Indoor turbo trainer and VR systems

alex4478

Hi,

I'm strapped for cash so have a limited budget, what I'm thinking is possible is to have a low end turbo with an app running on a tablet.

I can afford a Bluetooth Smart speed and cadence sensor, a low end turbo and maybe a Bluetooth Smart heartrate monitor.

What I'm worried about is paying a subscription for a VR system that won't be suitable.

So I figure that I need to make sure that the VR system is Bluetooth compatible (no Zwift) and there are others online to compete against.

But what happens if the route has a hill? Would there be an agreement before hand that any hills encountered would have a resistance level of 6 and flats are 3 for example. Or would you base the effort levels for the hills on Heartrate?

I'm looking at an Elite Volare trainer.

Thanks for any help.

davidof

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19697176#p19697176]alex4478[/url] wrote:

But what happens if the route has a hill? Would there be an agreement before hand that any hills encountered would have a resistance level of 6 and flats are 3 for example. Or would you base the effort levels for the hills on Heartrate?

I'm looking at an Elite Volare trainer.

Thanks for any help.

If it has a hill you just have to pedal faster to keep the same speed. Simples :-).

Here try this

https://github.com/davidzof/wattzap-ce

Has support for the Volare (Mag speed) and supports Tacx format RLV and TTS files. Lots of free ones here

http://cyclingrlv.com/

at a minimum add a Decathlon ANT+ speed and cadence sensor for 17 quid and one of those ANT dongles you see on ebay for less than a tenner.

markhewitt1978

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19697176#p19697176]alex4478[/url] wrote:

Hi,

I'm strapped for cash so have a limited budget, what I'm thinking is possible is to have a low end turbo with an app running on a tablet.

I can afford a Bluetooth Smart speed and cadence sensor, a low end turbo and maybe a Bluetooth Smart heartrate monitor.

What I'm worried about is paying a subscription for a VR system that won't be suitable.

So I figure that I need to make sure that the VR system is Bluetooth compatible (no Zwift) and there are others online to compete against.

But what happens if the route has a hill? Would there be an agreement before hand that any hills encountered would have a resistance level of 6 and flats are 3 for example. Or would you base the effort levels for the hills on Heartrate?

I'm looking at an Elite Volare trainer.

Thanks for any help.

It depends what other equipment you have? Do you have a PC, as in one that can run Zwift? A smartphone, tablet, what sort?

If you do have a PC, then don't rule out Zwift as the likes of the bluetooth sensors you can get from Wahoo will work with ANT+ and Bluetooth and you need an ANT+ dongle in your PC to work with Zwift. It'll then take that data and known power curve from your turbo and translate that into in game speed. The Zwift site will tell you which turbos are compatible, it's a fairly wide range.

Personally I have all the kit I need, except a PC!

markhewitt1978

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/09/intervals-trainer-bluetooth.html

Interesting article on DC about some new apps from Kinomap. One which is of interest to me is the Skuga app which allows you to take any of your previous rides on Strava and re ride it on your smart trainer. Then it will upload to Strava as a virtual ride. Given that I mostly want a trainer to replicate outside rides rather than power intervals, this seems pretty good will have to see how it works in practice.

It only supports Wahoo Kickr at the moment but Kinomap emailed me to say they expect support for the Tacx Smart range will be coming in early October.