VR/RLV trainers

afraser

I'm looking to get either Tacx or Elite trainer that allows real life videos etc. to be played. Ive read some of the past forums which have highlighted some of the limitations but... due to living in the far north and the combination of poor weather and dark winter days, I think it would be worth pursuing... question is:

Are the Tacx imagic or fortius markedly different to the Elite RealTour/RealPower/RealAxiom? Anyone had any experience of either or both of these makes?
So far I've figured that you can use the elite trainers without PC if you want to, but folks seem to suggest that the Fortius RLVs are more realistic...
Any other thoughts? Apologies if this topic is being done to death!

DaSy

As may be gleaned from my previous posts, I am a fan of the Tacx Fortius.

The Fortius has a motor brake that provides the resistance, which enables it to provide high levels of resistance compared to the likes of the I-Magic, which uses just a magnetic resistance unit. This is a big bonus when using the RLV function in Fortius, as it means it can replicate the big mountain climbs quite accurately.

The RLV function works really well, and can be very involving, last week I spent 4 hours on it, climbing two seperate ascents of Ventoux and one descent!

My setup is quite an expensive one, where I have a dedicated PC with highish spec video card connected to a 32" TFT monitor just for the Fortius. This works really well, and I have on occasion only just stopped myself from spitting on the floor, thinking I was out on a ride

The VR is also very good, the graphics are pretty realistic, and the courses are nice and varied.

For me the Fortius has been a great tool, and my winter riding and training are greatly enhanced by it.

inseine

I bought an i-magic a week ago so I'm not an expert, but so far i love it!
A lot easier to set up and use than I expected. In contrast to the last post I have a cheap set up (i-magic with fortius software and my lap top) but it is still very involving so i imagine it will keep away the boredom (though I was not somewone who mided turbo training). There are loads of different sessions to do and you can easily set up your own, like 2x20 mins at given power or heart rate, hill climbs of any length/gradient and of course you can race other people on line.
So far, thoroughly recommended.

sloxam

i had a flow and hated it. bored,bored,bored. i took a risk and bought the i-magic upgrade for it as work now dictates that i see little daylight in the winter. 3 rides in on different vr courses and i love it. i also tried the demo rlv and i now want to get a full rlv disc. if that works for me next it'll be a steering frame! i may never leave the garage again!!!

afraser

thanks for your input - anyone out there with experience of the Elite realpower?
I've seen from Tacx forums that the fortius suffers from 'choppy' action above certain slopes/resistance... does the elite realaxiom/realpower? and does the Tacx software seem streets ahead of elite to anyone else?
I'm struggling to decide here!!! but thanks for responses so far!

DaSy

I would be suprised if any other VR trainers can produce more resistance than the Fortius. The choppy action is usually once you get to around 15% grade and above, and even then once you learn to pedal smoothly through it, that can be almost eliminated.

A lot of the faults reported on the forums were in the early days in the USA, as they are using 110V, the motor didn't cope with the amount of power required to slow down the wheel, this was not so much of a problem with the UK versions on 240V.

As an example, my Fortius isn't choppy on any part of the climbs of Stevlio, Gavia, Ventoux or Alpe d'Huez, so you would rarely feel it. Some of the very short very steep climbs on (strangely) the Amstel Gold route can get a little choppy, but this is only a few seconds long, and even then it is not too pronounced.

Si.