Smart trainer or power meter?

nellie72

Hello. Please excuse the ignorant question.

I have a set of 'dumb rollers' that i use in the winter. I also have a Wahoo Elemnt for speed/cadence etc. I have also been contemplating buying a power meter to improve my training anyway.

For the coming winter i want to jump on the Zwift bus.

If i just buy a power meter will i then have enough 'smart tech' to enable me to use Zwift with the manual rollers?

Unfortunately i can only afford either a Smart Trainer (2nd hand) or a Power Meter.

I am a bit of a novice/newbie when it comes to this sort of thing so any advice guidance would be appreciated.

cruff

Power meter will be better if you care about training and want the same numbers on the road as indoors. Smart trainer is a much, much better zwift experience, however. So depends which is more important to you

Harry182

I've run Zwift without a power meter or smart trainer. Zwift has a virtual power and equivalent trainer feature. (IIRC, they have "generic rollers" as an equivalent trainer option.)

Do a Zwift free trial on your current set up (if you haven't already) and see what you think.

Zwift on dumb rollers is still good fun (though weird/amusing when the virtual peloton drops cadence/stands for a climb and your avatar is still sitting and spinning.)

I can appreciate the benefits of a smart trainer but personally I'd be loath to give up my rollers for a "stationary" trainer.

StillGoing

You don't need a power meter to use your current set up with Zwift. As long as you have a speed and cadence sensor with BTE or ANT+, you can connect to the App. A smart trainer is a better buy for the full immersion with ERG mode.

A power meter indoors won't represent the same numbers outside either. There's no headwind indoors so your outdoor watts won't represent the same speeds as indoors.

Dorset_Boy

Boils down to how immersive you want your Zwift experience to be. PM + Rollers gives you no gradient / undulations feedback so you won't feel the climbs or downhills.

If you trial Zwift with your current set up you will be capped at 400 watts, and there is no power curve for dumb rollers in the game. It will totally screw up subsequent stats if you go smart. If you want to race on Zwift, you really have to go smart.

joe2019

If you go for a power meter, make it a Favero Assioma, you won't regret it.

cruff

StillGoing said:

You don't need a power meter to use your current set up with Zwift. As long as you have a speed and cadence sensor with BTE or ANT+, you can connect to the App. A smart trainer is a better buy for the full immersion with ERG mode.

A power meter indoors won't represent the same numbers outside either. There's no headwind indoors so your outdoor watts won't represent the same speeds as indoors.

Erm... the point of a power meter is to train to power, not speed. Whatever power you're putting out indoors will be exactly the same as what you're putting out outdoors (speed is irrelevant)

super_davo

The budget is a fairly important question...

You can get a 4iii for just over £200. At that price, you'll be looking at a Tacx Flow or similar bottom of range smart wheel on trainer. At that budget, I'd go for the PM every time because:
- power measurement on the turbo is a bit flaky
- bit of a faff calibrating each time you us it to minimise flakiness
- max grades / responsiveness limit how immersive Zwift will feel anyway

If your budget is £4-500+ then the situtation could flip, depending on how much time you spend riding indoors vs outdoors. You're probably in budget for a DD turbo or quality wheel on like a Kickr Snap. Your budget might stretch to a dual sided PM. Both will have improvements over the cheaper versions, but IMO you'll notice this more with the turbo than with the PM, unless you have a major leg imbalance.

Personally, I'd go with the PM for the year round versatility.

redvision

It's easier to train to power indoor than out and for that reason, if you're on a budget you may find it is better to invest in a smart trainer.

If you do go for a pm though I second Joe's comments above, go with the favero assioma.

kingstongraham

super_davo said:

The budget is a fairly important question...

You can get a 4iii for just over £200. At that price, you'll be looking at a Tacx Flow or similar bottom of range smart wheel on trainer. At that budget, I'd go for the PM every time because:
- power measurement on the turbo is a bit flaky
- bit of a faff calibrating each time you us it to minimise flakiness
- max grades / responsiveness limit how immersive Zwift will feel anyway

If your budget is £4-500+ then the situtation could flip, depending on how much time you spend riding indoors vs outdoors. You're probably in budget for a DD turbo or quality wheel on like a Kickr Snap. Your budget might stretch to a dual sided PM. Both will have improvements over the cheaper versions, but IMO you'll notice this more with the turbo than with the PM, unless you have a major leg imbalance.

Personally, I'd go with the PM for the year round versatility.

If the budget is £500, then you could get a 4iii and a Tacx Flow.

thistle_

Cheapest - BLE/ANT+ speed sensor (you don't need cadence as I found out). Experience on Zwift is a bit pants though, even on a turbo with a known power curve.
Cheap - Single sided power meter, provided there's a cheap one available for your crank. You can use any turbo/rollers but you don't get gradient feedback
Better Zwift experience - Smart turbo/rollers (e.g. Elite Nero?) but you can't use it out on the road like a power meter.

Halfway house - Power meter with dumb turbo that talks to Zwift...

roastie_cyclocross

When I was in your position I opted for a smart trainer, which has been great & still gets used at least 3 times a week. I then got bitten by the power bug & 8 months later invested in a 4iiii power meter so that I could follow my Trainerroad plans when riding outside on the weekend.

Personally I would invest in a smart trainer first as it makes riding Zwift much more immersive & ERG mode is great for when doing training plans etc. Then if/when funds allow invest in a power meter.

StillGoing

cruff said:

StillGoing said:

You don't need a power meter to use your current set up with Zwift. As long as you have a speed and cadence sensor with BTE or ANT+, you can connect to the App. A smart trainer is a better buy for the full immersion with ERG mode.

A power meter indoors won't represent the same numbers outside either. There's no headwind indoors so your outdoor watts won't represent the same speeds as indoors.

Erm... the point of a power meter is to train to power, not speed. Whatever power you're putting out indoors will be exactly the same as what you're putting out outdoors (speed is irrelevant)

You miss the point. You referred to numbers. Whilst the OP might hit certain speeds at a given power indoors with no wind resistance, they will struggle to achieve the same NUMBERS for the given power outdoors. I know hitting and maintaining my threshold power outdoors is a lot harder than doing it indoors.

bobmcstuff

StillGoing said:

cruff said:

StillGoing said:

You don't need a power meter to use your current set up with Zwift. As long as you have a speed and cadence sensor with BTE or ANT+, you can connect to the App. A smart trainer is a better buy for the full immersion with ERG mode.

A power meter indoors won't represent the same numbers outside either. There's no headwind indoors so your outdoor watts won't represent the same speeds as indoors.

Erm... the point of a power meter is to train to power, not speed. Whatever power you're putting out indoors will be exactly the same as what you're putting out outdoors (speed is irrelevant)

You miss the point. You referred to numbers. Whilst the OP might hit certain speeds at a given power indoors with no wind resistance, they will struggle to achieve the same NUMBERS for the given power outdoors. I know hitting and maintaining my threshold power outdoors is a lot harder than doing it indoors.

A lot of people find it the other way round, i.e., their threshold power will eb a few watts higher outside than inside. Apparently due to lack of cooling indoors.

But it depends how you do your training and what you're used to - it is easier to hold a fixed power indoors so if you have a lot of practice at it etc.

Same kind of thing as most people lose a few watts in TT position as well.