any recomendations? what do most people use ?
thanks

Depends on your budget.

I got a Bkool one about a month ago as there was a good offer on them. Its a VR type one where you can ride real videos or 3D computer simulated rides and resistance automatically changes as you go up hills. You can also race against other people / computer bots or your own times.

Previously had a bog standard one with trainerroad and sufferfest videos which was ok, but still quite often felt a lack of motivation to use it.

With the new VR Bkool one, i’ve done 13 sessions on it in the last 4 weeks and actually look forward to it if i cant get out on the bike for a proper ride.

Bkool do a free 30 day trial. Downside is cost. They are about £400 for the new model although you can pay in installments. I got one of the old models as they were selling them off for £200 with a years subscription to the video service, but having used it for a month i think if i was buying now and there were no cheap older models available i’d go for the new one as it’d still be worth it for the use i’m getting from it and the ‘fun’ factor in using it compared to a bog standard trainer.

It doesnt work with trainerroad at the moment (not that i’m that bothred as the bkool simulator is very good), but trainerroad say they are working on it to get it up and running with their software.

thanks for your help , at moment using standard trainer and trainer road, but think its time to make the change.

meeeee, what are the monthly sub costs for the bkool program?
Am I right in thinking that it’s pretty useless without that?
Also, do you have any idea on minimum internet connection speeds?
Thanks!

I got the elite chrono fluid elastogel on the basis of nearly 1000 positive reviews on wiggle – does me fine for a simple 45 min session, along with this video. ctxc

My other recommendation is keep the rear tyre pumped up. I couldn’t understand why my performance over the last few sessions was falling away. It turns out the rear tyre was at 20psi. This morning’s session (at 80 psi) was quite a bit faster.

Not sure of monthly cost it’s all on their website though. Mine came with a year included , after that I **think** it’s about 7-8 quid, but they will roll over months that you don’t use it. At the moment without the sub it’s useless as it just has minimal resistance when it’s not doing a workout. When trainerroad get their link up sorted though you’ll be able to use them without a Bkool subscription.

If you buy new from bkool i think you get a year included, if you buy from a shop Eg wiggle I don’t think you get the subscription which is why their prices are lower.

I’m just on basic plusnet broadband and live in a rural area and can stream the videos in normal quality with spotify music streaming as well no problem. It struggles on high quality though so you might need faster broadband if that bothers you. Think my speed about is 5mbps. The 3d graphics option instead of video uses less broadband but my old laptop (10 year old) won’t run the 3d stuff. Have seen it working though and it’s pretty impressive on high detail level. Theres a setting to match real weather, so if it’s raining, snowing or dark where you are doing the route (route location, not your location) then that’s the weather it shows on the screen. Halloween weekend had rides with gravestones, pumpkins and ghostly spectators as the scenery!

If you lose connection or the video freezes, just keep pedalling, all your power output / speed / cadence / time etc will still be showing live on the screen, and will upload ok to the Bkool website when you finish. Mine only stopped when I tried a ride on high quality video, kept jumping all the time but I just rode it anyway as it was my first league ride and wasn’t sure if you could have another attempt (which you can)

Thanks.

I’ve just bought an Elite Muin, as it was the cheapest direct drive I could get, meaning I can have warm ups no matter what the weather. Just pop the rear wheel out, fasten bike to trainer and start riding, no slipping and skidding.

I got the new Bkool when it was hot off the press. Love it.

You can pay per month 8 Euro or at a discounted annual rate.

I run mine on a MacBook Pro.

I have flaky, rural, broadband but I have only been unable to log in once (their servers were down) and only very occasionally does it drop out.

I have synched my account with Strava so when I download data, it is copied over to Bkool automatically. Your data is then made available to everyone else as a 3D route. MTB routes are far easier on the turbo! What took me an hour and a half in the week, took about 42 minutes over the w/e.

The basic old unit is £169 now iirc.

They have done a lot of work to game-ify the whole experience and it works very nicely. Well worth the dosh.

I just bought an Elite fluid trainer last week from Wiggle. Pretty quiet and feels good.

My Powerbeam just broke, so I’ve ‘gone back’ to a normal Turbo.

Can’t wait for it to be sorted.

TT is so hard for me, unless it’s VR.

If you fancy a Bkool trainer keep looking on their Facebook page as this is where they tend to post the special offers.

I got the elite chrono fluid elastogel on the basis of nearly 1000 positive reviews on wiggle

+1

I have this too – fine for me – be aware you have to buy, additionally, the cadence & speed sensor and dongle to hook up to trainer-road if you wanted that data…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/elite-crono-fluid-elastogel-trainer/

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/2015-2016trainer-recommendations.html

Best guide around in my opinion

The feel of the turbo makes a big difference to me. It was only when I got one I liked that I could do a lot of my training indoors.
So purely from that point of view the Lemond Revolution is considered the best, followed by the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine/Rock and Roll.
The DC Rainmaker guides are awesome, but he does not dwell much on the feel of the machine. Maybe some people notice it less, but for me it was a bit of a revelation when I changed from an old mag trainer to the Kurt Kinetic.

i’ve just bought some Tacx rollers and an ant+ dongle to hook up with my speed/cadence sensor and then use Zwift for the VR element

i’ve just bought some Tacx rollers and an ant+ dongle to hook up with my speed/cadence sensor and then use Zwift for the VR element

How are you finding it? Did you get a smart trainer?

What is the score with using 3rd party ANT+ sensors with the Bkool trainer. I am about to buy a Garmin 520 for use out and about and was going to get the bundle with speed/cadence and HR monitor. Am also keen to invest in a\ trainer and the Bkool one seems to be coming up top of the list. However, this would be a much easier decision if I was able to save the £55 for the Bkool sensors and be able to use the trainer with the Garmin ones.

Anyone?

Yeah my garmin speed and cadence sensor works with the Bkool simulator. Garmin HR works as well.

Cheers meeeee