I recently read DC Rainmaker’s updated review of the Tacx Flux 2 and went ahead and pulled the trigger. It’s expected to arrive Friday so I did some further googling on it and there are a lot of complaints out there about the device. Has anyone had good experiences with the 2.1? Personally I’m not that concerned about road feel or being super accurate. I just want something that works reliably with TR and is in stock . Reliable is key here as it will be used by my wife who is just getting on the bike again after a ~ 7 year hiatus. Unpredictable resistance surging in ERG mode is going to quickly lead to frustration and rage quitting.
We chose the Tacx Flux because it’s advertised to work with 8 speed cassette’s and that’s what she’s got. Not looking to do any kind of upgrade until we have the funds to build her a gravel machine. The plan we discussed was to get the Flux 2 as it would allow for funds to be saved up for her new bike. As a fall back we’re prepared to exchange it for a Neo 2T but I’m starting to wonder if I don’t need to just cancel the Flux 2 before it gets here and get a Neo 2T from the get go.
Thoughts? Anyone having good experiences with the Flux 2.1?
I don’t know anything about Flux 2.1. but I own flux 2. No too bad in terms of noise, general feel, connections etc. but the power accuracy is an issue. I use powermatch. On the bike I use on the trainer the Stages L is mount and it works ok with TR and Zwift but to be honest I wouldn’t buy it again. But we are so different, our expectations and needs can be so unmatched. This is why I don’t like buying think rely on reviews, other opinions. E.g. I bought a Argon 18 Gallium Pro a couple of years back. It was the worse bike in my entire live (in my opinion). I can’t live with the bike and I sold it to friend of main and…he is super happy with the bike. What I considered as disadvantages (stability, predictability of the bike) is great advantage to him. If you ordered the Flux 2.1 the worse think is to make the double check and collect the opinions after the purchase But it’s only my opinion.
BTW - I have ordered Direto X (big sale, I bought it for a half of the market price) and - exactly as much as you- I’m not convinced I did a right thing. But I try to restrain myself from the spiral of the doubts. I have to wait a couple of days to check if my choice was ok. But you know…in Poland there is a adage: CCC, like the company from world tour and it was the company slogan actually “Cena Czyni Cuda” what we can translate into English like: the price makes the miracles (I don’t know if in English it works but maybe you will get my point )
Thank you for the reply! That definitely translates well! I believe the closest phrase in English is “You get what you pay for”. My biggest cycling related instance of this was when I upgraded cyclocross bikes from a Nashbar touring frame with old parts to a full carbon cyclocross specific bike with new components Sure, it cost three times as much as the nashbar bike but it was meant for the specific purpose and significantly more fun to ride!
Like the previously reply, I can’t really speak to Flux 2.1 as I have a Flux 2…but I love it! I actually had a Tacx Flux previously, and liked it so much that when I relinquished the old trainer during a breakup (bleh), I bought a Flux 2. In my experience, it’s not that the Flux 2 is particularly amazing but the reason I like it so much is that it IS incredibly reliable, to the point where I basically never think about it. It connects to TR via bluetooth seamlessly, never experienced any power dropouts or surges, and seems to be accurate (or accurate enough, tbh I don’t care that much if it’s the exact wattage as long as it reliably gives me workouts). I always use ERG mode. Only advice, and this applies to any smart trainer, is to make sure your wife calibrates it once in a while, @andybaran…it can get wonky if you haven’t calibrated in a long time and it’s in varying temps or something.
Enjoy!
Also got a regular Flux 2, haven’t had the cassette off to check if it’s a 2.1, but signs are that it’s the 2.0.
I’ve only once had a bike on it with a PM, but by eye (nothing too methodical), the two tracked reasonably closely. It connects to my phone with ANT+ immediately and seamlessly every single time. Connecting to PC with Bluetooth seems a little fussier, but it works fine in the end. I’ve read the DC Rainmaker review, and worried about it for 5 minutes, but honestly who knows if his test unit was just a bad apple…
It smoothes the power charts a fair bit (compared to riding outdoors), but I never get any unexplained dropouts or anything like that, and I’ve used it about 5/6 times a week for the last 15 months without issue. My drivetrain is way noisier than the unit.
I calibrate the trainer every single time, usually after 10-15 warmup in the TR app.
The accuracy point is interesting to me. I compared my unit with: Stages L, Garmin Vector S, Giant Power Pro Dual Side and my Tacx Flux 2 is like -20-40W in the comparison depends on generated wattage (is more accurate in lower wattage like 150-190W but on the 300W level is about 30W lower than my other power meters). To me, it’s the main problem with the unit but I use power match feature with TR or Zwift so this is not a problem. But - at least for me - is the weakest point of the trainer. The rest is just ok.
Yeah, point taken. I guess for me, I don’t really care about the accuracy a tremendous amount. I do all my training indoors on the Flux 2 (save outdoor rides for “fun” social or non-structured adventure) so really it doesn’t matter if the trainer is slightly inaccurate, if it’s just consistent. Hope that makes sense!
Makes sense to me FWIW I actually just ride on rollers and use Virtual Power myself with the same thought. The number doesn’t really matter so long as it’s consistent.
Hah! Thanks @rrollier, you experience was definitely one of the ones I was thinking of when I posted here. Fortunately, at least in these regards, neither my wife nor I are going to be putting out anything above 250 watts anytime soon.
I’m going to take a different approach here. You bought a likely pretty expensive trainer rather than upgrading her bike. I would have upgraded her bike with the funds and bought a “dumb” trainer rather than a possibly inconsistent trainer. You can get cassettes chains and things pretty cheap on Ebay and other cycling sites. Scour craigslist and the like for parts or trainers.
The Neo is $1k+ correct? Flux $750ish? I’d much rather have a good working bike than a trainer I’d likely only use 3-4 months a year and randomly in warmer weather.
10 spd stuff is pretty cheap. No need to jump to 11, but even still, that is pretty easy to source on ebay using shimano 105 for a decent price. Certainly less than the Flux.
Yeah, the problem is she’s very short and the bike has 650c wheels which are difficult with turbo’s. I’m with you though, that was 100% my first thought. I’ll be very glad to have that bike live on a trainer for the rest of it’s life and her have something newer now that 650b is a thing again
. Reliable is key here as it will be used by my wife who is just getting on the bike again after a ~ 7 year hiatus. Unpredictable resistance surging in ERG mode is going to quickly lead to frustration and rage quitting.
)