turbo trainer and other equipment for Zwift

mhiggy09

I was looking to get a turbo trainer and a few other bits to use Zwift for when the weather turns bad again. For the turbo trainer I was looking at a few options.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycleops-mag-trainer/ The cycleops mag trainer is defiantly compatible.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/elite-volare-mag-force-elastogel-turbo-trainer/rp-prod89087# Elite Volare Mag Force Elastogel Turbo Trainer which im not sure is compatible.


http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/minoura-b60-d-turbo-trainer/rp-prod75273 Minoura B60-D Turbo Trainer again this is defiantly compatible

Does anyone have experience with any of these trainers?

I was also looking for an ant+ usb receiver and an ant+ speed/cadence or just speed.
This seems to be the cheapest speed sensor http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/cycleops-ant-speed-or-cadence-sensor/rp-prod127360

This is another http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-stealth-50-ant-speedcadance-sensor/

As for the usb ant+ receiver this seems ok http://www.wiggle.co.uk/suunto-movestick-mini/

but there is a cheaper one on amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00T7C2DWA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3CNBRTFUVDILD
does anyone know what the total price would the amazon one be incl. delivery.
Thanks for your time
Any advice is greatly appreciated

Jim Stynes

Interested in this as well!

lennymc

are you using a power meter?

Mugser

For when the weather turns bad again??
The rest of us are waiting for it to turn good first!!:P

mhiggy09

lennymc wrote: »

are you using a power meter?

nope

mhiggy09

Mugser wrote: »

For when the weather turns bad again??
The rest of us are waiting for it to turn good first!!:P

haha I know I just thought there might be a very discounts in the summer when they arnt in use

mhiggy09

Btw is just for indoor use during winter. . . although will probably be used alot more than just winter

Jim Stynes

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/elite-turbo-muin-fluid-trainer/rp-prod127518

Would this do the job for Zwift?

joey100

Not sure if it could Jim, but a lot cheaper from

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/elite-turbo-muin-fluid-direct-drive-trainer/

And cheaper again but not sure of shipping cost,

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;search=elite+muin;menu=1000%2C5%2C69;product=138592


I have this turbo. find it great. A lot more realistic feel than my previous Tacx Booster, but probably not as realistic as a Lemond but then it is a lot lot quieter!

Jim Stynes

Ive been keeping an eye on this turbo for a while now. Still waiting on hearing more reviews about it. I use mine in a spare bedroom and early in the morning some times, so the quiet sound of it is appealing. Would still love a watt bike or a wahoo kickr if i had the money. I can get an extra 20% off with CRC as well.

joey100

20% off on Crc still has it around 500 euro, so still around 100 euro more expensive than wiggle. You will need to buy a cassette for it too.

I use my turbo a good bit, I'd say on average at least 3 hours a week. Really like it. Nice and quiet, have it on some soft mats I got in Aldi and it can't be heard anywhere in the house, even with the sitting room below it. Can be a bit tough when your starting out but as the gel in the unit warms it does get a little easier to peddle and feels more realistic. Bit of resistance in it too, I have a Lemond revolution too and for the same power and cadence I'd be two gears lower (on the cassette) on the Lemond, so good for getting the watts up. I bought it after I bought the Lemond because I needed something quieter. Would probably use it over the Lemond now, easier to do a good workout on it and less noise makes it easier to concentrate on what you are doing too. It is a heavy unit so not really practical if you have to be continuously moving it around.

I went for this over the Wahoo, already have a power meter on my bike so the only thing the Wahoo offered more of was the Erg mode, and not sure it was worth doubling the price of it for. Has been reports of the wahoo over reading power too, but in saying that I wouldn't mind one anyway.

mossym

i have the elite muin as well, experience pretty much echoes Joey. i've a shed to my turbos in, so noise wasn't a factor so much, but it is much more realistic feeling than a tyre on wheel based system like the tacx.

i got mine from bike24. really happy with the purchase, have it around 9 months now

Jim Stynes

Good stuff. Need to check about the Zwift thing first though.

mossym

it's only compatible with zwift if you have a power meter. both myself and Joey have power2max PM's. never have and probably never will use zwift though



The following is a list of trainers that DO NOT work without a power meter:

Tacx: Non-ANT+ smart trainers, including the Bushido.
Tacx: ANT+ smart trainer models other than the T2780, T2180, T2400. Non-compatible trainers include the i-Genius and Bushido ANT+.
Bkool - Closed System.
Tour de France Bike - Doesn't transmit wattage.
Pre-2015 CycleOps Indoor Cycles - Closed system.
Elite Real Turbo Muin - Coming soon.
Elite Turbo Muin - Requires a power meter.
CycleOps The Silencer Direct Drive Trainer - Requires a power meter.
JetBlack WHISPERDRIVE - Requires a power meter.


https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/articles/203152565--Info-Which-trainers-does-Zwift-support-

Brewski78

I have the Minoura B-60R, think the difference between that and the B-60D is the remote for increasing resistance. I'm happy enough with it, though I don't have anything to compare it against, got it last Christmas and used it about 10 times maybe when the weather was really bad, combined with Traineroad and Sufferfest I found it great when I did use it.

Noise isn't too loud but I'm not overly concerned with it as I'd set it up downstairs and not near any overhead bedrooms.

Are you sure it's compatible with Zwift? I had a look a few months back and couldn't find out whether it was.
Edit: post above probably answers that, no power meter so unlikely to be compatible without.

mhiggy09

Brewski78 wrote: »

I have the Minoura B-60R, think the difference between that and the B-60D is the remote for increasing resistance. I'm happy enough with it, though I don't have anything to compare it against, got it last Christmas and used it about 10 times maybe when the weather was really bad, combined with Traineroad and Sufferfest I found it great when I did use it.

Noise isn't too loud but I'm not overly concerned with it as I'd set it up downstairs and not near any overhead bedrooms.

Are you sure it's compatible with Zwift? I had a look a few months back and couldn't find out whether it was.
Edit: post above probably answers that, no power meter so unlikely to be compatible without.

Its compatible if you have a ant+ speed sensor connected to your computer. You just select that trainer on zwift and it has a virtual power curve for it.

Just wondering what's the stability like for out of the saddle sprints and intervals?

Brewski78

mhiggy09 wrote: »

Its compatible if you have a ant+ speed sensor connected to your computer. You just select that trainer on zwift and it has a virtual power curve for it.

Just wondering what's the stability like for out of the saddle sprints and intervals?

I've never had a problem with it, it's pretty sturdy and I'd be around 90kg but the legs are solid and I prop the front wheel on an Argos catalogue.

Good to know re the ant+ sensor, might look into signing up so.

mhiggy09

Brewski78 wrote: »

I've never had a problem with it, it's pretty sturdy and I'd be around 90kg but the legs are solid and I prop the front wheel on an Argos catalogue.

Good to know re the ant+ sensor, might look into signing up so.

Thanks for the reply I might get the Minoura so from CRC with the older garmin speed and cadence sensor.

FrankGrimes

Interested in this too. I have an old Tacx Fortius virtual reality trainer connected to the PC via USB cable (no ANT+ on this device). I also have a power2max power meter on the bike and have an ANT+ USB stick plugged into the PC.

I've only used Zwift once and what I did was open the Tacx Trainer Software and start a manual workout, then opened Zwift and had it read the power meter data via ANT+. So all the Tacx software was doing was ensuring the trainer was correctly engaged - I believe you can damage this turbo if you use it without the software running to control it. So no data going from the Tacx to Zwift.

It seems in order to get dynamic gradient (whereby going up a hill in Zwift would automatically increase the resistance of the turbo) would need a newer generation Tacx device. Just wanted to check if anyone else has a similar setup and if I may be missing a trick, or is the above the only way to use the Fortius with Zwift?

skerry

Have a Garmin 520 in the post to me and considering upgrading my turbo to take advantage of the ANT+ trainer control feature. As far as I understand you can set up workouts on the Garmin and it then automatically changes the resistance on the trainer as you do the intervals.

Also, would like to have the option to try out Zwift or TrainerRoad and it seems a Smart trainer is the way to go if you want to take full advantage of these. Looking to break the monotony of turbo for the winter as I generally start to lose motivation as the weather turns.

The Tacx Bushido Smart works out at €479 from the German sites, seems a great price (its the TdF edition) as its around €650 from Wiggle and CRC.

Any opinions on the Bushido Smart, hard to come across reviews. Can only find a few reviews of the original Bushido and they're not great, mainly because of software bugs but surely they're ironed out at this stage.

Also, I have a Stages PM so virtual power thing isn't a big deal, just need an enticing setup for winter months.

iwillhtfu

joey100 wrote: »

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;search=elite+muin;menu=1000%2C5%2C69;product=138592


I have this turbo. find it great. A lot more realistic feel than my previous Tacx Booster, but probably not as realistic as a Lemond but then it is a lot lot quieter!

Apparently the latest software update allows this to work with zwift.

mossym

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Apparently the latest software update allows this to work with zwift.

there is an elite real turbo muin which transmits power itself, and the elite turbo muin which doesn't, you need a seperate powermeter. it's historically been the real unit which was fully supported, the non real version needed the PM.

the real is over 2x the cost though...:cool:

iwillhtfu

I thought that myself but apparently there's been an update for the standard basic model using a virtual power curve.

Their site seems to confirm it also. See pic below with note on bottom taken from zwift basic trainer section. It looks like a decent set up for the money although as you say the more expensive model would be better. I'm only considering it to stave off the turbo boredom and the fact you don't need a specific turbo wheel.

mossym

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I thought that myself but apparently there's been an update for the standard basic model using a virtual power curve.

Their site seems to confirm it also. See pic below with note on bottom taken from zwift basic trainer section. It looks like a decent set up for the money although as you say the more expensive model would be better. I'm only considering it to stave off the turbo boredom and the fact you don't need a specific turbo wheel.

ah right, i went through their gear wizard after reading your post and it was still giving the same info, prob not updated yet.

the turbo muin is a great turbo, not having to mess around with wheels is a big bonus. i think the standard version with a powermeter is a better option, as you get power on the road then. doesn't have the variable resistance for zwift though. depends then how important zwifting is, i'm unlikely to ever use it,not for the foreseeable future anyway

iwillhtfu

Zwift is probably one of those things you use once and get bored of but I like the idea of group racing with mates online over the winter.

Hard to see how the effort would be kept level though if i'm using a basic and they have power meters.

I couldn't justify a wahoo kickr or power meter at the min.

I might just stick with the old school turbo for the minute.

skerry

mossym wrote: »

ah right, i went through their gear wizard after reading your post and it was still giving the same info, prob not updated yet.

the turbo muin is a great turbo, not having to mess around with wheels is a big bonus. i think the standard version with a powermeter is a better option, as you get power on the road then. doesn't have the variable resistance for zwift though. depends then how important zwifting is, i'm unlikely to ever use it,not for the foreseeable future anyway

I'm starting to think along the same lines myself. The smart trainers seem good, but to be honest, a good solid trainer with good road feel is probably more important to me that a couple of goes on Zwift. I get the feeling with the Smart ones maybe the hardware is slightly sacrificed for all the extra electronic widgets.

I've looked at the Muin and it looks a good option. I like the idea of the direct drives (apart from the size of them). Had a brief go on a Lemond Revolution a while back and it was rock solid with good road feel so if the Muin is similar to that I'd be well pleased and willing to sacrifice the extra widgets and the ability for my Garmin to automatically increase/ decrease resistance.

Already have the Stages PM so that will be going on the Winter/ Turbo bike in a couple of weeks so the trainer giving power readings isn't a concern. The Real Muin is crazy money. I'm able to monitor my power on efforts on the road so the need to have my Garmin tell my trainer to change resistance is something I could live without.

I have a Elite Cronogel Trainer at the minute and I thought the roadfeel on the direct drives Lemond was much better. Happy enough with current trainer but it just seems like a lot more effort has to go in to maintain the same pace as I would on the road. Maybe it's the fluid warming up.

Is there any software or ANT+ connectivity with the standard Muin or is it just a no nonsense trainer?

mossym

skerry wrote: »

Is there any software or ANT+ connectivity with the standard Muin or is it just a no nonsense trainer?

nothing. as no nonsense as it comes. there is a speed sensor available as after market, but that isn't ant+, so will not work with a garmin. also, you can't install a normal speed sensor, it doesn't work

so no speed feedback, or cadence unless your pm gives it(mine does). however, the idea of speed from a turbo is daft anyway, makes no sense. the muin is a rock solid, quiet, no frills direct drive unit

skerry

mossym wrote: »

nothing. as no nonsense as it comes. there is a speed sensor available as after market, but that isn't ant+, so will not work with a garmin. also, you can't install a normal speed sensor, it doesn't work

so no speed feedback, or cadence unless your pm gives it(mine does). however, the idea of speed from a turbo is daft anyway, makes no sense. the muin is a rock solid, quiet, no frills direct drive unit

True, speed is a bit pointless on a turbo. Cadence on the other hand would be important to me, but my Stages gives me that. Most important thing is that your hitting the numbers you should be. Must check out the dimensions on the Muin, I hear it's a bit of a brute and space is at a premium for me at the minute.

viperlogic

I'm using the Tacx Vortex smart for Zwift & TR at the moment. Can be got for €300 if you shop around on the German sites. Zwift is so dam additive but the time does fly by in the pain cave compared to using TR.