Local bike shop is closing and they have a Elite Direto discounted under $600. I had my heart set on either the Kickr Core or H2( if I can find it on sale). After some research the Direto seems like a nice trainer except I keep finding the one complaint about latency. Is it that much worse than say a Kickr or Cycleops? Anyone happen to test ride these units and notice a difference?
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I cannot speak to a comparison but I use the Direto and so far I’m quite happy with it. I was having issues with the Direto cadence (only in granny gear) though. I resolved it with a Wahoo RPM sensor ($35) as well as a 6’ male to female USB cord ($5) for my ANT dongle ($12). For less than $600 I personally would not consider anything else.
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Go for it. $600 for the Direto is a great deal. I’ve been very happy with mine. No problems with it.
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600 for the Dorito is a good deal
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I’d be using my Pioneer PM for cadence. This is so tempting
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I bought one this time last year. No regrets here.
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That sounds like an awesome deal. I had been researching them all week and was about to pull the trigger on the 20% Black Friday Clever Training deal had Wahoo not offered the Kickr 2017 for $799… go for it!!
Don’t compromise. Here’s what you do: buy six of the Elite Diretos. Sell them on ebay for $700. Use the profit towards a new Kickr Core.
I should also say that I have the Direto and it’s just fine for TR except that TR does not support ANT+ calibration of that trainer. This is only an inconvenience since TR DOES support bluetooth calibration…and in any event you can always use Elite’s own software to calibrate the trainer.
Now, if you plan on zwift racing the Direto’s de minimus shortcomings may make a difference, dunno. But you can just knock a few pounds off your zwift bodyweight to make up the difference like all the other zwift peeps do. (it’s the zwift way!)
They only have 2 
I’m not sure I can pull the trigger. If my KK wasn’t built like a tank I’d be running to the store. I feel like my dumby trainer makes me work harder but I have nothing to compare it too. I can’t stop pedaling for even 1 second on my KK so it keeps me honest. Anyone have thoughts on training benefits of ERG besides the fact you can zone out a little on easier workouts?
I do happen to Zwift. What makes it worse on Zwift?
re: zwift I’ve never so can’t say for sure but the complaint I’ve heard is that game power doesn’t follow trainer power without some (larger than normal) lag. In other words, if you get up out of the saddle and put the power down the game doesn’t apply power without some noticeable amount of time passing.
Apparently if you’re into zwift this matters a lot?
Maybe on hills it would matter but I’m use to my Kinetic that reacts to nothing. lol
Hi, I bought a Direto about 4 weeks ago and it is really frustrating. The delay is a two part problem that reviews like DC Rainmaker do not make clear.
First there is a delay in response when doing workouts. So doing a working on Zwift or in the Elite software there is a 3-4 second delay BEFORE the trainer STARTS to respond to a change from say 130w to 350w. There is a similar delay on return downwards.
This delay in starting is not so apparent in Trainer Road because TR sends a Re-send signal 2 seconds early. This mitigates that initial delay.
The second problem is the Transition delay - a slow transition. When doing a jump from, say, 130w to 350W, it can take 8-10 seconds. (On top of the 3-4 second delay). The problem is that you are feeling for the resistance to come in and and wanting to start pushing hard, but is is slow so you end up spinning up and over the planned amount. So if i am doing, say 85 rpm, I often end up well into 95 or even 105 and have to spend the first part of the interval managing my cadence down again.
Now with practice, it is easier to manage. However it is a bit of a pain. (No frankly a lot of a pain).
There is a third feature that people talk about - that is when in a set erg power level, the power wanders up and down, (oscillates) so when set to 350W, you are doing 360-70, then 330-340, then back up again. You are averaging 350W and over an interval this evens out. I think this is actually useful as in the real world in a TT I find my power does wander up and down and so it is realistic (unlike the delay and transition problem). I have seen several complaints abut this. (I have a suspicion that the Kickr core smoothes this out in its reporting of power and may do something similar, but I am not sure).
I would also add that the support from Elite is pretty dreadful and slow. I am promised a new Board but I have not had it yet and don’t know if it will fix the delay and transition problem. The forum is not very helpful. Dismissive, almost. The elite myetraining software is buggy and crashes. I demonstrated the delay and transition problem to the UK distributor and they were amazed at what i showed them, but that ended up in a “Let us take your trainer away for most of a week and we will test it.” (Against what criteria I asked")
So in summary, if you think this is a bargain, and you are happy to use TrainerRoad, then it is fine, as long as you can put up with the delay and slow transitions for medium sized power jumps. I suggest you try one in erg mode if you can. It is difficult in Zwift workouts as it is impossible to match the cadences.
My other option was a kickr Core. However there were sooooo many reports or problems with noise etc. and fix kits, that I went for the Direto from my LBS. I would like to think that were I to sell off the Direto and get a kickr core then all would be well, but I am sceptical given the kickr forums. So I am in a dilemma until this new board arrives and possibly addresses the problem.
I am not clear whether this is a product issue or a specific item issue, or a release issue (hence the board). However i was able to demonstrate exactly the same “feature” and behaviour on a completely different Direto using a completely different PC in a completely different location. So for me it is a product issue. (Note Elite say they cannot not do firmware upgrades - which also worries me a tad.)
I hope the helps. I am doing shed loads of TR workouts and for the most part they are great. If I have a big jump on a short interval, advice is “swap to resistance/slope mode”. It is also fine with Zwift simulated ride (but like I say, not great with Zwift erg workouts).
If you can find someone to let you try it that would be a good idea.
I hope this helps. Any questions, do reply and I’ll get back to you. Phil
PS I use a garmin cadence sensor and that seems to track well. I have not tried the direto trying to work out cadence from the cain, nor teh Elite cadence sensor. The garmin ANT+ one works fine.
I am only using ANT+
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I’m curious what other direct drive trainers you have tried. I think you might find that most direct drive trainers are going to inherently have these same issues.
I have a Tacx Neo, which is pretty much universally recognized as close to the top in terms of quality, and there is definitely a lag when transitioning between power levels (maybe not quite as long as you described with the Direto, but definitely still there). I tend not to stress over it because (a) a few seconds either way is not going to make or break your training and (b) you usually make up for it with the delay at the end of the interval.
Also, the power fluctuations are a common complaint when people switch from a Kickr to something else. The Kickr artificially smooths your power output.
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Wow thanks @PhilSJones for such great detail. I really appreciate that. I might just keep holding off for a little longer. Whatever I get I want to last a long time. Sounds like every trainer is going to have issues but deciding which issues you’re willing to deal with is the hard part. Elite’s costumer support doesn’t sound great.
Aside from the damn thing trying to make me fail the workouts sometimes, it ok. But when you not that fresh and you backpedal or just drop the cadence momentarily it might surprise you with 10% 20% higher target power for longer than needed afterwards which on tired legs is frustrating as hell. Also both mine and buddies reads lower than stages/4iii, but we are around 300w ftp. I have a feeling that for lower wattage workouts it works quite well, above that erg mode could be pita. Sometimes i switch to resistance mode and things are nice and smooth especially if im tired. Lag nerve bothered me tbh, but that awkward long time to stabilize does…
Also mine started giving weird distance calculations this year. I’ve tried bumping circumference up by adding extra 0,it fixed it for a while, but now it’s back to 1.4 km for hour long workout.
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