I just received my JetBlack Trainer Fan today, so here are initial thoughts after just unboxing it and testing the air flow.
Before setup showing the JetBlack Trainer Fan in the box:
After replacing my old fan with the JetBlack
First Impressions:
Airflow Adjustability: The JetBlack Trainer Fan has only 2 positions, and to change the position you need to unscrew the rear feet, flip their orientation, and then screw then back in. With the trainer position on the box (as in the picture above) this doesn’t seem to be an issue for me, but something to note
Airflow Volume: much, much better than my current fan, especially on the highest setting. This was just “tested” with me standing in work from home clothes where I would be on the bike - initial workout test will be tomorrow, so stay tuned
Remote: nice to have, but it is an optical remote, so you need to point it at the correct spot on the JetBlack trainer for it to work. I wish this was a radio transmitter, so that I wouldn’t have to point it at a specific spot for it to work
Ride was at 7am PT in San Francisco, so pre-ride indoor air temperature was low 60s at best, plus I had a window open
The amount of cooling from the fan in the position shown in the above picture ended up being less than the amount I received from my old fan in the direct front position - first picture - this was very noticeable as my hands were a lot sweatier than they normally get. Today I felt like I need a towel for my hands, where I normally never need a towel except for the ~3 days when San Francisco gets “hot” (70s / maybe 80s) where I live in the city
I definitely need to play around with the position of the fan, or it is a solid no go
Having the remote was great - my boss called me in the ride cooldown phase, and I was able to turn off the fan and jump on a call
Additional Ride Impressions
Coming from my old rotary fan, I’m not loving the overall cooling capability of the JetBlack. The JetBlack’s airflow is super powerful, but the coverage is very narrow, and a lot of the airflow gets blocked by my setup. So I can’t use it as a standalone fan. My old rotary fan didn’t have as powerful airflow, but it put out a much larger overall airflow stream, that worked well with my setup and kept all of me cool.
During my ride this morning (endurance, and then ~24 minutes straight of Tempo at 85% of FTP), I really felt the lack of total body cooling that I used to get. I was hot, and I was sweating more than I would have expected.
Overall impression: not the fan for me. Now I have to go through the Zwift return process.
I will add to this as I test this out, but let me know any questions you have
Sweet, promising start at least and curious to hear about it in full use. The angle adjustment via tools is sort of lame. Lasko still owns the world with that in a clean looks that is simple to use and infinitely adjustable. Not a biggie once you figure it out, but these less adjustable ones seem to require shimming to really dial them in, which is a minor hassle.
Hard to tell from the pictures, but if you have the fan dead center with the bike, I’d suggest sliding it to either side a bit and turning it back towards your body. Considering the rather narrow flow stream compared to your prior fan, an offset + angled setup should give smoother and direct flow vs hitting the bulk of the bike first.
Sure, each market varies. It may be possible to find other industrial style blower fans would be my guess, just not Lasko specifically. Bit of google gets me some quick hits so I’d bet easy money there are more options than just the JB fan. Obviously not the same exact style with tilt control, but likely quite functional from a quick review.
Yeah I got it sorted a year or two back with a carpet blower from Bunnings (big industrial chain). Has legs so can change the angle a little but it doesn’t have any kind of oscillation. Does have a couple of power points on the side so makes connecting the Kickr a bit neater.
It’s OK, but still wish I could get hold of something a bit less, err industrial.
Fan area / size >>> speed / pressure. That fan just doesn’t cover enough area on your body. Try any old 24in+ fan at a slight angle (2 o’clock) to cover a bit of your back.
Outside you’ve got air moving across your whole body at 15mph (let’s say) and you’ve got about 20sq ft of skin getting convection. With that fan there, you’re getting about 4sq ft of convection at 30mph. The speed doesn’t really matter after a certain point, so you’re just getting 1/10th of your body cooled. A larger 24in fan would net you about 10sqft at that distance.
Anyway, maybe try a big fan at low speed at an angle as a “base fan” and use the controllable fan as a face/chest “plus” fan. Have the plus fan off till you’re warmed up and hitting it.
I disagree based upon testing with over half-dozen fans to include old box fans, modern circular and even the Vornado circular against 4 different blowers. I understand your point and would have guessed the same without extensive testing. It’s even possible this is largely personal preference, but here goes.
Key in the use of blower fans is their location and direction of flow. The low placement and direct angle pointed at the torso favored by many is a mistake IMO. It is a bit like air blasting perpendicular into a wall. This is not ideal “flow” in my view and just bounces air off the torso.
Better is a higher placement that hits the torso (usually angled forward a bit) at an angle and sort of blends into that surface to create real flow. This combined with the narrow and fast flow (compared to more open circular fans) is where the magic lies. We can get higher air flow over these body surfaces and increase cooling effectiveness.
And to beat my dead horse, doing a similar high fan at the rear pointed at the hips and lower back is a massive cooling opportunity. It is a large surface area prime for airflow that is totally ignored with nearly every other setup I’ve seen that lacks a rear fan. And here again, a blower can blast that area with more airflow than a circular fan.
A key reason I love blowers is they give you flow where you want it with minimal “waste”. Open circular fans can move a fair bit of air, but it seems to lack full effectiveness compared to the more targeted blowers. That and any circular fan I’ve used that is even close to function is also louder than a blower that gives me more airflow.
I decided to send this trainer back. After giving it what I thought was a good test, the limited airflow cone just didn’t work with my setup nor keep me cool. My Lasko cyclone fan just does a much better job with coverage and velocity that actually hits me on the bike.
Shane’s fan speed test showed the reasons why I sent this back: the high speed flow is only over a really small cone, and that didn’t line up well with the SB20. The SB20 has a large physical barrier at the front compared to a trainer from the flywheel being at the front. Given the really small high velocity air “cone”, this fan really needs much more angle adjustability to be usable
Yeah, I also dislike floor mounting. Just not effective use of the flow from what I have tried. Personal preference and all that, but higher seems better in a number of ways other than getting them up there
I wish there was a lasko but with a remote. I know you can use a Bluetooth socket that allows you to turn it on and off. But it would be nice to be able to adjust the speed without getting off the bike
