Introducing the TACX Neo

Time for an upgrade

I have spent roughly a year with the TACX Vortex doing over 1000 miles, shortly after purchasing it I had a bad accident and subsequently used it for recovery from my injuries (see earlier posts). The Vortex was my introduction to interactive trainers and I found a few things about it less than ideal:

* Does not simulate the freewheeling (energy storage effect) of a real bike on the road, if you stop pedalling it stops although the Zwift avatar does keep going your knees and legs know better. It does not smooth out the or absorb the power strokes. I am not convinced, long term, this type of trainer is good for you.
* It does make a bit of a racket completely unlike the outdoor experience. I have a separate room in a bungalow so it is not much of an issue for me.
* It is extremely sensitive to tyre pressure. Unlike a road bike when the tyre pressure is down the thing just slips on the tiny roller and you have to get off and start again after inflating the tyre. To find out the correct pressure you have to calibrate it and remember the ideal pressure. Pressure in a tyre is temperature sensitive.
* You need a training tyre or it will shred a road tyre. You cannot take the bike out on the road with a training tyre, but I only use my old steel racer for training anyway I guess.

For the above reasons I decided to buy a TACX Neo, about two levels above a Vortex costing the best part of £1000.

As you can see it has a rather futuristic design and folds away quite neatly. However watch your back while moving it as it is quite heavy.

Cassettes

One of the reasons I chose the Neo is that it is direct drive, so I was looking forward to missing out all the faf with tyre pressures. Direct drive means you need to load the Neo with a compatible cartridge however and bolt it down hard.

Before I started down this road I emailed numerous suppliers and checked on the compatibility of my training bike with Campagnolo 9 speed drive train and the TACX EDCO freewheel adapter. EDCO is an freewheel adapter that takes Shimano, Sram and some Campagnolo Cassettes. None of the suppliers  gave me a definitive answer on compatibility except Wiggle. Unfortunately that information subsequently (after purchase) turned out to be wrong.

TACX says "The Shimano/Sram 9, 10 and 11 speed will fit all NEO's. 8 speed Campagnolo will not fit. Click here for more information." In the section labelled Suitable cassettes it says Campagnolo 9 speed Centaur 4 splines is compatible unfortunately after much correspondence with Wiggle I could not find a supplier that could supply one. Wiggle supplied the wrong cassette with 8 splines in the first place and eventually returned my money (and let me keep the cassette). Here is my solution using bits of a Shimano and Campagnolo Cassette: https://youtu.be/TNSCLAzjrt4. It was my first venture into bike cassettes and they hold no fear for me now.

I believe you can make various adapters spacers for 8 speed cassettes if it is Shimano compatible.

After  installing  the cassette I had to change the chain and jockey wheels which were worn.  I did not want to compromise my new cassette with an old chain.

First Impressions

Once I got the drive sorted out it was time try it all out. The software did what it said on the tin "plug and play" no issues what so ever, all I had to do was tell Zwift what trainer I was using today as it kept the Vortex as a selection, and off we went. I did expect to get "Road feel" out of the box, however10 minutes on Google/TACX support told me the firmware needed to be updated. It is updated from an app on your phone and again this was trouble free and sure enough the "Road feel" appeared with a selection button on Zfift to turn it off. I did not particularly like the road feel as it made more noise and kind of negates having a Neo in the first place. The firmware came with other upgrades to features I had not found fault with yet.

I have done three sessions of about 18miles each and I have to say I am pleased with my purchase so far and the effort to get going was very worth while. It makes a bit more noise than I expected, it kind of introduces itself above 2.2W/Kg and low cadence. It appears there is a resonance between the motor load unit in the Neo and the Campagnolo drive train. It is not a particularly bad noise (more like a rumble) but unexpected given the marketing blurb for the Neo. I am fairly sure it is not a fault. Perhaps when I get to 3W/Kg it will be ??? Perhaps it is telling me to increase my cadence. I find if I ride outside for months without using the trainer my cadence steadily goes down.

The future

The reason I bought the trainer is to improve my ftp (functional threshold power). I joined a road club a year or so ago and they all appear to get fitter and fitter every time we go out. I want to use the winter to improve. I satred out at an ftp of 1.7 when I joined the club and I am now up to 2.7 I would like take that to 3 or greater. I achieved that previous improvement in my ftp with the Vortex. It also helps with the Scottish weather in that I don't care too much if I can't get a cycle outside now I have a more realistic trainer. As you get older the issue is muscle wastage I want to stave off the effect as long as possible.

I would also like to do a few races on Zwift, one day I may get the courage to do a real race.

The TACX films look quite interesting, however they need a i7 compatible lap top.