Newbie + Tacx Flow Smart T2240 + Zwift

Riguez18

I bought the flow on Sunday, calibrated and connected with no issues. I'm finding it difficult to get the speed above 30mph on some of the downhills which seems a bit odd.

Anyone experienced this or know any issues?

diamonddog

This trainer does not lower resistance for descents and the few that do are limited to about -5% IIRC.

bigmitch41

Riguez18 wrote:

I bought the flow on Sunday, calibrated and connected with no issues. I'm finding it difficult to get the speed above 30mph on some of the downhills which seems a bit odd.

Anyone experienced this or know any issues?

I've had my'n above 30mph, I can't remember my top speed but it was above 30mph. I've been impressed so far with the Flow despite the Bluetooth woes, I've ordered an Ant+ dongle and will give this a try. I have found the option on my Garmin 520 to adjust the trainer resistance, its not really practical to adjust while on a Zwift session but I was impressed all the same.

bigmitch41

Good news, My Ant+ dongle arrived yesterday, I plugged it into the lap top without using an extension and it found all the sensors straight away, the trainer resistance is working as it should on the climbs now.

Entered my first zwift D cat race and came third, unfortunately I have to move up to C cat now lol.

JoeK1973

BigMitch41 wrote:

Good news, My Ant+ dongle arrived yesterday, I plugged it into the lap top without using an extension and it found all the sensors straight away, the trainer resistance is working as it should on the climbs now.

Entered my first zwift D cat race and came third, unfortunately I have to move up to C cat now lol.

Pleased it's all working properly now, it's such a good machine for the money.

Welcome to Cat C, I've done only one race so far as well which was interesting! Entered as a Cat D but due to my inexperience (didn't know there were different start times) managed to start with the Cat A race instead. Came last by miles but it did show me that I would be in the wrong Category if I'd raced in D. Hope to see you in a race sometime.

No further issues with mine now, nor do I think there'll be. The thing that seems to make the most difference to getting accurate data from the trainer seems to be the pressure of the tyre - I'm going to check mine every week as I think a drop in pressure somehow makes it easier to pull bigger wattages. Obviously I'll need to keep the pressure the same to get consistent training.

supermurph09

Riguez18 wrote:

I bought the flow on Sunday, calibrated and connected with no issues. I'm finding it difficult to get the speed above 30mph on some of the downhills which seems a bit odd.

Anyone experienced this or know any issues?

This shouldn't be the case, I've had 55mph maybe even 60mph. What might be happening is that your trainer is in ERG mode (or whatever it's called then the power is limited) so you can't actually generate enough power to go beyond 30mph.

That's my guess I anyway.

RossoCorso34

I've just setup my Tacx and I'm having trouble calibrating. I can connect via Bluetooth and when I hit Calibrate Trainer, I just get a message to begin cycling. How long or how fast do I have to ride before the calibration works? There is no indication from the app that it's seeing any form of spinning.

I've check that the connection on the tyre is as good as it can be without a calibration. What else should I look for?

diamonddog

The trainer should tell you to ride to a certain speed (approx 32kph/20mph) and then tell you to stop pedalling after a very short period, try to spin up to speed fairly quickly. The calibration will give a +/- % rating, if it is too far off on the minus side increase the pressure from the roller.

RossoCorso34

diamonddog wrote:

The trainer should tell you to ride to a certain speed (approx 32kph/20mph) and then tell you to stop pedalling after a very short period, try to spin up to speed fairly quickly. The calibration will give a +/- % rating if it is too far off on the minus side increase the pressure from the roller.

Yep, tried that. The app doesn't respond at all, it just says begin cycling, and stays there. I've tried to get to what I guess it 20mph and nothing happens.

diamonddog

The contact on the roller needs to depress the tyre quite a bit try adjusting it, have you set your preferences in the app?

RossoCorso34

diamonddog wrote:

The contact on the roller needs to depress the tyre quite a bit try adjusting it, have you set your preferences in the app?

Yep, the tyre is depressed. I don't see a preferences pane (I'm on Android). The testing dashboard shows a good connection, but none of the data shows up. It's all just blank.

markhewitt1978

Try the Tacx Training app, can you see any speed in there?

RossoCorso34

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Try the Tacx Training app, can you see any speed in there?

Nothing. Nothing in Zwift either. It see the device, but no data.

It's going back to CRC

bigmitch41

Myn took a fair bit of fiddling to connect, I found Zwift works best with Ant+ using an Amazon cheap Ant+ USB Dongle and an extension cable to get the stick as close to the trainer as possible. Frustrating to start with I know but Im happy with it now.

RossoCorso34

BigMitch41 wrote:

Myn took a fair bit of fiddling to connect, I found Zwift works best with Ant+ using an Amazon cheap Ant+ USB Dongle and an extension cable to get the stick as close to the trainer as possible. Frustrating to start with I know but Im happy with it now.

The issue with this one, was although it was purchased as new, CRC sent out one in an opened box which had clearly been returned. So I'm not willing to spend much more time fiddling with it to be honest, plus I have to head out of the door now so I might as well ship it back to them and see what the next unit brings!

diamonddog

theboyfold wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Try the Tacx Training app, can you see any speed in there?

Nothing. Nothing in Zwift either. It see the device, but no data.

It's going back to CRC

Do CRC sell the T2240? The connections via Android/Bluetooth do seem to be more troublesome on the Tacx trainers at the initial set up. No help to you but mine has worked trouble free on IPad/Bluetooth connection.

RossoCorso34

diamonddog wrote:

theboyfold wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Try the Tacx Training app, can you see any speed in there?

Nothing. Nothing in Zwift either. It see the device, but no data.

It's going back to CRC

Do CRC sell the T2240? The connections via Android/Bluetooth do seem to be more troublesome on the Tacx trainers at the initial set up. No help to you but mine has worked trouble free on IPad/Bluetooth connection.

Good point... It was the 2180! Either way, it's gone back

jkTrain

I just got a Flow Smart. Unfortunately it will not maintain connection with my Android phone and so far Tacx does not know why. However it does pair with my old iPhone 5 and I'm pleased that Zwift works via the ios app. I think it's about 50watts off but it's changing resistance and functions well.

But alas the screen is sooo small! Half the into is microscopic. I was wondering if anyone here is using the iPhone app and if you can broadcast or plug into a TV? I don't want to get a Mac or Windows machine. If anything I want to get an Android tablet but no idea if Zwift will support that anytime soon.

Also, what other apps do you like with your Flow Smart?

markhewitt1978

jkTrain wrote:

But alas the screen is sooo small! Half the into is microscopic. I was wondering if anyone here is using the iPhone app and if you can broadcast or plug into a TV? I don't want to get a Mac or Windows machine. If anything I want to get an Android tablet but no idea if Zwift will support that anytime soon.

Yes you can get the Apple HDMI adapter and put it on a screen.

jkTrain

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Yes you can get the Apple HDMI adapter and put it on a screen.

Thanks Mark. My buddy says you don't see all the metrics, maps, and upcoming hills through the iphone. And the main HDMI adapter on Amazon seems to be 40pounds. I'm reluctant to put any money into the old phone though as I've moved to Android. Plus if it isn't giving me the full Zwift experience it turns me off that option.

I have a 6-year old Laptop with Windows 10. I really didn't want to use that either and no idea if it'd work. I also need bluetooth smart so have to sort if my dongle does that too.

there are some dual Android/Windows tablets starting about 150pounds with 4gb of ram. Not quite sure they are robust enough though to run Zwift. I do everything online now through a Chrome box and the Chrome browser so I'm apprehensive to go back into a PC.

markhewitt1978

I'm not sure what your friend was referring to but the Zwift display you get on the iPhone is indentical to what you get on PC

cld531c

jkTrain wrote:

I just got a Flow Smart. Unfortunately it will not maintain connection with my Android phone and so far Tacx does not know why. However it does pair with my old iPhone 5 and I'm pleased that Zwift works via the ios app. I think it's about 50watts off but it's changing resistance and functions well.

But alas the screen is sooo small! Half the into is microscopic. I was wondering if anyone here is using the iPhone app and if you can broadcast or plug into a TV? I don't want to get a Mac or Windows machine. If anything I want to get an Android tablet but no idea if Zwift will support that anytime soon.

Also, what other apps do you like with your Flow Smart?

Not tried Zwift but I like Bkool

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Holy thread revival, Batman! :shock:

Anyone using the 2240 with a 142x12 bolt thru bike?

If so, anyone using a Kinetic Traxle http://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-t ... raxle-fine , rather than the Tacx equivalent?

I've been in a tizz about buying a trainer for weeks, or not, I think this new £171 deal with BC discount http://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-t ... bo-trainer might make me finally buy one.

barongreenback

I’d like to but my Domane is too wide so I’m forced to use my winter bike on it, which is a pain. From memory, the max width including the axle nuts used to clamp the bike is 204mm. You can buy third party turbo trainer thru axles from SJS cycles in the UK, who stock Robert Axle Project thru axles. Check the manufacturer website if you need to know which one is required.