New to smart trainers

SwimmingFish849

Hi

I'm new to the smart trainer world and was hoping for some opinions. I've always been a mountain bike person but lately I haven't managed to get out and about because of the weather, darker evenings etc so looking to bring it into the home instead

I'm on a bit of a budget at the moment because this is new, once I get into it and start to get into a routine I might throw some more money at it but for now i'm looking at around £200-250

I think i've narrowed it down to a Tacx Flow Smart for £200 or a Bkool Smart Go for £250
I was thinking of giving the Bkool simulator app a go because of the different map options this one has - at the moment i'm not looking to join groups but that isn't to say I might want to move over to Zwift in the future!

What are your thoughts on these two trainers and which would be the better option (unless there is another within that budget)

Thanks

redjeepǃ

Hi swimmingfish.

I thought that I'd reply as nobody else has. I also have a BKool trainer which i got for Christmas about 5 years ago and generally am very happy with it. I use it a lot.

I'm a bit less happy with the app, which I've use on and off since I got the trainer. Before that I had a basic Tacx trainer and a set of Tacx rollers (both of which I still have).

Most of the problems that I've had with it have been connectivity and it'd regularly drop out numerous times during a session which was pretty annoying. However up until a few months ago the best broadband connectivity that I could get was around 1 MBps.....

I've now got wireless broadband that gives me a round 20 MBps and so have started to use their app again. I've also added a repeater in my shed so between the two don't get the drop outs any more.

However I still use the Sufferfest much more often than the BKool app, and one of the advantages is that you can download the sessions. I then tend to use the broadband to watch Sky or a film etc.

I've tried using the BKool app where you can control the turbo from your smart phone and again found it dropped out. I never fixed that.

So, in summary, I'm happy with the trainer but have a love/hate relationship with their app. Don't forget that you can use pretty much any app with any trainer.

There's (really long) reviews of the different trainers and different apps on DC Rainmaker (just google it when you've got a spare few hours you want to kill).

You'll also need somewhere to set it all up semi permanently, a computer and a TV/ Monitor in front of your bike. Oh, and a fan, a really big one.

supermurph09

SwimmingFish849 wrote:

Hi

I'm new to the smart trainer world and was hoping for some opinions. I've always been a mountain bike person but lately I haven't managed to get out and about because of the weather, darker evenings etc so looking to bring it into the home instead

I'm on a bit of a budget at the moment because this is new, once I get into it and start to get into a routine I might throw some more money at it but for now i'm looking at around £200-250

I think i've narrowed it down to a Tacx Flow Smart for £200 or a Bkool Smart Go for £250
I was thinking of giving the Bkool simulator app a go because of the different map options this one has - at the moment i'm not looking to join groups but that isn't to say I might want to move over to Zwift in the future!

What are your thoughts on these two trainers and which would be the better option (unless there is another within that budget)

Thanks

The Tacx Flow Smart is a solid trainer for the money (I have one), you can also get 10% discount if you are a british cycling member when purchasing it from Halfords. It'll work fine with Zwift, Sufferfest etc.

kingstongraham

I got a Tacx Flow smart for Christmas, and it's fine. The lowest and highest resistance settings mean that I have to change gear sometimes in erg mode when doing intervals (I can't get the same gear can't do 500W at 110rpm and also 140W at 85rpm). But apart from that, I'm finding it great, and having the erg mode to keep your power up in the work segments, and down in the rest segments is a revelation.

I'm using Zwift, mostly for the workouts. When riding on the flat, the default resistance feels a bit low, but I think this is a Zwift issue, not the trainer, as it is happy setting me at a good resistance when climbing.

SwimmingFish849

Thanks for your updates, I'll be going for the Tacx I think

tonysj

I use the Tacx Flow in my garage from December 17 and had a few problems mainly with connection to Broadband but sorted now.
Use it on Trainer Road as I thought the Tacx 4 training app stuff was with the trainer but not the Flow only the basic which I have not used.
My first dip into turbo training and enjoying it. It was reduced in Halfords last time I looked from the £220 down to £189 I think.Well worth the money for a SMART trainer.

T

SwimmingFish849

I'll be picking it up today.
It doesn't seem as though many people use the BKool simulator, is there a reason for that? I was hoping to use the free basic features of that, by what I can tell all the others are a monthly fee

the_rover

SwimmingFish849 wrote:

I'll be picking it up today.
It doesn't seem as though many people use the BKool simulator, is there a reason for that? I was hoping to use the free basic features of that, by what I can tell all the others are a monthly fee

I’ve used Bkool for the last two years on a Bkool Pro trainer, I mainly use it in 3D mode as the videos are poor quality but it’s good, I’ve had lots of “ races “ on it and there’s a good selection of routes to use. That said, I’m looking to use other platforms now, Sufferfest is my current choice but I’m hoping to use fulgaz when I get a elite direto turbo in feb once they come back in stock.

Edit - have a look at the CycleChat forum as it’s got an excellent turbo section and lots of references to bkool.

SwimmingFish849

Mmm, maybe i'l just give Bkool a go a see how I get on with that

SwimmingFish849

Ok, one issue I’m seeing with BKOOL is it doesn’t work with my Apple Watch for the HR monitor that I can see

bigmitch41

I used a Tacx Flow for 12 months and found it be a great little trainer for the money, connected to Zwift via Ant+ on an old ish lap top. I don't know if your Apple watch will connect but a decent Ant+ heart rate monitor can be had fairly cheaply (Wahoo). I'd recommend the Tacx.