Tacx Vortex smart trainer.

[Tewdric]

Has anyone got one?  Any good?

[Chris S]

I have one. It's the first "smart" trainer I've owned. It seems to work - it's a trainer, and the laptop apps I've tried with it seem OK; Zwift worked, though I didn't care for it, and TrainerRoads works fine. I find a sudden input in extra work demand causes the tyre to slip if it's not warmed up properly.

It's pretty quiet. We have it on some matting that fboab ordered (she's a professional buyer - she said "order this: Product Code" and I did - I have no idea what the mats are - they're used for kids play areas and they fit together like jigsaw pieces) and it certainly transmits sound less than the Concept 2 rower next to it, that just sits on the floor.

[Tewdric]

Thanks Chris.

[Chris S]

If a video of it in action would be helpful, I'd be happy to upload one of fboab demonstrating it .

[DrMekon]

I had one, and really enjoyed it - did the rapha festive 500 on it with Zwift. Make sure you calibrate it with the tacx app.

I thought it was quiet, but I had fans on. My wife didn't. After a month or so, my neighbour complained, despite me being in an extension on the opposite side.

When I got knocked off, my missus anticipated I'd be on a lot, and told me to get a neo. It's so quiet, using it behind a closed door is enough not to be a pain. i sold my Vortex to my neighbour, who uses it in his garage. You can very easily hear him 100m away, but he's a big lad.

Short version - it's great, but it isn't quiet.

If you want to save some money, the Tacx Flow (SMART TT2240) is smart, does what the vortex does minus some power and gradient, but is about £170 with BC discount at Halfords.

[Chris S]

I thought it was quiet, but I had fans on. My wife didn't. After a month or so, my neighbour complained, despite me being in an extension on the opposite side.

i sold my Vortex to my neighbour, who uses it in his garage. You can very easily hear him 100m away, but he's a big lad.

Huh? 

[DrMekon]

When I was riding it, I didn't think it was noisy. Others suggest I was wrong. Now my neighbour is riding it, for sure it is noisy.

The neo is so quiet, in the dc rainmaker video, the noisiest thing is that his indexing is out.

[Manotea]

The blurb notes a maximum resistance if I think 950watts or equiv 7% gradient, after which, trainer roads, Zwift, etc. will apply 'virtual gradients, whatever. More expensive kit goes up to about 1500-2000watts or 10-15%. The wattage doesn't mean anything to me though gradient does.

In practice, to what extent is this maximum resistance an issue? Is this something that only elite riders (not us, or at least, not me.. ) need worry about?

[zigzag]

950w is enough for most riders (unless someone is very strong and trains doing very short high intensity intervals). i suppose you'd need a direct drive trainer above this wattage as the tyre would be slipping.
(my rear tyre was slipping too, when pushing above 1kw on a flat damp road )

[simonp]

I don't think I've ever exceeded 1000W on TrainerRoad. I'm using erg mode which caps the power output.

Best 5 sec power in TR is only 543W.

[Tewdric]

Thanks folks some very useful stuff there.  Mrs Tewdric is into the numbers at the moment so the power stuff is a must. 

[DrMekon]

The blurb notes a maximum resistance if I think 950watts or equiv 7% gradient, after which, trainer roads, Zwift, etc. will apply 'virtual gradients, whatever. More expensive kit goes up to about 1500-2000watts or 10-15%. The wattage doesn't mean anything to me though gradient does.

In practice, to what extent is this maximum resistance an issue? Is this something that only elite riders (not us, or at least, not me.. ) need worry about?

In terms of the gradient, it just means that in Zwift the very steep bit in Watopia where you go up to the lift station will not feel as bad as it might.

I never felt I was having a problem with it - the neo I have now goes much higher, but I never do intervals above 700w.

One thing that interests me is whether the Tacx Flow at £170 with BC discount is nearly as good as the Vortex at £370ish. If so, the flow is a bargain, but you never hear anything of it. It def has FE-C, so is properly controllable.

[Tewdric]

Hmm, it does seem to have a power output reading which, I guess, comes from a simple resistance and speed calculation.  That's the same as the Vortex.  I can't actually see any great advantage in the Vortex.  Hmmm..

[chrisbainbridge]

As Mrs Tewdric appears to be worried that she might break the turbo through excessive power you might like to consider the new cyclops Hammer.  Apparently this can simulate in erg mode unto 2000W.

If she can exceed that then I must presume that you are actually Jason Kenny in disguise

[Chris S]

One of the reasons I didn't get on with Zwift was because the changes of work-load when the "road" kicked up seemed way too sudden and aggressive; so for example, going from 0% to 4% gradient had me pretty much shudder to a halt. Now - I know I'm not much cop on the hills, but I can do better than that!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

As Mrs Tewdric appears to be worried that she might break the turbo through excessive power you might like to consider the new cyclops Hammer.  Apparently this can simulate in erg mode unto 2000W.

If she can exceed that then I must presume that you are actually Jason Kenny in disguise

HK and JJ managed to let the magic smoke out of a turbo when they were training for tandem timetrials. Hard to hit those sorts of numbers for any noticeable length of time otherwise.

[DrMekon]

One of the reasons I didn't get on with Zwift was because the changes of work-load when the "road" kicked up seemed way too sudden and aggressive; so for example, going from 0% to 4% gradient had me pretty much shudder to a halt. Now - I know I'm not much cop on the hills, but I can do better than that!

Were you using the trainer on another software package before? If so, that can screw up the "difficulty" setting (in the menu) - it's as if zwift doesn't reset whatever resistance it was set to before logging in. If I use my garmin to control my turbo, then go back to zwift, the resistance is way too hard on the hills. I found I had to go back in with my garmin and set the resistance to zero before Zwift would act normally again.

[Ham]

I also made the mistake of going for the Genius, which can simulate 20% grade. This is NOT good, as until they sort out the software, if your cadence drops mid session, the resistance ramps up to keep the power output supposedly constant, resulting in early termination. The only way I've found around it is to factor the resistance down and steadily bring back up to 100%, which is substantial faffage even if the UI permits.

[DrMekon]

Have you used the FTP bias buttons in the mobile link?

[Ham]

Have you used the FTP bias buttons in the mobile link?

Not sure what you mean, but it sounds like a different UI implementation of what I was referring to - ie a method of turning down and back up the workout power target

[DrMekon]

Yes - just that no more. I just find it convenient because i have my phone mounted on my stem on my turbo bike

[Ham]

Ah - yes, I'm using Trainer Road with Sufferfest vids on a laptop, so it involves clicking up on the bench in front of me. Not perfect but do-able. The Sufferfest app doesn't let you do that in real time from their UI screen, which makes it less than useful.