Greg,

I have just bought an I-Magic, and so far so good, it removes the boredom, and with the catalyst software you can get some pretty good work outs. It has every thing I need for the winter and hopefully some good bike splits next year. Don't know what etc you get with computrainer, but I-Magic definately is worth looking at. Hope this helps.

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Remember, keep in touch with yourself!

Does it come with a spin scan to analyze your pedaling form? If it has the same stuff as the computrainer like a hrm and wattage based training but not the 3D graphics that is fine by me. I am really looking for something to motivate me this winter as I hate just turbo training and counting the sweat drops as they roll off me.

Greg,

It does not come with spin scan, but you can train with watts, HRM, slope etc. Using the graphics you can races different courses, with the power/slope being changed as you cycle the course. You measure speed, cadence, power and HRM during these rides. Using the catalyst software you can program training rides by varying power, slope or even HRM level. This is what sold it to me, means I can monitor my progress in detail, even carry out test to measure VO2 max, and HR threshold (although not as scientific as in a lab). The other advantage is that you can buy Nethalon software which enables lots of different courses to be cycled.

Looking at the difference in price between the two, I did not think that the etc money was worth it for the spin scan. Hope this helps.

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Remember, keep in touch with yourself!

CatWalk/Greg, check out the NetAthlon software (http://www.fitcentric.com/) too. I got a free demo CD of NetAthlon with my I-Magic, but ignored it initially until I was bored and tried it one day. Wow! The courses are much better than the I-Magic software, much more detailed, and the great bonus is that you can ride online with other NetAthlon owners via the internet. This really has to be experienced (I think you have about 7-14days free trial of NetAthlon and can try online riding with others). Last winter we had some fantastic online group rides each day, which really helps relieve the boredom.

Thanks. It sounds like the I magic will do the trick and save me some money.

Greg,

I haven't looked at the Tacx i magic, but I do have a computrainer. My big question would be can you calibrate the Tacx. If it has a RELIABLE claibration feature and good reproducibility then it is a much more valuable tool. I signed up with a coach last year who trains the bike by wattage. He was very critical of all the wattage tools except computrainer and SRM because of poor reliability in their wattage numbers. I asked about Tacx (due to pricing) and he stated that their lack of calibration was a significant problem. I honestly never looked further than that, because I also wanted spin scan etc.

I don't use the 3D stuff that much, except on longer rides and to replicate race courses, but I did use spinscan often. It helps make 1 hour rides indoors much easier to swallow. 15' warm up/30 min spin scan/ 15' cool down and I was done.

I'm not trying to sell you a CT but would check the calibration thing. I've always believed in spending that little/lot extra and getting good quality so that I never second guess the purchase.

Hope this helps

R.

There have been several discussions on the Topica Wattage newsgroups regarding how to calibrate the Tacx trainers. The procedure involves pumping your rear tire to 110PSI and adjusting the tire pressure roller in such a way that once the roller contacts the tire, continue to turn the roller 2 additional turns. Warm up the unit by riding for ~5 minutes, then perform a coast-down test. Using a slope value of 0, get the speed up to 25 mph and stop pedalling. The rear tire should take 10 seconds to coast to a stop. Adjust the tire pressure roller +/- a 1/2 turn or so until you get to a 10 second coast down.

Several folks on the forum who one a Tacx, as well as either a Powertap or SRM, verify that a Tacx calibrated in this fashion will yield very good wattage values, typically within ~ 5%. This was enough to convince me to purchase a Tacx last winter. I don't have the fancy I-magic software, yet I still find it to be a great training tool.

Hopes this helps.

I am a single father with shared custody of 2 young children living on the 2nd floor of an apartment building who would like to do early morning (5 am) trainer sessions without waking up the neighbors (Performance Fluid Trainer elicted complaints from the side and below). I would like to know which of the power measurement type trainers would be the quietest. I suspect that part of the problem with the Performance Trainer was that the front fork was locked into the unit transferring vibration through the multiple layers of padding that I layed down in a futile effort to mitigate noise. Any guidance in this area would be greatly appreciated.