I must be stupid, but I found a nearly new CompuTrainer locally at a pretty good price ($900) and think I’m going to pull the trigger. For those of you who have made the plunge, is calibration an issue? How often do you have to do it? Is it a pain?
Thanks.
calibration is not really an issue. you have to do it every time but essentially you just need to warm up the unit by spinning for 10-15 minutes (what you would have to do anyway before a workout), and then calibrate it. It is a pain to have to do it every time but not a big deal. It really is just pressing a couple buttons. Takes a couple seconds.
I calibrate my CT everytime before I ride. It takes about 5 minutes of easy spinning, ramp it up to 25 mph, let it wind down, press the button and then it is set. I think the main objective is to warm up the system and tire so that it can adjust for how tight the wheel is against the roller. $900 seems pretty good. I have had mine since 2000 and it is still going strong. THe only issue is that I have had to replace the HR ear clip sensor. It gets a decent amount of use. I don’t regret that money spent even a little.
Bernie
“about 5 minutes of easy spinning”
if you want more reliable results I would go with more than just “easy spinning” and ramp it up to 10minutes. You need to give the unit a good warm up and 5 minutes of easy spinning doesn’t do it. At least not for mine.
is calibration an issue? How often do you have to do it? Is it a pain?
The previous posters talked about calibration due to tire pressure and press-on force on the roller (which you do everytime you ride the CT). There is also the internal calibration of the load generator so that it is accurate. If I were to buy a used one, it might be worth it to send the load generator back to Racermate for a calibration.
A training studio where I go, send back all units once a year for recalibration. Mind you, these units work 30 hours per week at high wattage. I have two units at home which we have been using for 6 years and have not needed calibration. The best thing to do, if you have access to a power tap or SRM, you can easily check the computrainer accuracy. It might be very accurate and may not need any calibration.
Keep in mind that the CT calibration number (for tire pressure and press-on force) should be set close to 3.00, which is the number at which units are calibrated in the lab. For the best possible reapeatability, try to use the same tire pressure (and tire) and calibrate close to 3.00.
Hope this help.
Francois in Montreal
I thought the calibration should be set to 2.0…am I wrong or did you mistype the number?
Dave
I thought the calibration should be set to 2.0…am I wrong or did you mistype the number?
3.0 should be the number for best possible accuracy. At anything lower than 2, you might get slippage going up steep incline at hugh wattage and low cadence.
Francois in Montreal
racermate says that number can be anywhere in the range 2.0-4.0. there is no particular value that is “right”. note, however, that whatever value you use should probably be used consistently if you want to compare workouts.