Looking to upgrade trusty sattori. Want power and potentially some form of online “entertainment” something along the lines of vr or racing others I’ve read snippets about. Ideally direct drive too. Anyone tried top end turbos out and point me in the right direction?

(Is their someway of trying before you buy?)

I’ve used Elite RealPower and RealAxiom trainers over the last few years, there is racing online but no VR stuff.

I’d get one of these now:

http://www.elite-real.com/en/products/real-turbo-muin

Have you checked out DC Rainmakers website? A wealth of information available there.
I did a whole lot of research recently and I concluded that the KickR was the go-to trainer but it was still too much for my budget but if the cost doesn’t phase you…
I believe Wahoo have recently released a cheaper model which requires the rear wheel to be in situ.

For me, whatever I bought had to support Ant+ FE-C standards (basically an open communication protocol which means you don’t get locked into the manufacturers software). You should be OK with Wahoo but be careful if you choose a different manufacturer.

FWIW, I ended up buying a Tacx Vector Smart purely because Tacx have recently done a firmware upgrade and it now supports Ant+ FE-C.

Elite are intending to introduce some new trainers which also support Ant+ FE-C, though reading between the lines on Rainmakers website suggess they’ve been promising this for a long while without actually delivering…

BTW: I only bought the Tacx last Saturday and have been away on business so I haven’t actually used it yet so my comments don’t constitute a recommendation (yet….)

The Kickr is a great bit of kit, connect it to TrainerRoad or Zwift and you’ll be flying come next season.

Check out the Tacx Neo coming soon. Like the look of it. Can use it with all the same apps as the Kickr.

Quite fancy a direct drive one like the Neo or the Kickr but use a powertap for power on the turbo so would need some other solution which just makes it all too expensive. I’ll probably go for one of the new Tacx Smart trainers.

Quite a few kickr owners on here if you google past threads.

The Neo is very expensive, but Tacx seem to be claiming 2% accuracy in power measurement. If that is true, then it doesn’t require an independent power measurement system. The really interesting thing about the Neo is the silent running. My existing turbo disturbs people even when I’m using it in the garage.

Is it still a virtual power based on “wheel” speed though and not using strain gauges? Much prefer a proper PM as you llose a lot of the peaks and troughs of power data when using wheel speed.

As for noise, I can’t really hear my wheel drive mag turbo over the two 18″ fans I need to keep cool 🙂 So a silent turbo for me would make bugger all difference to the noise levels. The only one I’ve heard that is ridiculously loud is the Lemond one, had someone warming up on one next to me a while back and it was like a jet engine starting up. Ridiculously loud.

I bought a kickr a couple of months ago and i’ve found no reason not to recommend it. it’s stable, quiet, seems consistent in its calculations and the real revelation is the transition between levels is so smooth that it’s often difficult to notice a 20-30 watt jump in effort until you feel your breathing getting heavier and see the heart rate creeping up.

Don’t ignore the Bkool. I have had mine a year now and really love it. The up tight reviews sniff at it as not being a ‘serious trainer for top level fitness’ whatever that means. It is fun, it hurts a lot, it is way better than my iMagic, and I keep coming back for more (pain).

It has all the racing options you can want from live racing, racing bots and historic rides and they have managed to game-ify turbo training. They have just introduced live track racing options to help with your speed work. I haven’t tried it yet but it is on the schedule for those dark evenings ahead.

Apparently there are over 500k rides online to choose from but I haven’t counted. You can create your own rides for general consumption too, if that works for you.

Downsides – once your initial premium subscription runs out (I think I got 3 months free) you have to pay on an annual or month by month basis. I think it is 8 euro a month.

Does it make me fitter? People notice the difference when I have been using it so yes.

I think they do a try before you buy thing too, plus you an pay over a year.

There’s the wahoo snap that’s out sometime soon that’s cheaper than the kickr, but I went for the Tacx Bushido as they’ve just opened it up. I found pairing it with an iPad through trainer road resulted in a lot of dropped connections whereas paired with a laptop and the ant+ key on an extension cord while importing Sufferfest videos works very well.

slight thread hijack, sorry!

Slowjo –

Don’t ignore the Bkool. I have had mine a year now and really love it.

which model have you got? I’m just looking at the Bkool ones after i got an email offer for the Classic model. Think this is being discontinued but at £210 its way cheaper than the pro model and there doesnt seem to be much difference apart from the pro is slightly quieter and has the slide out supports

I don’t know how the Neo produces its power measurement. I’m guessing they calculate it from the electromechanical work done when you pedal the trainer. That’s not accurate at all on existing Tacx trainers, but perhaps they can do it properly on direct drive without the variables of a wheel on a roller. I’m interested to see the results of some proper testing, anyway.

I run a big fan, and the vibration and noise from my old Tacx metal roller mag turbo is a lot louder, and travels right through the wall and into the house. I watched the DC Rainmaker Kickr vs Neo sound test, and the Kickr also sounded quite noisy.

Wahoo snap… 650 quid?! Given what Tacx and Elite are doing at less than 450 with comparable features the price just looks silly.

Another happy Kickr user here, however the Neo does look good.

Using my Kickr along with a Rotor crank based power meter now. The Kickr read a bit lower than the Rotor so now I use that for road and Tubo.

Trainer road works !!!!!

Bazzer, do you use the trainerroad feature to have the PM power control the Kickr resistance? Works well?

@meeeee

I have the Pro version. I have ridden it by mistake with the supports in, and it is a bit rockier than I’d like, but nothing you can’t cope with.

Noise….I have my music turned up to the max level anyway, so I can’t hear any noise! o)

Someone said the transition from level to climbing is smoother with the pro but at £210 I could live with it. I tried a classic when it was the only one available. It was way better than my iMagic which felt wooden when the ‘road’ tipped up.