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direct drive turbo

by snappyandrew
Mon, Oct 10, 2016 14:15
8

I'm looking for a new direct drive (take the back wheel off) turbo. I have a power meter through my pedals (Garmin Vector) so don't need anything too fancy. I need it to be quite powerful as I'm  looking to do some low cadence high resistance work.  Something like a Wahoo Kickr or Tacx Neo therefore be a bit like overkill. 

any ideas?

Thanks in advance 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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8 comments

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tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
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Argh, still can't decide about this gradient thing. Cycle Ops Magnus will have 15% gradient, but if you settle for 10% then there's so many more options. Just can't decide if I need it or will even use it that much if I did have 15%. 

 

 

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MoutonDeMontagne | 8 years ago
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I have the basic Elite Turbo Muin (without the fancy power gubbins) which works well and I paid about £300. IIRC 90 rpm in 53x11 is >1400 watts. I'm not that powerful and find that something like 50x14 at 65 rpm would be equivelent to riding something around 15%. For me, 50x11 is out the saddle grinding up a wall type of resistance - don't have a power metre but based on a watt bike comparison, somewhere around 500 watts. To train for the Etape last year, I propped the front wheel up and tried riding somewhere between 50x14 and 50x21 between 65 and 85 rpm at sweetspot. 

Its near silent as well which is a blessing, and having to use the gears to vary resistance makes it feel much more realistic! 

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tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
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Which would you guys personally go for between the Tacx Flux and Genius Smart?

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fukawitribe replied to tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
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unconstituted wrote:

Which would you guys personally go for between the Tacx Flux and Genius Smart?

If I were given one, and didn't really, really want the higher slope replication, i'd go for the Flux - for 80-90% of the stuff I do it's more than fine. For the lower speeds, real high resistance i'd still probably go with the Genius - it's older and wheel on* but a stronger brake, marginally less work to set up and a fair amount cheaper (at the moment) but either are good choices IMO.

 

* The wear from it is very small, unlike my KK RoadMachine for some reason, so just use my road bike as-is. If I was worried about wear i'd just use my spare trainer wheel/tyre - takes about the same time to set up as the wheel off trainers.

 

Edit : I realise that the OP was asking for a wheel-off trainer but thought i'd suggest the Genius due to the lack of wear on the wheel mentioned above - sorry if that's a deal-breaker.

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CXR94Di2 | 8 years ago
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If he can push more 1000 Watts for any sustained period, I`d be amazed. Kickr, tacx. Select Erg mode at what ever watts you think you are capable of and spin at desired cadence.

Two weeks later see physio for knee ligament strain 1 only kidding

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fukawitribe replied to CXR94Di2 | 8 years ago
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CXR94Di2 wrote:

If he can push more 1000 Watts for any sustained period, I`d be amazed. Kickr, tacx. Select Erg mode at what ever watts you think you are capable of and spin at desired cadence.

Aye the top end resistance is more than adaquate for pretty much any normal human, it's the way they deal with the really slow stuff that can make a difference.

CXR94Di2 wrote:

Two weeks later see physio for knee ligament strain 1 only kidding

 

4  only sort of kidding !

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fukawitribe | 8 years ago
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For low cadence, high resistance work without massive spend - the only suggestion I can think of at the moment would be to maybe try and get a good deal on a Tacx Genius Smart (or, at a push a Bushido Smart). The Genius brake is good for ~20% gradients and still seems to be one of the best at low speeds - worth looking at the resistance graph on this page to see it's suitable for what you want

http://www.tacx.com/en/products/trainers/genius-smart#tab_2

 

Costs new for the Genius are in the region of £ 550-580, worth looking at the German online outlets in particular (for trainers in general actually) especially as Wiggle, for one, will price match some of them.

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CXR94Di2 | 8 years ago
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Unfortunately the direct drive trainers are high end mainly. They come with all the bells and whistles. You can use other power meters if the software allows it. Or connect pedal meter to Garmin head unit.

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