I have returned my turbo trainer, the customer service from Amazon was fantastic. I am not sure if I had a bad unit or whether it just did not live up to expectations. The trainer comes with rear skewer and front wheel riser block.
I spent a long time researching a smart trainer and went for the Vortex, partly because of the price on Amazon and the fact that I had a lot of Amazon vouchers. Also many of the reviews I read did not really show any major advantage of the more expensive wheel-on competition over the Vortex. I used the Tacx for 5 weeks before returning it, so I think I gave it a fair test
One of the many reviews I read compared the Vortex to the Nintendo Wii and in many ways this is accurate. It is a fun entry level trainer. I should say that a number of my cycling buddies have the Vortex and they are quite happy with it.
On the plus side it is very easy to set up and connected automatically with my chosen app, The Sufferfest. I used a Garmin cadence sensor and a Tacx turbo trainer tyre. To connect to my laptop I used a Wahoo USB ANT+ dongle. All worked fine. It tracks the App really well on Erg mode. Compared with my old "dumb" trainer the experience was a bit better (because of Erg mode)- previously I used my old Cycleops Fluid 2 with virtual power based on speed sensor.
The downside...The first thing to do is to calibrate the trainer using the Tacx Utility App and this is where I had the problems. The calibration kept telling me the pressure on the tyre was too great but when I loosened it off the tyre slipped. In the end I ran it with the calibration right at the tight end. I still found that with low cadence/ high power efforts the tyre slipped. It is possible to compensate for this to a degree by using the gears on the bike but not completely. I was left in a situation where the calibration said the tyre was too tight but the tyre was slipping. I contacted Tacx and entered into an email exchange, the end result was that they suggested I return the trainer. I did not get another Vortex as I was not convinced this was definitely a fault with the trainer and I cold not face the same thing happening again.
The lesser negatives I noted were: the lack of adjustable feet so you need a level floor and the light weight materials used- as you tighten the trainer against the rear skewer you will see the whole trainer frame expand.
In the end it was my feeling that if you use a turbo trainer a lot and are a keen cyclist this may not be the trainer for you. I now have an Elite direto, obviously a lot more expensive but so far seems to be a big improvement.
| 製品型番 | T2180 |
|---|---|
| サイズ | 675mm × 650mm × 410mm |
| 電池付属または内蔵 | いいえ |
| 性別対象 | ユニセックス |
| 製品サイズ | 59.94 x 50.55 x 19.05 cm; 11.28 Kg |
