Hey all! New to this forum, not to training or the world of forums. Decided to take the plunge with this Coronavirus thing going on. I prepared myself by buying a brand new Tacx Neo2T. So without further ado, here is my first post and contribution to this forum.
Setup: Super easy, first time setting a smart trainer up and it was very straightforward, everything connected and worked as expected. I originally used my QR bike and then switched to my other bike which uses TA and switching the end caps was quite easy and I’m by no means mechanically inclined.
Usage: Based on my first couple of Zwift rides it works great. Again everything connected perfectly and the simulation works great. When you go over bridges or rough terrain you feel it. I love that it actually has a bit of flex unlike the wahoo which is completely rigid, that adds a lot to the realistic feel IMHO. In fact that is one of my favorite parts about this trainer. Accuracy is really good, I ran it in parallel with my Garmin feeding off my Stages and they were both very similar so that was reassuring. The only thing I didn’t like and this is my only gripe and one of the reasons why I might be returning is that it doesn’t work that well for sprinting, in my case at least and let me elaborate on that. I can Sprint right over 2000W (just take my word for it) and the trainer slips when I put down the hammer. When I first ran it it was real bad, like if I got on the pedals hard on anything over 600-800W it would slip. So I googled and sure enough people were having issues so I found out you had to update the firmware which I proceeded to do so. Then on my next ride I tried it out again, and it improved a lot. My last ride I went for a sprint and the most I was able to record was just under 1200 and it slipped, with that said I’d say anything other 1000 and it doesn’t really slip. Like you really have to get on the pedals. With that said I believe this is a problem inherent to the magnet system used by Tacx. It’s hard to explain but I can see how this would be a difficult problem to fix from a technical standpoint.
Looks/ergonomics: If you care about these things this trainer is by far the best looking trainer out there, although this is purely subjective. Looks very futuristic and once your start riding this light underneath glows underneath and adds to the experience in a dark room. With that said, one fault it does have is it doesn’t have a handle, so it’s a PITA to move around as this thing I believe weighs over 50lbs.
Conclusion: Great looking and functioning trainer. If you’re not a big sprinter I’d highly recommend this trainer. If you are putting over 1200W sprints I’d recommend you look elsewhere
So yeah, those are my. 02, feel free to ask any questions!
Have you tried this in ERG mode yet? I want one but have a few concerns
Potential slip at higher loads such as Alpe or the Radio Tower Climb on Zwift.
Power accuracy, even though I use pedals with powermatch
Overly quick resistance changes for ERG mode where some have reported a “hitting a wall” feeling
Most I can seem to do on a sprint is around 1100w but usually at that point the flywheel speed is already up there anyway, I can see how trying to sprint at 1200w while going at a slow rate can cause issues.
Ok let me answer your questions one by one and then I’ll give you a more general statement…
Never done either, but please see below, slippage is not a function of an absolute load (I didn’t know how to explain myself in my OP), rather of a quick delta in load, jumping from a small wattage to a big number. If you can do 5 min @ 500W going up a climb you will never feel it slip. Hope that answers that differently.
Very accurate, it matches right up with my Stages which I’ve found to be dead reliable over the past 2 years, on both my bikes
Yes the resistance does change rather drastically…so yeah for example today I did Hunter…when I went from rest 90W to 210W you have to keep the cadence up during those 2-3 secs of transition otherwise you get that hit a wall feeling, conversely when you’re coming off that interval you kinda freewheel crazily until the resistance catches up with the ERG
With all that said, the only time I’ve experienced slippage (since the firmware update) is when there are drastic changes in power like jumping from 300W to 1200W, or jumping from 800W to 2000W, so yeah very explosive changes. Like I said before I believe this is inherent to the magnet system it uses. This of course will only happen to a very small minority of very punchy people, you will know where you stand. For the rest of the world this is a great trainer.
I dare say If you’re just doing TR workouts you will never feel it slip. If you’re racing Zwift and you are pumping out mega sprints then yeah, Id recommend you look elsewhere. Keep in mind you have to update the firmware when you buy it, I did it and my review is based on the most up to date firmware. I’ve decided I’m going to keep mine because I don’t race Zwift and it’ll do a perfectly fine job as long as I’m not trying to outsprint anyone. Based on your comment above I’d definitely recommend you buy one.
Thanks for that! Can you link to the Hunter workout so I can check out the graphs? I can see myself going from 300-1200, but definitely not 800-2000. My top end has tapered off the last two years in favor of other areas, but even so, the highest power I’ve ever hit on an indoor trainer is 11xx, I used to do more outdoor with my more optimistic Stages LOL. I guess if you are a bit smoother in the sprint going from lets say 300-1200 within a matter of 2 seconds or so, instead of just going to 100%, it may help. I’m going to demo one, as well as a Kickr, and decide, but I like the extra stuff the Neo offers, I think it could really enhance my indoor experience a bit
I am having huge FOMO from reading this. My tacx neo 2t is sitting in my summerhouse whilst I figure out how to get a 7-speed bike to work with it. I am a complete beginner, i didn’t even know bikes had gears until I started zwifting. I am an idiot for splurging on this but I love intense training and I didn’t want barbells in my house. I also wanted to invest in some kit, and I fell in love with this smart trainer technology, and their apps (like zwift).
I’ve learnt a lot this past two weeks. But man, i cannot wait to get back on.
