What I think I know about Trainers, Fall 2018
09-24-18, 03:02 PM
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What I think I know about Trainers, Fall 2018
Have been trying to figure out which indoor trainer would be a good buy, and wound up going deep down a rabbit hole.
Wheel on or off?
FET, ANT, Bluetooth?
Tacx, Wahoo, CycleOps, Kinetic?
$550? $900? $1,200? (Peloton, you sick people, at $2,200 plus $40/month, why don't I just get addicted to drugs?)
Zwift? TrainerRoad? Dropping acid and looking out the window?
I am listing my conclusions because I'm not 100% confident in them - if I'm off-base or out of touch, I'm hoping someone here with more experience might weigh in.
Wheel definitely OFF for me. Reason: apparently, the wheel-on flavor requires very frequent re-calibration, and in many cases, 10 minute warm ups on almost every ride. Deal breaker for me. Also seeing that direct-drive apparently has better feel and reliability.
Which means: $1,200. Yeah, so the $900 direct-drive options (Tacx Flux, Kinetic Direto, CycleOps Hammer) have enough sober-sounding negative online reviews that I see them as lacking durability and overall quality. Apparently one needs to step up to $1,200 (Kickr, Neo, etc.) to get a bulletproof solution.
Tacx doesn't have a good reputation for customer contact and support. Wahoo does.
Definitely going to be a Zwift person. I'm old, fat, very non-competitive, and couldn't give two ****s about wattage. I just want to come home and sit on my bike and pedal, with the distraction afforded by Zwift.
Currently putting money aside, probably for a Kickr. Before I spend $1,200, would anyone like to point out the error of my ways?
Wheel on or off?
FET, ANT, Bluetooth?
Tacx, Wahoo, CycleOps, Kinetic?
$550? $900? $1,200? (Peloton, you sick people, at $2,200 plus $40/month, why don't I just get addicted to drugs?)
Zwift? TrainerRoad? Dropping acid and looking out the window?
I am listing my conclusions because I'm not 100% confident in them - if I'm off-base or out of touch, I'm hoping someone here with more experience might weigh in.
Wheel definitely OFF for me. Reason: apparently, the wheel-on flavor requires very frequent re-calibration, and in many cases, 10 minute warm ups on almost every ride. Deal breaker for me. Also seeing that direct-drive apparently has better feel and reliability.
Which means: $1,200. Yeah, so the $900 direct-drive options (Tacx Flux, Kinetic Direto, CycleOps Hammer) have enough sober-sounding negative online reviews that I see them as lacking durability and overall quality. Apparently one needs to step up to $1,200 (Kickr, Neo, etc.) to get a bulletproof solution.
Tacx doesn't have a good reputation for customer contact and support. Wahoo does.
Definitely going to be a Zwift person. I'm old, fat, very non-competitive, and couldn't give two ****s about wattage. I just want to come home and sit on my bike and pedal, with the distraction afforded by Zwift.
Currently putting money aside, probably for a Kickr. Before I spend $1,200, would anyone like to point out the error of my ways?
09-24-18, 06:31 PM
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Nope, you've pretty well nailed it. Especially the Peloton crowd. I love the Kickr but just couldn't justify the price. I went with the Elite Direto and have been very pleased with it, along with saving some money. Zwift is great, I've been using it since it first came out and it has definitely changed my attitude toward indoor training. Actually entertaining in a sweaty kind of way. You won't go wrong with the Kickr it's at the top of the class in my opinion.
09-24-18, 08:30 PM
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Best solution so far is speed cadence sensor and power meter on bike and the cheapest trainers you can find . you wont have to worry about much and can use them all year round for well under 1200 bucks . you can find cheap lemond direct drive units too .
09-24-18, 08:48 PM
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At the risk of sounding utterly hateable, I used to be ... uh, let's just say I can sell a guitar or two, and not worry about the price of the trainer. It's just that I hate wasting money if something ain't good. And I'm old and curmudgeonly enough that I want Zwift to talk to the trainer, and that's that.
Curious about the Direto.
Curious about the Direto.
09-24-18, 08:57 PM
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At the risk of sounding utterly hateable, I used to be ... uh, let's just say I can sell a guitar or two, and not worry about the price of the trainer. It's just that I hate wasting money if something ain't good. And I'm old and curmudgeonly enough that I want Zwift to talk to the trainer, and that's that.
Curious about the Direto.
Curious about the Direto.
Anyway I'm sure you've already found DCRainmaker but if not he breaks down everything you'd ever want to know about all trainers.
09-24-18, 09:39 PM
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Elite is another trainer maker, at several price points. I bought an Elitre Drivo last winter, very satisfied
Last edited by alcjphil; 09-25-18 at 07:27 AM.
09-24-18, 10:28 PM
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To add to my previous response saying that my wife and I love our Kickr trainers....
We use (and like) Zwift. But it's not a very interesting thing to stare at for a long time. It has two modes, ERG mode and free ride. ERG mode is just you tell it how much resistance you want, and it keeps the resistance constant (as long as you keep pedaling); free ride does a very good job of replicating a ride on the road (except for wind resistance), altering the resistance with the incline. But it's not very interesting to stare at the TV with that. We both vastly prefer, whether in ERG mode or free ride mode, to watch the TV (e.g., going through the entire run of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). I can pay enough attention to shift when required, while being more entertained than watching a bike on the TV screen.
This is, of course, just my opinion.
Mark
We use (and like) Zwift. But it's not a very interesting thing to stare at for a long time. It has two modes, ERG mode and free ride. ERG mode is just you tell it how much resistance you want, and it keeps the resistance constant (as long as you keep pedaling); free ride does a very good job of replicating a ride on the road (except for wind resistance), altering the resistance with the incline. But it's not very interesting to stare at the TV with that. We both vastly prefer, whether in ERG mode or free ride mode, to watch the TV (e.g., going through the entire run of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). I can pay enough attention to shift when required, while being more entertained than watching a bike on the TV screen.
This is, of course, just my opinion.
Mark
Last edited by 124Spider; 09-25-18 at 10:38 AM.
09-25-18, 06:48 AM
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The new Kickr core is $899, btw. Basically, it's last year's Kickr with a couple of down-market mods. I'm very tempted.
09-26-18, 06:02 PM
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And naturally, here's DCR with a comprehensive chart (bottom of article):
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/09/...irst-look.html
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/09/...irst-look.html
09-26-18, 06:41 PM
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I got a free month of TrainerRoad when I got my Direto a year ago. Like you I don’t care about watts, but I like ERG mode on either specific workouts (based on time and difficulty) or as part of a plan...simply because I set it and forget it. While I’m pedaling away, I watch whatever I like on Netflix or YouTube (last winter I watched all Game of Thrones episodes). So in January I paid $99 for a 1-year subscription. The company is all about “getting faster”, but I don’t care for that and it still suits me fine. I like that it’s an annual subscription because I have the option to ride indoors, when I would usually be riding outdoors, when it’s several days of rain / bad weather.
I played around with Zwift as well, and it is engaging, but I’m not set on using it exclusively over the winter. Maybe I’ll enjoy it more this winter.
Whatever you choose there are plenty of options—enjoy!
I played around with Zwift as well, and it is engaging, but I’m not set on using it exclusively over the winter. Maybe I’ll enjoy it more this winter.
Whatever you choose there are plenty of options—enjoy!
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