A direct drive trainer has much more realistic resistance patterns so inherently it will train the muscles better, especially against virtual gradients and the like. Wheel ons put resistance through the dead spot in the stroke for example. Since resistance is being applied directly to the drivetrain and not to a small part of the wheel, it generally feels a lot better and force production is more direct

You can instantly feel the difference once you get on a direct drive trainer. I use my cycleops fluid2 to warmup before rides, but i'd never use it to train anymore after having a Neo. The difference is just too profound

You also get more feedback from the resistance algorithms in virtual programs, such as gradients, drafting, road type, etc. A direct drive trainer will completely change how you experience a virtual game, there's no real argument there

---

Strava

 
Nothing wrong with the vortex, but it just has it's limitations.

The tacx vortex only 'estimates' power based on roller speed and is by no means accurate. At steady state, the vortex estimate of power can be close, but is way off under acceleration (or deceleration). In Zwift, this will mean it will be harder to register 'jumps' in power (think sprints, breakaways, etc.) since the change in roller speed lags behind power. Similarly, drafting seems to be a little more 'finicky' as a result.

If you do have another power meter, pairing that power meter in Zwift and your virtual riding experience should be a little better.

I briefly owned a Wahoo Kickr wheel on trainer. It was "ok". It was louder than my direct drive Kickr and also a wheel on you deal with needing to have a spare wheel with a junk tire (or swapping an old tire on and off all the time) to use it.

To me, if you're in really low budget territory.........nothing wrong with going wheel on. But if you're going to spend $500 on a wheel on, I'd save up and get a direct drive on sale instead.

What's your budget? Personally I'd buy a refurbished or used direct drive over a brand-new wheel-on.

Try and increase your budget to buy a direct drive If you're going to ride indoors 3X per week or more, and want consistent/accurate ERG training.

If you're just going to occasionally ride indoors then a wheel-on is fine. The wheel-on is much higher maintenance as you have to make sure the tire pressure is the same each ride; the tire slips a lot; sometimes the tire goes flat! it's louder, road feel is meh... and most wheel-on trainers don't have ERG ability. And ERG was a game-changer for me personally.

I don't know much about the Tacx Vortex, but I just upgraded from a Powersync (wheel on smart trainer) to a Tacx Neo 2T. The Neo is a noticeably nicer trainer. It feels more solid because of how the bike attaches, has a few additional features and it's more accurate. Every wheel on smart trainer I've ever ridden has read 10-25 watts high.

I bet you'll think it's worth the money because you'll have a better trainer, but I'm not sure it will transform your experience. You'll be doing the same thing you were doing before, just on a nicer trainer.

Do you have a trainer tire? I've never gotten much wheel slippage with a trainer tire, unless it was getting worn out.

For me it is worth the money upgrading from a Cycleops to a Wahoo Kickr. Zwift and Traineroad was a much better experience. The difference wasn't like Dorothy waking up in Oz; but it's like going from a blackberry to an iPhone.

I can’t speak to the virtual experience yet as I haven’t tried on zwift yet but so far I’m underwhelmed by the direct drive experience. My jet fluid pro feeling was great. So far, I’m regretting the upgrade. But obviously that depends on what old school trainer you have. Mine was flawless and the ride quality was great.

I went from a magnus to a hammer. It was definitely a better feel but the magnus wasn’t bad.
It comes down to budget really.

For me the biggest difference was the fact that you can't really sprint well on a wheel-on trainer. As mentioned, it underestimates your power as you accelerate so you can't jump hard; and there is the tire slippage issue.

I had a wheel on trainer with a trainer tire and it was fine for training rides around Watopia, but useless for racing. Upgrading to a direct drive (Saris H1 in my case, for $530 on sale) was well worth it.

---

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

The biggest thing for me is I just walk up to the trainer, get on and spin. I don't have to tighten a rear tensioner, I don't have to pump up a tire, I don't have to change a flat (happens), I don't have to shift gears. It's the difference between a cheap motel and a luxury hotel. You don't need it, but damn it's nice.

---

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

I agree with this. I race on Zwift using either a Bkool or Tacx Flow (using crank based power meters for power) which are both wheel on, and you're pretty much maxed out at 800w. Means that my sprint tactic is just to wind it up to 800w and hang on (sometimes works!), but I'm not too bothered about Zwift race results so am happy to concede. PB max sprint power outside is a couple of watts shy of 1600w. We did have a Flux in our bike fit studio but it was really bad so swapped it to the Flow, I imagine a Neo or Kickr would be much better.

---

AeroCoach UK
http://www.aero-coach.co.uk

Direct mount trainers are belt-drive, except for the Neo which is direct drive.

Belt drive is generally much quieter than wheel-on and less hassle to calibrate.

Wheel-on do require calibration almost every time and you do have to worry about wheel slippage, maintaining tire pressure and keeping roller and tire clean.

I haven't noticed any difference in ride feel as long as they are set up ok. My cycleops fluid 2 has a better feel than any of the smart trainers I've used.

A larger flywheel certainly helps with sprinting efforts - that's the only difference I've noticed.

Direct mount trainers are more mechanically complex and break down more often. Need some maintenance. Can't see any lasting as long as a computrainer. The 1st gen kickrs had many problems and the 2018 kickrs had a rash of electrical defects. Have several friends with kickr cores that love them.

It appears that the main players have got their acts together and the latest models are much better across all manufacturers.

Just wanted to say thanks all, some very helpful information there.

Cheers

---

Vanity Blog http://triathlonfoolishness.blogspot.com/

From a cost perspective Zwift is $180/year and you are paying that irrespective of the trainer you use. Therefore I like to normalize training setups as trainer+software+fans etc. so when you start talking about price vs performance differences you get the full picture. If you assumes a 5 year usage window for example you will be spending $900 on Zwift so if a trainer makes the experience 20% better that is worth at least $180.

In my experience the additional cost of entry level direct drive trainers vs wheel on trainers is more than worth it if you are using Zwift, trainer road etc (and I currently have a Flux). You get enough additional bang for buck out of the software you are already paying for the money to make sense. I also think upgrading to a direct drive from a wheel on trainer makes sense IF you don't have a power meter, aren't planning on buying one but are looking to do serious training. Estimated power is very inconsistent and this inconsistency reduces its value of using the information for training. If you don't have a power meter that is actually where I would put my money first as with a power meter the vortex is a really solid set-up. Only when the vortex dies would I be looking to replace it with a direct drive trainer.

The above aligns with what I have heard from a ton of people. In general people don't regret buying a direct drive trainer when they are the in market for a new trainer. At the same time people who ride with power and upgrade from perfectly functional wheel on systems to direct drive trainers often note limited additional benefit. This speaks to why is so difficult to quantify whether its worth the money. The transformation you experience is dependent on your starting point and whether you see it as spending $200 above a $1300 spend (because you were going to spend $900 on Zwift and $400 on wheel on trainer anyway) or if its a $600 spend over a perfectly functional system.

Have never done Zwift


Started using a turbo trainer over 35 years ago

Have done wheel on

Direct drive

Rollers

Over 50,000 on each

Meh not a huge difference to me between wheel on and wheel off to me

Rollers of course whew that is an experience lol

You don't have to shift gears on a direct drive trainer?

---

Mike Sparks


I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Not if you use ERG.

---

Strava

How's that different than using ERG with a wheel-on trainer? I'm pretty sure that I can use ERG mode with my Zwift, CompuTrainer, Assioma combo, although admittedly I've never tried. I'm thinking about getting a direct drive, but I too am wondering what benefits I'd see over my current setup.

---

Mike Sparks


I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Thanks for that it's a really helpful summary.

I think I'll stick with the vortex for a while.

I think you may need to ask someone with good background in all types such as DC Rainmaker, GP Lama or such as they have far more experience than the average person. In reading the comments above there appears to be some misinformation and that may be adding nothing more than noise to your quest for info. Both aforementioned persons frequent slowtwitch from time to time and answer questions.