Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2009
- Posts
- 14,064
- Location
- France, Alsace
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
What other trainers should I be looking at in the £250-£450 ballpark? I'm after full smart resistance for control on Zwift/TR. Ideally ANT+ FE-C & BTLE compatible (future-proof), able to handle minimum of 800W (guessing 600W sprints?) and ideally over 5% elevation simulation (anything close to 10% or over would be a big plus). Vortex/Neo (or whatever Tacx one they're currently shifting) always seems to fit the bill, just they're so damn ugly in white and look flimsy...
EDIT: Can't 'justify' a full KICKR (other half said no) but equally if I did I couldn't justify then looking at PWM's next year...
I presume you've read the DCR article on the Kurt upgrades?
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/09/kinetic-smart-control-trainers.html
They aren't ANT+/FE-C:
They do support TR/Zwift via their own stack but if something else comes out and the developer doesn't bother providing support, you've locked yourself in.
As a Road Machine owner, I think I'd try to sell it and buy something that supports ANT+.
DCR should be doing his TT roundup soon so that might help with the buying decision.
Cold one this morning! Almost fully wintered up here, well I was 1 layer away from sub-zero'd up! Weather app said 3 degrees and Garmin reported 2.6 degrees after the short ride in - half of that in ground fog with frost showing on the fields so feeling colder. 
The only way informed buyers will 'choose' a very controlled and closed environment like that is when there are significant cost savings. The DCR comments section is amazing, a guy from KK ('Joel Stewart') responding to many of the disappointed comments explaining KK's stance on the whole thing. His arrogance annoying people and driving KK owners to other brands when they might have been swayed towards the upgrade with a more open and understanding response. Sounds like KK are quite a small unit and he is supposedly the only full time software developer. Although that does explain the rubbish Android support and half-hearted, half-working app when iOS has had at least 2 full featured & working apps. Which he admits to.
Bet you're still in summer jerseys in the south! Real hardmen!or just ride outside
Yeah I'd already mentioned that, to be honest it would have to be heavily discounted to make the upgrade a viable option.
The only way informed buyers will 'choose' a very controlled and closed environment like that is when there are significant cost savings. The DCR comments section is amazing, a guy from KK ('Joel Stewart') responding to many of the disappointed comments explaining KK's stance on the whole thing. His arrogance annoying people and driving KK owners to other brands when they might have been swayed towards the upgrade with a more open and understanding response. Sounds like KK are quite a small unit and he is supposedly the only full time software developer. Although that does explain the rubbish Android support and half-hearted, half-working app when iOS has had at least 2 full featured & working apps. Which he admits to.
Yup, can't wait! Although much of the 2015 guide still stands, with the Tacx Vortex Smart being still available and probably the trainer of choice. The colour is probably the only thing putting me off currently...
Last edited:
The ALDI base layer I bought is doing this - I've not even got a gut to excuse the top rolling up over my stomach - I'm quite slim, but yeah the base layer is doing exactly on me what your jersey is doing there.
I'm so glad I only spent £40 in there.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2009
- Posts
- 14,064
- Location
- France, Alsace
Still waiting for my gloves and overshoes, yet these arrived today when I only ordered them 2 days ago!
Hopefully be a bit more breathable and nice than a cotton standard tshirt that I drench.
Hopefully be a bit more breathable and nice than a cotton standard tshirt that I drench.
Bet you're still in summer jerseys in the south! Real hardmen!
Yeah I'd already mentioned that, to be honest it would have to be heavily discounted to make the upgrade a viable option.
Nope,
Short and Long sleeve cheap jersey with knee warmers! Oh and numb hands today. Need to dig out the thicker gloves as was only 4c according to Garmin.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2009
- Posts
- 14,064
- Location
- France, Alsace
Annoyingly I have 2 outstanding orders from Bike Discount that still haven't arrived. One from the 29th Sept and one from the 4th Oct, yet those underlayers arrived and I only ordered them on the 7th! Hmmm
Bet you're still in summer jerseys in the south! Real hardmen!
lol, no, I got a bit of a shock to the system flying from 30c + to 12c lol.
felt a bit chilly for a day or two haha.
but I'm in my norm winter wear -;
shorts
long sleeve baselayer
thin full finger gloves
and I'm toasty
Did Jon's short mix on Zwift last night but not enough time to do all the full final 10 minutes.
My FTP is set at 231 and once I'm comfortable on the turbo again I'll do another 20 minute test. I'm fully expecting my FTP to be around the 250W level (3W/kg).
The first two 1 minute efforts were 300W and found them doable, maybe slightly too easy. Although the following 10s spikes at 600W I couldn't hit the power target finding it too short a time period to ramp up to them from the 'starting' 150W. Any more torque (i.e. standing) introduced too much wheel slip - making me think my loosening of the trainer on sunday was a little too far...
Again this makes me think another important requirement in my turbo upgrade is to a self tension unit.
My FTP is set at 231 and once I'm comfortable on the turbo again I'll do another 20 minute test. I'm fully expecting my FTP to be around the 250W level (3W/kg).
The first two 1 minute efforts were 300W and found them doable, maybe slightly too easy. Although the following 10s spikes at 600W I couldn't hit the power target finding it too short a time period to ramp up to them from the 'starting' 150W. Any more torque (i.e. standing) introduced too much wheel slip - making me think my loosening of the trainer on sunday was a little too far...
Again this makes me think another important requirement in my turbo upgrade is to a self tension unit.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2009
- Posts
- 14,064
- Location
- France, Alsace
I never have slip issues and I'm not even on a trainer tyre. I find if you keep your cadence up it helps with the power. In 10s though, you just about hit the target and then it comes down again. You shouldn't need to stand really, well, I don't find it needed.
Get yourself a new trainer
Get yourself a new trainer
- Joined
- 16 May 2005
- Posts
- 31,297
- Location
- Manchester
If you have slip issues then it's purely down to you not tightening things enough.
If you're using the InRide it's really simple to tell if it's too tight or loose so I'm not really sure why this is even a concern. Do your warm up then do a calibration and adjust as it suggests. Once you've done it a few times you'll know how many revolutions of the tightening nut is in the right ball park. It doesn't need to be exactly the same every time as you're using a proper power meter rather than virtual power.
If you're using the InRide it's really simple to tell if it's too tight or loose so I'm not really sure why this is even a concern. Do your warm up then do a calibration and adjust as it suggests. Once you've done it a few times you'll know how many revolutions of the tightening nut is in the right ball park. It doesn't need to be exactly the same every time as you're using a proper power meter rather than virtual power.
The Zwift group rides give a good workout. Not done much the past 3 weeks for various reasons.
7 laps of London starting at 2w per kilo increasing every 2 laps up to 3.5w then up to full gas on the last lap, an hour in total.
I did the last 40 minutes at over 290w average. Had a bit of my dinner in my mouth on the last lap... I think the wind resistance calc still needs a bit of tweaking, at 45-50kmh it should be impossible for someone to ride away from a bunch.
7 laps of London starting at 2w per kilo increasing every 2 laps up to 3.5w then up to full gas on the last lap, an hour in total.
I did the last 40 minutes at over 290w average. Had a bit of my dinner in my mouth on the last lap...
I think the wind resistance calc still needs a bit of tweaking, at 45-50kmh it should be impossible for someone to ride away from a bunch.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2009
- Posts
- 14,064
- Location
- France, Alsace
*vom*
I aim to average 290w over 40 min
Just did 40min myself, working from home so didn't commute in. Get a 20k in this morning and 40min of intervals again tonight. Try and get that power up!
I aim to average 290w over 40 min
Just did 40min myself, working from home so didn't commute in. Get a 20k in this morning and 40min of intervals again tonight. Try and get that power up!
Belgian distribution!
Classic symptom of a jersey designed by a 'normal' clothing designer and not taking into account the riding position (i.e. designed around someone stood, not riding).
Entirely possible!
I've barely got the InRide working - finally got it to appear in kinetic.fit last night on the 2nd new battery (plumped for some 2 for £4 Duracells!) but no power readings in the app. It would link to Zwift's power data but when it did I had 5000rpm cadence and no power/speed being produced. I've no idea if the rolldown calibration is even integrated into the android app/Zwift or is it within the units firmware itself? Everywhere else talks about using TR, may have to reinstall it but no idea if I can use it for calibration without an active subscription.
Basically I'm getting the InRide showing but no data. Without a speed reading I'm not sure how it'll calibrate when I 'ride up to 23.1mph and spin down'. I'll try it tonight and maybe dig out my old iphone so I can use the kinetic app on iOS as it has all the features. Kinetic.fit on Android has NO configuration options. Failing that fingers crossed the replacement just works!?
