Using this device now since october. Liked it better than Kickr Snap. The Flow is ideal for someone who doesnt have a big FTP and isnt a power sprinter. So an FTP in the low 200's and this is perfect and quiet. If you sprint with an FTP above 300,400 I would say go with something stabler. Don't use a to worn outdoor tyre (noisy and will blow). The one in the video is good, an indoor tyre won't make a difference. But if you haven't got a spare go ahead and buy one. Calibration is troublesome, 10 attempts 10 different outcomes. My tip is, do it once with Tacx app, with a tyre pressure of 8bar. If it's in the green: After that don't touch the turning knob again. With the callibration mode of my training software (trainerroad) I had to spin 5,6,7 times before the error message disappeared! Very annoying having to do that for each training session. Just keep your tyre pressure after callibration with the tacx trainer app at 8 bar and never callibrate again;). And also buy yourself a sweat catcher, a head band and shirt for absorbing the sweat and protecting your bike! I can't emphasize enough that a cheap smart device like the Flow (or Vortex) is really all you need for a good workout and to prepare you for the outdoor season.Thank you for the video, allways nice to see a fellow flowrider. Greetings from Holland.
+Augie Donkers Some good points there. I didn’t have such problems with calibration, only done it a couple of times with the tack app and it was very quick. Not used it was trainer road at all however. Definitely need something for the sweat. I usually get naked and drape a towel over the bike. So true about being all you need!
I’m looking at buying one of these on EBay. Do I need to buy the rear wheel quick release skewer, or can you just connect the Flow to the bike using it’s existing nuts? You seemed to just put your bike straight onto the trainer, but could’ve put the spindle thing on your bike previously.
thanks for this, pretty informative. i was thinking of getting one, in order to do zone 2 daily workouts. i estimate to being between 120W and 180W for around 1hour. How do you think it would behave, in terms of noise ? thanks again cheers from sunny Portugal ;)
This happened to me about 3 weeks ago! It was 13 months old but luckily Halfords relaxed it for me. Happened mid sprint for me. Have you been doing big sprints? Wondering if it’s not tough enough to take the big wattages?
TheAverageCyclist - Glad you still managed an exchange. My 70 year old Father has been using this for 30 mins cruising. The electric motor started to tick. Luckily it was 28 days old. I still think the calibration app is allowing users to over tighten but Tacx have told me to use 1/3 tyre depth for tightening. My own unit is still fine and I’ve ridden climbs, sprints and cruising for over 2 hours.
I'd like to use one with my MTB, so it can be left set up. The rear wheel has a solid hub, will the trainer fit on wheel nuts, or does it have to have a QR spindle?
I don’t know enough about mountain bikes to confirm unfortunately. There’s some information about compatibility on here though 😊 tacx.com/product/flow-smart/
You said you can feel the resistance when drafting behind someone.. What's it feel like when going down a hill on zwift.. Does the wheel still spin if you don't peddle?
The wheel does spin, and will stop after a few seconds of not peddling, but the resistance is much much less. You have to crank through the gears to get the resistance up (just like descending in real life). The more you pay, and the heavier the fly wheel the better the free-wheeling effect will be. Considering the very low price of this trainer it’s pretty damn good!
@@TheAverageCyclist Is this still the case? Beginner looking to get into this and looking around reviews online this seems quite common, i.e. going through two. Still reckon its worth the £269 it's retailing now? Thanks in advance!
Maaate, im having murders. I bought it and fitted the bike to it today and there is no fuse in the plug. Did yours come with a fuse ? If so what fuse is it. Sorry for bombarding you with questions, its just been doing my nut in
Hey mate, yeah definitely case with a fuse! Not sure what it is but I’ll have a look when I get home. Think it’s illegal to sell stuff without one in the uk!
Hi, Thanks for your review! Do you think it will drives my neighbour crazy or is it quiet at 300-400 watts? Based on your vid I think it's too load for indoor sprint training (1200W). Maybe it's quiet enough for basic endurance training. Kind regards Jonathan
greeting from London mate, 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 ? and if so do you need any additional accessories or can you just sync your garmin to the trainer and upload to strava ?
Hey, yes you can. You can use the tacx training app (which I haven’t really used so didn’t comment on) which’ll record all your activity data and can be set to automatically export to Strava. It also shows all your data etc on screen when recording an activity. Or alternatively, you can just connect it to your wahoo or Garmin via ant+ or Bluetooth and then upload it as per any other ride. You’ll get speed, distance, power and cadence data from the trainer. Happy riding!
Thanks man, I appreciate that. Couldnt find the answer anywhere because no one really ever does it that way, Nearly everyone uses zwift. How would the file appear aesthetically on strava, have you any idea ? like would it look like a regular GPS file ? Apologies for the seemingly stupid question
Bought this a week ago, set up nice and solid but noticed a bit of tyre move side to side when I was putting the watts down... is this just the flex in frame etc or should I try to align better?
+Jonathan Silvere Trainer does it all. Speed is very accurate (calculated directly from speed of of flywheel) and the cadence is estimated using an algorithm which is pretty good; certainly good enough!
Thanks for this real world review, i will buy for the glorious british winter when the MTB trails are 5 inches deep!
Using this device now since october. Liked it better than Kickr Snap. The Flow is ideal for someone who doesnt have a big FTP and isnt a power sprinter. So an FTP in the low 200's and this is perfect and quiet. If you sprint with an FTP above 300,400 I would say go with something stabler. Don't use a to worn outdoor tyre (noisy and will blow). The one in the video is good, an indoor tyre won't make a difference. But if you haven't got a spare go ahead and buy one. Calibration is troublesome, 10 attempts 10 different outcomes. My tip is, do it once with Tacx app, with a tyre pressure of 8bar. If it's in the green: After that don't touch the turning knob again. With the callibration mode of my training software (trainerroad) I had to spin 5,6,7 times before the error message disappeared! Very annoying having to do that for each training session. Just keep your tyre pressure after callibration with the tacx trainer app at 8 bar and never callibrate again;). And also buy yourself a sweat catcher, a head band and shirt for absorbing the sweat and protecting your bike! I can't emphasize enough that a cheap smart device like the Flow (or Vortex) is really all you need for a good workout and to prepare you for the outdoor season.Thank you for the video, allways nice to see a fellow flowrider. Greetings from Holland.
+Augie Donkers Some good points there. I didn’t have such problems with calibration, only done it a couple of times with the tack app and it was very quick. Not used it was trainer road at all however. Definitely need something for the sweat. I usually get naked and drape a towel over the bike. So true about being all you need!
I’m looking at buying one of these on EBay. Do I need to buy the rear wheel quick release skewer, or can you just connect the Flow to the bike using it’s existing nuts? You seemed to just put your bike straight onto the trainer, but could’ve put the spindle thing on your bike previously.
thanks for this,
pretty informative.
i was thinking of getting one, in order to do zone 2 daily workouts.
i estimate to being between 120W and 180W for around 1hour.
How do you think it would behave, in terms of noise ?
thanks again
cheers from sunny Portugal ;)
Can this trainer do "ERG Mode" When doing workouts either Zwift or just training peaks setup onto your bike computer?
Definitely does ERG mode on Zwift, not sure about training peaks though!
do they work with 700x23 wheels?
Tacx bearings keep failing on me.
On my 5th Flow in 2 months?!
This happened to me about 3 weeks ago! It was 13 months old but luckily Halfords relaxed it for me. Happened mid sprint for me. Have you been doing big sprints? Wondering if it’s not tough enough to take the big wattages?
TheAverageCyclist - Glad you still managed an exchange.
My 70 year old Father has been using this for 30 mins cruising.
The electric motor started to tick.
Luckily it was 28 days old.
I still think the calibration app is allowing users to over tighten but Tacx have told me to use 1/3 tyre depth for tightening.
My own unit is still fine and I’ve ridden climbs, sprints and cruising for over 2 hours.
I'd like to use one with my MTB, so it can be left set up. The rear wheel has a solid hub, will the trainer fit on wheel nuts, or does it have to have a QR spindle?
I don’t know enough about mountain bikes to confirm unfortunately. There’s some information about compatibility on here though 😊 tacx.com/product/flow-smart/
Nice review. I thought the flow could output speed and cadence? I know you use a power meter so the question refers to using the flow only.
Wott atom bike is worth it. I would rather wait. Thanks for the review
Hi there, I like your bike, what year / spec is it please?
Hi, it’s 2014 Giant TCR Advanced. I think it’s aged really well; still absolutely love it!
You said you can feel the resistance when drafting behind someone.. What's it feel like when going down a hill on zwift.. Does the wheel still spin if you don't peddle?
The wheel does spin, and will stop after a few seconds of not peddling, but the resistance is much much less. You have to crank through the gears to get the resistance up (just like descending in real life). The more you pay, and the heavier the fly wheel the better the free-wheeling effect will be. Considering the very low price of this trainer it’s pretty damn good!
Thanks for the review, hoping one is in my xmas box
+Medical Cannabis Spain Fingers Crossed!
i have a question. Can I use this trainer with disc brakes? (giant advanced)
I have since broken this trainer. That’s two that have broken. I would no longer recommend it.
@@TheAverageCyclist Is this still the case? Beginner looking to get into this and looking around reviews online this seems quite common, i.e. going through two. Still reckon its worth the £269 it's retailing now? Thanks in advance!
Adrian Ma I would still stay clear. The second one really didn’t get much use at all. I’d save and get a better one!
which one your recommend the Tacx Satori or Tacx Flow? Pls.
Maaate, im having murders. I bought it and fitted the bike to it today and there is no fuse in the plug. Did yours come with a fuse ? If so what fuse is it.
Sorry for bombarding you with questions, its just been doing my nut in
Hey mate, yeah definitely case with a fuse! Not sure what it is but I’ll have a look when I get home. Think it’s illegal to sell stuff without one in the uk!
Hi,
Thanks for your review! Do you think it will drives my neighbour crazy or is it quiet at 300-400 watts? Based on your vid I think it's too load for indoor sprint training (1200W). Maybe it's quiet enough for basic endurance training.
Kind regards
Jonathan
Shouldn’t be a problem for neighbours if you’re in a terrace. It probably would be if you’re in a flat and not on the ground floor though! 😊
greeting from London mate, 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 ? and if so do you need any additional accessories or can you just sync your garmin to the trainer and upload to strava ?
Hey, yes you can. You can use the tacx training app (which I haven’t really used so didn’t comment on) which’ll record all your activity data and can be set to automatically export to Strava. It also shows all your data etc on screen when recording an activity. Or alternatively, you can just connect it to your wahoo or Garmin via ant+ or Bluetooth and then upload it as per any other ride. You’ll get speed, distance, power and cadence data from the trainer. Happy riding!
Thanks man, I appreciate that. Couldnt find the answer anywhere because no one really ever does it that way, Nearly everyone uses zwift.
How would the file appear aesthetically on strava, have you any idea ? like would it look like a regular GPS file ?
Apologies for the seemingly stupid question
and also could you just set the gradient to 6% for the entire workout without zwift ?
You certainly can, again definitely in the Tacx app, and I think with a Garmin too (haven’t done it).
This vid shows the simplest way to use the app ua-cam.com/video/Z7362WEkxM8/v-deo.html
Tell me this son!
If got quick release rear wheel do I need to invest in permanent
You resembles me one of the guys from the the series Friends. :D :D :D
Bought this a week ago, set up nice and solid but noticed a bit of tyre move side to side when I was putting the watts down... is this just the flex in frame etc or should I try to align better?
+Mainzy It’s flex in the bike frame I think. Mine does it a little but if I stare at the bottom bracket I can see that wobbling too. Quite a lot TBH!
Mainzy hey mate, did your plug come with a fuse ? Mine didnt and its doing my head in to work out what one it needs
kidsofjokes I'll check tomorrow mate
I'm planning to get one. Is it really necessary to buy a cadence sensor and Speed sensor? or the trainer does it all?
+Jonathan Silvere Trainer does it all. Speed is very accurate (calculated directly from speed of of flywheel) and the cadence is estimated using an algorithm which is pretty good; certainly good enough!
Does this product also fit on an MTB?
Wott atom bike is worth it. I would rather wait. Thanks for the review
Wott atom bike is worth it. I would rather wait. Thanks for the review