Which turbo trainer?
Newbie with zero knowledge, don’t want to overthink it.
Requirements:
- £200-£250
- smart trainer
- as quiet as possible
- easy to set up as possible, wheel on or wheel off? Do I need a new cassette to attach to the trainer?
- compatible with swift etc
- generally the best product for my budget
thanks
Comments
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Wheel off for less noise and better accuracy.
They will all be compatible with Zwift but likely outside your budget. Increase budget or go second hand.
Fairly sure I had to buy a cassette separately.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Yeah my research suggests wheel off is better overall, albeit more weight and takes up more space, not to mention being insanely expensive!
preusmably the Zwift own one will only work on zwift and not any other types of virtual ride apps
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AFAIK the Zwift one is just a Jetblack Volt rebadged and will work with other apps.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.1 -
It is, and it does
Link to DC Rainmakers review: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/10/zwift-hub-smart-trainer-in-depth-review-the-best-bang-for-your-buck.html
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They stopped selling that zwift trainer because of the lawsuit.
There's a new zwift one without a cassette on it - virtual shifting or something.
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It's the same trainer. The hub bit that gives the virtual shifting (which only works with Zwift) is, as far as I can tell, replaceable with a normal cassette.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/10/zwift-hub-one-zwift-cog-clicks-review.html
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So, is the consensus that a wheel off one is a better option? I can’t quite believe how expensive they are!
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In simple terms, you get what you pay for.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
If you buy a wheel on one then you'll be wanting a direct drive one within 6 months.
And direct drive ones don't take up any more space.
Given the budget, I'd suggest look second hand. Tackx Neo and Wahoo Kickr are cream of the crop.
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I sold my Elite Suito and only got something like £280 for it. There should be plenty out there used and in budget. Given how many were bought around lockdown that probably haven't had that much use, there are likely quite a few around with low miles.
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I've had three.
The most basic Cyclops. Bought for £100 and sold for £20 in pristine condition some years later!
Tacx wheel on smart trainer - Vortex IIRC. Worked well enough for me to realise that I can use a turbo for cycle fitness. Still felt clunky and was not as reliable as I would like. Had to sell it when I was stuck overseas with too much stuff during Covid.
Wahoo Kickr Core - brilliant. Reliable, feels great and once setup easy to use.
Do NOT compromise for a wheel on trainer. Save for another 3 months and get a wheel off/direct drive.
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I bought one, 2nd hand, for my wife. Not as good as the Kickr Core which is only another £70. The extra £70 is worth paying IMHO.
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Thanks all. So given the research I’ve done I have decided to up the budget and go direct drive. I will only buy one of these so may as well not half arse it. Kickr core or zwift it is, will see what prices and delivery times are like and decide from there. Will look second hand but want to get going asap so don’t want to be looking for ever and a day.0
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So the final query is zwift hub v the kickr core - much difference? Zwift hub one seems to have virtual gears - any benefit over a normal cassette? I understand you can add one but at that price I don’t really want to be paying any more.0
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Most people who buy one of these are unlikely to buy the other so you are unlikely to get much feedback on the differences here. Best have a read of DC Rainmaker's website and see what he says.
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Based on the DC review, which is v good, cassette it is for me. Will be ordering the kickr core!
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If I had to buy another for reasons other than my Core breaking I would buy another Core. Good choice and much better VFM compared to a few years ago. I bought mine in Vietnam in 2020 and had to pay another £100 in duty when I brought it home in 2021.
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All set to but the kickr core and can’t see anywhere other than Zwift where it comes with a cassette. Thought it’d be included, ffs! Didn’t want to go with Zwift as that includes the annual membership for £100 and wanted the device on its own first to try. How much should I be looking at paying for a cassette? If we’re talking £50 ish then I may as well get it from zwift!
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Shop around but Merlin have a sale on Shimano 105 series cassettes at the moment: https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-105-cs-r7000-cassette-11-speed-117086.html
EDIT to Add
The other bit to consider is Wahoo's customer service has been excellent as far as I'm concerned. MY 2018 Kickr started making a horrible grinding noise in 2021, so we were out of warranty.
When I sent them a support request to see if there was anything I could do, they sorted out a refurbished replacement instead. Pretty much guarantees that I'll get a new Kickr if/when the current one dies.
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Thanks. Looks like I can pick up a 10 speed for 25-30 quid. Should I be looking at a specific quality cassette or unlikely to notice a difference?
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should be good with whatever. Weight isn't exactly an issue if it's staying on the trainer
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Elite Zumo for 379 at Halfords.
Kickr Core doesn't seem to come with a cassette but since they cover multiple 'speeds' even if it did it would be an 11 speed one so no use to you.
They're supposed to be working on variations but I can't see the logistics of that working well if they ship the cassettes packaged with the units instead of separately. Too many variations for dealers and distributors to have clogging up the storerooms. My Kickr came with an 11s 11-28 which I took off straightaway and sold on as I use a 32. Yes, I could probably change trainer difficulty to work around it but it's also nice to work with the gearing I'm used to. I didn't think the SunRace cassette looked or felt any cheaper than a 105.
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The kicker core from zwift comes with a choice of cassette speeds so I’d go 10 to match mine. Tempted by the zumo but by all accounts comes second to the kickr core. There’s basically £70 difference before taking into account zwift or other paid or non paid training apps. For what I’m spending if it’s a significant amount better I think the £70 is worth it, but am coming from a point of zero knowledge. I think the hard decision for me is the trainer app element as my cyclical side says anything that is free is either inferior or won’t be free for very long, it’s just how business works!
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It sounds like you just want to ride, so Zwift will give you plenty of opportunities whenever you want to jump on. Some (most) of the others are either geared to more structured training or have a smaller community with less frequent events, generally without the free-ride capability of Zwift.
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Not true about the free-ride aspect.
Rouvy and Fulgaz are mostly geared towards free-riding although they do have the other aspects.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I use the Tacx training app (a Garmin company these days) which is similar to Fulham/Rouvy etc - geared much more towards doing free rides on actual road video films. I've done 3,500 km in the last 6 months on it and don't often do the same course. A few are "favourites" I've repeated, but not that many
I've zero interest in "racing" like Zwift offers, nor do I find the group ride online thing even vaguely appealing. I'm sat in my shed pedalling away, and no amount of avatars blinking along is going to convince me I'm actually out on the road chatting with mates.
The Tacx one works well in my case, although comparative costs... ? No clue, don't care really. It is literally the equivalent of 1 coffee out per week.
Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS0 -
Bought a kickr core and am really struggling with setting it up. Followed the instructions, YouTube video but something just doesn’t feel right. When I pedal the noise is just awful, like severe cross chaining but I’ve no idea why.
also, the manual suggests performing a spin down prior to use - what is a spin down? The instructions don’t tie up to what I see on the app so am a little perplexed there also.
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What app are you using?
A spin down is a calibration process where you pedal quickly to a set speed (32km/h I think) then stop pedalling. The trainer then, I assume, looks at the readings whilst it spins down to zero (I think).
It might be worth using the training app you intend to use for training, for the set up.
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