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Can now no longer keep fit by running in the winter (knackered hip) and unfortunately therefore will need to swap to indoor turbo trainer.
I have a non smart trainer that is on its last legs, so a smart trainer would appear to be the way to go.
I have briefly used a Tacx Neo and it was ok but I wouldn't know the difference between that and any other trainer. I did like the 'virtual' videos though that you could ride routes in the Dales etc with the roads on screen.
So whats good up to £1,000, obviously I would prefer to pay less rather than more.
Historically used Sufferfest and Traineroad, but I assume would move more to Zwift.
It will be used in a Garage so noise not that much of an issue.
The Elite Direto-XR T Direct looks reasonable value, but are they any good? When I last looked at Turbos a few years back Elite made good non smart trainers but were not great for smart.
What would you get? Ta
I think the Direto is meant to be pretty good. Elite have had a few trainers below £1000 that have been ok.
I’m on a Wahoo Kickr Core - it was in stock in Feb / March sort of time and is also well reviewed. Probably one of the quietest trainers - most of the noise I get t is just the chain going round. Really smooth with its increases / decreases in resistance - I always use it on ERG mode so there’s no gear changing required.
Having used wheel on / direct drive I’d definitely go direct drive if you can, it feels much nicer.
Personally I’ve just used it connected to an iPhone running trainerroad and worn a Bluetooth chest HR strap. Does the job. The his winter instead of quite so much mtb in the slop I might pause TR and give Zwift a go for some races on a weekday evening. Will need to pickup an Apple TV or cheap windows laptop / mini tower and a screen though to make the most of it.
Earlier this year, I swapped from a Tacx Flow Smart (about the cheapest smart trainer you can get - £180 at the time) to an Elite Direto. It's a few years old in terms of the model releases, but Wiggle were doing them reduced to £500 with 12 months interest free credit, so I went with that. The power/gradient & accuracy are well within my relatively average requirements.
The newer ones, like the one you mention in your OP can probably go to a higher gradient.
I am not sure you can go wrong with Elite or Wahoo.
Tacx - I am not so sure about - I had 3 Flow Smarts as the first two bricked themselves while doing a firmware update. Admittedly, they were swapped without quibble, but it always worried me about the stability of the software. The calibration method was always a bit flakey, although probably much easier & not needed to be done so often on a direct drive.
Will need to pickup an Apple TV or cheap windows laptop / mini tower and a screen though to make the most of it.
Sorry yes my intention was to run a laptop in to 32" TV or do smart trainers need to work in some other way?
I think as long as your laptop has Bluetooth you should be ok.
I always like DC Rainmaker for info in this area: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/11/smart-cycle-trainer-recommendations-guide-winter.html
Historically used Sufferfest and Traineroad, but I assume would move more to Zwift.
You might not, but worth giving all of them another go if you can. I actually find Zwift less engaging than chasing a graph a lot of the time. Some people are happy to just to go on and ride, but I only found it was up my street when doing group ride (preferrably with people I know)
I've got a Saris H3, not really chosen but bought because it was the first to come into stock after the great lockdown trainer shortage. It is well reviewed and I'm pretty happy with it. It's very quiet. I used it with a Huawei tablet for a while, then I got a new HP laptop and now use that.
I bought the Elite Direto X through lockdown and really rate it, think it was just over £600 in the sale CRC did, it's my first turbo so cant really compare, however i used the DC Rainmaker reviews and watched a few of GP Llamas youtube videos on it.
I originally linked to it via a laptop, then i got a PC screen to link it up to, eventually running apple tv through the screen.
I use Zwift mainly, but have the option of running a programme from my garmin.
Really easy to set up, pretty quiet, and zero issues, the left and right leg also fold away to make it slimmer for storage. However i dont use this as its permanently set up in my garage.
Overall im really please with it and would definitely recommend it to anyone.
I keep looking at the Direto. They've gone through 3 generations of the same basic design now with no major upsets so it's certainly proven. Yet again I've got a 3 month block of work stuck in a hotel 5 nights a week over the winter, so a quiet turbo trainer is tempting.
I like my Xplova Noza S. It seems to have a good spec and is quiet. Had a bluetooth issue with it which was resolved under warranty. I'm looking forward to using it again when I get the time.
Another vote here for having a look at DC Rainmaker and going with whatever he recommends in your price range
I have had a Kickr for about 5 years and I have caned it through out that time, including 3 years for Tri/Ironman training where it probably did 8-10hrs a week during winter.
Its been brilliant, stiff enough to sprint on and everything else.
[url= https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/elite-direto-x-smart-trainer/rp-prod192144 ]The Direto X[/url] is on sale at CRC at the moment at £555.
I have a Direto with about 4,000km on it. Replaced the third broken Flux S. Went through those three in a year and so swapped to the Elite.
It's a bit noisy but it's in my shed so I don't care. It's been 100% reliable out of the box. Checked calibration twice and it's spot on. I find it just a bit odd on really slow cadence/high resistance but other than that, no issues whatsoever.
My bro has a Flux NEO which is definitely nicer but not £600 nicer!
I'm tempted for an indoor trainer this winter, I was recommended the Elite Suito T trainer, most places have it for just under £500 and it gets good reviews, looking looks like the Directo is the top of line with better accuracy for stats and can mimic a steeper gradient, has anyone used the Suito T?
DCRainmaker appears to really rate the Wahoo Kickr Core as a mid range trainer, and says its ahead of the Elite's in terms of road feel.
I keep looking at the Direto. They’ve gone through 3 generations of the same basic design now with no major upsets so it’s certainly proven
except for all the belts snapping! (google it)
I had one, and while my belt didnt snap i found the feel of the trainer to be awful. Going from a flat to a 1% incline felt like hitting a wall.
I sold it and swapped to a kickr core, and it is a much much better turbo. The feel is more realistic and the setup (as with all things wahoo) is simple and intuitive.
Been running a Kickr for the last four years - apart from changing a couple of drive belts sourced from an auto supplier for about a fiver apiece - it's just worked. If I were buying today, I'd probably go for a Kickr Core. Wahoo sometimes sells factory reconditioned units direct from its website - currently £599.99, so a £100 saving.
Adidas Samba
1st gen Elite Direto here with 7500km ridden.
Cracking piece of kit, no belts snapped although it can't be far off surely.
Just to be contrary I've actually tried a Kickr Core and could not honestly say it was a better unit. The gradient certainly has never gone from zero to wall.
I've had a tacx flux previously and now in the household we have a elite direto and wahoo kickr core. The kickr core is miles ahead of the elite in terms of feel, noise and general connectivity stability. Would thoroughly recommend, unless you want to spend more and upgrade to the full kickr
unless you want to spend more and upgrade to the full kickr
I’ve had both, Kickr isn’t worth the extra unless you really need the storage help
I've got a Direto X, my only turbo trainer but I've got no complaints with it. It certainly kept me fitter than 'real' riding would have done over the winter.
5+ years with my Kickr, had to replace the top cap which holds the circuit board after about a year (on the warranty), no issues since then. I'm level 48 on Zwift now, so allowing for bonuses etc, maybe 40,000 pretend kms? At least 1200 hours use.
I’ve got a Flux S but also bought an Apple TV and 42” 4k TV (wall mounted). Came in around a £1k. Use with zwift and fulgaz and a really great experience.
In my opinion it's just between the Core or Kickr with your budget. Wahoo had very good customer service which is important on turbos... Thet can go wrong a fair amount of you are unlucky. For that reason I bought local rather than online.
I run a Core with a tv driven by an old gaming PC I built up and Zwift looks great.*
Apple TV is a good option too for zwift but the graphics are pretty basic. As long as you've never seen Zwift running on a PC though, it won't matter.😉
*As good as the graphics on Zwift can look anyway.
Wahoo sometimes sells factory reconditioned units direct from its website – currently £599.99, so a £100 saving.
Have my eye on one of theses now they are back in stock, they look like they come with the full 2yrs warranty, so I'm struggling to see why not?
Anybody add anything as to why to pay full wack for one, if these are £100 off?
Am I right in assuming they have all the features of the 2021 version?
I was thinking Kickr Snap.
Anyone got one?
@Vortexracing - see here:
The only reason to NOT buy a refurbed Kickr Core is - I purchased mine on the 20th of July, when it was clearly marked on the site as IN STOCK - SHIPS IN 2-3 BUSINESS DAYS (like they are currently) and I have only today received a notification from DPD suggesting it MIGHT have been shipped this morning (So it'll be 6 weeks).
I've been in constant contact with their customer service (who are decent, to be fair) and they have admitted that what it says on the website is far, far from the truth, and they are really struggling with working through masses of back orders etc.
I'm still chuffed I got one for £509 and itll get hammered this winter. So long as its setup in time for the STW Autumn series.
So the only reason not to buy a refurbed one, is if you are in a rush!
I was thinking Kickr Snap.
Anyone got one?
For a wheel on trainer it’s the one I’d go for. The similarly priced Tacx is meant to be a bit flakey - a few people in the triathlon club have had them go wrong. The Snap seems to be more reliable.
They did say they were out if stock for the past few weeks, now it says they are in stock so i’m hoping the problem you had may be better now. Probably a bit too optimistic tbh ☹️
The Kickr Snap is the best wheel on trainer there is, imo.
Remember the MK1 Snap won't work* with the Climb if that's important to you and you are considering second hand Snaps.
There's been 2 in our family and we haven't broken one yet. Both MK2's as it happens.👍
*I'm 90% sure on that.
Just to add to the noise...
Another Direto X customer here and very satisfied over 18 months. No issues whatsoever, and has had a battering.
It just goes on and on. Connection always stable and very smooth transitions.
Had it connected to iPad (mainly) but also laptop and phone and it just works with all of them without a hitch.
Calibration spot on too.
If the new version is on offer, can't imagine you'd be disappointed.
All the big brands seem to have had issues with their hardware. Kickrs had all sorts of problems when they started out, likewise Tacx.
The good news is that none of the brands seem to have issues with customer service, so if they do fail, you'll get another no problem (well, excepting the hassle of boxing it up and arranging the courier).
So I don't think it really matters - almost all the recent ones work well (now) and have decent manufacturer back up.
Stupid question time.... a wheel on trainer might be able to recreate a max gradient of, for example, 6%. I've got a KIKR core which can do 16%. Does that mean, that if you ride up alpe du Zwift on a wheel on trainer, it's a lot easier!? How does zwift acknowledge/allow for that in races etc?
KIKR core is excellent btw.
https://zwiftinsider.com/best-trainer-difficulty-setting/
If you use a low setting, your Watts for a given gear will be lower up a climb, Zwift will use that Wattage along with your declared weight to decide your speed according to the actual climb data.
I've had my Direto ~3.5 years and it's been hammered espeically Nov-Apr each year, besides a belt shear and fitting a replacement belt myself ~2 years ago it's been great as a training aid and doing virtual TTs/races. Sometimes power is quite in sync with my 4iiii crank power meter values, other times I've seen the Direto give up to approx +6%, so I do frequent dual recordings these days.
Stupid question time…. a wheel on trainer might be able to recreate a max gradient of, for example, 6%. I’ve got a KIKR core which can do 16%. Does that mean, that if you ride up alpe du Zwift on a wheel on trainer, it’s a lot easier!? How does zwift acknowledge/allow for that in races etc?
It's more likely that your wheel will start to slip beyond that.
Anyway, a couple of years ago it was different, but if you're buying a new (or refurb) trainer in 2021 there's no way I'd get a wheel-on trainer. I've got one, and IME they're inaccurate, noisy, dirty (all that rubber dust) and basically outdated technology.
^^ I agree mostly but if you do need/want a wheel on... The Snap is the way to go.
Otherwise, of circumstance/finance allows them a wheel off trainer is a nice upgrade on many levels.
Original Direto here , been superb , broke the belt after 2 and half years and Elite replaced the belt and pulley in 3 days from Italy even though trainers out of warranty ! .. great service .. Trainer still running sweet