Smart direct drive turbo trainer

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nickg

Über Member
Looking for some advice on Smart drive turbo trainers please.

It’s new to me but want to give it ago over the winter months for definite.

I want it to connect to either my iPhone or laptop. Laptop has Bluetooth. But recommendations for trainer would be most welcome please. Obviously I don’t wanna spend a fortune but don’t want to buy something that’s not up for the job.
 

Breedon

Legendary Member
I have a direct drive trainer a Neo i know this is above your budget so im not recommending it although a great bit of kit, as regards the direct drive trainers there fantastic i had a wheel on trainer so i know the difference and changed the way i ride on the trainer.

Do you know the budget you have in mind, research the trainers in your price range.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
The Elite Direto is probably the cheaper direct drive unit. The Wahoo Kickr and Tacx Neo along with Elite Drivio are the top end. All are bluetooth and Ant+

I own a a Kickr, quite a few now use the Neo. Prices can vary, I can get the Kickr for £879 from Wiggle with my discount. Neo can be had for much less than a £1K

Remember buy once, get a top end model. I would suggest if you know someone where you can try it out for an hour.
Platforms to use(no arguments)
Bkool
Zwift
Trainer-Road
BigringVR
RoadGrandTours

A smart trainer connected to a large screen can be very immersive in experience and quite addictive- well a lot of us do on this forum
 

Crook Town AFC

Dave Wade on BRVR
Halfords have the Real Turbo Muin on offer at the moment, £500 or £450 with British cycling discount. I've had mine for about two years with almost daily use so quite robust (or at least mine is) communicates via Ant+ or bluetooth. May be worth a look as well. It's a smart trainer so varies resistance according to gradient and is supposedly capable of up to 18%.

Regards

Dave
 

theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
Not turbo but ancillaries advice. Get a usb extension cable to put the dongle (Ant+ or BLE) as near to the trainer/bike as possible (my Ant+ dongle sits on the floor under the bottom bracket). This will cut down any chance of interference from wifi/BT phone etc. If buying new cadence sensor get dual band version (Wahoo do a good one that can be got for about £20) it will allow you to connect to more devices inc Phones.
 

berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
is there anyway you can try a few sessions somewhere before you buy ? some people hate it some love it
if you find out that you enjoy it then i would go for one at top end of your budget , if you go for a cheap one you may regret and end up buying another one soon after ( like me :thumbsdown:) it would be worth joining british cycling then using the discount at halfords in a sale
then you can go biking even when we get all the american snow !:wahhey:
if noise is an issue then direct drive are quieter
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
There seems to be variations of model, I could only find DC rainmaker saying its not a variable resistance trainer, whilst it doesn't have a power meter but calculates from fluid resistance, this take several minutes to stabilise the power curve
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Elite Real Turbo Muin Fully Smart Turbo Trainer

Might be the one I go for. Looks like a great bit of kit.

Be careful. Only the later upgraded units are resistance controllable by say Zwift or other programs and I don’t think you can use erg.
From a review

Worth noting that the Elite Turbo Muin Smart B+ mentioned above is not really a "smart" trainer as its resistance isn't controllable. This means that whilst you can use it with Zwift, it isn't controllable by zwift. I almost bought this in error (took a decent amount of research to clarify) - the elite qubo digital smart b+ is however zwift compatible (but no other trainers in this line are...) and works well in my experience.
 
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Crook Town AFC

Dave Wade on BRVR
If it's the Elite Real turbo muin then it's a fully smart trainer with resistance adjusted automatically according to gradient. There is an Elite Turbo Muin (just to add to the confusion) which is cheaper but not fully smart. If you want to go down the Elite trainer route then the Halfords £500 (£450 with British Cycling discount) one is the one to go for.

Regards

Dave
 
OP
OP
nickg

nickg

Über Member
Is this compatible with Zwift? I know it’s not fully smart.
 

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bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Nearly ALL trainers are compatible with Zwift. Only smart trainers will allow Zwift to control resistance so you feel the gradients when riding. And some so called smart trainers won’t do this.
Go to Dc rainmaker and search turbo trainers for recommendations
 
OP
OP
nickg

nickg

Über Member
Yes I got one of those for xmas seems to work ok with Zwift just get a wahoo cadence sensor (probably others available but that what I got) and away you go :bicycle:.


Why do I need a cadence sensor please?

I’ve got a cadenance sensor on my crank arm paired to my garmin. If I then got an ant+ dongle to connect to laptop would this suffice along with speed sensor in the trainer?
 
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