Tacx T1680 Flow Trainer

pprendeville

I'm considering getting one of these on Bike24.net

Anyone else have one and are they worth it? Have 2 children and can't seem to find the time to get out, so early morning sessions and when they're gone to bed would be ideal.

Q's: Are they loud? Easy to put on the wheel (should probably get a spare)? Buying on this website, will I have to pay import duties or is that only for items outside of EU?

CheGuedara

Hey, I have one and it's pretty good. Very quiet, very adjustable in resistance terms, will take HRM if you have a polar HRM belt or similar.

Getting wheel in is simple, I'm not using a special spare wheel for turbo use (can't afford one in any case ATM) but it's not damaging a rear ksyrium in the slightest.

Would suggest considering the satori unit - the GF has it and I've had a go on it too, seems to have good levels of adjustment, also respectably quiet and with the advantage of not having to plug it in to use it.

Shouldnt be hit by EU tax if it's coming from inside europe if its coming from outide though it just depends on if customs get their hands on it.

pprendeville

Bit the bullet and got this. Looking forward to testing it.

cantalach

I bought one 3-4 months ago. Very happy with it and you get it at a very good price when you buy it from Bike24. My previous turbo was a Tacx Satori which doesn't have any display showing your power etc. The power data on the Flow, even if it's not accurate in absolute terms when compared to something like a PowerTap or an SRM, enables you to train smarter and also provides a means to track progress. The only real downside of the Flow compared to the Satori is that the platform is not anywhere near as stable. It rocks quite a lot sometimes if I'm sprinting out of the saddle.

However, my experience with Bike24 was less than satisfying. I was told my card had been rejected and that I had to supply them with a copy of the ID page of my passport and the front of my credit card. I immediately rang the credit card company and they said that this was complete bull****, that the transaction hadn't even been referred to them yet, not to mind being rejected. I contacted Bike24 armed with this and they confessed that it wasn't really that my card had been rejected - it was that I had been randomly selected for additional security checks by their internal security procedures. I put it to them that many people would think it dodgy to send sensitive data like the ID page of my passport to a company in another country. But they insisted that was just the way it had to be. In the end I blurred out all the details on my passport except my name and they were satisfied with this. The whole thing was made worse by the fact that the person who was handling my case went on a few days leave in the middle of the whole saga and none of her colleagues seemed to be looking at her mailbox during that time.

Bambaata

hoping i dont have a similar occurance with them! About to get a chaniset, cassette, chain & BB!

On the flow, i havent had another to compare it to but i find its a bit noisey. i havent had the neighbours complain yet though. just make sure you calibrate it. i pump the tire to 120 and spin for 6mins before every use before setting it to 0

pprendeville

got an email from bike24 which I hadn't read properly before buying the turbo) saying the following:

"The article is currently not available. There is no confirmed information from
the manufacturer or supplier if and when the article will be available again.
Therefore, we recommend choosing another similar article, if possible."

after hesitating all winter to buy one i hope this doesn't drag on.

El Director

Bambaata wrote: »

hoping i dont have a similar occurance with them! About to get a chaniset, cassette, chain & BB!

On the flow, i havent had another to compare it to but i find its a bit noisey. i havent had the neighbours complain yet though. just make sure you calibrate it. i pump the tire to 120 and spin for 6mins before every use before setting it to 0

Just on that Bambaata, do you just press the "down arrow" when calibrate it to 0, or do you keep fiddling with the orange knob at the back of the unit?

doozerie

pprendeville wrote: »

got an email from bike24 which I hadn't read properly before buying the turbo) saying the following:

"The article is currently not available. There is no confirmed information from
the manufacturer or supplier if and when the article will be available again.
Therefore, we recommend choosing another similar article, if possible."

after hesitating all winter to buy one i hope this doesn't drag on.

I'm not sure if this helps, but the same trainer is sold by www.profirad.de for 253.85euro (plus shipping) and they currently list it as out of stock but due back in on Feb 20th. I bought mine (the same trainer) a couple of months back from that site, as Bike24 were out of stock then too, and had no problems.

Oddly though, when I fed the (German) mails from them into Google Translate, it translated "Profirad" as "Wiggle" - I've no idea whether that is just an error in whatever tailored dictionary Google use or whether the two companies are actually related.

doozerie

Alternatively, the Tacx Flow is currently in stock at rosebikes.co.uk but at the higher price of 299euro. Despite the URL they are actually a German company too. They state that shipping is free for purchases over 50euro (or 5.95euro otherwise) but I recently bought from them and didn't get free shipping - maybe it's an offer introduced only recently though.

I had no problems dealing with this company either - mind you, delivery did take 7 days from the point that they handed my order over to DHL, which seems slow but that's down to DHL though.

pprendeville

thanks for the links guys. i just went for the Tacx Vortex here http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1000,5,69;product=18278

then a guy put up a Flow for sale on the adverts section for €250. Typical.

Bambaata

El Director wrote: »

Just on that Bambaata, do you just press the "down arrow" when calibrate it to 0, or do you keep fiddling with the orange knob at the back of the unit?

I twist the thing at the back.

pprendeville

cantalach wrote: »

I bought one 3-4 months ago. Very happy with it and you get it at a very good price when you buy it from Bike24. My previous turbo was a Tacx Satori which doesn't have any display showing your power etc. The power data on the Flow, even if it's not accurate in absolute terms when compared to something like a PowerTap or an SRM, enables you to train smarter and also provides a means to track progress. The only real downside of the Flow compared to the Satori is that the platform is not anywhere near as stable. It rocks quite a lot sometimes if I'm sprinting out of the saddle.

However, my experience with Bike24 was less than satisfying. I was told my card had been rejected and that I had to supply them with a copy of the ID page of my passport and the front of my credit card. I immediately rang the credit card company and they said that this was complete bull****, that the transaction hadn't even been referred to them yet, not to mind being rejected. I contacted Bike24 armed with this and they confessed that it wasn't really that my card had been rejected - it was that I had been randomly selected for additional security checks by their internal security procedures. I put it to them that many people would think it dodgy to send sensitive data like the ID page of my passport to a company in another country. But they insisted that was just the way it had to be. In the end I blurred out all the details on my passport except my name and they were satisfied with this. The whole thing was made worse by the fact that the person who was handling my case went on a few days leave in the middle of the whole saga and none of her colleagues seemed to be looking at her mailbox during that time.

Have had the same problem in terms of payment. They requested my credit card details (picture) after I had called them to check on delivery. The one thing I dislike about ordering online is chasing up goods. You'd imagine it would be in their interest to chase me. Anyway, I gave them details yesterday and just called again now. Still hasn't been verified so have cancelled the order. The one thing they are good at I find is replying to emails. Very fast and also quite friendly on the phone. Must check those website that were listed in the thread now.

pprendeville

Bambaata wrote: »

I twist the thing at the back.

just started using Turbo (bit late in year I know). confused about calibrating it. i'm getting a reading of +13 each time. is the idea to get 0 or to be getting +13 each time?

where's orange knob at the back ye are talking about. don't see any.

DirkVoodoo

pprendeville wrote: »

just started using Turbo (bit late in year I know). confused about calibrating it. i'm getting a reading of +13 each time. is the idea to get 0 or to be getting +13 each time?

where's prange know agt the back ye are talking about. don't see any.

No, the calibration just offsets the base value to get a more accurate reading, you don't "aim" for zero, you just accept what it gives you. All that matters is you calibrate it each time you use it so there is (hopefully) some consistency between your sessions.

papac

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

No, the calibration just offsets the base value to get a more accurate reading, you don't "aim" for zero, you just accept what it gives you. All that matters is you calibrate it each time you use it so there is (hopefully) some consistency between your sessions.

Are you certain of this Dirk. There seems to be a mixture of opinion on this.
A lot of people seem to think you have to get the same figure every time you calibrate to have consistency. (I do this but I am not certain its necessary).

The Tacx manual is little help. It would be nice if somebody could check it against a powermeter for various calibration no.s to se if it is consistent.

DirkVoodoo

It's just calibrating the brake unit, if it's not setup right then the wheel will slip on the brake and you won't get decent contact between tyre and brake.

That's my understanding anyway, try using the flow without calibration and you will probably find the tyre slips.

papac

@ Dirk. I am inclined to agree with you-but there is a large body of online opinion which insists that the calibration reading must be the same each time.
It would be nice to have a definitive answer on this.

DirkVoodoo

From the flow manual:

A positive number means
that the brake unit brakes faster than the standard set value.
A negative number means that the wheel carries on for longer
and braking is weaker.

Like I said, it's just an offset on the standard value, which to me would mean that as long as you calibrate the unit each time (I have got different values with different tyres/pressures), it should return consistent information, the actual calibration number is irrelevant. Trying to hit "zero" doesn't make sense, that's what the calibration is doing for you.

papac

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

From the flow manual:



Like I said, it's just an offset on the standard value, which to me would mean that as long as you calibrate the unit each time (I have got different values with different tyres/pressures), it should return consistent information, the actual calibration number is irrelevant. Trying to hit "zero" doesn't make sense, that's what the calibration is doing for you.

Yep. I am inclined to agree. It seems a lot of flow owners are faffing around needlessly to get the same calibration no. every time.(not necessarily zero).

I might try riding the same power settings at very different calibration no.s and see if heart rate is reasonably the same. That should put it to bed.