Donzo98 wrote:
RangerGress wrote:
I bought a Tacx Flow Smart last month. This weekend was the first real time on it. Really a nogo. I had bought into the marketing that in ERG mode it would follow TrainerRoad workouts with reasonably fidelity. But instead, it was all over the damned map. I tried to use my Quarq cranks to be the source of the power info and then TrainerRoad would be able to adjust the Tacx to meet the power #'s coming from the crank. Total fail. The amount of resistance in ERG mode varied hugely. It would not settle down for nothing. It was a complete fail.
So then I tried to do it again w/o the added complexity of the crank. I tried to get TrainerRoad to use the trainer's #'s to set power. That was another fail. TrainerRoad refused to calibrate the Tacx. So then I tried to use the Tacx Android app to run the trainer. The app refused to control it. The app could see it, but no control. Then I tried to get my Wahoo Elmnt to control the Tacx. That didn't work either.
The only thing that worked was using TrainerRoad to put the Tacx Flow Smart into Resistance mode like a dumb $100 trainer. What a complete waste of money. And, sadly, since I waited a month to actually try the darn thing, I probably can't send it back. No more smart trainers for me.
You're giving up based on one ride??
It's a great piece of equipment... have some patience to get it set up correctly.
2 rides. In the 2nd ride I spent 45min juggling variables and seeing how I could get the behavior to change. I tried 3 devices, a notebook, an Android phone, and a Wahoo Elmnt. I tried TrainerRoad, and the Tacx Android app, I tried BT and ANT+. What worked was erratic. Often I didn't even get that.
I'm an engineer and a computer geek. I figure that if it's this hard to get something to do what it's supposed to, then it's not ready for prime time.
Then the rear wheel--> adjuster assembly came apart. I was only barely "in the green" for "tension" per the Tacx app and the adjuster screw unthreaded. Lousy design.
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"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
Last edited by:
RangerGress: Oct 23, 17 6:14