Group test
What
For £500 you can get a smart trainer with
its resistance automatically controlled to
simulate VR gradients, but it will be the
‘wheel-on’ type whereby the tyre drives a
roller. This produces a power calculation
that is inevitably not as accurate as that
derived from a true power meter and
maximum resistance is much lower.
For under £300 you won’t get an
interactive smart trainer, but you’ll still
be able to use Zwift or the manufacturer’s
own training app if you fit a Bluetooth or
ANT+ speed sensor to your rear wheel
— and there’s nothing stopping you from
using a bike-mounted power meter for
best accuracy.
Why
With virtual reality training becoming
increasingly sophisticated and immersive
many riders will be looking for an indoor
trainer so they can join the Zwifting hordes
on the imaginary volcanic landscape of
Watopia. Or simply to be able to train
in the warm when it’s nasty outside.
Finally, turbo-training is a good way to
perform repeatable intervals without the
interruptions of the public roads.
How
We’ve rounded up three smart trainers
and two ‘classic’ units and assessed them
for functionality, usability and price.
Budget
turbos
We take a spin on
these five invaluable
indoor trainers
Tacx Vortex Smart £399.99
Wahoo Kickr Snap £499.99
Weight: 9kg
http://www.zyrofisher.co.ukWeight: 17kg
http://www.wahoofitness.com8
10 - Superb, best in its class and we couldn’t fault it
9 - Excellent, a slight change and it would be perfect
8 - Brilliant, we’d happily buy it
7 - Solid, but there’s better out there
6 - Pretty good, but not quite hitting the mark
5 - OK, nothing wrong with it, but nothing special
4 - A few niggles let this down
3 - Disappointing
2 - Poor, approach with caution
1 - Terrible, do not buy this product
HOW WE SCORE
9
The Snap is Wahoo’s lower priced offering,
the wheel-on design using a slightly lighter
flywheel and saving around half the cost of
the Kickr, which won our direct-drive smart
trainer grouptest in the November 16 issue.
The Snap will handle wheel sizes
from 24 inches up to mtb 29ers and
different axle widths. It is slightly
lighter than the Kickr too, at
17kg against 21kg, as it has a
lighter flywheel. The Snap
uses algorithmic power
measurement
whereas the
Kickr has
a more
accurate
built-in
power meter.
Its other features are very similar
to those of its big brother: it uses an
electromagnetic resistance unit, can be
controlled using ANT+ or Bluetooth via
Wahoo’s app or with third party apps such
as Zwift, which varies the unit’s resistance
automatically. The Snap requires mains power
to operate and so cannot be taken along as touse for a warm-up for a race. In use, the
swap to wheel-on makes little difference to
the ride feel, which is much more realistic
than many trainers, with the heavy
freewheel providing plenty of inertia
and we didn’t get any significant
wheel slip either.The Vortex is Tacx’s original smart trainer and
is considerably cheaper and lighter than the
range-topping Neo Smart direct-drive that we
tested in the November 16 issue. At only 9kg
it could do with a little more heft for sprint
efforts. However, whereas Tacx claims 2,200
watts of resistance for the Neo, the Vortex
is rated at 950W so it’s not one for the
burliest track bullies anyway.
Like the Neo, the Vortex pairs via
ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart with third
party software such as Zwift,
which controls the Vortex’s
electromagnetic resistance
so that gradients can
be simulated.
With the wheel-on type such as the
Vortex you need to set it up and spin-
down calibrate it carefully and then
each time get tyre contact and tyre
pressure the same, or ideally recalibrate
it. Our tester found the Vortex’s power
curve tracked very closely with Garmin
Vector pedals as long as this was done,
improving on Tacx’s <10 per cent power
measurement accuracy.
When not plugged in the Vortex can still beused in ‘erg’ mode, which means you
can use it for pre-race warm-ups.
A great smart trainer for
the money.BEST
SMART
TRAINER
40 | January 11, 2018 | Cycling Weekly