My 2015 Kickr died and I switched to the Suito. Worked great. No drop out issues and responsive to gradient changes. Only minus I had was the flywheel size when Zwift racing. Less momentum with the light flywheel over the “Leg Snapper” or Titans Grove was noticeable (honestly probably more realistic).
However, I think it made me focus on my pedal stroke and pushing over the top. Sold it and upgraded to the Direto XR during Black Friday. slightly heavier flywheel and helped some. I’d recommend both trainers. Knock on wood, Ive had no dropouts or spikes with Elite products
Its been really good, no issues during the 18 months i’ve had it.
Only some minor flywheel “issues” with zwift, it overcompensated on some small roling hills.
I have the original direto. 3.5 years old. Replaced the belt a few months ago. Only complaint is with short intervals it’s slow for resistance changes. But I’m not a perfectionist so it doesn’t bother me much being a little off target on those intervals.
I’ve thought about upgrading to Kickr or Tacx neo but I’ll just stick with the direto for awhile.
Not that Elite is a small company but certainly in the US their market share is small compared to wahoo and tacx. So I sort of cheer for the “little” guy.
Pretty basic setup, but functional enough to last me through my first structured winter training.
Need to setup some proper storage once I decide how I want the permanent result to be.
For now tools, parts, garments and stuff are in boxes next to the bands, weights.
Bought a steadyrack on sale, but I’ve only got the one bike, for now, but will allow a bike behind the trainer on the wall eventually when I feel I have earned an upgrade.
Digital upgrade planned before next winter with monitor for RGT/entertainment, upgrading the fans to something a bit more aesthetically pleasing and some better lighting.
Finally making progress setting up the cardio equipment and the bike shop area. Still messy and not 100% sorted.
The top left with the long lights is bike shop. Just a workbench and a toolbox. Not shown is the work stand which is still boxed up somewhere.
Cardio top to bottom:
Shelf with Stereo, Laptop and TV monitor (for displaying TR of course)
eMotion rollers - my primary workout tool
Schwinn IC3 spin bike for the wife
Concept 2 rower (almost 20 years old)
Rogue GHD
At some point the wife wants to get a Precor AMT as she enjoys that type of machine. Will see if we can find one and get it into the gym as they aren’t small.
Soon to arrive are a couple Legend Fitness pieces. A Leg Curl / Extension (#3135) and a new half rack (#3226). The rack will replace our current chopped down Rogue 390 cage. A friend has bought the cage so it will have a new home and see many more years of use.
Links to the Legend stuff for those who love kit:
Debating adding a squat or leg press machine as our final strength piece. But for now don’t need it. “Need” being an odd term to use in this context - LOL
Left to sort out is a bit more flooring, might paint a wall to get some color and we have to hang some memorabilia. Small touches and organization and then this space will be done with the only thing left to do is sweat and grunt
Edit - Quick shot of the other space for “aerobic” work. Wife 12 x 10 gym mat. That wall is going to get some color and memorabilia along with a retro stereo and a decent size TV panel.
just got my Kickr bike so that’s new for my pain cave/office. I don’t need a ton of space for my strength training. I just use dumbbells and a kettlebell. Dog and works with me in the afternoons then the bed gets moved.
Old Specialized Allez
Kickr Trainer
Assioma Powermeter Pedals
2 industrial fans
Wahoo desk rip-off
2nd side desk for extra food/drink/towels
50 inch Smart TV with chrome cast
Windows laptop
TrainerRoad running off Ant+
Zwift overlayed running off Bluetooth
Apollo trainer mat
Front mirror
Side mirror (out of shot)
Its all Rogue stuff for the cage. The other piece is a Sorinex Iron Bear with the Functional Cable Column and J*Squat
Rack Details:
Rogue Monster Lite RML390-flatfoot. Custom cut to 7 feet for a prior home with lower ceiling height. The orange is a custom color. Rogue didn’t charge extra on that as it was already a custom cut so they said “pick any color”.
The rack comes standard with the pull-up bar, pin-pipe safety bars and two J-cups
We Added:
(1) Plate storage: 4 of the long posts and 2 of the short posts.
(2) The safety arms shown are the Rogue SAML-24. Use those both inside the cage to replace the pin+pipe units, and outside the cage for pulls and overhead pressing. They are a nice addition to the cage.
(3) Allso have the dip attachment (Rogue Matador)
I bought all Rogue on this cage figuring it would work great (it does) and have good resale. As it turns out, a buddy is kitting out a gym with low ceilings and has purchased the entire rack from us. We will be taking delivery of a custom 90-inch high Legend Fitness 1/2 rack (also orange and black).
The Sorinex Iron Bear + FCC + Belt squat unit is a whole different story. It’s a really nice piece of kit but definitely well into the insane overbuilt for home use territory. But we love it.
I’m in process of deciding on home gym equipment right now. Being in Canada, options like Rep and Titan aren’t available to me. I’ve contacted Sorinex and unsurprisingly their number was insane.
Think I’ll just suck it up and go with Rogue, knowing that it should hold value and, if I go with the Monster line, the 3x3/1” specs should make it so almost any attachment should work.
The older I get, the more I realize that pedalling alone isn’t going to maintain strength, range of motion and general health.
That is fun and painful. It can become like choosing tires for a mountain bike. We have gone from a squat rack to the Monster-Lite cage and now the 1/2 cage.
Great guys and amazing stuff. I had a very positive experience and love the gear. But the price tag and then shipping is often a non-starter. When I did the math on everything we wanted it was high but doable. The FCC is amazingly smooth and we kitted it out to also double as a Lat / Row. Doing that means we can get away with only one selectorized column (or pulling station) and still have a ton of movement options. Can add that the shipping company (Old Dominion) was fantastic. Have a tough delivery location and the front office and the driver all went far above and beyond to make it easy for me to get the kit where it needed to go. And it is some heavy stuff.
When you decide on what you need, give the Legend Fitness guys a shot. They work with home gym folks very well. They also do a 1/2 rack like the one I linked to with an option selectorized cable column off the back. You can get custom heights if needed too. This is a link to the cable column. They do a lat/row as well. Fusion 3 Cable Column Module – Legend Fitness
A good adjustable bench, rack, barbell + plates and a functional column will provide a ton of movements in a compact and not too high cost package. I mean, this stuff is expensive, but if you use it a few times a week for a couple decades its justifiable. Work directly with Legend and the prices are much better than through a dealer or what you’ll see online. Worth a call or email if you know what you want to get.
Too bad Rep isn’t possible. For home use the new 4000 rack + Ares FT looks impressive.
Hope that helps. Happy to pass on anything we have learned. Am not in the business, just a guy who wastes a lot of neurons thinking about our home gym. Good news is wife loves it :->
Probably the best thing with Rogue is they are good quality, they ship at a reasonable cost (at least in USA) and you can always resell as they are the name. But there is other really good stuff that is sometimes better product or better value.
Thanks for the info….local friends have said the same. If you go with rogue, you end up in a ‘buy once, cry once’ situation but if interests or fitness goals change, the name allows for fairly easy resale
Warranty wise, rogue is also “easy” for Canadians as you are buying direct from them vs. Having to cobble together the initial purchase plus working with a freight forwarder to import (with other options)
Local fitness friends have also suggested Legend. I’ll check them out. Want the 3x3/1” standard though to maximize attachment compatibility (with rogue, sorinex and others)
This is about what I have too. I got my bike at 90 grades because I never feel well with a door behind me. Please let us (me) how you get on with this, I will have an renovation of my garage late this summer and am always interested in new solutions.
@DarthShivious Heard back fro Rep - turns out that as of this Summer, they plan to have available shipping to Canada. I’ll probably wait and see what the will charge.
Thinking a mix of a Rep rack and ISO arms and rogue drop in rhino. We’ll see.
Rep doesn’t seem to show it, but using a lever arm as a belt squat is not too bad. We added the J-Squat to our Iron Bear rack. The J-Squat is basically a Jammer Arm with a hook attachment and loading pins to allow a belt squat. It works pretty well for adding squat volume or for taking weight off the back and putting it into the hips.
Looks like Rep has an Eye Bolt at the end of their iso arms. Might as well try it as a belt squat alternative before buying the rhino drop in.
You’re probably already aware of this approach already but typing is free!! A caveat to using jammers as a belt squat is the lever angle and getting enough weight on if you are lifting heavy. It’s something like 60% of loaded weight. Not an issue for wife and myself as the J*Squat pins are long.
Rep seems to be moving into Rogue territory with their latest offerings. I bought a small cable pull accessory from them recently and am impressed with the quality and knurling feel.
Yes, we have that exact set up from Sorinex. It works.
The 3x3 part is just a normal jammer arm with a fixed attachment with pivot at the rack. Instead of a trolley that goes up and down. But you can use a trolley too. The part with the weight pins, kickstand and hook attachment is the “J-Squat” part ($499 from Sorinex but that’s before shipping).
The J Squat “end” fits right over the 3x3 pipe and a hitch pin secures it. No reason it won’t work with the Rep Iso Arms from what I can see on the Rep page.
LMK if you want any specific pictures of the J Squat set-up and I’ll take 'em and IM them to you.
Yes please - if you don’t mind IMing them, that’d be awesome. Mixing and Matching manufacturers equipment is a bit of a question mark for me and I’m not really sure everything will work in the end. Still in planning stages though so have time to research, etc.
because I never feel well with a door behind me. Please let us (me) how you get on with this, I will have an renovation of my garage late this summer and am always interested in new solutions.