Tacx I-Flow

Author
Discussion

Napper

Original Poster:

120 posts

211 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
quotequote all
Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a Turbo Trainer which will be my first. I've done a fair bit of research into the which types etc... During the research I stumbled upon the Tacx I-Flow with the virtual reality software. Has anyone used it or know anything about it? It looks great to me but I am a novice at this so I thought I'd seek more knowledgeable advice.

Thanks in advance.

N

Ben Jk

1,591 posts

165 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
quotequote all
Napper said:
Hi,

I'm looking to purchase a Turbo Trainer which will be my first. I've done a fair bit of research into the which types etc... During the research I stumbled upon the Tacx I-Flow with the virtual reality software. Has anyone used it or know anything about it? It looks great to me but I am a novice at this so I thought I'd seek more knowledgeable advice.

Thanks in advance.

N
I'm also after a turbo. I looked at the I-Flow but some reviews put me off with software/set up probs.

I think I'm going for a Tacx Ergo Flow

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tacx/flow-ergo...


You've then got the option to add the upgrade pack if you want some VR.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tacx/flow-pc-u...


Edited by Ben Jk on Thursday 16th October 22:31

Dammit

3,790 posts

207 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
quotequote all
I bought a Tacx VR trainer- my advice to you is not to make the same mistake. Get a Kickr instead.

Napper

Original Poster:

120 posts

211 months

Friday 17th October 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies.

I don't want to spend nearly £1k although the Kickr does look great.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

Pat Cash

312 posts

229 months

Friday 17th October 2014
quotequote all
Dammit said:
I bought a Tacx VR trainer- my advice to you is not to make the same mistake. Get a Kickr instead.
I just saw a Kickr whilst in Australia. Looks awesome.

I did some research after I left and realised that I wish I'd known more about it at the time, as it was the equivalent of 750GBP and with tax reclaim it would have been around 680GBP... banghead

dangerousB

1,693 posts

189 months

Friday 17th October 2014
quotequote all
Dammit said:
I bought a Tacx VR trainer- my advice to you is not to make the same mistake.
Which one did you buy and what makes you say it was a mistake?

Dammit

3,790 posts

207 months

Friday 17th October 2014
quotequote all
I had the Tacx Fortius, all the bells and whistles, in-VR steering, programmable resistance etc etc.

On paper, the perfect winter training setup.

In reality, getting it setup so that it worked was akin to getting a teaspoon out of a live blender, and took hours.

It was an incredible disapointment.

The Kickr (which I don't have, but am intending on getting) looks like it "just works", based on talking to people who have one.

I'd rather beat off with a cheese grater than try to configure a Fortius again.

dangerousB

1,693 posts

189 months

Friday 17th October 2014
quotequote all
Dammit said:
I had the Tacx Fortius, all the bells and whistles, in-VR steering, programmable resistance etc etc.

On paper, the perfect winter training setup.

In reality, getting it setup so that it worked was akin to getting a teaspoon out of a live blender, and took hours.

It was an incredible disapointment.

The Kickr (which I don't have, but am intending on getting) looks like it "just works", based on talking to people who have one.

I'd rather beat off with a cheese grater than try to configure a Fortius again.
Just wondered as I've got a Fortius VR (the multiplayer one).

I don't know whether I've been just been lucky, but I haven't had single problem with mine in 2 years - switch it on, line up my bottles, half kill myself, log my data, switch it off.

It has genuinely been the best money I've ever spent on my cycling (think I got it for about 800 quid, not including the PC) - part of me actually looks forward to the snottiest, coldest bits of winter as I know I've got it sitting there waiting to give me a spanking!

Dammit

3,790 posts

207 months

Friday 17th October 2014
quotequote all
Hah- well, maybe I had a dud. I did try to get it working with the Tacx customer support people, but they didn't seem interested.

Clearly your mileage may vary, as they say.

I'd still go for the Kickr over the Tacx though given near price-parity simply as it's more recent tech.

murray

408 posts

282 months

Friday 17th October 2014
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I had one, I-genius I think, never worked right. Got a refund in the end.

z4RRSchris99

11,221 posts

178 months

Monday 20th October 2014
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ive got a tacx something or other, not the full bells and whistles one it was about 300 quid.

you can plot routes on google maps pretty easily and it will ride them, or its pretty easy to do set training programs, follow sufferfest etc.


bigandclever

13,750 posts

237 months

Monday 20th October 2014
quotequote all
I've got a BKOOL (what they now call the Classic version) - pretty good bit of kit, but the software does leave a little to be desired at times. Plus the community is predominantly Spanish, though more and more English stuff is coming on stream.

It strikes me that in reviews, it's compared favourably with the iGenius, rather than the Flow (despite the Genius being twice the price and the Flow costing basically the same). I don't know why smile

Napper

Original Poster:

120 posts

211 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the comments. I've decided to go with a cycleops fluid 2 (2015 model) from Chain Reaction...... Can't wait to get on it. I went out on the bike yesterday and it was a little windy so this will be ideal.