Looking at a smart turbo upgrade to join in on the Zwift bandwagon, it just might be that kick I need for the dark winter nights and the weekends on call when I shouldn’t really be leaving the house for long periods of time.

Used a non-smart Tacx and it was pretty reliable but seen a few reliability things with their Smart stuff. Firmware upgrade issues and bricked systems seems a little more common than I’d expect.

Was looking at the Vortex or Bushido. Vortex was a more comfortable price for the wallet but the Bushido seemed to do cadence and steeper gradient.

Wondered if Elite or BKool trainers were a suitable alternative or if they’re all as good or bad as each other and it’s a case of pick your features and price and go with the one that fits?

Already have a suitable laptop, somewhere to ride where I can see the screen and a Garmin ANT+ USB, are there any hidden costs or requirements above trainer and the Zwift sub?

I have a bkool… can’t speak for the others but I’m very happy with my purchase. I use it equally with Sufferfest videos (no smart feedback), Zwift (feels “real”) and their own software (again, “real”).

I bought the trainer, already had an ANT+ stick (Mine is an old suunto one) and the rest is pretty straightforward.

I’ve been using an Elite Qubo Digital smart B FE-C for a couple of weeks as I recover from a knee injury. Not used it with zwift (as they don’t do android or linux) but it’s worked very nicely with trainer road.

One of the guys on another forum has a used Bushido for sale, i think it was £350 if you’re interested ? I can find out more details.

My Vortex ended up going back, so can’t recommend them myself. I ended up going for a refurbed Kickr direct from Wahoo. They currently have refurbed basic Kickr Snap for £399 and Kickr at £649. http://uk.wahoofitness.com/devices?sport=26

I used a Tacx Vortex for a weeks, as a mate lent me his. It worked quite nicely, but I found that as the max gradient was +/- 7%, on Zwift there were large areas where it was left to estimate effort/speed. Max power tops out around 950W. I ended up with a Bkool Pro, which ramps up to 20% and 1200W so allows more accurate riding. It also comes with the ant+ dongle, so makes getting up and running very simple. I’ve not bothered with a USB extension cable, and the dongle works fine plugged into my Macbook.

There is quite a lot of flex in the Bkool trainer, which takes a bit of getting used to. It does mean that the bike moves around a fair bit. It’s also really quiet – much quieter than the Tacx.

Hi Tenacious – came off MTB-ing onto road recently to avoid all the wet & mud etc & managed to come off on the road on Sunday (diesel ?) breaking my collarbone so I’m looking for some cycling in the virtual world for a few months on a turbo.
After much research I’ve gone for a re-furbed Kickr mk1 as per your posting above. Looks a good deal – BUT have u bought one? And what might the import / VAT be? I hope it’ll still be good deal…….. fingers crossed!

+1 for the Elite Qubo Digital Smart B.

If you buy a Bkool on there monthly payment plan you will not be able to use it fully on third party systems (any system other than bkool) until you have fully paid of the trainer.

I have had a Bkool for a little over a year. I had a Tacx iMagic before that.

I really like the Bkool (well, as much as you can like a turbo trainer). I tend to do sessions of one to one and a half hours on it, something I could never have put up with on the Tacx, though I tried.

The sheer number of courses is great. You can try a lot of the iconic road climbs if you are that way inclined, plus a lot of people’s local loops. There are mtb routes too but IME they seem mainly to be more like fire road/gravel.

The resistance on the Bkool can come as quite a shock, especially if you hit 18% ramps!

I have used it a fair amount recently (too cold outside for a ‘weak’ chest) and have been watching my HR drop while there has been a corresponding increase in power.

I’d thoroughly recommend it. You get plenty of bang for your buck.

After much research I’ve gone for a re-furbed Kickr mk1 as per your posting above. Looks a good deal – BUT have u bought one? And what might the import / VAT be? I hope it’ll still be good deal…….. fingers crossed!

Yes I have had it a couple of months. It’s coming from within the EU so no import charges at all.

GavinB – Member

I used a Tacx Vortex for a weeks, as a mate lent me his. It worked quite nicely, but I found that as the max gradient was +/- 7%, on Zwift there were large areas where it was left to estimate effort/speed

This is why there’s the smart trainer setting in Zwift – called Trainer Difficulty I think.
As I understand it, If it’s set to 100% then it will replicate a 7% gradient directly.
If it’s set to 50%, then a 7% gradient will be replicated at 3.5%.

Fiddling with this setting doesn’t alter the power reading coming out of the device though, just what the resistance feels like.
I think this is to allow trainers that don’t go up to high % gradient levels to still work within Zwift.

I bought a Tacx Flow Smart, but my experience so far hasn’t filled me with confidence – sealed boxes with incomplete parts inside and 2 bricked units when attempting to do a firmware update on them. Eventually Tacx sent me an updated unit directly, but I am not sure where this leaves me if I need to do a firmware update myself.

Now I’ve got a working unit, it seems to work well but I am a bit concerned about long term reliability & what to do if I need to do a firmware update in the future.
I bought the Flow Smart for the obvious budgetary reason. It was a bit of an unnecessary extravagance, although I am pleased that I bought it – it does make Zwift rides more realistic than sticking my old ‘dumb’ trainer on one resistance setting and churning away.

I like the look of the BKool Smart Go, which seems good value for around £320. It doesn’t seem to be supported by Zwift yet though, so obviously not a great choice yet.
I imagine they’ll add compatibility for this trainer at some point in the future.

It doesn’t seem to be supported by Zwift yet though, so obviously not a great choice yet.

I wonder if this is a case of not having gotten around to it yet as it’s new, or deliberate as the BKool software is in direct competition with Zwift!

I’ve only used a Tacx Neo, it’s awesome but I can’t compare to other smart trainers. Currently discounted to £884 on back-order on Amazon with a delivery time of 1-3 months. DO NOT consider one of the cheaper ones on Amazon via 3rd party sellers, definitely dodgy.

I like the look of the BKool Smart Go, which seems good value for around £320. It doesn’t seem to be supported by Zwift yet though, so obviously not a great choice yet.

It’s fine, I’ve had my bkool for a month and have no problems with Zwift. The unit transmits power and speed (I think it may do estimated cadence but I have a cadence sensor) so the zwift software can pick it up via BT or ANT+ without any drama.

Ended up with the Wahoo Kickr Snap.

DC Rainmaker roundup below kind of swung it after the comments above, and then remembering the 10% British Cycling discount with CRC.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/10/annual-winter-2016-2017-bike-smart-trainer-recommendations.html.

Build quality seems good, feels more stable than my old Tacx ever was and no fiddling to put it together.

Picked up on the Wahoo Setup App on Android, ran the Advanced Spindown without a problem. Firmware was upto date so didn’t have to do that bit.

All seemed to just work without any fuss, did a quick test ride with Zwift and it’s quite impressive, resistance changes really do feel oddly unexpected. Used the Garmin ANT+ and the Kickr and HR Strap picked up immediately. Only did a short two miles on the London course but even that felt better than any turbo session I’ve done before. Off for a proper ride later tonight.

Cheers Tanacious – on its way from the Netherlands! No VAT / import (at the mo!) and cheaper to send it back if it goes wrong. Perhaps I wasn’t too rash after all. Thanks.

Picked up the Elite Roteo from Decathlon.
Works perfectly as far as I’m concerned, no messing with another wheel, direct drive, etc.

Decathlon

hammy – that doesn’t have fe-c from memory, so no interactive resistance from Zwift etc… is that right?

not fully smart but then its also mahoosively cheaper than anything else in its class.
Especially from Decathlon – £100+ less than on eBay