Tacx indoor trainer service

[Menahem Fuchs]

Hi,

 

Does anyone know where I can have a Tacx indoor trainer serviced? I'm unable to correctly calibrate the trainer - no matter how tight I set the roller against the tyre, it still says it's too loose, and it severely under-reads power (it's a Bushido Smart wheel-on).  It seems since Garmin bought Tacx in Feb, no-one is (officially) supporting the Tacx trainers in SA... ????

 

Thanks

[Davey_Jones]

Out of interest have you tried to calibrate it after you warm up the tire a little.  maybe in winter the cold is keeping the tire stiff and slick?  I Understand lots of pressure should over come that but just give it a try?

[Butterbean]

What's your tire pressure?

[Menahem Fuchs]

Out of interest have you tried to calibrate it after you warm up the tire a little.  maybe in winter the cold is keeping the tire stiff and slick?  I Understand lots of pressure should over come that but just give it a try?

I have, yeah, to no avail

[Menahem Fuchs]

What's your tire pressure?

110 PSI - as recommended by Tacx. I've tried at lower pressures as well, but the issue persists.  The above "too loose" reading was at a ridiculously tight setting of the roller against the tyre - at a pressure that seems reasonable, the calibration marker is way to the left.

[m-squared]

Have you tried updating the firmware on the bushido?  I recall I had some issue with the Vortex smart when I did have it and the update sorted everything out.

[RobertWhitehead]

I cant even get my tacx app to calibrate - you're in better shape than me  . 

[Bbbbbbbb]

I cant even get my tacx app to calibrate - you're in better shape than me .

I had same issue... after 10 min warm up it finally calibrates..

[Thomo]

What's the consensus on servicing moving parts of trainers - required or not.?

[Andymann]

We use Tacx Trainers in our Studio - Mostly Vortex and iVortex, as well as Flow and recently a new Flux, so know the product pretty well

 

We find the Tacx Trainer tyres aren't great - we use the Continental Home Trainer tyres - 8b usually is good to go - the Tacx ones seem to get really sticky and then delaminate.

 

Regaring calibration - often overlooked but there are two settings on the later Trainers, one for 29" MTB slicks and 720C Road tyres - there are little grooves in the back where the roller is - just check you are in the correct one - otherwise you will really strugge to calibrate.

 

You cant really service them unfortunatly - well you can change the bearings on the roller but that is a bit of a mission!

[Andymann]

What's the consensus on servicing moving parts of trainers - required or not.?

The older ones you can service, but the newer ones not so much.  I've rebuilt all my Cateye CS1000's over the years - really easy.  The later smart ones are a buit more tricky - but they seem really reliable -  my personal Vortex has now done arount 11000kms and is fine - still nice and smooth.

[Vetplant]

SNIP

 

We find the Tacx Trainer tyres aren't great - we use the Continental Home Trainer tyres - 8b usually is good to go - the Tacx ones seem to get really sticky and then delaminate.

 

SNIP

Sorry for the high-jack:

 

What is the good rule of thumb regarding tyre pressures?

 

I have had a couple of inner tubes burst a leak right on the section where the join is on the inner tube. So I thought that running them at a slightly lower pressure, 6bar, would reduce the stress on the inner tube.

 

But, last night I had a fairly confusing situation where I did a roll down after 12mins warmup... did the 40min workout and then did the rolldown again at the end and the roll down value was waaaay off compared to the post-warm-up roll down. Which means all my power readings throughout the workout probably drifter to unusable values. Cherry on top is that it was a Ramp-test... so I can't use the computed FTP value.

 

I suspect the "less-inflated" tyre has something to do with it. But where is the sweet spot typically? Should it be at the maximum inflation pressure when cold?

 

(It is a Computrainer by the way)

[Andymann]

Ok so before every ride we pump the tyres to 8b - using the same pump. I know it's pedantic but with an indoor trainer where you do sets based on a test you have done on that specific trainer consistency is key.

 

Regarding the tubes - often they do tear and this is usually when the tyre is a bit under-inflated, gets warm and the tube then actually almost bonds to the inside of the tyre - when you brake, the trainer still "drives" a bit and the tube tears.  This mostly happens with the blue Tacx tyre and of course on normal road tyres - they get hot really quickly.

 

I ask the guys please not to brake at all on the trainers but to just let the roller slow them down.  I also punch out a small rubber washer from an old tube and put it over the Valve stem - we've seen a few tubes these days tear where the valve joins and only on the trainers - so this washer seems to add a bit more insurance. 

[Andymann]

Incidentally I'll be testing a Kickr this weekend to see what it's like.  I wasn't overly impressed with the Tacx Flux.  It's lovely and quiet compared to the wheel-on trainers but it's not driven so when you need to recover between intervals you still have to spin up a really big flywheel.  I did an interval set on the Vortex and then two days later on the Flux and for the same HR values my Power was different by close to 80W - obviously I was using my Power values determined from the test done on the Vortex, which isn't good practice, but I still felt a way more smashed on the Flux than I did on the Vortex.  The Flux reminded me a bit of doing a set on my old CS1000 Cateye!

Edited August 2, 2019 by Andymann

[Menahem Fuchs]

Have you tried updating the firmware on the bushido?  I recall I had some issue with the Vortex smart when I did have it and the update sorted everything out.

I have - I'm on the latest firmware

[Menahem Fuchs]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll try them all this weekend.