Any other?

martinwitnam

I've been talking with a friend who swears by his Tacx Flow turbo.
Are there any other turbos that have a display unit that shows power, speed etc?

amaferanga

Get a good fluid trainer like the Cycleops Fluid 2 and use speed as a proxy for power instead with either a Garmin and GSC-10 or a rear wheel mounted computer. The Tacx Flow doesn't actually measure power and the absolute power numbers it gives are unlikely to be very close to true power. Some people claim they are at least repeatable, but I'm not wholly convinced.

colincaptain

I've got a Tacx Flow and it is a superb piece of kit. It's very quiet. I hadnt even considered that the Power Meter readings may be incorrect. But it doesnt really matter as at least you can measure your effort from one session to the next. I strongly urge anyone considering buying a Turbo Trainer to get one that measures power as its a fantastic tool for measuring your effort

SBezza

My Tacx Flow is repeatable, but you do have to be anal about setting it up exactly the same each time, making sure tyre pressure is the same each time, then warming it up, and then calibrating it. As long as you do not use it in ergo mode it stays consistant throughout a session, and that is based on my powertap.

As for the power figure, well it is very likely to be out compared to a proper power meter, but if you set it up the same each time, you should be able to monitor progress on it.

ut_och_cykla

SBezza wrote:

My Tacx Flow is repeatable, but you do have to be anal about setting it up exactly the same each time, making sure tyre pressure is the same each time, then warming it up, and then calibrating it. As long as you do not use it in ergo mode it stays consistant throughout a session, and that is based on my powertap.

As for the power figure, well it is very likely to be out compared to a proper power meter, but if you set it up the same each time, you should be able to monitor progress on it.

+1
I think Ruth has written before that using speed as a proxy for power does work but its very sensitive to small changes in cadence - or something (memory again!). I've had my Flow for several years and think it works fine for me. I also have a good idea from lab accurate testing where I am power wise and this seems to agree with how my set up reads for Watts - but I am a chubby female amateur so we're not talking about 400W FTPs

Mccaria

I had the Tacx and I have used it with a Powertap wheel to compare data. The Tacx reading was circa 10-15% lower output on a 200 watt output from the wheel. However the % variant was not consistent, so with a higher wattage output the variance increased. More disconcerting than that was that the reading was not consistent for a consistent effort - so if you were trying to maintain a given output, it would be disconcerting to see the output reading moving about with a relatively constant effort.

I would not buy the Tacx turbo for this function. I also think there are better turbo trainers available. I currently use the Kurt Kinetic which is a significant upgrade. I use the turbo up to 4 times a week so having a good one is important !

martinwitnam

Has any-one got the Elite SuperCrono Fluid Digital Trainer with ElastoGel?
This appears to have a display and claims that it displays power etc.

amaferanga

martinwitnam wrote:

Has any-one got the Elite SuperCrono Fluid Digital Trainer with ElastoGel?
This appears to have a display and claims that it displays power etc.

It just so happens that I have one of these and I was actually going to say earlier that whatever you do DON'T get one! The power display is a joke - way off, unrepeatable AND unstable (60mins to warm up!). It's also very difficult to ride the thing smoothly. I used mine last winter (ignoring the power display), but got hold of a Cycleops Fluid 2 this year - the Cycleops costs about the same RRP, but is in a different league to the Elite in terms of stability (no power display, but once the Cycleops is warmed up (<10 minutes) the resistance is stable so speed will work as a proxy for power) and how enjoyable it is to use.

Here're a couple of shots showing what I mean....

1) Elite Supercrono Fluid: fixed power - note how speed is constantly rising throughout the two 20min intervals


2) Cycleops Fluid 2: fixed power - note how speed is pretty much constant


(Is it just me, or is there no scroll bar in the forum anymore for images that are large?)

keef66

No, it's not just you. The scroll function has vanished with the revamp.