New turbo - Elite Qubo Fluid
DeltaOneSeven
Posts: 54
I upgraded my turbo this week from the CycleOps mag trainer to the Elite Qubo Fluid. The main reason for the change was that the CycleOps was just too noisy and specifically over 27mph - so not that great for doing intervals.
The Elite is not as sturdy as the CycleOps, but will do for the stick that I will give it over winter. There are 2 very distinct differences between the two trainers:
1 - Noise. The Elite is pretty much silent. You could listen to the radio or watch TV without straining. All the noise comes from the bikes drivetrain - so for this purpose the Elite is fantastic
2 - Resistance. The Elite uses the weight of the rider to create resistance between the bike and roller. Initially I thought that this would not create enough resistance and that it would be inconsistent due to moving around on the bike.
The resistance is far greater than the CycleOps trainer. So much so that you start to doubt your fitness and strength levels...
Not only does the resistance build significantly as you build cadence, it also builds significantly as you move through the gears (compared to the CycleOps) - maintaining cadence over 100 is much, much more difficult
In a not very scientific comparison - I would say that the similar gearing (for effort) feels like 53/19 CycleOps vs 39/21 Elite
I've attached two near identical over and under workouts for comparison:
I've been training using heart rate zones (cant afford a power meter). Last nights activity was an average of 162 and the previous one 166 - I would note that last night I had to recover far more due to an increased effort in the interval.
So what do I think? I'm very happy with the Elite as it is significantly quieter and this was my primary reason for changing. But... the psychology of going slower for the same effort is something I haven't quite got my head around yet
The Elite is not as sturdy as the CycleOps, but will do for the stick that I will give it over winter. There are 2 very distinct differences between the two trainers:
1 - Noise. The Elite is pretty much silent. You could listen to the radio or watch TV without straining. All the noise comes from the bikes drivetrain - so for this purpose the Elite is fantastic
2 - Resistance. The Elite uses the weight of the rider to create resistance between the bike and roller. Initially I thought that this would not create enough resistance and that it would be inconsistent due to moving around on the bike.
The resistance is far greater than the CycleOps trainer. So much so that you start to doubt your fitness and strength levels...
Not only does the resistance build significantly as you build cadence, it also builds significantly as you move through the gears (compared to the CycleOps) - maintaining cadence over 100 is much, much more difficult
In a not very scientific comparison - I would say that the similar gearing (for effort) feels like 53/19 CycleOps vs 39/21 Elite
I've attached two near identical over and under workouts for comparison:
I've been training using heart rate zones (cant afford a power meter). Last nights activity was an average of 162 and the previous one 166 - I would note that last night I had to recover far more due to an increased effort in the interval.
So what do I think? I'm very happy with the Elite as it is significantly quieter and this was my primary reason for changing. But... the psychology of going slower for the same effort is something I haven't quite got my head around yet
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