Confused

Anonymous

Looking at buying my first turbo trainer. Tried some training rollers on loan from a friend but fell off !!
Don't want to spend hundreds of pounds

Advice appreciated

markhewitt1978

Need more info as to what you're looking for. As it's such a big area.

Do you want virtual riding like Zwift. Just training programmes?

Do you already have a PC/Mac iPhone or iPad?

Anonymous

Just a basic trainer ...

markhewitt1978

To do what? Sorry even that is such a massive area.

imposter2.0

DALESMAN999 wrote:

Just a basic trainer ...

Mate - you're not helping yourself here. Give people an idea of budget, and perhaps some idea of what level you are at, or want to be at.

Anonymous

Max spend 150£. Don't want virtual rides etc

Just to keep the fitness going through the winter and for a quick "ride" when I finish work ( can't always go out after work due to family commitments but could manage an hour in the conservatory )

markhewitt1978

Tacx Blue Matic Smart. £99. Manual adjustable resistance but will still report power to your phone or computer.

myideal

But then for a bit more £180 you can get the Flow Smart and even though you say you don't want Virtual now, if you change your mind you get something that can do exactly that.

bobmcstuff

I got a Tacx Blue Motion for I think around £140 in 2014 for pretty much OPs reasons.

If I was going to buy again at that price I'd get the £180 Flow Smart because as it's turned out I use it a lot more seriously than I originally planned, and it'd be nice to have a smart trainer, but that wasn't available then - they've come down in price. However the Blue Motion works fine for e.g., TrainerRoad.

tangled_metal

I'm thinking along the same lines as the OP. A simple trainer for when i can't get time out. Then i saw the tacx flow. I'm going to get that one because it's such a good deal.

The plus points include the smart functions but even if not using as a smart trainer the flow apparently behaves as a fluid turbo trainer when not connected to an app. By this they mean the turbo gets harder to pedal as you get faster. Apparently that's supposed to make it a bit more realistic feeling.

myideal

Tangled Metal wrote:

I'm thinking along the same lines as the OP. A simple trainer for when i can't get time out. Then i saw the tacx flow. I'm going to get that one because it's such a good deal.

The plus points include the smart functions but even if not using as a smart trainer the flow apparently behaves as a fluid turbo trainer when not connected to an app. By this they mean the turbo gets harder to pedal as you get faster. Apparently that's supposed to make it a bit more realistic feeling.

Yes that's true as you don't even have to plug it in if you just want to use it like that.

It does feel like a decent bit of kit and I do enjoy indoor training more than I expected.

OnTheRopes

DALESMAN999 wrote:

Max spend 150£. Don't want virtual rides etc

Just to keep the fitness going through the winter and for a quick "ride" when I finish work ( can't always go out after work due to family commitments but could manage an hour in the conservatory )

I hated using my turbo, but when I finally got round to trying zwift, actually I rather enjoy it an odd perverted kind of way.
So don't assume you don't want virtual rides, that was exactly my school of thought at first

homers_double

You don't "need" a smart trainer to use Zwift, I'm certainly not.

Zwift gives you a resistance setting to use for a dumb trainer and just use that - Makes insanely dull turbo sessions just about bearable.