Having had a rather miserable experience with Tacx and endless software bugs and faulty hardware all met with "disappointing" (better not get my first post censored) Tacx support several years ago that largely led to me giving up onthe trainer , I am now back and wondering what to do for a new trainer.
I have been off the bike for a few years for various reasons, and return to find the Genius +TTS4 is long obsolete, as presumably is my collection of Tacx RLVs.
Not a total surprise but if I read it right the new software doesnt support local playback from existing RLVs but is download only.
I dont mind paying out for a decent trainer, I am much less enthusiastic about giving Tacx €13.99pm for HD films when I might not even use the trainer for months at a time.
(I know and dont mind that I have to wait too as the virus has exhausted stocks)
Should I stay with Tacx (I assume they are better these days) Neo 2T or go with one of the competitors?
I know I am not in shape to need a top notch trainer but quietness and realism are important to me else I just would end up not using it)
If I stay with Tacx, what options do I have with software and/or other films.
sorry for the questions but it seem I have gone from being up to speed with this stuff to complete newbie
thanks
Tacx Genius - what to change it for?
Moderator: nzuraw
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mcorn
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I have owned numerous Tacx trainers over the years. Currently I use a Neo2T most of the time as well as Flux 2 Smart part of the time. The Neo is by far the best Tacx trainer I have ever had. It is not inexpensive, but it is much better than the others. I have had to for about 8 months without any issues so far. The Flux is okay, but not as smooth as the Neo. If you want a much less expensive model, I would recommend the Flow Smart, which is very smooth, but does not have the power capability of the big models, which may or may not be important. All the new Tacx trainers are now "Smart" devices, which means they work with both Bluetooth and ANT+ and are all compatible with other software. I think the Tacx Desktop App for Windows 10 and the Mac is quite a nice program and far less buggy than TTS ever was.
By the way, others have reported that customers who complain that their collection of RLV's has been made obsolete are offered a discount on a new Tacx trainer, so it may be worth contact Garmin/Tacx support.
Besides using downloaded videos, TDA also works with live streaming as long as you have a fast Internet connection. The TDA video library is very large and the videos are very high quality.
I think the Tacx subscription rates are pretty much in the ballpark as everyone else's and are competitive. But if you don't want to pay €13.99 per month, you have some options. You can pay €9.99 per month for slightly less higher quality videos. If you have a small screen, you might not notice the difference. You can also get an annual premium subscription for €139.99, which comes out to about €12 per month. Or you can just go month to month and cancel during the months of the year when you are riding outside.
By the way, others have reported that customers who complain that their collection of RLV's has been made obsolete are offered a discount on a new Tacx trainer, so it may be worth contact Garmin/Tacx support.
Besides using downloaded videos, TDA also works with live streaming as long as you have a fast Internet connection. The TDA video library is very large and the videos are very high quality.
I think the Tacx subscription rates are pretty much in the ballpark as everyone else's and are competitive. But if you don't want to pay €13.99 per month, you have some options. You can pay €9.99 per month for slightly less higher quality videos. If you have a small screen, you might not notice the difference. You can also get an annual premium subscription for €139.99, which comes out to about €12 per month. Or you can just go month to month and cancel during the months of the year when you are riding outside.
Michael Corn
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Bellingham, Washington, USA
That's some really useful thoughts.
Thank you.
Might be the wrong forum section, but stick with Tacx or are other providers better these days?
( I see your username carried over from the old Tacx forum! Mine was probably similar too in which case you might even remember my torrid experience with Tacx hence I am wary to recommit to them unless they are much improved these days)
Thank you.
Might be the wrong forum section, but stick with Tacx or are other providers better these days?
( I see your username carried over from the old Tacx forum! Mine was probably similar too in which case you might even remember my torrid experience with Tacx hence I am wary to recommit to them unless they are much improved these days)
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nzuraw
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Personally I agree with Mcorn, the Neo is awesome. In the time I've had my Neo (version 1), I've not had any issues with the hardware. Not like the Bkool that is sitting in my shed waiting for a response from their support team (11 weeks and counting). Four of my riding buddies have all moved from Elite, Bkool and Wahoo (x2) to the Neo - and not regretting it.
The good thing now is that all the trainers out there are ANT+ FEC and/or BT, so you are not locked into the manufacturers software.
At the end of the day, its about your budget too! DC Rainmaker has a great comparison tool for indoor trainers - but don't underestimate the road feel, sounds gimicky but if you want your indoor session to feel more lifelike, it is great. Even if I do complain about riding on the cobbles after 400m
The good thing now is that all the trainers out there are ANT+ FEC and/or BT, so you are not locked into the manufacturers software.
At the end of the day, its about your budget too! DC Rainmaker has a great comparison tool for indoor trainers - but don't underestimate the road feel, sounds gimicky but if you want your indoor session to feel more lifelike, it is great. Even if I do complain about riding on the cobbles after 400m
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Train hard, ride easy
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Train hard, ride easy
"so you are not locked into the manufacturers software."
Again newb question i know, but been out of this too long and trying to catch up
- so what software do people use with the Tacx Neo then, especially if there is any open source?
Again newb question i know, but been out of this too long and trying to catch up
- so what software do people use with the Tacx Neo then, especially if there is any open source?
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ms6073
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I suspect you may be waiting for quite a long time for that response seeing as BKool exited the trainer business last November.
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nzuraw
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Indeed! Alas, it's my sons - so he's pretty unhappy about it. Was working, then not... I suspect the unit itself. So I think it's stuffedms6073 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:29 pmI suspect you may be waiting for quite a long time for that response seeing as BKool exited the trainer business last November.
_______o
_____~\<,_
____(_)/ (_)
Train hard, ride easy
_____~\<,_
____(_)/ (_)
Train hard, ride easy
wow - how frustrating, sorry for you and your son about that.
this is exactly the why I wanted to ask some questions before i got back into trainers again, to avoid this type of pitfall.
Garmin acquiring Tacx suggests they wont be binning the product too soon hopefully.
Neo 2T seems a solid choice, so I have to hope Tacx quality is improved, thank you for your opinions.
Once I have the hardware, I can just experiement with alternative software options of course.
I guess we all have to be wary of the "Peleton effect" impacting on true cycle training vs the massively larger fitness spinning type market.
Pros and cons as ever I expect
this is exactly the why I wanted to ask some questions before i got back into trainers again, to avoid this type of pitfall.
Garmin acquiring Tacx suggests they wont be binning the product too soon hopefully.
Neo 2T seems a solid choice, so I have to hope Tacx quality is improved, thank you for your opinions.
Once I have the hardware, I can just experiement with alternative software options of course.
I guess we all have to be wary of the "Peleton effect" impacting on true cycle training vs the massively larger fitness spinning type market.
Pros and cons as ever I expect
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mcorn
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Don't forget to contact Garmin/Tacx support and plead your case that your major investment in a Tacx trainer, software, and videos is now obsolete and you are unable to use it anymore. As I said above, there have been at least couple of reports on this forum that Tacx has been offering a decent discount for a new trainer in these situations. I think if you can come up with a reasonable estimate on how much you have expended for all of this, it may also help your case.
Michael Corn
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Garmin offered me 20% off any new hardware...
You ask about open source "Golden Cheetah" has a train mode that allows you to play your TTS AVI films with the TTS file... there has been a lot of work on this recently. It works with older trainers like my fortius but only in ERG mode (Catalyst in old TTS terminology) does not play the DVDs reliably but I believe with modern trainer it does work although I cannot say for certain but it is modern protocol compliant.
You ask about open source "Golden Cheetah" has a train mode that allows you to play your TTS AVI films with the TTS file... there has been a lot of work on this recently. It works with older trainers like my fortius but only in ERG mode (Catalyst in old TTS terminology) does not play the DVDs reliably but I believe with modern trainer it does work although I cannot say for certain but it is modern protocol compliant.