Tacx Smart Direct Drive Trainer Review

When I first used this machine, I found that the pedaling power I was experiencing was significantly higher than what I expected from the actual rides it was designed to simulate. After some digging I found out that there are several settings that can be used to change this. One of these is the "Gradient Modifier” which adjusts the degree to which hillclimbing increases the required pedaling power. The other is "FTP" or "Functional Threshold Power", defined as "the maximum power you can sustain

This treadmill lasted less than 60 days before it started creaking, squeaking and grinding. It could no longer be used. Luckily Garmin support was great and sent a replacement, but it doesn't look like the previous version's issues have been fixed. When it worked, the trainer was great when used with Zwift: responsive, good road feel, easy to set up. Update 1: Garmin shipped a refurbished drive that was thrown into a badly damaged box. The box was not properly packed (the block was literally…

Initial review: I bought a Kickr Core that smelled like belt chemicals (when I returned it the smell had gone down a bit) and had a flywheel that was causing strong vibrations. . In Wahoo's defense, I think they'll take care of me eventually, but I just got it back to REI with a description of the massive flywheel vibration. 180-200W FTP. I think the Tacx Flux S works great on an 11-28 cassette. Of course, if I reproduced steep mountains on another cassette, it wouldn't work. Core can easily…