Turbo - Tacx i-magic/fortius

[Seville]

Hi all

I seem to be spending less and less time on the bike at the moment and with the weather the way it is I have now stopped all together. So I decided on getting a turbo for some indoor work

The guy in the shop I went into said the fortius was every realistic in the ride as he said a cyclist he knew did one of the rides and was 3mins out of the time on the turbo.

So does anyone have one and how have they found them?

The things I like about these are:

- being able to watch a video of a real ride
- resistance auto changing
- realistic ride (especially on the fortius with the up spinning for the down hills.)

i am thinking of getting the fortius atm as i could do some hill climing on it as i cant outside (just below norwich)

 

[AlanW]

I bought the i-magic a couple of years ago, and when it was working it was brilliant.

But if you go onto the Tacx forum here you will see that it was dogged with silly IT related problems. Although to be fair these may all be sorted out now?

In a vain attempt at resolving my problems I even paid an IT guy to come and try and fix it, in turn he was in direct contact with the Tacx expert at Fishers (UK importer of Tacx)

He/they got it all up and running after much fettling, but then when I came to use it I was 1/4hr into a programme and it crashed again. Enough was enough, so it was all returned for a full refund, except for the Flow trainer.

But oddly I know people that have them and have no problems at all???

 

[Carboncyclestore]

My Fortius arrives on Monday.
I also have the Mallorca and 2010 Etape Du Tour RLV videos ready to run.

I got the Etape because it goes up the MArie Blanque and Tourmalet the way I did when I completed the Raid Pyrenean.
So it will be like a painful trip down memory lane but also good to make a comparison.

I have 2 young daughters now and get very little midweek miles all year round so It is an investment that will allow me to train and enter the Sportives I enjoy so much in the summer.

I have only heard good things but the proof will be in the pudding.
I will post my 1st weeks findings on Friday!

 

[RedBike]

I have the I-magic. Although the speed is reasonably realistic it doesn't feel that realistic on the hills.

With the I-magic once you get to about 5% gradient the turbo cannot add any more resistance. It compensates for the lack of resistance by slowing your virtual character down to a speed that relates to your wattage not your rear wheel speed. It's as though you were climbing using a lower ratio gear.

The Fortius is a little better and depending upon how quickly you're pedalling it doesn't really run out of resistance until about 7%

This means that although you can't fly up the hills at an unrealistic speed you can't simulate a crank snapping climb either.

I have had the fixie on the I-magic for a week or two and i've been riding up Mnt Ventoux. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get up on a fixie in real life; but grinding my way up on the turbo isn't a problem.

btw: I have an I-magic for sale. Fully working, original box, Fortius software.
Bits and bobs for different wheel sizes + all the connection leads included.
If anyones intrested please PM me.

 

[Carboncyclestore]

As I understand it the Fortius is far better than the i-magic for reproducing the climb and can simulate up to 10-12%.

A friend of mine in my cycle club trained with the Alpine Classic RLV before going to the Alps.
When he got there his Time going up Alpe D Huez was only 2 minutes more than his average time on his fortius.
Also the motor brake on the fortius allows you to free wheel downhill where as you have to pedal on an i magic.

I think it comes down to price as they are both great products for cyclists like myself who dont have the time to hit the road as much as i did.

The i magic takes the boredom out of your turbo with all the interactive features.
But
If you want more realism to climbing the mountains around the world then it has to the fortius.
That comes at an extra cost of course!
Its whether you think it is worth the extra money?

I Did!

Cant wait for monday for it to arrive!

 

[Seamab]

I've had a Fortius for about 18 months - no experience of the imagic.

Firstly the bad things - took a while to setup and get the correct pressure between tyre and roller. After a few months it began to develop a random braking problem. On some rides it would spoil them on others it was OK. I eventually solved it with help from Tacx support. There is an issue with some Fortius units that have loose wires in the plug that connects from the powerbox into the trainer. I took the plug apart and found 2 loose wires out of 4!
I did have a USB driver issue at one point - no idea why - but it just wouldn't work. I got help from the forum and installed a new driver.

Since then it has been a joy to have.

Some users seem to have perennial PC problems with it - most don't. Make sure your PC is up to the job with at least a 256Mb graphic card. I run it on an old Pentium 4/XP with no problems. Before trying it out, make sure you upgrade to the latest version of Fortius/firmware via the online update as the version on the disc may be out of date.
2.04 is the latest Fortius version.

Good points: Wide selection of high quality RLV's , ergovideos (power profiles where you (try!) to match the power of the rider(s) on the video). RLV's are expensive though. approx £30 for the new ones and many of the old ones are being phased out.

Resistance goes up to 12 to 14% and is capable of more- but a limit was put on it by a firmware upgrade to solve "choppiness" issues reported by some users. When the grade goes over 12% the software puts on a virtual speed to 'slow' you down and reduces the reported wattage. I don't actually find the steep slopes that realistic and prefer to do hills which stay under 10%. You can change the difficulty of any ride by adjusting the percentage before you start. So you can change Mt. Ventoux into a very easy ride if you want - you can't climb at 100% all the time (at least i can't).

Can be used as an ergotrainer to do specific workouts at specific wattages. However Tacx wattages are not to be compared directly with power meters as they can be quite erroneous.

It has a VR capability where you go round a virtual course. Not my thing, so can't comment.

You can race other users over the net on these virtual courses if you have the multiplayer option. I don't.

The new software that replaces Fortius (called TTS) allows interaction with GPS devices where you can download your course or any other available and cycle it via Google Earth. I'm still on the basic Fortius software which is what will be in the box.

There is a good forum with some very knowledgeable posters.

Be prepared to put in some time and effort to get it working smoothly. It's worth it IMO.

 

[Carboncyclestore]

Seamab I can see some PMs coming up for advice!

Cheers for that,very helpful!!!

 

[Seville]

Thanks for all the posts.

i got the fortius the other day and got to say its very good. Havnt got any Vids for it yet but will be ordering them this week

 

[Seville]

Thanks for all the posts.

i got the fortius the other day and got to say its very good. Havnt got any Vids for it yet but will be ordering them this week

 

[Carboncyclestore]

Well I have had my fortius a week.

Took 4 days to get the software to work properly and get it calibrated.Very Frustrating!!

You would think it would be plug and play but its far from it.You actually need a extensive knowledge of computers to get it to work.

Once you do it is fantastic!

I knew the RLVs would be great but the GPS data is fantastic as well.
I download my actual training rides from my Garmin and re create it on the trainer and follow your progress on google earth which is just so cool.

Then you have virtual races.
Race against your best times for any course,your best time has a virtual racer on the profile so you can see if your up or down on your time.

There is loads more as well which means that turbo training is not boring and I never thought I would say that!

 

[AlanW]

You would think it would be plug and play but its far from it.You actually need a extensive knowledge of computers to get it to work.

Once you do it is fantastic!

Yes you would, wouldnt you?

I hope that you are still enjoying after it has crashed out when you are just about to start a training session. B)

As I think I said before, it took ages to get mine working and when it was it was indeed brilliant.