Taxc Flow

shotgunmcos

I know a few ARTists have one of these so matbe it merits a thread for discussion?

I have one question anyway. On your screen 200w = approx ??kmh, assume its calibrated to 0

Another point. I know tunney harps on about calibrating it every use. For me this is impractical. It takes too long. To calibrate properly you have to warm it up. If I have an hour to do a session I don't want to waste 10-15 mins calibrating the thing. So, I do it once a week or maybe once3 every 2 weeks. I spend enough time on it so I know when it feels out. If I am in doubt I check it after the session or before teh next session.

Another question, which do you prefer

Reps with higher cadence, reps with big gear and low cadence or reps with usually spin but with slope?

Bambaata

I calibrate every time. It only takes 3 mins of spinning easy and then going through the setup and adjusting to suit. I find it doesnt always hold exactly the same calibration so i think its important.

I love the BG work most myself. 40 - 55cadence, slope at +9.

shotgunmcos

Bambaata wrote: »

I love the BG work most myself. 40 - 55cadence, slope at +9.

:eek: What kind of reps are you doing at that?

pgibbo

Bambaata wrote: »

I love the BG work most myself. 40 - 55cadence, slope at +9.

Jaysus. I was happy with my +4 or +5 for BG at 40 - 50.

I calibrate mine once a week but check the tyre pressure before each ride. I plan on doing both going forward. With these cold mornings I just want to get on and going. The garage isn't exactly the warmest place to be at the moment!

tunney

pgibbo wrote: »

Jaysus. I was happy with my +4 or +5 for BG at 40 - 50.

I calibrate mine once a week but check the tyre pressure before each ride. I plan on doing both going forward. With these cold mornings I just want to get on and going. The garage isn't exactly the warmest place to be at the moment!

Why bother with anything to do with power if you aren't going to do it properly?

Bambaata

Im fortunate to be inside with it these days in the spare room with the PC right infront with movies on the go! NO heat on though and the house gets so cold you can see your own breath. As of yet the neighbours havent complained but that could end tomorrow with what will be a noisey one! Im not sure the noise is going through the wall but i am always expecting a knock when i do builds/fast reps.

Ive no power in the shed but ill have to sort that if they do knock.

pgibbo

tunney wrote: »

Why bother with anything to do with power if you aren't going to do it properly?

Fair point. Given that I turn it off after each session and the fact that each time I checked the calibration so far it has been at 0 I figured I was safe enough. I also reckoned I'd know by feel if the calibration was off.

I will be checking to be safe going forward though.

tunney

pgibbo wrote: »

Fair point. Given that I turn it off after each session and the fact that each time I checked the calibration so far it has been at 0 I figured I was safe enough. I also reckoned I'd know by feel if the calibration was off.

I will be checking to be safe going forward though.

I'm not familar with flows specifically however I know from my CT and my SRMs on any other turbo that it takes 5-10 minutes to warm the tyre up and calibration should be done after this. If the room temperature and tyre pressure remain unchanged then it shouldn't be necessary to recailbrate each time. But if they differ then the numbers will too. i.e. morning and evening sessions and temperature

shotgunmcos

Bambaata wrote: »

Im fortunate to be inside with it these days in the spare room with the PC right infront with movies on the go! NO heat on though and the house gets so cold you can see your own breath. As of yet the neighbours havent complained but that could end tomorrow with what will be a noisey one! Im not sure the noise is going through the wall but i am always expecting a knock when i do builds/fast reps.

Ive no power in the shed but ill have to sort that if they do knock.

LOL, ideally I'd open the windows and let the freezing cold come in when on the turbo but having others to consider the heating was on full blast for the day on saturday for a long turbo. 2liters of fluid, a pint of recovery shake, a glass of OJ and I was still a kg under starting weight. Some might call it 'warm weather' training!

How often do you calibrate your flow?

Bambaata

I calibrate every use (3 times a week)

RedB

Turbo Newbie Q - Should you swop the spindle in/out when going back on the road?

Bambaata

I do but it has happened that ive forgotten to and nothing bad has happened. That said i wouldnt recommend it just in case!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

RedB wrote: »

Turbo Newbie Q - Should you swop the spindle in/out when going back on the road?

I did not change the spindle at the start but do now when taking the bike off the turbo. On a slightly different note I got a new bike a few months ago and was cycling down to the shop for a 6 week check/service on it. Removed it from the turbo and one of the kids had obviously twisted the release lever up, never checked it until the guy in the shop told me. How the wheel did not come off in that 3km cycle i will never know:eek:

pgibbo

Hi Guys,
I'm hoping one of you might be able to help me out here. I was on the turbo over the weekend. Whilst doing some BG work I noticed the following:

1. Faint smell of burning rubber during the BG work
2. After the 4th or so rep of BG work, the watts started the plummet even though HR & Cadence were consistent.

Any deas what might be causing this? I pumped the back wheel to 120 (pressure I have been using all along on the flow) before starting and calibrated after 3 minutes.

This only happened on BG work - resistance of +5 on Big Chainring on front and smallest on back block. Watts was normal for me on other settings.

Thanks in advance.

P.

tunney

pgibbo wrote: »

Hi Guys,
I'm hoping one of you might be able to help me out here. I was on the turbo over the weekend. Whilst doing some BG work I noticed the following:

1. Faint smell of burning rubber during the BG work
2. After the 4th or so rep of BG work, the watts started the plummet even though HR & Cadence were consistent.

Any deas what might be causing this? I pumped the back wheel to 120 (pressure I have been using all along on the flow) before starting and calibrated after 3 minutes.

This only happened on BG work - resistance of +5 on Big Chainring on front and smallest on back block. Watts was normal for me on other settings.

Thanks in advance.

P.

Strange I would expect the burning rubber and increased tyre slippage during a high speed rather than high torque session.

What tyre on the wheel?
Any visible wear on the tyre?

pgibbo

tunney wrote: »

Strange I would expect the burning rubber and increased tyre slippage during a high speed rather than high torque session.

What tyre on the wheel?
Any visible wear on the tyre?

This is the tyre that I have on there.
There is some wear and I would not take the tyre out on the road for fear of a puncture. I have also noticed that the flow seems to chew the tyre more than the Satori did. Should I try a new tyre on there?

Bambaata

This is the tyre i use on it - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-ultra-sport-home-trainer-folding-tyre/ There are cheasper options available also. Ive noticed some creaking noises when i push my BG work, i'm hoping it isnt anything serious too!

tunney

I use the conti tyre as well. On a turbo wheel.

using standard tyres can result in the tyres overheating and shredding.

pgibbo

Thanks guys. I'll get on to Santa if it's not too late!

shotgunmcos

Conti tyro too. 1000kms+ on theturbo and 1500kms+ on th eroad, same wheel, same tyre - no probs. 'Tis getting a little bald so it may just explode some day If I quit pedalling for a minute during a session it starts to squeak when I get going again. This resolves itself after a few mins. Perhaps something to do with the temperature of it against the flywheel.

tunney

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Conti tyro too. 1000kms+ on theturbo and 1500kms+ on th eroad, same wheel, same tyre - no probs. 'Tis getting a little bald so it may just explode some day If I quit pedalling for a minute during a session it starts to squeak when I get going again. This resolves itself after a few mins. Perhaps something to do with the temperature of it against the flywheel.

you ride the yellow tyre outside????

Bambaata

just noticed that myself! Im thinking its not the same one we have cos i cant imagine the rubber trainer tyre would perform too well in the wet!

Could do with a new back wheel myself! Only have the one for both the road and turbo. I'll add that to the Xmas list and see how it goes down :P

shotgunmcos

tunney wrote: »

you ride the yellow tyre outside????

eh nope , outdoor tyre.. oops sorry folks. Yeah just a bog standard wheel on my roadie anyway with a daacent tyre. As tempting as it always is to get some nicer wheel for my roadie I've vowed against the silly spending next year

El Director

Just noticed this thread and glad to see it.

My biggest problem is the fact that I cannot calibrate the thing to 0, evrybody else seems to be able but I guess I'm stupid So I leave it at +8/9, slope +3 and tyre pressure 120.

I did lots and lots of high cadence stuff last winter so far this winter. I really noticed a big improvement in my biking technique and efficiency. This year 2/3 of my sessions will be power based.

I use a cheap enough indoor training tyre on a training wheel, it's handy, only takes a few seconds to swap rear wheels.

'The Wire' is the box set of choice at the moment

Bambaata

Ive gotten through Red, The Other Guys, Machete, three other movies i cant even remember they were that bad, The Event, Secret Millionaire and this week i might start watching the american Office.

catweazle

El Director wrote: »

'The Wire' is the box set of choice at the moment

Good man Director just went through season 1 myself its excellent, I am trying to mix it up a bit and am watching the Pacific now but its not as good.

I wonder lads is it time to set up some type of shared dropbox for the movie files to get us through the winter although I don't want HBO and Dreamworks after me, but I will admit I have season 1,2 and 3 of the Wire in good quality and "The Pacific" (not in high def though)

The Aldi & Lidl DVD players play the mpgs and avi files off the memory stick so its easy to get them on the tvs now

No more than anyone else I can get pretty much get what I want, space on the laptop is the one issue and time on the turbo is the other

tunney

Oh I remember the days of having to watch the Matrix Triolgy to get through turbos......

kingQuez

One episode of Heroes season 4 until I need to stock up again.. I got a copy of 220 triathlon with a bike dvd on it last month and its got some nice tunes to cycle algon to, only an hour though

pgibbo

I feel like the odd one out here. I never watch TV or DVDs when on the turbo. I just turn on the iPod. Is the TV not very distracting when trying to do a prescibed set with varying cadence, resistance, etc at different times in the session?

catweazle

kingQuez wrote: »

One episode of Heroes season 4 until I need to stock up again..

Is Heroes any good quez someone told me it loses its way after a few seasons - I think it was you that recommended BT's latest album "These hopeful Machines" which was great so I will take a chance on you again

Its looking like either Heroes or 24 next for me I have seen neither before.

Gibbo you are you the stereotypical man learn to multi-task, a small glance down at the bike computer every now and then will see you right while you are watching Spurs 100 glorious goals conceded in 2010

I tried to educate myself when i first started with a few David Attenbourgh dvds but its hard to focus on the mating rituals of Meerkats etc when you are close to keeling over.

kingQuez

I liked heroes, first season was great, second season was OK, third was good, and the fourth is more of the same. For music I'm onto "tri trance workout" (http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/id322862228). Some brilliant tunes for interval sessions.

mo_bhicycle

Anybody got a good source of workouts for the flow?

I tried the ones on the tacx website but don't like them ... don't really take power into account which is a pity.
I usually just end up doing a sufferefest or a 2 x 20.

Bambaata

pgibbo wrote: »

I feel like the odd one out here. I never watch TV or DVDs when on the turbo. I just turn on the iPod. Is the TV not very distracting when trying to do a prescibed set with varying cadence, resistance, etc at different times in the session?

I pause it or put on music when i really need to focus (BG etc).

When listening to music I only ever listen to DJ sets which are always long so dont need to keep changing things. Gonna keep my sig updated with the current playlist if anyone likes their techno

pgibbo

catweazle wrote: »

Gibbo you are you the stereotypical man learn to multi-task, a small glance down at the bike computer every now and then will see you right while you are watching Spurs 100 glorious goals conceded in 2010

LMAO.....I suppose I really should take note of your comments regarding cycle training given where you are in the SCR challenge on the bike section.

I just think that if you are doing intervals or BG gear right it would not be possible to focus on a TV show at the same time. I like Bambaata's idea though. If you're going to spend the time on the turbo you might as well get the full benefit out of it. My thoughts anyway

Spurs to win the league............:rolleyes:

RedB

Anyone using a PC with their Taxc Flow?

See some mentions around of T1925 Software, Imagic, etc but don't know anything about it.

Bambaata

Wouldnt mind hearing about that myself seeing as the turbo will be back out in the next few months!

El Director

Bambaata wrote: »

Wouldnt mind hearing about that myself seeing as the turbo will be back out in the next few months!

+1

tunney

Bambaata wrote: »

Wouldnt mind hearing about that myself seeing as the turbo will be back out in the next few months!

I don't think the flow as it is can work with a PC. Tacx have various trainers that do work with PCs. When I used to do triathlon I used a Computrainer. Hooking it up to the PC and having the computer control the work rocks! Painful too as you know Bambaata!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I don't think the original question was answered on here re wattage equating to kmph? It would be helpful to gauge the accuracy of the various turbos people use on here otherwise some may think they are outting out more or less power than they actually are.

I will be on mine tonight on a flat setting so i will test avg speed at 180/200/220/240/260 wattage to see what the avg pace is for each so it can be used as a comparison. It will be interesting to compare as i know from previous discussions with MCOS he had to hold a higher wattage to maintain the same avg speed as me off a lower wattage.
I am using the fortius set up to the pc and it makes it so easy to have the session preset rather than manually adjusting it during the session.

mloc123

Kayden Fierce Macaroon wrote: »

I don't think the original question was answered on here re wattage equating to kmph? It would be helpful to gauge the accuracy of the various turbos people use on here otherwise some may think they are outting out more or less power than they actually are.

I think Billy fish had a good answer to this a while back. The figure a Tacx displays cannot be called wattage. Its a nice enough meTric but it is not real world wattage.

I have a Tacx and I have a powertap... the figues while I am doing a session rarely meet. That said I used it last year minus the powertap and it was a better gauage than HR.

mloc123

Oh and on the topic of music, videos etc...

FTP test = Old sepultura, can't beat it.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

mloc123 wrote: »

I think Billy fish had a good answer to this a while back. The figure a Tacx displays cannot be called wattage. Its a nice enough meTric but it is not real world wattage.

I have a Tacx and I have a powertap... the figues while I am doing a session rarely meet. That said I used it last year minus the powertap and it was a better gauage than HR.

Yeah i am investing in a PM later in the year but wanted to get an idea on how far off %wise the tacx would be as if its miles off then wattage training on it would be meaningless unless backed up with PM stats.

Anyhow conducted my little experiment in tonight's session, the session was conducted on the flat and kept in the same gear. It would be good to compare against other trainers and even better against PM's

Power/Cadence/Avg speed
160/91/33.6kmph
180/95/34.9kmph
200/99/36.3kmph
220/103/37.7kmph
240/106/38.0kmph
260/110/40.1kmph
280/114/41.3kmph
300/119/42.5kmph

kennyb3

^^^ I cant help you exactly JB but any race reports i ve read would show them estimates to be way off.

Obviously there are factors such as wind, road surface, bike and wheels used etc etc as to what av speed the watts convert to but from the many local (and irish) road race reports i ve seen 280-300 watts equals about 36kmph . Make of that what you want

mloc123

Kayden Fierce Macaroon wrote: »

Yeah i am investing in a PM later in the year but wanted to get an idea on how far off %wise the tacx would be as if its miles off then wattage training on it would be meaningless unless backed up with PM stats.

Anyhow conducted my little experiment in tonight's session, the session was conducted on the flat and kept in the same gear. It would be good to compare against other trainers and even better against PM's

Power/Cadence/Avg speed
160/91/33.6kmph
180/95/34.9kmph
200/99/36.3kmph
220/103/37.7kmph
240/106/38.0kmph
260/110/40.1kmph
280/114/41.3kmph
300/119/42.5kmph

The problem I find is it is not consistenty out. For example my Tacx might under read by 10% or more under 200 watts, and over read by 10% over 200 watts. It also depends on what 'grade' you choose. For BG work I would have it on gradient 9 and find that the resistance can slip after a few intervals while the wattage will remain the same.