goes into erg mode in training sessions, where it requires 200w for 5 mins, that what it sits at

good vid on GPLama – lots of good vids here for newbies to Zwift as well,

Thanks.  It wasn’t in erg mode it was following the Zwift terrain.  I’ve now discovered that the Workouts (fed to Zwift by TodaysPlan in my case) have a button to click if you want to engage erg mode.

I’m thinking that for my holding 200w / Z2 for an hour it’d be good, but for 1 min at max watts attempts type intervals it’d be horrible as my legs start to give out after 40s have passed…

Fot the Winters days where weather / ice prevents me being on the road it’ll be erg mode off for a ride sim.

Tempted to put my 4iii on today and see how the numbers compare as I’ve a generic ride to do and am time limited.

Pretty much what I’ll be doing, erg for intervals (5 minutes etc) but switching it off for the shorter VO2 later on and free rides on FulGaz when I can’t get out 👍

FFS.  Just completed 2hrs Surrey Hills.  I do have a cold and am hungover / went to bed tipsy at 1am but still that felt bloody hard, I’m sure it was as harder than on the road.

I stuck my 4iiii on and used my Elmnt Bolt to keep and eye on its output vs the tacx.  There were moments it was dead equal, than over 200w things seemed to be awry.  200w shown on Zwift via Tacx was 225 on the Bolt.   Some swapping around of readings show even a 4iiii vs 4iiii disparatey, so I’m guessing the bolts arithmics are different to Zwift.   So I ended up – knowing my HR should be at 130bpm 200w yet with an elevated HR of 146 due to the cold – swapping PM’s on Keith’s Hill.  I noted at 200w my HR was the same regardless of PM, so I just think its the regularity of the Bolts readout is different.

Glad I got past the dreaded “1 hour test” on the Tacx meaning I don’t have one of the early fault belt drives.

Did a one hour trainer road session on mine last night. Very impressed with the smoothness and also how quickly it altered the power, the change appeared almost instantaneous. Went from 100 Watts to 250 then a smooth 30 second ramp up to just over 300w that followed the TR profile perfectly. All my intervals were bang on the required power output using erg mode and the flywheel kept things smooth.

Only downside was a strange chemical smell which I am assuming is grease or oil used in manufacturer dissipating due to the heat (it got very warm)

overall impressed so far

Likewise ^^

I wasn’t particularly smooth yesterday but did a mid Z2 ride.  I noticed my Flux was adjusting constantly to my terrible technique moving +/- 5w either side of target before it caught up but over a duration of 1:05 (excluding warm up / cool down either side) the post interval average is exactly on target.  I did have a “play” but slowing / speeding up my cadence to see how it reacted for shits & giggles.

Erg mode being all good for these longer intervals.

So what’s the verdict on the Flux?

Worth the money?

Very impressed with the smoothness and also how quickly it altered the power, the change appeared almost instantaneous.

Fwiw, you want some sort of lag between low and high power efforts or it’s like hitting a wall when the higher effort kicks in.

I noticed my Flux was adjusting constantly to my terrible technique moving +/- 5w either side of target before it caught up but over a duration of 1:05 (excluding warm up / cool down either side) the post interval average is exactly on target.

That’s just normal. You can’t produce on the nail power, it’s always going to fluctuate. Some trainers use smoothing software to disguise it, but underneath it all, everyone’s power jumps around.

The main thing to remember is be smooth and maintain your cadence. The trainer will apply the load at whatever rpm your spinning at. If you go over your planned limit it will ease off. So if your within a few watts of the target your ok. Dont stress to be spot on its almost impossible to achieve. On big sharp increases – increase your power smoothly and quickly but try not to overshoot as the trainer – then you will try and compensate to bring you under the set power.

Fwiw, you want some sort of lag between low and high power efforts or it’s like hitting a wall when the higher effort kicks in.

i get that, but with a lot of structured interval sessions you are jumping significantly between wattages and it may be over short periods, for example you could be in a 10 minute block at 320w that has a number of 5-10 second intervals at 700w. With some trainers by the time they have caught up the interval is over.

So what’s the verdict on the Flux?

Worth the money?

so far yes, it’s a much better experience over a normal wheel on turbo, and even a cheaper smart turbo. I don’t know if I would pay £450 for one though but I’m happy with a £360 outlay so far

I noticed my Flux was adjusting constantly to my terrible technique moving +/- 5w either side of target before it caught up but over a duration of 1:05 (excluding warm up / cool down either

the turbo manufacturers tend to design more smoothing into their numbers, it’s basically a lie to make you look smoother than you are. If you compare with your PM the headline number will be similar but you’ll see way more variation.

In terms of training benefit it’s largely irrelevant, but it’s nice to look at a smooth graph so there’s a psychological upside to it

i get that, but with a lot of structured interval sessions you are jumping significantly between wattages and it may be over short periods, for example you could be in a 10 minute block at 320w that has a number of 5-10 second intervals at 700w. With some trainers by the time they have caught up the interval is over.

Yep, there’s a kind of optimal transition time, where you have just enough gradation to hit the target, but not so much that you  end up losing the benefit of the interval. The Kickr seems pretty good.

The Sufferfest has a useful article which breaks down smart trainers into, I think, three bands – basic, medium, advanced, or words to that effect – and lists which of their workouts each can handle in ERG mode.

Mostly the top-end trainers can handle all of them, bar some of the really short, sharp, sprint ones when you have to use slope mode.

So what’s the verdict on the Flux?

Worth the money?

IMO, definitely worth the £405 from Halfords.  ERG mode will keep me very honest where needed so I’ll be getting more out of those, but principally – and this comment just on Smart Trainers – I found that my two hour Zwift was of a higher benefit in that becuase the hills felt more “real”, my brain/pedaling adjusted accordingly to the slope changes which I can only think is an added overall benefit to training – its very different to steady state trainers.

For me, the key thing about these smart trainers is that they only have a demonstrable benefit when used regularly and in conjunction with a training app like trainerroad, zwift, sufferfest etc. so you need to add in your subscriptions costs to work out if the overall cost is worth it.