Upgrading to a dumb trainer

Understood. Probably not for anything higher than sweet spot work. You’d have to get a resistance unit. I didn’t want to deal with that, which is why I got the e-motions. My ftp is just a little below yours, and with the e-motion, 500 watt seated efforts are possible in level 3 resistance. But I like doing 288 watt efforts in level 1 because I am forced to hold 100 rpm to keep the power. Great for high cadence drills! 90% of the time, I leave it in level 2 which has a very wide range. Good luck with your search…hope you can nab some e-motions.

Thanks for the info really useful. I picked up a set from a German store for £350 last night :grinning: quite excited

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I would recommend a direct drive dumb fluid trainer. I have an Elite Volano, which works perfectly with TrainerRoad, which I bought used for $200. I would not spend money on a wheel-on dum trainer. Elite has a few other dumb direct drive trainers, which also fit the bill.

The Volano is the “weakest” of Elite’s dumb fluid trainers as it is rated up to 1,400 W. I did 1,300 W for a second or two on it, no problems. I reckon going even higher would not be a problem for short periods. If your FTP is 200 W, then I reckon 34/25 or equivalent is as low as you will ever go. The Muon 2 has a different resistance curve, so you might need 34:28 or equivalent.

The resistance curve is quite natural, and while resistance drifts slightly as the trainer warms up, it’s totally fine (for me). The only thing which is IMHO neutral is that you could be slightly off your optimal cadence. But that’s what happens when you are outdoors, too, so it teaches you to be a bit more flexible.

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