Smart trainer slope / purchase / screen setup

itsrob

So Ive convinced myself that I want to be training in the freezing cold conservatory this winter and keep the gains form the summer.

I definitely want something smart, and to be able to do Zwift / other group races / ways of keeping it interesting.

Ideally I want to spend time on my main bike - and possibly working on aero positioning.

Also ideally Id like to not have to mess about rapping my knuckles changing to turbo tyre back to road 3 times a week etc.

So I'd assume that with a top end budget of say £300 - I can't see I'll get a direct drive so I'm going to need a spare wheel also with the turbo tyre always mounted on there.

Ive seen there is an elite Vortex at an alright price - which gives 7% as max slope - does this limit some of the smart capabilities at all? - for example some of the decent climbs?
Ive also seen a refurb Bushido at similar price which gives incline of 15%. I understand there were software problems with the bushido initially but expect they will be sorted now?
Is there anything that Ive overlooked?

onto the actual zwift type job.
I have office computers at home,
so have access to an iMac, MacBook Air, an old iPad, and an old Apple TV as well as phone. Also have a TV mounted on the wall and a cable to run from the 2 computers to the TV if needbe.
Currently Have an edge 800 and Garmin cadence sensors on the bike, possibly ay wear HR monitor going forward too if that is of any relevance
Any pointers on the best easiest set up?

I have a crappy fan its also going to be about -5 in the conservatory in winter so may not need much cooling!

Any help / experiences / suggestions much appreciated

dannbodge

For £300 I'd look at a refurbished Wahoo Kickr Snap or Tacx Vortex.

Zwift is quite graphics heavy so without your PC specs it would be difficult to work out what will run it.

The macbook air, iphone or Apple TV will be the easiest to set up as you already have them, unless the PCs are good enough to run it.

Bluetooth will work fine with the apple stuff but if using the PC I'd get an ANT+ USB stick too.
Cadence sensor and HRM are handy for workouts and things too, you don't need to worry about the Garmin though, it's unused with Zwift.

You will want a fan. Even though it's cold, the air around you will warm and you'll get hot.
Just a small one to create a breeze would do the job.

stevie63

I use my bike on the turbo year round and I have never bothered with a turbo specific tyre. My rear tyre currently has 3500 miles on it from a 60/40 indoor/outdoor ratio and I reckon I'll get another 2000 at least. With regards to turbos for under £300 sometimes wahoo has refurb Kickr Snaps for that price.

itsrob

Dan / steve thanks for the responses - really helpful advice there

Looks like the wahoo refurb is 2017 and 1t £400 currently.

Which perhaps brings it to a fight between the vortex or the bushido refurb. I think My ideal would be a refurb vortex and some extra ££ in my pocket but can't see any available at the moment.

Very interesting on the tyre, I tried a normal road one when I first got my old turbo which was vary cheap and shredded it.

good news on the setups in that it looks like I'm ready to go with that.

I'll keep an eye out to try and pick up a bargain
cheers
rob

dannbodge

Tacx Vortex do come up for sale second hand very regularly and they generally go for about £150/200

fenix

Some turbos do shred tyres and some don't.

https://support.zwift.com/en_us/what-ar ... -B1P10kWrQ

sh3p

You will likely find on the cheap trainer without a calibration setup for tension, it will have been too slack and the tyre slipping, I had the same problem with my 1st trainer.. And was quite surprised how much tension was on the tyre when I got the taxc which had a set up app.
Used a road tyre from that point without issue.

slowbike

My basic Tacx shredded tyres, but the Bkool Smart Go hasn't - it uses the rider weight to control pressure rather than clamping up on the wheel. Sigma have the Smart Go at £245 - including USB Ant+ (works on Macs too) - smart go is up to 8% or 800w so you may want to go for something better if you want to do heavy intervals...
You can use Bkool with any simulator/training software - Zwift, Trainerroad or the Bkool own one - doesn't matter
the bkool simulator didn't require powerful graphics like Zwift - I was running it on a macbook pro from 2009 - although we have recently replaced it as it was getting a little sluggish....
Your best bet for Zwift may be to run it on the phone (bluetooth) and throw to the AppleTV ...

itsrob

Thanks for the help on this, Ive actually ended up hiring the direct drive Tacx one, Its all ready to go once Ive sorted out the Zwift from the above advice!