Tacx Flow Turbo computer question

on-yer-bike
on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
edited February 2011 in Training, fitness and health
Is the kilojoule reading at the end of a session a measure of the total amount of effort used during that session?
Pegoretti
Colnago
Cervelo
Campagnolo

Comments

  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    kJ is a unit of energy. I'd assume that its the total energy expended for the session and it roughly equates to the number of kCal burned (assuming that the power measurement is accurate which it isn't with the Flow).
    More problems but still living....
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    amaferanga wrote:
    kJ is a unit of energy. I'd assume that its the total energy expended for the session and it roughly equates to the number of kCal burned (assuming that the power measurement is accurate which it isn't with the Flow).

    +1 to this. I wouldn't worry about what the flow says has been used, the power figure could be way out. Mine was nearly 60 watts out compared to my powertap last night, so the kj figure would have been a fair bit out over the hour.
  • on-yer-bike
    on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
    Is this a recognised problem with the Flow? Does it show under or over the actual watts? I don't have a Powertap.
    Pegoretti
    Colnago
    Cervelo
    Campagnolo
  • spokegeezer
    spokegeezer Posts: 86
    I think find the flow is excellent for indoor turbo sessions and when used in manual resistance mode it reasonably "calculates" the power quite well. Whilst it does not "measure" your power its far better than sitting on the turbo and watching your HRM and waiting for 20mins of upward drift to reach your desired training zone!!! With the flow you can keep your session in the desired training zone straight away and keep it steady, so your session is more effective and targeted.
    At the end of the session you can display the average power for the session and max power, useful for recording in your training diary.

    Other users suggest in manual resistance mode its within 8% accuracy. In Ergo mode its not reliable, but still its useful in actual training sessions.

    Have a look at these comments which might be of some use?

    http://ashwinearl.blogspot.com/2005/03/ ... eview.html (includes a detailed comparison with SRM power meter).

    http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=75099 (user analysis)

    Calibrating the Flow is very easy, just warm up for 10mins, then do the calibration, spin up and it measures the freewheel downspeed and thats it. Be sure to enter your correct body weight also.

    Good luck.
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    on-yer-bike wrote:
    Is this a recognised problem with the Flow? Does it show under or over the actual watts? I don't have a Powertap.

    You have to makes sure it is set up exactly the same each time, and you can get repeatable efforts, but the power it displays could be well out, depending on how tight the roller is to the tyre, what slope you have set on the display etc.

    What the figure is isn't really that important, it is the repeatability you want, and before I got my powertap mine was pretty much repeatable, but I did make sure everything was set up for each session the same, and it was calibrated after a warm up etc.

    As above it is a good training tool, but as for any percentage out etc, there is no set figure, and I have noticed this quite a bit when using my powertap, just a slight difference in tyre pressure can mean the power displayed being quite a bit different.

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