TACX Flow Smart Trainer - Unboxing, Building, Ride Review 

Did you get a smart trainer, Katie? Which one?

Well instead I got the wahoo snap instead because that one was in back order for almost 5 weeks. I got wahoo snap less than a week. On wahoo.com 😍🥰

@@brownsugarcoffee1 how is the wahoo? I'm also newer to indoor cycling and am considering it.

can you give me a hint on how loud this thing gets ? im thinking about getting one but im not sure if i will annoy my neigbours lol :)

@@yuumeow393 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c7e3tPHHATA.html

Codefoto ok boomer

Tarquin I just bought a flow instead of a vortex. I hope I don’t regret it.

@@DavidMacVicar are you enjoying it?

David MacVicar inhad 2 vortex and got my money back. Both failed

Is it good! I am in Halifax as well planning to buy it !

This one fits the purpose at the lower end. But yes, the higher end units which usually get all the attention are the premium experience for sure.

Happens to me too, and now it makes a really loud noise.

tobortine wow's the noise level in normal use, I am thinking of getting one but I live in a apartment

Very difficult to give any advice because an acceptable noise level is a very personal measure. I train in my garage so the noise is fairly irrelevant to me but I don't think it's particularly noisy. To get a very quiet machine you may have to spend a lot more money :-(

tobortine might not be practical for early morning rides, but should be OK for evenings. Probably not even a fluid one would be OK for early morning anyway.

I think you're right. Also worth investing in a mat or piece of off cut carpet (cheaper) that should reduce the transmitted noise and makes it feel more comfortable.

Hey man, wondering if you can help me. Ive been dying to know this and cant find the answer anywhere. Can you upload rides from this trainer to strava without using or having zwift ?

jaro0011 What do you think of it after a year of use?

@@milan4ever any reviews after usage?

Moose I bought Wahoo Kickr Core and I’m super happy, very quiet and works great. Help me stay sane during COVID-19 lockdown.

Big Mitch yes mine was exactly the same from Halfords think I paid £170 plus postage.

Same here, just £160 with British cycling discount. Used it for 6 months with power from the unit and experienced pretty much the same as Shane but it was good enough to get me hooked on Zwift. Have done another 6 months taking power from a stages pm and the resistance from the flow and it’s worked really well. I’m sure a high end trainer would feel better but £500+ better? Not sure I can justify it unless the flow does on me a some point.

Thanks for this info. I'm currently using a reliable, quiet but "dumb" fluid trainer, I'm actually not bothered about ERG mode but wondered if I could take power from my 4iiii power meter and use the Flow to give a better feel for the terrain within Zwift - sounds like this approach works fine? Also how does the resistance change feel on the hills within Zwift - worthwhile and quickly responsive to gradient changes or not?

Ian - I’ve had no problems using power from the stages and resistance from the flow. Erg mode even works reasonably well with that setup. There’s a second or 2 delay on resistance when you hit a hill but you get used to that - definitely more immersive than a dumb trainer. You’re reaching for the gears with even the slightest gradient change, you just won’t use quite the range you would if you were outside up a real 15%. I found that when I used power from the flow it overestimated on hills for some reason. It was about 10-15% over the watts I’d normally put out over say 5 minutes on the flat in Zwift. Once I switched to a power meter for power it’s been much more realistic and matches what I can do on the road more closely.

Thanks for extra info, much appreciated. Sounds like a good budget buy to take it up a notch on Zwift this winter. The 800-900W ceiling might be a bit of an issue for me but to be honest that will likely be super-seeded by the ability to get out of the saddle for an indoor sprint (currently I have to stay seated if I'm going over 500W due to wheel slippage/trainer using my body weight, which means it's a struggle anyway to push past 900W for long).

This explains ERG mode: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LbeliW8uObk.html

Good timing... and you might be able to help with another video I was about to do. You're saying the spares are expensive to buy from Tacx / a Tacx dealer? I've just found tacx.com/spare-parts/ and thought it'd be a good video to do for Tacx owners who might want to replace a part or two to keep their trainers ticking along.

Hi Shane, your videos are really informative. Sorry but a Long breath: Unfortunately the 3 different brand turbo’s I’ve owned have all been binned due to the high costs of parts vs. an identical new turbo. My Father’s Taxc Blue Matic 2650 is dying after 2 years of heavy use. I also used a Tacx PDF for the roller part number. To buy a new roller part, Tacx directed me to their U.K. importer. They wanted to charge me £110 for a whole new rear braking unit - which is greater than the price I can get the whole turbo trainer new (£82 with discount). Ironically, I’ve just bought another Smart Flow today (£162 with discount) for him. So we both have a new Smart flow in parallel in the lounge. He’s elderly and lives and trains with me. It’s a shame apps don’t sell a family subscription except FulGaz who do. I’m impressed by the Tacx Flow ERG and the price and specs vs. £1000 units. I can’t complain, as it can be expensive to buy in Oz when I last lived there. Keep up the good work! Kind regards, James.

Had to take it back due to faulty manufacturing and then the replacement had missing nuts. Finally managed to get it going phew!

Also pride open the fan cover, push it gently in and tighten the screw.

Yep. I've found slowing the flywheel down by changing to an easier gear is sometimes required on the FLUX when in ERG mode. 20-25km/h flywheel speed is the optimal range for ERG on the FLUX.

Thanks! :)

@@gplama Well done!!!

They're very similar units.

did you buy a trainer I'm looking at getting one myself? is the taco flow or vortex any good?

I've tried. I'll keep trying. What you've just described is the Kickr Climb. That'll be out soon.

Shane Miller Awesome I'll keep on the lookout for it. Just searched it didn't realize you made a video for it lol. Must have snuck past me

I like the idea! If I can get a hold of one, I'll do just this.

Oh. :( What have been the issues?

Shane Miller the first unit wouldn't sit flat and rocked about 10mm, construction/weld issue. And the second unit was fine for about 120k over a few sessions, came to use it again and pushed the lever to pull unit against the tyre and the bolt popped out of the nut, ruined the thread so kept popping out after fixing. it's a bit of an issue looking online, to get it tight enough to calibrate via the app you almost reach the end of the thread. Rightly or wrongly with this one I'm running in the mtb wheel position as I can see it happening again, wheel just fits and needs a little tightening and calibrates fine, feels the same in zwift...

@Mark That's exactly the same issue the Vortex and Bushido have but for a different reason. The Vortex and Bushido have plastic tabs for each wheel size but they're not strong enough and slowly bend. As they're bending you will need to keep tightening and tightening until either the bolt falls out or the plastic tabs snap. At least with the Vortex and Bushido you can buy a replacement part for £5 and then pre-fill it so the tabs can't bend. With the Flow it seems like you'd need a whole new frame.

@toomanygooglaccounts not sure what the plastic tabs are you mention? Halfords have been great so far but they should be really, it's my time spent going back there, re-setting up etc, safe the say i'm keeping the receipt safe ;)

If you google for "Broken tabs in Bushido smart" (including the quotes) the only result should be the Tacx forum with a photo of a broken tab. I think it's rocking side-to-side motion that breaks the tabs rather than pure downward force. I seem to break mine when doing aggressive climbs on Zwift.

Hmmm. It’s the way things are going these days. I’ll make note to always look into free alternatives.

This will help: gplama.blogspot.com.au/p/indoor-trainer-guide-gplama.html

The 'ride feel' was similar to that of the Vortex. I assume this was due to the same flywheel weight.

I have the Flow smart and I can't say that is has any dead spots... It's smooth.

Higher end trainers handle ERG more robustly. Sprinting indoors is different to outdoor, yes. There's no swaying of the bike inside.

Hmmm.. I'll keep an eye (and ear) on mine.

Just look up "tacx epoxy fix" if you have the issue...or are curious about it...

I had this same issue on my Vortex and to be fair to Tacx they sent me out a new mid part within a week which solves the problem completely. Easy to fit yourself too.

G'day mate. Yep, power readings from the Vector and resistance changes from the Tacx Flow will work. If you can get in a quick test ride at store prior to purchase (or if a friend owns one you can try), I'd highly recommend it.

The Flow should be compatible with their software, yep.

Ok, brilliant. So all these data readings should show up on the phone/tablet app whilst training?

Andy Tran man I’m dealing with the same issue.. can anybody help?

Make sure you're using the correct skewer. Failing that, ping Tacx Support with photos/details.

Shane Miller - GPLama I bought it from them. It might need up being the screw

You'll need a thru-axle adapter kit as shown here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kZAVVFH5tSM.html

These videos would be 60 minutes long if I took on all requests. It's similar to the QUBO. This may help: gplama.blogspot.com.au/p/indoor-trainer-guide-gplama.html

Shane Miller I didn't specifically mean that Elite turbo, but that's the one you use for Zwift on a budget. It was more that you asked the question yourself at the start of the video, but didn't answer it. Was just curious.

The Rampa is end of life I believe, so I'd lean towards the Flow.

Your call on what's the best. Vortex > Flow. Or any of the midrange direct direct drive units would be a step up agin.