Fuel EXe Trek Central app not recording rides correctly

[Stuart54]

Is anyone having problems with the Trek Central app not recording rides correctly? I have an Android phone and Location is set to "Allow only when using the app", but when I finish a ride I find that only small sections have been recorded and anything in between is just joined by a straight line. The recording is even showing me riding in areas that are miles away and I have been nowhere near. The end result is an inaccurate map and data that is pure fantasy (e.g. ride time 15 minutes when I've been out for two hours and top speed way above what is possible).
Trek are not being at all helpful, so any advice would be most welcome.

 

[pagheca]

Actually I didn't know about this app. I was using eBIke Connect as Flow is not compatible with my Powerfly 7 2022.

However, Connect has similar problems: sometimes it records, sometimes it doesn't. A mess.

EDIT: "Currently the app is intended for use with Trek and Electra bikes equipped with TQ, Hyena, and BEP e-systems." - My own is not compatible, I am afraid...

 

[Stihldog]

I use the Trek Central app for the Fuel EXE. It connects every time (when things are powered up). But the TQ App won’t connect at all. I only use the Trek Central App for mode % adjustments …not maps (use Strava instead) anyways. I guess I set-it and forget-it. There’s some useful features that I just don’t use.

I mostly use the ’back-of-my-hand’ for navigation.

 

[Stuart54]

Yes, I agree Stihldog. I use Strava for recording rides as well, but it's pretty poor that the tracking/navigation features that Trek promote in their advertising don't work on what are very expensive bikes. My experience is that they're pretty disinterested in client support.

 

[Stihldog]

Yes, I agree Stihldog. I use Strava for recording rides as well, but it's pretty poor that the tracoing/navigation features that Trek promote in their advertising don't work on what are very expensive bikes. My experience is that they're pretty disinterested in client support.

I hear ya! I’ve got 8 map-apps on my iPhone, but I use Strava 99% of the time. The other maps (most have gps) help me find hidden routes or trails.

 

[Mteam]

A new version of the app is out that fixes the bug with the incorrect number of hours being shown.

Also claims to fix issues with incorrect recording of elevation,plus some other things

 

[Stuart54]

Thanks for the info, Mteam. Hopefully this will finally sort out the problems.

 

[pagheca]

Can someone explain to me why Trek developed 3 different apps, each only compatible with some of their models, instead of putting all their resources into one or making ALL their models compatible with all their apps?

I have a two year old PowerFly 7 that is only compatible with this crappy eBike Connect. Very annoying.

 

[Stuart54]

I can only say that this is a good example of a decent bike manufacturer trying to get into areas in which they do not have any expertise and failing. My TREK FUEL ExE is great to ride but in all honesty the electronics that are a big selling point in their marketing are hugely disappointing. I am sticking to using my Garmin and Strava for accurate riding data and only using the TREK app infrequently. TREK would be well advised to get the electronics issues sorted asap as many riders are complaining and it's highly likely that future buyers will be put off buying what are actually great bikes, mechanically.

 

[pagheca]

In my opinion, the solution is even simpler: they should just create an open API and let Strava and other software houses read their electronic data without changing the basic parameters. We are not talking about something that puts your life at risk in the event of a failure, like a car.

This would make their brand very palatable to a lot of customers like me who like to store and review data. And it would literally explode the number of features at no cost.

Imagine, for example, being able to use Strava or Komoot or whatever to store cadence, power, etc. and see it all in the app... or even better, having an app that learns your typical habits and performance to give you a better range estimate for a given ride.... This would be incredibly helpful for people like me who live in very hilly areas.

 

[Mteam]

being able to use Strava or Komoot or whatever to store cadence, power, etc. and see it all in the app

You know with the EXe you can already do most of this using a garmin bike computer?

I guess it also works with other ant+/ble devices too, but I've only tried it with my garmin fenix 6 watch.

You pair the watch to the bike, ie the watch sees the bike as a series of sensors, it sees cadence, rider power, battery state of charge, then when you record a ride using your watch it all gets uploaded to garmin connect and you can see the data, for example see below.

And then if you have strava paired with garmin connect, the ride and all the data gets sent to strava.

Battery state of charge and assist mode

Rider power

Cadence

You can also display these as data fields on the device in real-time, so you can see you cadence, battery soc, power etc on the device while riding.

 

[Stuart54]

Great info. Thank you.

 

[pagheca]

You know with the EXe you can already do most of this using a garmin bike computer?

I guess it also works with other ant+/ble devices too, but I've only tried it with my garmin fenix 6 watch.

You pair the watch to the bike, ie the watch sees the bike as a series of sensors, it sees cadence, rider power, battery state of charge, then when you record a ride using your watch it all gets uploaded to garmin connect and you can see the data, for example see below.

And then if you have strava paired with garmin connect, the ride and all the data gets sent to strava.

Battery state of charge and assist mode

View attachment 143070

Rider power
View attachment 143071
Cadence
View attachment 143072


You can also display these as data fields on the device in real-time, so you can see you cadence, battery soc, power etc on the device while riding.

No, I didn't! Thanks for the information, but let me get this straight...

You are saying that if I buy a Garmin ebike computer, it can connect thru bluetooth to the bike computer and download some engine parameters in real time?

What model of bike computer are you using? I have a Trek PowerFly 7 (Bosch Performance Cx motor), not an EX unfortunately.

 

[Mteam]

You are saying that if I buy a Garmin ebike computer, it can connect thru bluetooth to the bike computer and download some engine parameters in real time?

What model of bike computer are you using? I have a Trek PowerFly 7 (Bosch Performance Cx motor), not an EX unfortunately.

With the tq system in the Trek fuel exe, yes that's exactly what I'm saying. But I have no idea what capabilities other motor systems have. I know the old bosch CX gen 4 in my 2020 orbea wild fs cannot do this.

I have a trek fuel exe and garmin fenix 6 watch, and those screenshot above were taken from the garmin connect app, with no trek app involvement at all.

 

[Mteam]

This is one of the screens I have showing on my watch when riding, it shows the ebike battery level, the sram axs derailuer battery level, the gear of the derailuer , my max power (as determined by the tq motor), my avg power, and my average cadence (as determined by the tq motor)

 

[pagheca]

Interesting....

Unfortunately my Trek Powerfly 7 is not compatible with the Garmin (I have a 645 Music). What a pity...