Anyone else having ongoing trouble with their Elite Suito?

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saldegracia
Posts: 452
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:14 pm
Location: Madrid, Spain

by saldegracia

Hi there, just checking if there's anyone else having trouble with their Elite Suito Smart trainer?

I bought one in October 2019, I really liked the form factor and it had all the features I needed for zwifting. Pretty soon after it developed the dreaded knocking sound that is well documented all over the web including the comment section on the DC Rainmaker review: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/12/eli ... eview.html

I sent a video to Elite, they told me it needed to be replaced on warranty and that I should get in touch with the shop where I bought it. Experience with the shop was pretty dreadful. It took many months (until September!) until I had a new unit and I literally needed to bully them on the phone and talk to Elite in Italy at the same time. Of course I also had to pay the shipping back to them which isn't cheap for a heavy smart trainer.

The knocking sound issue is well documented for early Suito models but in theory should be fixed on later versions. The replacement I got was the latest hardware version but has a knocking sound that is even worse than my previous unit. In addition to every sound there is a very noticeable vibration thorugh the drive train which makes riding on it quite unpleasant. It does not happen all the time but way too often.

I am dreading sending it back and waiting for ages again. So while it's still working I am using it and will try and go through the process when the weather is better again and I can concentrate on outdoor riding.

I was just wondering if anyone had the knocking sound problem and has been able to fix it somehow?

I also wanted to see if I am the only one who had this happen on two different units, one of them the latest hardware version? I am almost getting the impression that this trainer has some inherent design flaw and they are just trying to bodge the units they have on stock to somehow get rid of them. Overall, a very unimpressive consumer experience, I think next time I'll go down the Wahoo route...I just can't afford a new trainer right now while I am stuck with the Elite...
Canyon Aeroad, Votec VRC, Fuji Jari Carbon, Sensa Fermo SL, Principia R700, Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra, Ciöcc Singlespeed

TribesMan
Posts: 132
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:51 pm

by TribesMan

I bought Suito in December 2020.
I have several different issues with it.

First problem I noticed immidiately after recieveing the trainer.
When you spin it slowly you can hear a ticking sound coming from the flywheel area.
https://youtu.be/are_VwyY20Y

The trianer vibrates a lot when you drive it in big ring at speeds above 35kph.
You can feel the vibrations through the saddle, and the drone from the vibrations is transferred through the floor, so in the end the whole house vibrates. Very unpleasant for everybody else in the house.
I tried to record this, but unfortunately phone mic does a pretty bad job at picking up the low frequencies...
https://youtu.be/UIMQSiAbRMs

Next problem developed after a longer 2+ hour ride. When the trainer warmed up completely. It started to creak a lot.
And now it starts to creak every time I ride it over 1.5h.
https://youtu.be/irM44KgFrzI

And to finish it off, if I put the gradient simulation to 100% and climb 10+% gradients with slow cadence it feels like the belt is slipping.

I wrote to elite support, and they said everything sounds normal to them (regarding ticking and vibrations).
And they assured me all the trainers are tested thorougly before they leave the factory, so the vibrations should be "inside specs".
For other problems they advised me to contact the seller and file the warranty claim.
But at the moment I don't like the idea of going through the warranty process during the "inside ride season".

So, lets say I'm not happy with this trainer at all.

by Weenie


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saldegracia
Posts: 452
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:14 pm
Location: Madrid, Spain

by saldegracia

TribesMan wrote:
Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:00 am
I bought Suito in December 2020.
I have several different issues with it.

First problem I noticed immidiately after recieveing the trainer.
When you spin it slowly you can hear a ticking sound coming from the flywheel area.
https://youtu.be/are_VwyY20Y

The trianer vibrates a lot when you drive it in big ring at speeds above 35kph.
You can feel the vibrations through the saddle, and the drone from the vibrations is transferred through the floor, so in the end the whole house vibrates. Very unpleasant for everybody else in the house.
I tried to record this, but unfortunately phone mic does a pretty bad job at picking up the low frequencies...
https://youtu.be/UIMQSiAbRMs

Next problem developed after a longer 2+ hour ride. When the trainer warmed up completely. It started to creak a lot.
And now it starts to creak every time I ride it over 1.5h.
https://youtu.be/irM44KgFrzI

And to finish it off, if I put the gradient simulation to 100% and climb 10+% gradients with slow cadence it feels like the belt is slipping.

I wrote to elite support, and they said everything sounds normal to them (regarding ticking and vibrations).
And they assured me all the trainers are tested thorougly before they leave the factory, so the vibrations should be "inside specs".
For other problems they advised me to contact the seller and file the warranty claim.
But at the moment I don't like the idea of going through the warranty process during the "inside ride season".

So, lets say I'm not happy with this trainer at all.
You spin-down sound sounds pretty much like the knocking I had on my first unit. Only that I had it permanently, not just for spin down. I can't find the video right now that I sent to Elite at the time...I'll put it on Youtube as well if/when I find it. With my new one the knocking does not happen at each revolution but is louder and more intrusive and accompanied by a very strong vibration in the drivetrain...quite unpleasant. I'll video that as well next time I am on the trainer.

From what I see your unit definitely should not have gone thorugh quality control but you and I are in the same position as everyone else with a trainer in winter. If you go trough the warranty process now you might not get it back before trainer season ends...so best thing is to just keep using it while it still works at all. My warranty runs out September this year I think, so I'll have to make sure to send it in over summer.
Canyon Aeroad, Votec VRC, Fuji Jari Carbon, Sensa Fermo SL, Principia R700, Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra, Ciöcc Singlespeed

Lozaen
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:44 pm
Location: Switzerland

by Lozaen

Bought my unit in October 2020. At the beginning the calibration seemed to be off. After a couple of spin downs, this seems to have improved to a level i can live with (in comparison to assiomas)
Except for that, no issues. Yes, at high speeds, it starts vibrating....using mainly "erg mode" in zwift, I shift to the smaller ring, and the virbation/noise problem is solved.

Ah...one thing though:
At the very beginning i found the trainer over all very loud. Discovered that the cassette, which was preinstalled, wasn't tightend well and was installed "dry"...de-installed the cassette, installed it with a small amount of grease between all cogs and tightend it as it should be, since then is much quieter. Living in an appartment, we asked the neighbors, if they mind, they replied, that they don't hear anything
Interested in buying Carbonsport Lightweight wheels with broken spokes.

BMC Teammachine SLR01 Disc Team 2018|Ridley Helium | Kuota Kross|Cannondale Scalpel 29 Hi-Mod

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saldegracia
Posts: 452
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Location: Madrid, Spain

by saldegracia

Lozaen wrote:
Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:35 pm
Bought my unit in October 2020. At the beginning the calibration seemed to be off. After a couple of spin downs, this seems to have improved to a level i can live with (in comparison to assiomas)
Except for that, no issues. Yes, at high speeds, it starts vibrating....using mainly "erg mode" in zwift, I shift to the smaller ring, and the virbation/noise problem is solved.

Ah...one thing though:
At the very beginning i found the trainer over all very loud. Discovered that the cassette, which was preinstalled, wasn't tightend well and was installed "dry"...de-installed the cassette, installed it with a small amount of grease between all cogs and tightend it as it should be, since then is much quieter. Living in an appartment, we asked the neighbors, if they mind, they replied, that they don't hear anything
It's also off against my 4iii PM, under 200W it tracks fairly well but for power peaks the Elite reads quite a bit lower. I am using the PM for power on Zwift anyway, so that's not a major concern...still would be nice for it to be more accurate...
Canyon Aeroad, Votec VRC, Fuji Jari Carbon, Sensa Fermo SL, Principia R700, Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra, Ciöcc Singlespeed

Lozaen
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:44 pm
Location: Switzerland

by Lozaen

you can actually do kind of a ramp test and send the data to Elite. They will then provide you with a custom calibration file, that will eliminate most of the error in comparison to your powermeter.
Alternatively you con use the Powermeterlink function, so the Suito will read the power value from your powermeter and rely on this value instead of the own calculation.
Is your 4III measuring both sides or singlesided?
Interested in buying Carbonsport Lightweight wheels with broken spokes.

BMC Teammachine SLR01 Disc Team 2018|Ridley Helium | Kuota Kross|Cannondale Scalpel 29 Hi-Mod

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saldegracia
Posts: 452
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Location: Madrid, Spain

by saldegracia

Lozaen wrote:
Fri Jan 15, 2021 6:34 pm
you can actually do kind of a ramp test and send the data to Elite. They will then provide you with a custom calibration file, that will eliminate most of the error in comparison to your powermeter.
Alternatively you con use the Powermeterlink function, so the Suito will read the power value from your powermeter and rely on this value instead of the own calculation.
Is your 4III measuring both sides or singlesided?
ok, thanks, good to know about the ramp test, will try that at some point, but first priority is getting a non-faulty trainer :)

My PM is single-sided but that's fine. I think if you train with power on the road and on the trainer it's always easiest to use the same PM for both applications. I know about the Powermeterlink function but I am not sure what the advantage would be over connecting the PM directly to Zwift? The data would be the same right? Just channeled through another pipeline...
Canyon Aeroad, Votec VRC, Fuji Jari Carbon, Sensa Fermo SL, Principia R700, Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra, Ciöcc Singlespeed

Lozaen
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:44 pm
Location: Switzerland

by Lozaen

That's why I was asking in the first place....most probably it's not the Same.

Reason is simple....most people are not "symmetrical", with tendency to better balance at higher efforts.
I.e. if you measure only for "strong" leg, at lower power. I.e. 200 W, your Powermeter shows simply too much power....the higher the effort the closer it will get to the real value.
If you only measure your weak leg, it goes the other way around.
The trainer doesn't know the difference between your one leg or the other. It can have a certain error, but this is most likely not affected by your imbalance.

Regarding Powermeter link....again that depends. Some have a slow response time using the one or the other approach.
Interested in buying Carbonsport Lightweight wheels with broken spokes.

BMC Teammachine SLR01 Disc Team 2018|Ridley Helium | Kuota Kross|Cannondale Scalpel 29 Hi-Mod

CharlieDG
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:39 pm

by CharlieDG

I'm having a lot of issues with my Suito. I've had it about a year and the first problem I noticed is that it's very loud on the big chain ring. This noise has got louder and louder over time and is only smooth and relatively quiet in the small ring.
Second issue I have is when I ride up any gradient in the big ring there is a grind of grinding and resistance coming from the chain. I have to go in a very easy gear at the top of the cassette or into the small chain ring to make it smooth and quiet. To be clear- this isn't me climbing 10%+ gradients in the big ring and grinding, it's 2,3,4,5% hills and it sounds like the chain is going to snap (My chain is not stretched and is clean).
Final problem, which has only just started, is a creaking that someone else mentioned above. It happens any time I get out of the saddle and is really annoying!

Needless to say, I'm not very happy. The trainer was ok when I bought it but has only got worse over time. I'm in the process of dealing with Elite and so far they're saying that nothing seems odd and that I should be recalibrating etc. I have recalibrated and nothing has changed, so we'll see what happens.

raggedtrousers
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:29 pm

by raggedtrousers

I'm having problems with my Suito; ticking, droning, generally becoming louder and louder every ride.

I returned it in late December and a warranty replacement/repair was agreed early Jan, but since then Elite and the UK distributor keep blaming/referring back to the other and I keep hearing late Feb/March as a potential date, even though the shop (and others) have had Suitos delivered in the last week, so the distributor's story about 0 supply is clearly nonsense. The LBS have been ok-ish, but have been a bit willing just to accept obviously rubbish excuses.

In another week I will be pushing for a refund, as UK law specifies that replacements/repairs must be carried out in 'a reasonable period of time and without undue inconvenience'. What is 'reasonable' is never spelled out in numbers (it apparently depends on the importance of the item - i.e. a boiler in winter should be repaired much more quickly than a TV in summer), but my understanding is that in practice, over 28 days is generally interpreted as being UNreasonable unless the seller/supplier can demonstrate very clearly why they need so long.

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saldegracia
Posts: 452
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by saldegracia

raggedtrousers wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:56 am
I'm having problems with my Suito; ticking, droning, generally becoming louder and louder every ride.

I returned it in late December and a warranty replacement/repair was agreed early Jan, but since then Elite and the UK distributor keep blaming/referring back to the other and I keep hearing late Feb/March as a potential date, even though the shop (and others) have had Suitos delivered in the last week, so the distributor's story about 0 supply is clearly nonsense. The LBS have been ok-ish, but have been a bit willing just to accept obviously rubbish excuses.

In another week I will be pushing for a refund, as UK law specifies that replacements/repairs must be carried out in 'a reasonable period of time and without undue inconvenience'. What is 'reasonable' is never spelled out in numbers (it apparently depends on the importance of the item - i.e. a boiler in winter should be repaired much more quickly than a TV in summer), but my understanding is that in practice, over 28 days is generally interpreted as being UNreasonable unless the seller/supplier can demonstrate very clearly why they need so long.
you are in similar situation there with the Uk distributor as I was the one in Spain. In my case "complaining" to Elite HQ in Italy about it seems to have helped, had a new unit on the way the next day...that new unit had defects as well but that's a different issue...
Canyon Aeroad, Votec VRC, Fuji Jari Carbon, Sensa Fermo SL, Principia R700, Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra, Ciöcc Singlespeed

raggedtrousers
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Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:29 pm

by raggedtrousers

saldegracia wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:17 pm

you are in similar situation there with the Uk distributor as I was the one in Spain. In my case "complaining" to Elite HQ in Italy about it seems to have helped, had a new unit on the way the next day...that new unit had defects as well but that's a different issue...
I may try emailing them, thanks

Alg86
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:23 pm

by Alg86

TribesMan wrote:
Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:00 am

The trianer vibrates a lot when you drive it in big ring at speeds above 35kph.
You can feel the vibrations through the saddle, and the drone from the vibrations is transferred through the floor, so in the end the whole house vibrates. Very unpleasant for everybody else in the house.
I tried to record this, but unfortunately phone mic does a pretty bad job at picking up the low frequencies...
https://youtu.be/UIMQSiAbRMs
Same here - bought it in October, last week it started sounding like a motorbike

It was all nice and relatively quiet at first, but last week suddenly, mid-ride some time after switching ERG off in Zwift, it became louder and started producing the same grindig sound and vibrations. It was like a flick of a switch, I thought someone started drilling in our house at first and then I realized it is the trainer. Now it is only bearable on the smallest gears , anything above ~36/18 is annoyingly loud, big ring almost unbearable. Elite just made me check that the magnets are not fallen out, and the said they are testing every unit for 30 minutes as QC.
So, now I am waiting for the reply from the webshop I ordered it from. They probably won't have a replacement unit in stock however...

Oh yes, and the speed readings got all messed up as well. When using the Suito's data, Sufferfest shows sometimes 300-400km/h (no, not a typo) speeds - it was working fine before.

Please note these are in m/s:
imestamp power(watts) speed(m/s) distance(m) cadence(rpm) heart_rate(bpm)
1/31/2021, 5:15:32 PM 99 53.287 423 89 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:33 PM 94 53.108 476 87 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:34 PM 97 52.93 529 87 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:35 PM 100 52.572 582 86 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:36 PM 99 52.17 634 86 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:37 PM 100 52.17 686 85 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:38 PM 101 51.723 738 85 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:39 PM 98 51.633 789 84 0
1/31/2021, 5:15:40 PM 103 51.946 841 85 0

raggedtrousers
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:29 pm

by raggedtrousers

Alg86 wrote:
Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:17 pm


Same here - bought it in October, last week it started sounding like a motorbike

It was all nice and relatively quiet at first, but last week suddenly, mid-ride some time after switching ERG off in Zwift, it became louder and started producing the same grindig sound and vibrations. It was like a flick of a switch, I thought someone started drilling in our house at first and then I realized it is the trainer. Now it is only bearable on the smallest gears , anything above ~36/18 is annoyingly loud, big ring almost unbearable.
Yep, exactly my experience.

On the plus side, after emailing Elite, I now have a reference number and have been told to get back to them if I've not heard from the UK distributor in a week.

Alg86
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:23 pm

by Alg86

To anyone having the same problem, or maybe someone whose Suito works fine can check:

If you turn the trainer upside down, you can see a shiny wheel (probably the tensioner) - do you guys see scratchmarks on its surface? Mine has a scratch running all the way around the middle - like something is grinding/rubbing against it and maybe it creates the noise. I do not want to disassemble it before I get an answer about the warranty though...

by Weenie


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