Which Turbo - Direct Drive

[jesusbuiltmycar]

I would like to upgrade my Turbo Trainer., budget £500, recommendations greatly appreciated...

I am considering a Tacx Flux (£449 at Decathlon) or a Tacx Flux S (£549 at Wiggle)

Curently I have a basic Tacx Flow, wheel on turbo trainer which I use with a bike that has a Quarq power meter. I would like improved ride feel and preferrably a direct drive turbo, wheel off turbo. The trubo will mainly be used with Zwift and I would like to continue using the Quarq for power measurment.


With a smart turbo trainer will ERG mode still work with Zwift if I use the Quarq powermeter instead of the Turbo trainers built in power meter?

[anonymous-user]

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/the-smart-trai...

Ray suggests the Elite Zumo



or the Elite Suito / Flux S

[Dannbodge]

Original flux - big No
Flux S - Maybe (still have issues as design is basically the same as the Flux)

Wahoo sell refurbished trainers. You might be able to get a Kickr Core for near your budget.

[Usget]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

With a smart turbo trainer will ERG mode still work with Zwift if I use the Quarq powermeter instead of the Turbo trainers built in power meter?

It *will* work, but it's annoying. Because there's a slight latency caused by your power going from the cranks to Zwift, being processed, then sent back to the turbo, then the turbo slightly adjusting its resistance to keep you at a steady power. By that time you've subconsciously corrected your own power slightly, and so that gets sent to Zwift... and so on. It results in a slightly jerky experience.

I speak from experience with two turbos (Tacx Flow and Elite Real Turbo Muin B+) and two power meters (Quarq Elsa R and Garmin Vector 3S) - but maybe more modern turbo trainers might not have this issue?

For a free ride though, it works absolutely fine because resistance is being adjusted independently of power.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Thanks for the replys - I think that I will get the Elite Zumo recommended by JPJPJP - it has a "Power Meter link" feature whereby the trainer uses an on bike powermeter instead of using an algorithm to estimate the power, which suits my needs perfectly.

The Elite Zumo is currently £429 at Halfords - and I can get an extra 10% discount with British Cycling

[chunkytfg]

Personally i'd be looking for a secondhand higher end one. I picked up a 6 month old Wahoo Kickr 2nd Gen(non Climb compatible) just after they announced the kicker climb for £600 which was sold as the owner of it ordered a new one along with with a climb.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Well I took the plunge and bought the Elite Zumo today - first impressions are - "its a piece of st".

There appears to be no way to adjust the resistance manually (or via an app) and it is set to be huge - as in barely turn the pedals huge! I can only manage 400 watts for a short amount of time and on the Zumo that gives me a cadence of 45 rpm in my lowest gear... In 'bugger gears I can barely turn the pedals

I have tried it in "power meter link" mode (linked to my Quarq) and stand alone mode and with both configurations the trainer is unusable (although the Zumo's estimated power is very similar to the power reading from the Quarq).


The My-E-Training app from Elite is bad. Initially my Mac refused to run it as it is very out of date and "cannot be trusted" - after a work around I got it loaded but it is of very low quality - most options for configuring the trainer simply don't work....

There is also a phone based version of the app but it too is very buggy. If I can't get a solution tomorrow I will return it and try a Tacx Flux S...

[anonymous-user]

I’ve never seen one in real life, but there is clearly something wrong

Either you have a duffer or you have not set it up correctly

Hope you get it sorted

Have you looked at the elite forum?

http://forum.elite-it.com/

Also, talk here of an essential firmware update https://forum.trainerroad.com/t/elite-zumo-trainer...

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 17th November 20:44

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Thanks JP - I think it must have a fault ... I’ve emailed customer services - and created an account for the forum but it won’t be “activated” for 24 hours ,,,

I’ll update when they get in touch - physically it looks the business and feels very stable - hopefully Elite can help me get it sorted.

[Usget]

Mine has a quirk where, in ERG mode, it defaults to super-high resistance until you start spinning up to speed. Have you tried it with Zwift yet to see if it adjusts the magnets back once you get going?

Also - if you have a newer Garmin (x20 or x30) you can link that to the trainer and control resistance with that, I think?

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Usget said:

Mine has a quirk where, in ERG mode, it defaults to super-high resistance until you start spinning up to speed. Have you tried it with Zwift yet to see if it adjusts the magnets back once you get going?

Also - if you have a newer Garmin (x20 or x30) you can link that to the trainer and control resistance with that, I think?

Yes tried with Zwift but I can only "spin" at a cadence of 40-50 due to the ridiculously high resistance, I am not "powerfully built" and can only push 400watts (5.7 watts per kilo) for a couple minutes maximum. Thanks for the info about the Garmin - I will give that a try later.

No response yet from Elite and my forum account is still not "approved" so at present I can't even request any help.

Edited by jesusbuiltmycar on Monday 18th November 15:47

[Usget]

If Zwift won't release the resistance then it sounds like it's been calibrated wrong from the factory or it's just plain buggered

[millen]

This looks great value at £200 in Chain Reaction's current flash sale https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/tacx-vortex-sm... I appreciate it's not direct drive, so won't appeal to the OP, and has gradient limitations but has good reviews on CR's site.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Just spent an hour trying various things suggested on here and elsewhere - after a calibration using Zwift I can now spin at 100 RPM using my lowest gear for 220watts (just under FTP). This is not ideal though as I would like to be able to spina at a high cadence for lower wattage especially when warming up (e.g. 160 watts at 95rpm).

The cadence reported by the Turbo is woefully inaccurate (about 66% of the actual cadence) and the power reported by the turbo is close to the Quarq all though it is delayed by about 15 seconds....

I have put my bike back on my old Tacx Flow (wheel on dumb trainer) as I want to ride Zwift tomorrow.

This is the first direct drive trainer I have tried - is the pedalling through glue to be expected with magnetic direct drive turbos?
I thought the road feel from the basic Tacx Flow was very artificial (and sometimes the tyre slips) but it is way better than me experience of the Zumo so far.

Tomorrow I plan to ride on Zwift after work - for now I have put my bike back on the old turbo. If Elite reply I may give it one last try but if I have no luck tomorrow I will return it on Wednesday and stick with the dumb trainer + Quarq that I have been using for the last year.

[anonymous-user]

You need a ride on a properly set up and working smart trainer imo

Anyone near you got one?

https://zwift.com/zed/

Local bike shop - is wareham cycle works down your way? Or primera in Bournemouth?

[Gareth79]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

This is the first direct drive trainer I have tried - is the pedalling through glue to be expected with magnetic direct drive turbos?

No, I have a Tacx Neo and it can go from completely free pedalling (and even motoring to simulate coasting downhill) to stopping me dead. Something is wrong with the Elite, either a fault or some sort of software issue.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Tonight I am going to pack the Zumo up and take it back for a refund. I can't see any point in exchanging it for another one as I have no confidence in Elite as a company - they clearly have no functioning QA/test department, haven't repsonded to my request for techincal support and I have read about other people's working Zumos suddenly developing this kind of fault.

As for my original question - "Which Turbo?" - for now the £99 Tacx one I bought 2 years ago coupled with a Quarq is the best bet - it simply works,
there is no chance for buggy firmware/software to ruin a ride,

[anonymous-user]

Don’t let this duffer put you off smart trainers forever

One that works properly will transform indoor riding for you, just as it has for many other cyclists

But it is a very poor show by elite to ship a duffer and not to respond in this long. Very poor.

Still, it makes decent water bottles.

[Harpoon]

DCR has a full review of the Zumo up now - might be worth a read to see if he's had any issues or ask about your problem in the comments...

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/elite-zumo-sma...

[Gareth79]

jesusbuiltmycar said:

As for my original question - "Which Turbo?" - for now the £99 Tacx one I bought 2 years ago coupled with a Quarq is the best bet - it simply works,
there is no chance for buggy firmware/software to ruin a ride,

Find a shop with a Tacx dealer with display setup and try a Neo. It is quite a lot more money, but there might be some Black Friday deals. Try and get either an original Neo or a 2T, I think the 2 has some QA issues. I've had zero problems with mine - the only thing to be sure of is have the ANT dongle away from anything metal.