of fields, with none of the information that I care about. What about current wattage (or amperes), 2nd battery status, miles/wh, and anything else that someone riding long distance would expect? It is very clear that nobody was advocating for the rider's digital experience when they designed this system. And that special firmware does not allow much user control and there is no information about how any of it works. We have to go up here to find out from others what there observations are. Nobody from Giant makes contact to clarify things or talks about soon-to-be released improvements, etc.

Then there is the bike's display itself, which consists of 5 dots for battery power. The same dot indicates between 20 and 39% of battery power. As a rider there is a big difference knowing where in that range the power is. There should be 10 dots, or a number somewhere that is displayed without spending another few hundred on various other displays.

My message to Giant is: The first 90% of this bike is an excellent product. The last 10 percent is a total letdown. It would have taken no more effort to build a useful user interface than the one you've developed. All your management had to do was look at Specialized and see what they had and copy many of those features. Apparently, nobody on the Giant technical team looked at things from a rider's perspector OR looked at what the competition had built. The last 10% of the design makes this product a miss for many of us. Giant needs to address this quickly.

And, why does this matter to me? It matters because the 625wh main battery and the 240wh Plus battery are not giving me anywhere near the range I'd expect, in relation to the 500wh Haibike with a similar Yamaha motor. I've been trying to figure out why and have no information to do so.

 

[malc101]

Thinking about this bit more, the problem is not the App, it is the entire digital user interface (UX).

I did try to communicate this with Giant, but I got bounced back to the, "Talk to your LBS", thing. LBS' are new to this all, and they are bike people, not tech people for the most part.

My background: I've worked in the tech world in aircraft electronics and in consumer facing applications. My role these days is in project management, and I am most passionate about ensuring that systems meet the business users goal. In other words, I prevent the tech team from running away with the show building something that is neat, but misses the necessary requirements. In order to do this I add a strong business advocate to the team. In my opinion, Giant did not/does not have a proper UX advocate on their team. Everything is askew, as though the development team built the stuff at their desks without trying it out, and more importantly, they built it without having a representative of the end user community giving feedback.

Six months ago I bought a Haibike Full Seven, with the Yamaha engine. I rode it a lot and managed to get around 50 miles/4,000 ft out of its 500wh battery. After a while, I wanted more range, so the Giant Trance, with a tunable App, and with 625wh +240wh boost pack checked all the boxes. I bought the bike and at first it seemed like it was a bit of magic. Cush ride on fire roads, lots of battery, built by a major manufacturer, and AN APP.

Within two rides I was second guessing my decision. The damn app went off line on my remote rides, so I could not see my battery values or alter the ride parameters. I was pissed, then noticed on this forum that everyone had this complaint and others about the App and generally getting info from the bike. I then hooked up my Garmin 830. Great, now I can see battery info! After the first ride I realized that was mostly bad info that was being displayed via ANT+ on Garmin. The battery shows 100% with or without the booster at first, and there is no way to tell what the value of each individual battery is. Yes the range changes, but that shows like 140 miles at the start of a 40 mile ride. I am in the blind. Additionally, once in a while my ride settings get set back to the default high power settings and I can't change these values until I am back within mobile range. I tried looking at the BLE data but that has the same handful of fields, with none of the information that I care about. What about current wattage (or amperes), 2nd battery status, miles/wh, and anything else that someone riding long distance would expect? It is very clear that nobody was advocating for the rider's digital experience when they designed this system. And that special firmware does not allow much user control and there is no information about how any of it works. We have to go up here to find out from others what there observations are. Nobody from Giant makes contact to clarify things or talks about soon-to-be released improvements, etc.

Then there is the bike's display itself, which consists of 5 dots for battery power. The same dot indicates between 20 and 39% of battery power. As a rider there is a big difference knowing where in that range the power is. There should be 10 dots, or a number somewhere that is displayed without spending another few hundred on various other displays.

My message to Giant is: The first 90% of this bike is an excellent product. The last 10 percent is a total letdown. It would have taken no more effort to build a useful user interface than the one you've developed. All your management had to do was look at Specialized and see what they had and copy many of those features. Apparently, nobody on the Giant technical team looked at things from a rider's perspector OR looked at what the competition had built. The last 10% of the design makes this product a miss for many of us. Giant needs to address this quickly.

And, why does this matter to me? It matters because the 625wh main battery and the 240wh Plus battery are not giving me anywhere near the range I'd expect, in relation to the 500wh Haibike with a similar Yamaha motor. I've been trying to figure out why and have no information to do so.

And one more thing: Fixing the App will require bike firmware changes in order to pass along more useful info via ANT+ and BLE. While doing so, changes should be made so the system saves important diagnostic information, most importantly a history of unexpected shutdown events. I’d guess that the bike’s CPU has a bit of time before things go dead, even in the case of a battery disconnect. When things are deliberately shutdown for reason other than the rider turning off power, the bike should keep a history of those shutdowns and the reason code. If the shutdown is so fast that it can’t be recorded the next power up cycle should recognize the ragged shutdown occurred and record it. The dealers and riders seem to have no tools to troubleshoot shutdown issues so they resort to endless parts swapping, changing out weird things like the charge port, and other things that fix issues by happenstance till it shows up again 15 rides later. All of these diagnostics suggestions are commonplace.

 

[offroad]

1. Ability to tune motor modes in 10% increments open ended (mentioned earlier).
2. Ability to set preferred default mode on power up (ECO, SPORT, etc) or, remember previous mode prior to power down.
3. Ability to set lights on/off as default setting.
4. Ability to access app without internet service (aka middle of Australia).
5. Ability to decline app and firmware updates when opening.
6. Open a beta test program so updates can be tested by real users prior to release.