Direct Drive Trainers.

StevieGriff

Either I've become massively indecisive or the direct drive trainer market has become somewhat of a minefield. What are people using and how do you rate what you're using?
Personally looking to make the jump into Direct Drive in the next few weeks. Starting to feel a bit too risky going out in the force 5 winds and crap visibility of late (and it's only August!)
Currently stuck in-between the massive gap between the Elite Turbo Muin (€335) and the Tacx Flux (€700).
Is ERG a fancy gimmick or does it really provide a layer of accountability to workouts?

markie379

I had the same dilemma. I was seriously looking at the Flux but then spotted that Wiggle had the muin without the sensor pack for €288 . Sensor (Misouro B+ ) is €45 from bike discount in Germany.
That made up my mind for me.

StevieGriff

markie379 wrote: »

I had the same dilemma. I was seriously looking at the Flux but then spotted that Wiggle had the muin without the sensor pack for €288 . Sensor (Misouro B+ ) is €45 from bike discount in Germany.
That made up my mind for me.

How're you doing with the Muin?
I sprung for the Flux, €680 from Sigma. Sigma assured me it's from the latest batch from Tacx so hopefully will be no issues with the belt snapping like on the earlier ones. Dedicated space set up for it, just waiting for delivery of it in a day or so.

markie379

StevieGriff wrote: »

How're you doing with the Muin?
I sprung for the Flux, €680 from Sigma. Sigma assured me it's from the latest batch from Tacx so hopefully will be no issues with the belt snapping like on the earlier ones. Dedicated space set up for it, just waiting for delivery of it in a day or so.

It only actually arrived this morning.
The flux looks like a great trainer but outside my budget . Let me know how you get on with it esp the ERG mode .

tech

HI

id be interested in seening how you get on with the Muin, do you plan on using ZWIFT also ??

Thanks

Whyner

Apparently the batch with troubles are from serial number 8616*****. 8617***** is where reliability improves. Id love to pull the trigger on a flux but there's so many negative reviews out there, they're hard to ignore.

Please post when you get a chance. If the first session goes well then there's a good chance it's fine. I still might get one, but I need better odds

Good luck!

Lusk_Doyle

I got a Neo. It's great. The only problem is that I only put a 23 on it and it's quite the grind up manys the French mountain with that!

markie379

Only gave the Muin a quick spin last night after setting up.
It's got a great natural feel compared to my old turbo . No need for a riser block .
A bit of sloshing from the fluid but I believe this quietens down once she warms up.
The speed/cadence/power sensor paired up no bother.
Will give it a good spin tonight.
It will be interesting to see how accurate the power readings are .

I plan on giving Zwift a go in the coming weeks .

tech

HI Markie

this sounds good, as im in 2 minds between this and the Vortex Smart

What apps were you using ?

markie379

tech wrote: »

HI Markie

this sounds good, as im in 2 minds between this and the Vortex Smart

What apps were you using ?

I was considering the vortex smart too but really wanted to go direct drive.
I've been using TrainerRoad and found it great with my old turbo .

Farloo

How is the muin now? considering buying one, great value on wiggle! How do you find the power readings, have you anything to compare against?

markie379

Farloo wrote: »

How is the muin now? considering buying one, great value on wiggle! How do you find the power readings, have you anything to compare against?

I've only had one good session yet.
It's really good.
It feels far more natural than my old trainer.
The resistance curve is quite steep though.
I compared the power with my stages power meter on screen and it seems to read about 10-20w lower . I haven't looked into offsets or anything like that yet.

Statler

The Muin has no Ant+ connection right? So no readings through a Garmin head unit, how do you find the ipad/android app?

markie379

Statler wrote: »

The Muin has no Ant+ connection right? So no readings through a Garmin head unit, how do you find the ipad/android app?

If you get the misuro b sensor for the muin gives ant+ speed /cadence / power . It pairs with a garmin head unit . I gave it a quick check and the speed readings are very high . Probably just needs to be configured properly on the head unit.

py

Has anyone tried the muin with zwift?

seanin4711

markie379 wrote: »

Only gave the Muin a quick spin last night after setting up.
It's got a great natural feel compared to my old turbo . No need for a riser block .
A bit of sloshing from the fluid but I believe this quietens down once she warms up.
The speed/cadence/power sensor paired up no bother.
Will give it a good spin tonight.
It will be interesting to see how accurate the power readings are .

I plan on giving Zwift a go in the coming weeks .

OOS now on wiggle

harringtonp

markie379 wrote: »

The resistance curve is quite steep though.
I compared the power with my stages power meter on screen and it seems to read about 10-20w lower . I haven't looked into offsets or anything like that yet.

Yes on the Muin I never go on the big ring and most of my sessions are done in 39/17 (for 30 second on/offs I go to 15).

For recovery I spin in 39/25 at 100rpm and find I am putting out about 120W (measured with P2M power meter).

I cannot imagine who would ever need to use the big ring

dahat

harringtonp wrote: »

Yes on the Muin I never go on the big ring and most of my sessions are done in 39/17 (for 30 second on/offs I go to 15).

For recovery I spin in 39/25 at 100rpm and find I am putting out about 120W (measured with P2M power meter).

I cannot imagine who would ever need to use the big ring

I've used big ring on 52 36 set up though it's been just the once. I'll experiment more in coming weeks as I'll need to hit various watt targets on my TrainerRoad program.

Macy0161

dahat wrote: »

I've used big ring on 52 36 set up though it's been just the once. I'll experiment more in coming weeks as I'll need to hit various watt targets on my TrainerRoad program.

Depends on the target, and no doubt you've higher targets than me, but I'm rarely in the big ring on my muin (especially with Coach Chad banging on about the importance of cadence ).

StevieGriff

Initial impressions of the Flux are pretty good. Feels good and it's quieter than chain and cassette racket. Tacx's own app is absolute garbage though. Not too impressed with trainerroad either, the workout creator is cumbersome and so slow to use to create even the simplest of workouts. Haven't tried Zwift yet, laptop isn't fast enough to run it and the Android version is coming sometime this winter apparently.

dahat

StevieGriff wrote: »

Initial impressions of the Flux are pretty good. Feels good and it's quieter than chain and cassette racket. Tacx's own app is absolute garbage though. Not too impressed with trainerroad either, the workout creator is cumbersome and so slow to use to create even the simplest of workouts. Haven't tried Zwift yet, laptop isn't fast enough to run it and the Android version is coming sometime this winter apparently.

I have a free months premium for TR if you want to get into it a bit more.
PM your email.address if you want it.

dahat

As you have signed up already I need a different email from you.

tech

have one got a Tacx Bushido or got feed back on same?

Macy0161

StevieGriff wrote: »

Not too impressed with trainerroad either, the workout creator is cumbersome and so slow to use to create even the simplest of workouts.

Have only used the workout creator to edit down TrainerRoad work outs (make an hour one, 45 minutes that type of thing), but found it grand to be honest in windows.

Kinda surprised there's not one of the 1500 workouts that would've done the job tbh, but I've been following one of their plans pretty much since I started*.

*Season over now, so I'll probably just do pettite and similar workouts with the optional drills just to keep me ticking over before I go back to an actual plan. I like eating too much to stop completely!

py

Have done a little more research into the Muin and Zwift. It appears that the Muin can't control resistance so it's not going to give you the 100% Zwift experience. I've had to increase my budget so going look at either the Tacx Flux at ~€650 or the Elite Direto at ~€735 (after the 10% discount from DC Rainmaker).

Macy0161

The Muin isn't smart, so TrainerRoad, Zwift etc won't control it.

CantGetNoSleep

Macy0161 wrote: »

The Muin isn't smart, so TrainerRoad, Zwift etc won't control it.

So the Flux or Direto are the cheapest direct drive smart?

StevieGriff

First proper go on Zwift today with the Tacx Flux. Really enjoyed it, pairing up and getting started was really simple and the file uploaded with no fuss to TrainingPeaks and Strava immediately after.
Racing people and going for the in-game KOM segments really passes the time well. May have to invest in an iPad or a small dedicated PC to run it though.
I've resurrected an old PC I gamed on years ago and it struggles to run it quite a bit.
Windows 7. 2.6ghz Amd Athlon. 8GB Ram. 550mb Geforce GPU (overclocked to hell) and a dying HDD.

tech

Hi Stevie!

I have bought the Tacx Bushido today, looking forward to getting zwift setup, have a laptop and HDMI to TV ready for when it arrives!

CantGetNoSleep

StevieGriff wrote: »

First proper go on Zwift today with the Tacx Flux. Really enjoyed it, pairing up and getting started was really simple and the file uploaded with no fuss to TrainingPeaks and Strava immediately after.
Racing people and going for the in-game KOM segments really passes the time well. May have to invest in an iPad or a small dedicated PC to run it though.
I've resurrected an old PC I gamed on years ago and it struggles to run it quite a bit.
Windows 7. 2.6ghz Amd Athlon. 8GB Ram. 550mb Geforce GPU (overclocked to hell) and a dying HDD.

I heard it is launching on Android in the autumn so an Android tablet might be more cost effective if it is just for Zwift

lukegjpotter

You don't know which Android devices they'll target.
Safest bet would be to get an iPad.
If you know anyone going to the States soon, they could get you an iPad for about €100 cheaper due to currencies and sales tax.

StevieGriff

Rumoured as a January release for Android, the AppleTV Beta is well underway too. So come 2018 there should be a few more options for Zwift. May tip away with the crap PC until it gives up the ghost or I see an iPad pop up somewhere cheap!
Didn't know iPads were cheaper in the states so will look into that angle, thanks @lukegjpotter.

py

DC Rainmaker's Elite Direto review is quite good, looks like it's going to be a great trainer if you have the money.

seanin4711

Aren't they all, lol

pgibbo

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

I got a Neo. It's great. The only problem is that I only put a 23 on it and it's quite the grind up manys the French mountain with that!

What software are you using for that? I have a NEO but currently just let the workouts in the Edge 520 control it. Would be interested in trying some software with French climbs, etc. Cheers.