BigRingVR - The new leader of the pack?

[bobinski]

Ah, fair enough. You have raised a good point though and I was going to say to @TurboTommy that when you're on your beach resort and you have elephants being taken up and down the beach for tourists to have a ride then please refuse. These elephants are treated appallingly and it is this trade (amongst others) that results in the need for the elephant sanctuaries.

And Tommy, if you do get a chance to go to Yala national park then take it - highest concentration of leopards anywhere in the world and other great wildlife - be an amazing day out if that's your bag.

No worries. It’s a complex subject.

 

[<Tommy>]

If you and the family fancy living in a dorm and shovelling elephant poo for a few days let me know and I will put you in touch

Sounds like an average day at casa del Burton to be fair!

@TurboTommy that when you're on your beach resort and you have elephants being taken up and down the beach for tourists to have a ride then please refuse. These elephants are treated appallingly and it is this trade (amongst others) that results in the need for the elephant sanctuaries.

Don’t worry Whorty I am a man of principle... I’ll only be riding the dolphins!

 

[bobinski]

Sounds like an average day at casa del Burton to be fair!




Don’t worry Whorty I am a man of principle... I’ll only be riding the dolphins!

Wasn’t some guy prosecuted for “riding” a dolphin? Just saying...

 

[martin22]

Need to replace my trainer, as mine (the white Bkool 2015 model, classic or something. ) seems to have completely died. Are there any recommended ones to look at? As a lot of the climbs on Bigring have some fairly steep sections, (which i enjoy - sort of!), do i need to be looking at one that goes up to a decent max incline? I seem to remeber the Bkool blurb when i bought mine saying it had a pretty high max incline but not sure if thats correct.

so far i'm thinking of Kickr Snap, Cyclops Magnus or Elite Direto (but that ones a bit above budget so needs to be really worth it to justify the cost!)
Any other recommendations?

 

[theboxers]

Need to replace my trainer, as mine (the white Bkool 2015 model, classic or something. ) seems to have completely died. Are there any recommended ones to look at? As a lot of the climbs on Bigring have some fairly steep sections, (which i enjoy - sort of!), do i need to be looking at one that goes up to a decent max incline? I seem to remeber the Bkool blurb when i bought mine saying it had a pretty high max incline but not sure if thats correct.

so far i'm thinking of Kickr Snap, Cyclops Magnus or Elite Direto (but that ones a bit above budget so needs to be really worth it to justify the cost!)
Any other recommendations?

If you really want to suffer, meaning get an accurate representation of slope, go with a direct drive i.e. direto, kickr, neo etc. BRVR still keeps the time about right by adjusting the speed to power/weight on a bkool or similar trainer but the resistance is far from close to being correct. I've just shelled out for a kickr, looking at getting a climb when available, and I have suffered on the climbs above 6% due to my weight. It gets real very fast.

If you are serious about continuing the trainer work invest in a trainer that is capable of actually providing the correct resistance, not an adjusted/calculated speed. You may initially regret it but ask @Whorty about moving from a bkool trainer to a kickr.

 

[Breedon]

Need to replace my trainer, as mine (the white Bkool 2015 model, classic or something. ) seems to have completely died. Are there any recommended ones to look at? As a lot of the climbs on Bigring have some fairly steep sections, (which i enjoy - sort of!), do i need to be looking at one that goes up to a decent max incline? I seem to remeber the Bkool blurb when i bought mine saying it had a pretty high max incline but not sure if thats correct.

so far i'm thinking of Kickr Snap, Cyclops Magnus or Elite Direto (but that ones a bit above budget so needs to be really worth it to justify the cost!)
Any other recommendations?

I have had the bkool classic same as you and ive got a direct drive a neo, i know the neo is out of budget but having used both i can happily recommend a direct drive, you wont have any loss in power due to wheel slipping and a major plus is that your able to stand and still put down the power so giving your legs a rest (sort of).
I have used both trainers on BRVR and there's a marked difference

 

[martin22]

yeah i can imagine the change from 'Bkool Watts' to real watts is not a pleasant suprise!

 

[Whorty]

If you really want to suffer, meaning get an accurate representation of slope, go with a direct drive i.e. direto, kickr, neo etc. BRVR still keeps the time about right by adjusting the speed to power/weight on a bkool or similar trainer but the resistance is far from close to being correct. I've just shelled out for a kickr, looking at getting a climb when available, and I have suffered on the climbs above 6% due to my weight. It gets real very fast.

If you are serious about continuing the trainer work invest in a trainer that is capable of actually providing the correct resistance, not an adjusted/calculated speed. You may initially regret it but ask @Whorty about moving from a bkool trainer to a kickr.

Yep, it's definitely hard work on a Kickr when you get on the hills. BRVR climbs I could do on the BKool Pro I can hardly get up now on the Kickr as I really am going up 15+% ramps I've had to set the realism to 70% on the Kickr for now to help, but as I get stronger I can start to push this to 100%.

With the BKool Pro it just couldn't simulate large % gradients - was fine for me up to about 8 or 9% but after that the gradient was the same effort just the software would adjust my speed. Still a good workout but not the same as real life.

I've kept the Pro trainer though for whenever I want an easy ride

 

[Whorty]

yeah i can imagine the change from 'Bkool Watts' to real watts is not a pleasant suprise!

It's not so much the watts for me, it's the fact that hills really feel like hills now so the workout is much harder. Plus, of course, as the watts are lower (and obviously speed is slower on the Kickr) it means rides take longer and I get a better and more realistic workout.

On the Bkool Sim you will be less competitive on races, but you could always come and join us for the Tuesday handicap (hare and hounds) race which equals out the trainers and is always good fun. Zwift is more equal so you won't see such a big difference there but it depends if you like that style of sim/training/

 

[martin22]

Whorty, is yours the direct drive kickr or the kickr snap wheel on one?

If it's the snap do you get any wheel slippage issues?

 

[CXRAndy]

Whorty, is yours the direct drive kickr or the kickr snap wheel on one?

If it's the snap do you get any wheel slippage issues?

It's a direct drive Kickr.

 

[Whorty]

Whorty, is yours the direct drive kickr or the kickr snap wheel on one?

If it's the snap do you get any wheel slippage issues?

As Andy says, it's the direct drive Kickr. I never used to get slippage on my Bkool Pro to be fair though - I use Conti 4 season tyres that always worked well.

 

[CXRAndy]

yeah i can imagine the change from 'Bkool Watts' to real watts is not a pleasant suprise!

Yep

 

[martin22]

Whorty, have you got the kickr 2 , the quieter one, and how does it compare to the Bkool for noise in use?

Thanks

 

[Whorty]

Whorty, have you got the kickr 2 , the quieter one, and how does it compare to the Bkool for noise in use?

Thanks

No, it's a Kickr that is about 3 years old - bought it second hand. It is quieter than the Pro but it's not silent. Just like the Pro, the faster the fly-wheel spins, the noisier it gets.