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Turbos for Zwift....

I am looking at entering the mysterious world of Zwift and cant decide which turbo to go for, I've always had basic turbos in the past and I'm trying to decide between the Elite Muin and the Tacx Flow T2240, the Muin is a direct drive which I do fancy but it seems to a pretty basic model.
Any guidance on them would be much appreciated!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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22 comments

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slowclimb | 5 years ago
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Hello again Zwift adviser friends!
I went for the Elite Novo in the end, £180 - 10% BC discount so only £162, that an ANT+ dongle and a cheap laptop stand form Ikea and I've barely been off it since!
Its been great, one question I had though was last night the erg function on Zwift went a bit weird and as hard as I pedalled I couldnt get it above 157 watts, despite Zwift shouting at me to increase power 
Is this something anybody else has experienced? I know its a proper first world problem but it was doing my nut in! surprise
I ended up binning the session and just riding on Wattopia and the resistance was fine there for the hills etc
One other thing is I'm not 100% sure how tight to set the back wheel, I've just been setting it tight enough to not slip, is that what everybody else does?
Ta yet again in advance! 

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Team EPO | 5 years ago
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Do Wiggle have an eBay store with refurbished trainers??

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Kendalred replied to Team EPO | 5 years ago
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Team EPO wrote:

Do Wiggle have an eBay store with refurbished trainers??

Wiggle's ebay store is called something like tri-resort, and it's where all their returns and seconds go.

Actually, just found it, and it's: tri-sport_resort

They have a few on there at the time of writing

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Turbo-Trainers/36141/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_i...

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maviczap | 5 years ago
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Just to add my two penneth, had a Tacx flow as my first smart trainer, works perfectly with Zwift and Bkool, and if it works with these, then it'll work with anything else I'm sure.

It's not going to be as good as a direct drive turbo, but I found it perfectly good, sometimes a change in gradient was rather sudden, rather than gradual, which is why it's a basic smart trainer. 

But once you're spinning up on Zwift, and following the peleton, you'll forget it's short comings.

 

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slowclimb | 5 years ago
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Hey chaps,

@cdean I'm going to go for the Tacx Flow, I just need to get to a Halfords as they dont do the BC discount online which is annoying as there isnt one very near here  2

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cdean replied to slowclimb | 5 years ago
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slowclimb wrote:

Hey chaps,

@cdean I'm going to go for the Tacx Flow, I just need to get to a Halfords as they dont do the BC discount online which is annoying as there isnt one very near here  2

It has great reviews so I’m sure you’ll enjoy it! I bought my trainer from the Halfords eBay outlet when they had a flash sale. It seemed a lot easier than getting it delivered to my local store. 

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cdean replied to slowclimb | 5 years ago
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slowclimb wrote:

Hey chaps,

@cdean I'm going to go for the Tacx Flow, I just need to get to a Halfords as they dont do the BC discount online which is annoying as there isnt one very near here  2

 

You can get a refurbished one on eBay for £120. Buyer beware (as ever), but the seller says it has a 12 month warranty and has decent feedback, so it’d be a bargain if it’s legitimate! https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fu...

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beigemaster | 5 years ago
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For the money (especially if you can get a 10% British Cycling and/or 10% flash sale) you can't get a better value smart trainer for Zwift than the Tacx Flow T2240 IMO

 

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/tacx-flow-t2240...

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cdean | 5 years ago
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@slowclimb what did you go for in the end?

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jollygoodvelo | 5 years ago
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Late reply, but I have a Tacx Flow T2240 and it works perfectly with Zwift.  Yes, its max resistance and gradient are comparatively limited but they're more than enough for a decent workout and I hate sprinting on a fixed bike anyway.

 

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CXR94Di2 replied to jollygoodvelo | 5 years ago
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jollygoodvelo wrote:

Late reply, but I have a Tacx Flow T2240 and it works perfectly with Zwift.  Yes, its max resistance and gradient are comparatively limited but they're more than enough for a decent workout and I hate sprinting on a fixed bike anyway.

 

 

You need a rocker board

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philhubbard | 5 years ago
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Muin user here. Above posts are right, if you just want to Zwift it's not the trainer for you. I had been using a Bkool for the past 3 years and this was much better for Zwift.

 

The Elite is better for intervals or base training and is very quiet (I've moved to a flat), if you are just wanting to keep the legs turning and have more fun on the turbo I would go for something smart like the Tacx. If you want to do more serious sessions rather than just ticking over your legs the Muin may be a better choice

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Team EPO | 5 years ago
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I think people get very excited about having the best trainer but when you think about it you will probably only use it a few times a week during the UK rainy / winter season so why overspend? eg do you really need a true 15% incline or is 7% fine and Zwift works out the difference so  just get the basic smart trainers eg

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tacx-T2180-Vortex-Smart-Trainer/dp/B00MCF5Q2I/r...

 

 

PS just make sure you buy a good fan as it gets hot after a while without a headwind

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Sniffer replied to Team EPO | 5 years ago
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Team EPO wrote:

I think people get very excited about having the best trainer but when you think about it you will probably only use it a few times a week during the UK rainy / winter season so why overspend? eg do you really need a true 15% incline or is 7% fine and Zwift works out the difference so  just get the basic smart trainers eg

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tacx-T2180-Vortex-Smart-Trainer/dp/B00MCF5Q2I/r...

 

 

PS just make sure you buy a good fan as it gets hot after a while without a headwind

Some fair points, you can get most of what you want from a trainer without Zwift.  In terms of the original question though.

Elite Muin

  • Integrated one way smart technology communicates with training apps via ANT+ & Bluetooth    

I don't see one-way smart as a good Zwift trainer.

The Tacx Flux is two-way.

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Sniffer | 5 years ago
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I don't think the Muin is an opton for Zwift.  You need a trainer with resistance that can be controlled by Zwift to get the proper experience.  For Elite that is the Direto or Drivo on direct drive trainers.

I collected a Drivo from Halfords or Friday.  The older model, but at 50% off and £600 (£540 with BC discount) I though it was a great option at that price point.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/elite-drivo-dir...

It is showing out of stock this morning.  They may be all gone, but last Monday they were showing no stock, but by Tuesday they were available again so you might get lucky.

 

 

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markovich replied to Sniffer | 5 years ago
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Sniffer wrote:

I don't think the Muin is an opton for Zwift.  You need a trainer with resistance that can be controlled by Zwift.  For Elite that is the Direto or Drivo on direct drive trainers.

I collected a Drivo from Halfords or Friday.  The older model, but at 50% off and £600 (£540 with BC discount) I though it was a great option at that price point.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/elite-drivo-dir...

It is showing out of stock this morning.  They may be all gone, but last Monday they were showing no stock, but by Tuesday they were available again so you might get lucky.

 

 

The turbo muin B+ is great and good value. It doesnt have to be interactive, when Zwift tells you to change your power, simply pedal harder or shift gear to achieve that output

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cdean | 5 years ago
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As I understand it, the Tacx Flow Smart can be controlled by Zwift etc. to change the resistance when going uphill or doing a structured workout, but the Elite Muin can't. As described in this review, "There’s no remote adjustment, as resistance increases automatically the harder you ride in any gear" https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/accessories/resistance-trai... That takes away one of the big selling points of using Zwift IMO, although I haven't used a trainer like the Muin with it.

 

I recently went through a similar decision-making process to you and bought the Tacx Flux. Tack are bringing out a couple of new versions with an improved spec, so Halfords have the original Flux for £450, discounted from £700, which you can save an extra 10% on with British Cycling Discount. I'm really pleased with it. It has plenty of resistance for me and it's great having Zwift control the power when you're doing a structured workout session or going up a (virtual) hill (it adjusts the gradient up to 10%, which is enough for me). The only thing I don't like is that it's really heavy and fairly huge and I don't have a dedicated space for training so moving it around is a PITA: https://www.halfords.com/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/tacx-flux-smart...

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slowclimb | 5 years ago
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Thanks for all the info everybody!
And yeah Jetmans Dad has hit the nail on the head, as much as I would love to get a great £800+ direct drive turbo budget is tight so as cheap as possible while still being Zwift compatible is going to be the way I'm afraid  2
The muin seems pretty cheap for a direct drive thats whats making me a tad sceptical... 

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JackBuxton | 5 years ago
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Perhaps above your price range but I cannot recommend Tacx Neo's enough. I work in an indoor cycle studio in London (called Urban Cycle Club if you're interested) and we've got 8 Tacx Neo's that have all done a minimum of 10,000km so far this year, and take an absolute beating from some of our more powerful riders. The only maintenance that we've had to do is give them the ocassional wipe down and replace the cassettes attached. Worth noting that i may have seen a discount online somewhere, meaning you can pick one up for £800 or so which is an absolute steal IMO.

 

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CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
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This is something I know a little about.

Zwift, Trainer-Road, BigRingVR etc all need to connect to your trainer via Ant+ or Bluetooth- You will need a dongle for Ant+ and an extension lead from your laptop/PC to get the sensor close to the turbo(improves signal/eliminates dropouts)  I use Ant+

 

Turbos, two basic types of 'smart' trainer-direct drive and wheel on

Three basic figures you're are looking for 'max gradient simulation', 'power accuracy' and 'max power'.  The last can be disregarded by most, unless you're world class track sprinter.

Max gradient should be above 10%, ideally 15%

Accuracy less than 3% deviation

Max power  greater than 1000W

Also ERG mode, which virtually all decent turbos do now.

 

Best brands, Wahoo, Tacx, Elite and Cyclops

I would look at £600 price range

Wahoo Kickr Snap

Wahoo Core

Tacx Flux smart

Elite Direto

These are mid range turbos and more than suitable for most folk

 

If you're looking to get the best then £800+

Wahoo Kickr

Tacx Neo/2

Elite Drivo

 

If you've done turbo training before then you will probably have a big fan to cool you down. 

 

 

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Jetmans Dad replied to CXR94Di2 | 5 years ago
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CXR94Di2 wrote:

Max gradient should be above 10%, ideally 15%

...

I would look at £600 price range

...

If you're looking to get the best then £800+

I would venture to suggest that if the choice is the Flow Smart or the Muin then £600 or £800+ is probably out of the question. 

Of the two, I would go for the Muin (even though I have, and love the Flow) as it has a wider range of simulated max gradient, and gets closer to the ideal setup than the Flow. 

As someone else said ... get the best smart trainer you can afford. As £200 was the most I could afford, I went with the Flow and don't regret it for a second. If I had had the extra £250 I would probably have gone for the Muin. 

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Russell Orgazoid | 5 years ago
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The best Smart trainer you can afford.

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