I’m sorry if I bother again with this kind of thread but I was about to set-up the room to ride during the IM World Championships and I decided I needed to be able to do the same ride as they do ! (Unfortunately I wasn’t able to qualify and do it on the Island ;o))
I want a good trainer with quite reliable power meter and one that simulate real slopes very well. I want to be able to ride the IM France bike-leg and feel the pain at the closest level to reality. Meaning that I need the VR with import from Garmin / Google Map /…
At the moment I have a Tacx Flow (bought 3 years ago) but I’m not sure it’s good enough !
I’m very interested in the Tacx Fortius because of the powerful motor brake apparently able to simulate climbs and descents! It’s been said that the power meter is quite reliable compared to SRM data (±2/3%). But one thing I don’t like the maneuverable VR steering frame so is it possible to deactivate it or what happens if you don’t use it?
The Bushido sounds nice but the brake seems to be less reactive and misses some power…
The Elite is apparently not reliable for the power meter ?
Or should I keep my Flow and get the Upgrade PC with tts 3.2 ?
Could you please share with me your knowledge on the different trainers ?
I had a Fortius, still have it but the motor blew. You can disable the steering, no problems. I did find it pretty accurate and the motor was powerful enough to provide a good climbing workout. It also does something few others do in that it makes things easier when going “downhill”. I only got about 5000KM of riding done before the motor went so take that into consideration. I have no idea how much a new motor is or how long the warranty is. I bought mine used but they guy I bought it from maybe put 250KM on it.
I’ve owned a couple of Tacx VR trainers, the fortius, and whatever the model before that was called (without the motor brake).
Nothing but problems, mostly involving the software and non-existent support from Tacx.
Visit the Tacx support forum online, and read all the complaints from over the past 10 years.
My honest advice - if you are looking for this type of trainer, buy one of the used computrainers being advertised on the slowtwitch forum. They just work.
I’ve owned a Tacx Bushido for 4 years. While it’s true that the software has a reputation for being buggy (I’m currently on V3), it does if fact provide a great overall indoor cycling experience. Sure the Computrainer does “just work,” but you’re dealing with much older and simple technology. Almost like comparing friction shifters to index. I would say that if you have some basic PC knowledge, don’t mind tinkering a bit with the software/hardware and want the leading edge indoor cycling experience then get Tacx. If you don’t mind older graphics, limited data analysis and don’t know a USB port from an ANT+ dongle, then get the Computrainer. I for one am very happy with my purchase and have no regrets.
I have the Tacx Fortius and use Tacx Trainer V3. (3.10 I think to be exact.) When Tacx first introduced their VR trainers, their software was buggy. However, not so much as the generally low-tech computers that people were trying to hook them to and the general lack of computer savvy by the users. I make this generalization based on hours of reading the Tacx Forums. The complaints were akin to people complaining about not being able to run Unreal Tournament on a 286. (For those that don’t know what that mean, I’m old…nevermind.) With the general improvements in computer graphics processors (drivin by the gaming industry) the average Staples bought computer will expertly run the Tacx software. The VR experience is quite good and the data obtained from ride telemetry is certainly curious and provides useful milestone measurement. My motor is 2 years old and I do most of my training outdoors. Anti-Potts, if you will. However, my winters are about 5 hours a week on the Tacx. I use the live video component for about 10% of that as I like to hit a target HR and pound that for my session. The motor is very cool when you are on a negative slope as it turns your wheel for you. If you, however, stop pedaling you get a warning and the motor stops so you can’t coast down Alp d’Huez. You have to pedal. Overall, I have had a great experience from my trainer. It does involve the odd tweak, update, failed update, reboot, eye roll and curse word from my velo-room but it’s a great trainer. The only thing that it is really missing is a good sampling of Ironman course videos. Nobody makes videos for the Tacx (please correct me if I’m wrong) other than Tacx and they are mostly grounded in Europe and roadbike-centric. Computrainer does have a better selection of videos from them and third party suppliers. I just have had good luck with my Tacx and bought it, really, before I knew anyone else was even in that horse race.
I’ve been reading a lot and the Fortius seems to be the one but I’m very interested in this new Wahoo Kickr indeed ! Do we know more about release date and price ? I need it for this winter and I can wait for a few weeks but if it’s like with Vector’s pedal from Garmin it’s going to make me very angry !
What do you think ? Has anyone tried at Interbike ? Can I take a race from my GarminConnect .gpx and use it on the Kickr (it seems that it can)?
I road it for a long time at interbike and eurobike. It’s nice
It’s an open platform, so an app will have to be used to do the stuff you want. Kinomap should do what you want to do, but I’d check with them. Just e-mail them and they will respond. Tell them I sent you :). You’ll also need an iPhone 4s+ or iPad 3+ to use it because of the Bluetooth smart requirements.
You should also be able to use an ANT dongle with older iOS devices by launch. Talk to Kinomap about support.
The release date they are aiming for is January 1. That’s in the US and the price is $999. Not sure what it’s going to be in europe, but they say availability will be soon after the US release.
Arrggghhh, now this is what I want but what a bad release date for a trainer ! The winter already started here… And I hope the release date will at least be respected unlike with Garmin and their Vector pedals !
Do they give more information somewhere ? Will it be available on Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 ? And we’ll have to buy programs such as Kinomap and yours I guess ?
Go ahead and wait. It won’t kill you. Besides, you said you already have a trainer anyway.
Now, if you didn’t have a trainer yet, then yes, your problem is more understandable. But since you just want something better than what you have now (rather than want something because you have nothing)…
There won’t be android support at first. I think wahoo is shipping a iOS app at launch. Others are making apps too, I’m sure some of them will be free(or close to it).