Turbo Trainer Gradients

[Deleted User]

Hi Guys,

Whats everyones opinion on Turbo trainer gradient limitations when hooking it up to Zwift?

I'm looking at buying a trainer and noticed some of the cheaper ones only go to 7% gradient. I appreciate you can just use a harder gear to replicate higher gradients but it takes away from the realism of Zwift.

Do you guys think paying a bit extra for this is worth it?

I'm currently looking at the Tacx Vortex (does 7%) at £330 or the Bkool Smart Pro II trainer (20%) £415

Any recommendations would be appreciated

StillGoing

Chaz9462 wrote:

Hi Guys,

Whats everyones opinion on Turbo trainer gradient limitations when hooking it up to Zwift?

I'm looking at buying a trainer and noticed some of the cheaper ones only go to 7% gradient. I appreciate you can just use a harder gear to replicate higher gradients but it takes away from the realism of Zwift.

Do you guys think paying a bit extra for this is worth it?

I'm currently looking at the Tacx Vortex (does 7%) at £330 or the Bkool Smart Pro II trainer (20%) £415

Any recommendations would be appreciated

Zwift is no more realistic than a video shoot 'em up game. Its merely an animated image instead of either a workout program display or google maps image etc. The attraction is that you can train with others from your own home.

dannbodge

The gradients on zwift are fairly realistic imo, however in game it's generally only set to 50% simulation anyway (unless you change it) and the highest gradient available is 17%, so the vortex should be fine.

[Deleted User]

philthy3 wrote:

Chaz9462 wrote:

Hi Guys,

Whats everyones opinion on Turbo trainer gradient limitations when hooking it up to Zwift?

I'm looking at buying a trainer and noticed some of the cheaper ones only go to 7% gradient. I appreciate you can just use a harder gear to replicate higher gradients but it takes away from the realism of Zwift.

Do you guys think paying a bit extra for this is worth it?

I'm currently looking at the Tacx Vortex (does 7%) at £330 or the Bkool Smart Pro II trainer (20%) £415

Any recommendations would be appreciated

Zwift is no more realistic than a video shoot 'em up game. Its merely an animated image instead of either a workout program display or google maps image etc. The attraction is that you can train with others from your own home.

I appreciate its effectively just a game. I meant in terms of how Swift interacts with the smart trainer and increases the resistance to reflect whats happening on screen. If your smart trainer is limited to 7% (and you have your profile set to 100%) then won't that take away from the experience???

I also realise Zwift works on wattage and so it still will take the same amount of Watts to get up the virtual hill.

What I'm asking is if you guys think its worth spending an extra £85 for an increased gradient?

StillGoing

Personally, no. But then I'm happy using the gears to increase intensity rather than having ERG mode or auto-resistance. If the road goes up, add the gears and hammer it, or just maintain the watts as you choose.

ben@31

philthy3 wrote:

Chaz9462 wrote:

Hi Guys,

Whats everyones opinion on Turbo trainer gradient limitations when hooking it up to Zwift?

I'm looking at buying a trainer and noticed some of the cheaper ones only go to 7% gradient. I appreciate you can just use a harder gear to replicate higher gradients but it takes away from the realism of Zwift.

Do you guys think paying a bit extra for this is worth it?

I'm currently looking at the Tacx Vortex (does 7%) at £330 or the Bkool Smart Pro II trainer (20%) £415

Any recommendations would be appreciated

Zwift is no more realistic than a video shoot 'em up game. Its merely an animated image instead of either a workout program display or google maps image etc. The attraction is that you can train with others from your own home.

What attracts me to Zwift is doing hill climbs with a smart trainer and I can get a better workout on Zwift than I can outdoors. Like Chaz said above, watts and heart rate matter just the same indoors as they do outdoors. The scenery on Zwift is also much better to look at than my wall, doesn't make turbo training as tedious.

Chaz, in my opinion if you're going to use the turbo trainer regularly then spend the extra £85, over winter you'll get your moneys worth out of it. You'll love the climb to the radio tower :twisted:

vinnymarsden

IMHO..always spend the most you can afford..its false economy to sit there 2 weeks later wishing you had spent the extra...skint for a week or 2 is better than regret for a year or two in my opinion...Just my 2pennorth...

Websta24

Dannbodge wrote:

The gradients on zwift are fairly realistic imo, however in game it's generally only set to 50% simulation anyway (unless you change it) and the highest gradient available is 17%, so the vortex should be fine.

I changed the difficulty straight to 100%, otherwise whats the point :P

I bought the Kickr Snap which simulates 12% and when it kicks in on the Radio tower incline it really bites.

As for the OP, i bought the Tacx Vortex, and returned it 2 days later as i really wasn't impressed. The cost saving over the Snap at the time was roughly £75 and the difference was night and day

[Deleted User]

Just to let you all know. I bought the Bkool Smart Pro 2 and it seems great quality. Had it running Zwift and it seems smooth and reacts very quickly to changes in grade/watts/rpm. Would recommend!!

daniel_b

Chaz9462 wrote:

Just to let you all know. I bought the Bkool Smart Pro 2 and it seems great quality. Had it running Zwift and it seems smooth and reacts very quickly to changes in grade/watts/rpm. Would recommend!!

Congrats! And it's black and yellow, what's not to love! 8)