Which setup to go with?

bennny

Hi all, a mate was telling me about Zwift over the weekend. I’m a mountain biker, and in inclement weather this would be ideal!

I have a mountain bike, a high spec (GTX1080) PC, and a telly. From what I can gather, I’ll need to buy a basic road bike, a smart trainer, and the dongle. Ideally, I’d like a low/no maintenance option that’s permanently setup, the CycleOps Phantom 5 looks like a good choice for not dropping oil, low noise, stable etc?

1) It doesn’t look as though the Phantom 5 can integrate with Zwift for controlled resistance - am I better off buying a basic bike, and smart trainer as separate units?

2) Is Zwift the best software, or are there better alternatives in terms of usability, community and variability?

3) Any other things I should consider but haven’t mentioned?

Cheers!

Penno

bennny wrote:

Hi all, a mate was telling me about Zwift over the weekend. I’m a mountain biker, and in inclement weather this would be ideal!

I have a mountain bike, a high spec (GTX1080) PC, and a telly. From what I can gather, I’ll need to buy a basic road bike, a smart trainer, and the dongle. Ideally, I’d like a low/no maintenance option that’s permanently setup, the CycleOps Phantom 5 looks like a good choice for not dropping oil, low noise, stable etc?

1) It doesn’t look as though the Phantom 5 can integrate with Zwift for controlled resistance - am I better off buying a basic bike, and smart trainer as separate units?

2) Is Zwift the best software, or are there better alternatives in terms of usability, community and variability?

3) Any other things I should consider but haven’t mentioned?

Cheers!

Benny
I have recently bought a BKool Pro Trainer £360 and found it to be an easy set up, no calibration and leave permanently on my bike as I cannot get out due to my main caring role. With it I got free trial month and just paid £78 for annual subscription. I run it with iPad 3 and wahoo key. I think a laptop with better hardware would be useful as iPad is not powerful enough to show videos only map profile. It has lots of options route, workouts, classes, velodrome and I would say have a look into it. But it gives you a good workout. Links to Garmin heart rate monitors etc

diamonddog

Tacx Smart Flow works with Zwift on iPad via Bluetooth or on computer with dongle.

bigmitch41

diamonddog wrote:

Tacx Smart Flow works with Zwift on iPad via Bluetooth or on computer with dongle.

This run through an oldish laptop via Ant+ and a zwift subscription (€10pm) The Flow was £180 after 10% discount through hallfords. Works well for me.

StillGoing

bennny wrote:

Hi all, a mate was telling me about Zwift over the weekend. I’m a mountain biker, and in inclement weather this would be ideal!

I have a mountain bike, a high spec (GTX1080) PC, and a telly. From what I can gather, I’ll need to buy a basic road bike, a smart trainer, and the dongle. Ideally, I’d like a low/no maintenance option that’s permanently setup, the CycleOps Phantom 5 looks like a good choice for not dropping oil, low noise, stable etc?

1) It doesn’t look as though the Phantom 5 can integrate with Zwift for controlled resistance - am I better off buying a basic bike, and smart trainer as separate units?

2) Is Zwift the best software, or are there better alternatives in terms of usability, community and variability?

3) Any other things I should consider but haven’t mentioned?

Cheers!

Depends what your budget is and whether you want ERG mode (auto resistance). Also depends on whether you want wheel on or direct drive mounting, and fluid, magnetic or fan resistance. Have a look at Shame Miller's blog for his reviews recommendations on trainers. Personally, I prefer direct drive and fluid resistance. I don't use ERG mode as I screwed my knee up using it on a Tacx Bushido and the slippage it suffered with.

Training software wise there are various options out there. Zwift seems to work with most things, has training programs, races, or just ride and do your own thing and can link up with others to do virtual group rides. Trainerroad is very good for structured training and better than Zwift at it. I tried BKool's training software and just couldn't get it to work any of the times I tried it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone based on my experience. Elite have a training program that is free with some trainers such as the Kura. Tacx also have their own software with the TTS4 Advanced. There's also Full Gas, Sufferfest and more, but the main ones seem to be Zwift and Trainerroad.

MiddleRinger

1) Yes. If you want to really get into Zwift, then automatic resistance is the way to go. Sure you can use your gears to simulate changes in resistance but you'll get a vastly more immersive experience with a proper Smart trainer.

2) Yes. Okay maybe. Well it depends on what you want to get out of it.

3) A mat to go under your bike/trainer setup and a powerful fan to keep you cool. Possibly a mini Bluetooth keyboard or iPhone mount to go on your bars so you can chat, take different turns on the course, use powerups, etc.

bvduck

Hey there Benny,

David McQuillen, Chief Suffering Officer over at The Sufferfest here. You've certainly got a lot of choices when it comes to indoor training. You might want to look at overview provided by DC Rainmaker here: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/11/tra ... guide.html

At The Sufferfest, we have a big library of workouts featuring pro racing footage and designed by Coach Neal Henderson of BMC Racing/APEX Coaching (he coached Rohan Dennis and Evelyn Stevens each to the World Hour Record last year), a yoga for cyclists video series (great for MTBers!) as well as a Mental Strength Training programme. You can try the app for free for 7 days to get a feel for it...it will work with smart trainers (if you get one) as well as regular trainers and a speed sensor for Virtual Power: http://www.thesufferfest.com

Happy to answer any questions, as well.

Cheers, David (david@thesufferfest.com)

MiddleRinger

What do you want to achieve from your indoor training?

Are you after structured workouts or just getting in some extra pedal time when the weather is a bit rubbish? Or both? Zwift is great, but it's easy to get sucked into the "game" aspect and do loads of racing and hard group rides without any real structure. It can seriously smash. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just something to consider.

cld531c

Just got an ipad mini 4 and was hoping my tacx flow smart would work with it.
Tried to pair it on Bkool but it would only find it as a power meter (would register cadence, speed and power) but would not adjust for gradients.
Any one else had this issue?
Works fine on the laptop with the dongle
thanks

bigmitch41

I couldn't get my Tacx working via Bluetooth, resorted to Ant+ and a usb dongle extension cable to my laptop, which works perfectly for me.

cld531c

Thanks BigMitch, at least I know not to keep trying.
I got that frustrated with it last night I resorted to tidying the garage instead (in my cycling gear)!

bigmitch41

I still rate the Flow, still going strong having used it a fair bit!

At least your garage is tidy now

cld531c

Every cloud......