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Post by chas on Oct 26, 2016 11:35:33 GMT
Tacx Flow Smart now £180 link
Or for something more solid but not quite as clever Elite fluid £280 link
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ykrats
Peloton Rider
Posts: 45
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Post by ykrats on Oct 26, 2016 12:59:16 GMT
Oft stop showing me stuff like this the wife will kill me if i buy anymore bike stuff
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Post by ChrisD on Oct 29, 2016 21:21:43 GMT
I haven't seen a way to calibrate my power meter with Zwift, I do either it via the app or my Garmin each time. I'm guessing trainer calibration works the same way. TrainerRoad has power meter calibration built in. Usual no pedal/feet off the pedal approach, and then adjust from the PM's torque readings I assume. Just gives a +/- value for the adjustment.
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Post by Paulinblack on Nov 15, 2016 22:47:21 GMT
I'm getting irritated by this now!
I decided I wanted to give Zwift a try. So, in order to do so, I looked at smart trainers.
I ruled out the CycleOps Fluid 2, even though it gets good reviews and is quiet. The reason I ruled it out was because I read about smart trainers (in DCRainmaker's reviews) that adjusted the resistance based upon whatever comes up in the route you are following on Zwift. (Was this the right choice?)
I then ruled out things like Wahoo Kickr because I don't want to spend £900-1000 on a trainer.
I found the Elite Qubo Digital Smart B+ had good reviews at a similar price range to the CycleOps Fluid 2. So, I decided to go for it. However, I then listened to a couple of reviews and watched a video or two. It appears that it is noisier than I thought it might be. The Elite Rampa was also suggested, but it is about £200 more. Listening to that online, it appears to be noisy too! So I checked further on other smart trainers in this price range and found that they all seem to be as noisy as eachother. (But its really difficult to tell listening to stuff on Youtube)
I'm not sure yet whether I am going to set the bike and turbo up in the garage or our utility room. I'd like the flexibility to do both. I also assume that you need to listen to whatever is said on Zwift and I don't want to have headphone on. So, I guess I don't want anything 'too noisy'.
So, the shoot out that I seem to be at (based upon my research and lets say a £250-300 budget) is Qubo Digital Smart B+ or CycleOps Fluid. The bit I would like to ask advice on is how important is it to have Zwift keep changing resistance for you?
I'm leaning towards the Elite (Is that the right choice?), but am going to wait until 'Black Friday' to see if there are any deals out there.
Interested in your views.
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Post by r0b1et on Nov 16, 2016 0:46:47 GMT
I'm getting irritated by this now! I decided I wanted to give Zwift a try. So, in order to do so, I looked at smart trainers. I ruled out the CycleOps Fluid 2, even though it gets good reviews and is quiet. The reason I ruled it out was because I read about smart trainers (in DCRainmaker's reviews) that adjusted the resistance based upon whatever comes up in the route you are following on Zwift. (Was this the right choice?) I then ruled out things like Wahoo Kickr because I don't want to spend £900-1000 on a trainer. I found the Elite Qubo Digital Smart B+ had good reviews at a similar price range to the CycleOps Fluid 2. So, I decided to go for it. However, I then listened to a couple of reviews and watched a video or two. It appears that it is noisier than I thought it might be. The Elite Rampa was also suggested, but it is about £200 more. Listening to that online, it appears to be noisy too! So I checked further on other smart trainers in this price range and found that they all seem to be as noisy as eachother. (But its really difficult to tell listening to stuff on Youtube) I'm not sure yet whether I am going to set the bike and turbo up in the garage or our utility room. I'd like the flexibility to do both. I also assume that you need to listen to whatever is said on Zwift and I don't want to have headphone on. So, I guess I don't want anything 'too noisy'. So, the shoot out that I seem to be at (based upon my research and lets say a £250-300 budget) is Qubo Digital Smart B+ or CycleOps Fluid. The bit I would like to ask advice on is how important is it to have Zwift keep changing resistance for you? I'm leaning towards the Elite (Is that the right choice?), but am going to wait until 'Black Friday' to see if there are any deals out there. Interested in your views. A few comments... hearing Zwift is nice, it certainly isn't essential. My experience of "noisy" things on youtube is that they are rarely that bad really. Any youtube video that's moaning about the noise almost certainly is edited to make it worse (this also applies IME to washing machines and fridges! ).
I run Zwift just fine with an Elite Qubo fluid... perhaps marginally less immersive, and if you race on Zwift, not having a power meter (be that actual or apparent [because it depends on your setup, so isn't very accurate] on a smart trainer) makes you a second class citizen and liable to be told you are cheating... tbh, Only bothers me because I could possibly win a race and upsets that some of the races wouldn't count it. I've offered to run a power meter if they send me one, but as yet, no takers.
That all said, I think I'd do exactly what you say: "I'm leaning towards the Elite (Is that the right choice?), but am going to wait until 'Black Friday' to see if there are any deals out there."
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Post by denkfaul on Nov 16, 2016 9:09:53 GMT
Noise for me is only an issue as I've got a small house with 2 young children who are often sleeping when I'm on the turbo, along with a missus who's watching TV in the same room (open plan downstairs). There's not much to listen to in Zwift, a theme song which plays on startup which gets boring quick, and some ambient noise around you. I often ride on mute. Even on my almost silent elite qubo fluid, there is still the noise of my drivechain and the fan so If I want to listen to music I use bluetooth headphones as otherwise I'd have to have the music up fairly loud to drown out the bike.
Are there any bike shops around you that might let you test any trainers they have in stock? There's a few around here but they seem to only have the higher end models (eg the £1000+ Tacx Neo) available for use.
Waiting for Black Friday is a good call.
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Post by Paulinblack on Nov 17, 2016 23:01:39 GMT
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Post by denkfaul on Nov 18, 2016 10:30:26 GMT
That's right, but you don't have to use your Garmin at all if you don't want to. Just use the ANT+ dongle with Zwift and it'll detect your speed/cadence/HR sensors and display a "zpower" number which is an estimate of what power you're putting out, based on your speed. If you get a smart trainer then you don't need to worry about the speed sensor as the trainer will transmit and display a more accurate power value. You can link your zwift account to strava so your rides get automatically uploaded there.
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Post by r0b1et on Nov 18, 2016 11:01:26 GMT
If you get a smart trainer then you don't need to worry about the speed sensor as the trainer will transmit and display a (possibly) more accurate power value. corrected that. Depends on setting up correctly, correct warm up period and calibration.
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Post by denkfaul on Nov 18, 2016 11:42:17 GMT
If you get a smart trainer then you don't need to worry about the speed sensor as the trainer will transmit and display a (possibly) more accurate power value. corrected that. Depends on setting up correctly, correct warm up period and calibration. Yes, but also dependent on the trainer model. My fluid trainer using TR's virtual power matches pretty closely with my power meter when cool, but after warming up it reads much higher. Once it gets up to temperature it still matches the graph that's coming from my power meter, but 60W higher. So virtual power (on mine at least) can be consistent which is great for training, it's just not accurate.
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Post by r0b1et on Nov 18, 2016 14:16:14 GMT
corrected that. Depends on setting up correctly, correct warm up period and calibration. Yes, but also dependent on the trainer model. My fluid trainer using TR's virtual power matches pretty closely with my power meter when cool, but after warming up it reads much higher. Once it gets up to temperature it still matches the graph that's coming from my power meter, but 60W higher. So virtual power (on mine at least) can be consistent which is great for training, it's just not accurate. MY fluid trainer seems to read a bit high until it warms up (doesn't take too long)... means when zwifting though, I'm usually warming up at higher apparent watts.
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Post by RobP on Nov 18, 2016 21:43:24 GMT
Didnt find noise not my primary issue as your drivetrain and fan will make enough noise anyway. I always ride with my workout selection on shuffle and turned up LOUD too I really like the auto resistance changes and I couldn't go back now. Find it works so well it really does feel like you are riding on the terrain on screen. I you were anywhere near me I would offer for you to come and try mine
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Post by Paulinblack on Nov 18, 2016 22:50:47 GMT
Well I've bought the dongle now. I'm going to go for the Elite Qubo Smart Digital B+ in the Black Friday sales (hopefully) - Unless I see something else that is normally more expensive dropped down to around the £250 mark.
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Post by RobP on Nov 18, 2016 23:13:41 GMT
Well I've bought the dongle now. I'm going to go for the Elite Qubo Smart Digital B+ in the Black Friday sales (hopefully) - Unless I see something else that is normally more expensive dropped down to around the £250 mark. See you on Wattopia soon then,
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Post by Paulinblack on Nov 19, 2016 16:40:42 GMT
Found the difference between the Rampa and Qubo blah de blah B+:
Rampa simulates 10% incline and Qubo 6%
So, is that worth the £100+ difference?
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