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In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2024 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Hi Ray,
What do you think of tracx flow smart (T2240)? This is (i think) the less expensive (239€) smart trainer on the market.
Thanks Ray, great job as usual
Tacx not tracx…. ;-)
Lower end Tacx trainers are too flimsy for my liking (and I only weigh 60kg). I had to send my Vortex back 4 times to be fixed within the 1st month before they finally refunded me. Won’t be buying Tacx again.
I like that we can add MTB. I have new bie that has Boost or 148 spacing would love to put on trainer. Even Elite. But it also has to be XD Sram cassette compatible. Wish trainer makers will accommodate that. Wahoo can’t do Sram.
Any incite would be nice.
Regards
Dave
And this in your comparison would be nice table to add. MTB compatible.?
Hi Ray – do you know if they fixed the ERG mode for resistance on workout sessions on Zwift ?
With the current BKool it is not usable, which is not a huge issue as you can control resistance electronically but still would make it nicer if it worked !
Thanks for the great work as always.
Yes, the resistance issue in Zwift workout sessions is fixed and works a treat.
It’s just all to confusing! I want a mid range trainer to do a couple of workouts a week and when it occasionally rains
Hi Ray, at the end of this one you implied your trainer recommendations guide would be out later that week. Sounds like we might be only days away?
Thanks!
I want to buy a new trainer for this winter and I can’t wait for the new version too :)
I think I’ve just about had it with this trainer now and need to buy a KICKR or TACX NEO, they seem to have changed the software (again) recently by REMOVING the option to create intervals based on time (i.e. 5mins at 1% gradient, 10mins at 5%, 5mins at 0% etc) and only allowing you to define an intervals based on distance in…….metres????? this is a major pain for me as I used to create workouts for myself based on time and gradient which worked perfectly now I find completely out of the blue they go ahead and just remove the time option.
Does anyone know any other way now to create a custom workout based on time and gradient?
Is the Bluetooth smart support the Go version offers over the Pro version as any kind of advantage? I am looking to buy my first smart trainer and wonder if I need the Bluetooth?
Has anyone compared this trainer against a real powermeter? showing crazy numbers of watts in Zwift.
The Bkool trainers are way off when it comes to watts. I have a Neo and joined bkool simulator. There are riders that consistently beat Chris Hoy, Bradley wiggins and all the top boys…I manage an average of around 34km/h over the 14k course…They have riders averaging 56km/h…go figure. I questioned them about this and they tell me that the trainers are accurate…UNREAL!!!
One thing to keep in mind is that you may not be seeing BKool trainers in the Bkool Simulator. That’s because it can be used with a number of other trainers, just like apps such as Zwift and TrainerRoad can.
I am referring to BKool Trainers because I am talking about the leagues….not live. so you can see the trainer used and the results. trust me the bkool trainer is so inaccurate its not funny
With that in mind – do you know if those folks calibrated?
I ask because for a wheel-on trainer, that’s basically a massive difference potential there.
It’s really the overall problem with online leagues in cycling, calibration and incorrect setup. Some apps like Zwift actually use some logic behind the scenes to filter out unhuman/pro like efforts.
bkool response was its normal and they say they are accurate and i replied saying you must be kidding me, to which they no longer reply. Its a joke to be honest and you either accept that their trainers with their simulator is just a game or you find an alternative but frankly there are not many and Zwift is just so boring
Bkool trainers can only be calibrated by support staff and apparently it ‘isn’t needed’ – that said; my Bkool Pro 2 drifts to over 50W higher than my Quarq DZero ( at around 300W) – I have had Bkool dial in and recalibrate it and it seemed ok but then I started monitoring it while it warmed up. They at least don’t claim that its correct (given that it would give me an FTP good enough to be a domestic pro…) and maybe one day they will find a way to sort it.
Most of the time its not an issue (since I use the DZero as power source) but ERG mode can be a nightmare – I spend most intervals trying to adjust cadence / find the right gear to minimise the issue – or use my Wahoo ELEMNT to control the trainer with the workout @140% of planned power – or just give up totally and put it in resistance mode.
I just can’t bring myself to spend £600+ to get a new trainer that is universally reported as reliable and having a decent ERG mode, when at the moment it is arguably just an irritation (although even small irritations suddenly get much bigger in the middle of 350-400W intervals).
I just received the Bkool Smart Go. It has the EU power adapter included, but no US adapter. Should I have received a US adapter, or is there a recommended US adapter I should purchase ?
You can just use any $1-$3 power adapter, it’s dual voltage.
I’ve had this for two days. I wanted to use TrainerRoad so had to switch the mode to ANT+ via the Bkool app. Having done this, the trainer no longer has resistance control and does not output power readout to any app, making it useless. I have wasted hours trying to get the flimsy app settings to revert. There is also no documentation anywhere about updating firmware on this thing.
I just bought a Tacx Neo from Tredz
On the Fence Between the Tacx Flow (T2240) and this BKool Smart Go. The BKool looks a little more durable. But I just read an Amazon review from Oct 3, 2018 where the user noted that after a mandatory firmware update, the unit stopped sending to Zwift via the ANT+FE-C protocol. Any idea if this is an issue? And if so has it been resolved?
Bike training inside info
Hi Ray,
I got a Bkool smart go from a friend and when I start pedaling, the bike is vibrating/whobling strong.
When I start peddling faster, the vibrations/whobling is less.
I’ve always ridden a Tacx trainer in the past.
Is this something specific to the Bkool trainers design?
Have you noticed this too?
Hmm, I haven’t heard or scene of that before. If you were to place your phone and record a short video, do you see any wobbling of the wheel itself (such as being untrue)?
Might be the tire. I have had different results with different tires.
It was the roller from the trainer that wasn’t True so a gave the trainer back..
I hope to buy a wahoo kickr core or elite suito when they are back in stock..