Tacx Fortius

Anyone interested in a post about a newbies experiences with this machine? If sufficient people are interested I will attempt to write something relatively detailed about my experiences (both good and bad) from the stage at which I was decision making to the stage at which I have actually started using it.

 

Yes i'm interested in your experiences.
I also have one and it has all been positive so far-Touch wood.

 

I'm looking at either the Fortius or the Computrainer. Based on what I read, I may be leaning toward the latter, but I'd love to hear your experience.

 

Will post experiences tomorrow.

I don't know If I can give you a definitive answer ref buy the Fortius over the Computrainer but I can tell you that having used other turbo trainers in previous years and having been bored rigid whilst using them I think the Fortius is a fantastic way to alleviate boredom whilst getting the training done. Perhaps for a Pro or for someone who is capable of pushing out > 1000W it is of dubious value but for most others well...

I suspect the Computrainer might be just as good (maybe its better but who knows) but I haven't had the opportunity to try it. See my post tomorrow. It'll be quite a long one.

 

Fortius experience.

Note: everything said here constitutes my experiences and opinions and not those of Tacx. If you want to buy one of these machines I would suggest you try one if you can -don’t take my word for it. I have not tried a Computrainer. I couldn’t find one locally so I am not in a position to compare. I suspect both machines are good and that both will have their little foibles. The way I look at it is that a good turbo takes you to maybe 70% of where you need to be (riding experience wise). The Fortius or the Computrainer pushes it to 95% in terms of experience and the rest is up to you.

I am a cyclist coming back to the sport from a low fitness base (no sustained exercise for around 15 years but on and off exercise every couple of years–mostly rowing). I am now 20 pounds overweight (started at 30 pounds overweight but lost quite a bit in my first 6 weeks of rowing this year). A looming holiday plus a want to change myself plus an exercise related goal means that I have to get with the program and focus. I bought a very nice bike second hand (what a fantastic incentive) plus decided to get a trainer as we’re coming up to winter in the UK and the weather is unpredictable. I have always found that if you’re unfit weather extremes tend not to contribute to you wanting to do exercise. It’s no fun to get 5 miles from home when you’re struggling to do 5 miles only to find that you’re now being rained upon and you’re sopping wet and cold. The traffic is really bad too. I went out on the road the other day and must have stopped more than 50 times in a 10 mile journey (that’s what it felt like anyway).

The problem is I hate turbo trainers (they are boring to use … very boring). Looking around I saw there were some possible candidates which might deal with the boredom issue

The Cycleops trainer and the Tacx I-Magic/Fortius and Cosmos.

I ruled out the I-Magic as it didn’t have the driver unit for the roller. It can apply a brake but can’t simulate a downhill. It seemed to me that whilst it added the VR/Real life Video experience it wouldn’t have the true road feel as going downhill means you have to put as much force into it as you do on the flat. I also felt that the Fortius/Cosmos were developed with the lessons learnt from the I-Magic (they were second generation trainers).

The Cyclops machine I couldn’t find locally whereas Tacx are everywhere- support ought to be easier to get.

So Cosmos or Fortius? The Cosmos seemed to me to be a Fortius without a PC connection. It was stand alone. If I went to visit friends or went on holiday I could take it with me. As long as I have a power socket it’s usable as an active trainer. The Fortius on the other hand needs a PC connection at all times and can connect to a steering unit. It’s not stand alone though.

After posting messages here (to which I got no answers) and going to my LBS who answered some of the questions I asked I discovered that the Fortius can be upgraded with the Cosmos Head Unit to give it a stand alone capability. It can also use the steering unit. The Cosmos can be upgraded with a Fortius multiplayer head unit to give it a PC (VR and real world video) capability and in fact can also use the steerer unit. Bear in mind that neither the Fortius nor the Cosmos will provide any sort of steering function when connected to the steerer if not first connected to a PC running the Fortius software. The decision on which to purchase therefore comes down to which combination of options is cheaper (should you ultimately want VR/steerer and stand alone) and what options do you want first. I went for the Fortius as whilst standalone will prove useful ultimately. Initially I had no use for it and wanted the real life videos more.

First point. The instructions IMHO are a bit useless. You’re better off looking at a video on the Tacx website. I accept that I’m mechanically inept but even so. The diagrams are too small to make out where parts should be placed. The assembly wasn’t that painful but I think they need bigger pictures and should break the assembly up into smaller stages. In spite of this I managed to put it together within 45 mins taking it easy and whilst drinking coffee. Attaching the machine to the bike is relatively straightforward. You connect the head unit and cadence sensor to the bike and then plug the cadence sensor and head unit to the break unit. The cadence sensor is attached to your LH chain stay with some small bungees (easy to get on but quite difficult to take off). When I take the bike on the road I will leave the sensor on the bike and tape the cable to the frame. I wrapped the cadence sensor wire round the chain stay and the leg of the Fortius so there was no danger of it becoming entangled with the rear wheel. The head unit I have left loose as there’s not much room on my handlebars and the handlebar tape is quite thick so I found it hard to bungee on (It uses the same type of bungees as the cadence sensor). I don’t find it gets in the way and in fact I haven’t used it much yet.

Getting the machine setup with the pc was more of a hassle. My brand new laptop is using Windows Vista (talk about an irrelevant OS. What was wrong with XP? I’m not anti MS but it seems to add little and slow down the PC a lot). The laptop is a Dell Vostro with a 2.4GHZ Core 2 duo processor and a 14 inch screen/2GB of ram and an NVIDIA 8400gs graphics card. This runs the real life videos find under Vista (it’s a bit jerky at lowish speeds < 5mph but above this it is pretty smooth). I suspect that any modern pc with 1gb of ram and a core 2 duo or AMD 64 processor with a decent desktop card (128mb of ram plus) would do fine. I don’t think any onboard graphics card will do particularly well (Intel 950 or anything like that). My issues with Fortius PC software installation relate to Vista. It will not take the USB drivers and register them correctly. This means that I have to unplug the cable connecting the head unit to the PC. Reinstall the driver (it takes about 2 mins in all so isn’t really a problem) reconnect the USB cable from the head unit and then start the Fortius software. I suspect these problems wouldn’t happen under XP (which I will probably switch back to). Hopefully Tacx will sort this out fairly soon but it’s not a show stopper.

Assuming you’ve setup the machine correctly and the PC has recognised the drivers then you can move on to calibration of the unit and entering your personal information. To calibrate the unit you put your bike on the unit. Select the calibration option. Select start calibration and turn the pedals about 1 revolution after which the motor brake wakes up and start spinning the back wheel. During the period at which it spins you should not spin the pedals at all. It spins the rear wheel for about 30 seconds and then pops up a set of numbers. These supposedly tell you whether the machine is calibrated to be slower or faster than real life. I don’t think Tacx provide nearly enough information on this. The manual is a bit sparse on what the information from calibration means. What the benefits of calibration are and so on. The online racing leagues suggest that you don’t calibrate the machine at all. Tacx seriously need to beef this up. They should identify a consistent calibration methodology and provide an FAQ for troubleshooting. I wasted hours and still don’t know if things are any better than they would be without calibration. I ought to say that from my understanding calibration appears to be about getting the roller pressure against the tyre correct (I may have misunderstood this). The other minor issues I’ve found is that at very low speed I get some wheel slip. I may not yet have sufficient roller pressure on the tyre. Certainly when I increased I I got less slippage. I might try increasing it a bit more. This slippage is only evident at low speeds (< 5 mph). Above this speed it is as smooth as silk. I need to do more experimentation but the fact is that Tacx could make this a whole lot easier.

Usability wise, I haven’t tried every function on the machine yet (only the real life videos). I’ve only had it 3 days. I bought the Tour of Flanders real life video with it and the Milan San Remo real life video.

You can choose to do an entire course or you can select a section (predefined). I haven’t yet tried to define my own sections. You can make up courses based on sections from other courses. You can create a course which loops sections from other courses continuously. You can forgo real life video entirely and simply define a course profile (like you see in the TdF where they show the profile of the stage. You can define gradient and length/winds etc. Like I said I have only tried the real life video and it’s great. You don’t stop for traffic lights. When you get to a climb you feel it (and the machine it’s capable of simulating subtle variations in gradient – I find myself going up and down the gears all the time). Going up a 10% gradient on the Tour of Flanders video was not fun. When you get to a downhill section the motor kicks in to drive the wheel -you still have to pedal a little bit slowly even if freewheeling down a steep hill (because the machine will stop driving the wheel if you stop pedalling for any length of time- but it certainly gives you the feel of going down a hill). From boredom alleviation factor the experience is fantastic. I have done 1.5hrs on both days on the trainer and had no problems with focus or boredom whatsoever. If I was fitter I could imagine doing 3 or 4 hour sessions with no trouble at all. I have previously managed 40 mins max on a turbo trainer or rollers and was absolutely bored out of my skull the whole time. There’s no risk from traffic and there is no stopping so I would say it’s probably equal to a longer bike ride out on the road. I found that I tended not to freewheel as nothing gets in the way. I tried the first stretch of the Tour of Flanders which I found hard especially towards the end. The Milan San Remo is a total contrast by comparison. The first 16.1 mile section has some moderate inclines but by and large it’s fast. Great for developing suppleness and a fast spinning action and some stamina.

I see no reason why you can’t use the machine for more traditional turbo sessions. In fact the software is sufficiently flexible that you could map out a complicated profile which would give you quite a varied workout. As the motor brake is capable of 1000W I guess it’s strong enough for most people!

Some of Tacx language is a bit arcane e.g. When dealing with firmware updates on the motor brake. They suggest you put the motorbrake into update mode by moving the mode switch on the motor brake to the on position. They mean switch the damn thing off.

On the software I haven’t yet found where to set heart rate zones - It only seems to have 3. I guess I need to read the manual (I hate reading manuals).

Frankly I’m delighted with my purchase. The stats it reports are comprehensive and in the two sessions I’ve used it seemed to be sufficiently consistent to ensure that I can compare the performances and relative fitness levels. The fact that you can log a ride on say a Garmin Edge and then download the ride to the Tacx and ride its profile is a bonus (the Garmin Edge will be another purchase for me at some point) and I haven’t even begun to think about online racing yet.

I would like to try the steerer unit and in the future I might well buy the Cosmos head unit

Summary

Pros.

1) Having used it would I buy it again. I’d happily buy it if it was £700 rather than £550. It’s fantastic. For me it totally alleviates trainer boredom.

2) Provides a varied and interesting training experience (can substitute for the road in bad weather or if worried about traffic or pollution). Real life videos are a blast and the variety of what’s available is fantastic.

3) Logs most of the standard stats that are needed.

4) I think it’s slightly harder than the road and it encourages you to go for it. I certainly don’t stop pedalling on it whereas on any road ride I freewheel quite often.

5) There’s a reasonably vibrant and active community discussing it and racing with it. Its newish technology so you can expect the community to grow.

Cons

Please not that most of these constitute nitpicks. The only real complaints I have are 2) and 4) below. The rest would be improvements.

1) Vista is a pain in the arse and Tacx is still learning how to deal with Vista. That said Windows Vista costs me around 2 mins per session. I believe that Windows XP works far better with it. Some very large better known companies than Tacx are struggling with Vista right now so one can’t really blame Tacx.

2) I think Tacx need to produce better setup instructions.

3) I think Tacx could do with releasing a paper version of the manual. I hate the trend towards pdf’s stored on CD.

4) I think they need to put a lot more work into developing a methodology for calibration and explaining what the calibration readings mean and what failure to calibrate means.

5) I think they should do some work on tyre tests (both makes and pressures to be used). I’ve got an orange Continental Turbo training tyre and I’ve seen now that some people are complaining that it slips a bit.

6) I think Tacx need to produce a developer’s kit so that people can produce their own real life videos of their favourite courses. E.g. for me this would be around Box Hill and Dorking in Surrey England. They seem to be taking a proprietary attitude to it at the moment which is a shame. If they opened up their architecture a bit they would probably build up the community far faster.

7) I think the cadence sensor could do with a detachable cable. E.g. detachable at the sensor end as trhis would make it easier to disconnect and make your bike road ready again. (not a a big issue but then most of my gripes arer simply grizzles and not much else).

I will add more to this as I use it more. If anyone has specific questions I will do my best to answer them.

I hope this is interesting for someone

 

I've had my Fortius for about 3 months, and i agree with all of Nonns points.
Luckily i have a bike that i leave set-up on the Fotius, and another bike for the road, so the cadence sensors doesn't bother me, but if you use the same bike for both, i can see how it could be an issue.
I only really use mine for 'real life videos', personally i got sick of the VR side of things in about 2 minutes. (I have the steering frame and would happily onsell it).

 

Thanks for this very informative review.

 

I just set up my Fortius and used it the last couple days. First of all, don't even bother installing it on a Vista computer. Even if you get it to work, you waste hours doing so. After doing everything the correct way as seen on the tacxvr.com forum, I couldn't get the computer to recognize the motorbrake. At that point, I gave up and put it on an XP desktop without any issues.

So far I've only used the virtual reality software. While it's somewhat limited, it kept my interest. I was motivated to finish the 25 mile course - I could never stay that interested for an hour plus on a regular trainer. Looks loke mission accomplished.

Now all I need to do is order some Real Live videos and I'm set.

 

While I really like my Fortius for base building and doing interval sessions at certain levels using the Catylast program, I have one main gripe. The good thing is for the UK users is that the problem only affects people with 110V power supplies. The North America version limits your speed to roughly 26 MPH. On downhills the power output goes to 0 almost no matter how hard you pedal and you can't break 26 MPH. On the flats is where this is the most frustrating. Once past 26, the restistance increases and limits your speed. It essentially makes the unit useless for me for time trialing and especially for doing structured speedwork training programs. I can't do x cadence at y gearing because I'll go faster than 26 MPH.

The Tacx website has a forum that is really helpful on all kinds of information http://www.tacxvr.com/phpbb2/ with the exception of dealing with its US customers and this speed problem.

Some customers have noticed, myself included, that over certain grades, it's almost impossible to pedal at anything over 60 rpms. Supposedly this is fixed in the next firmware update 2.01 but I can't say for certain that's happened yet.

 

Hi Nonns ,

Congrats on an excellent post .

I got my Fortius Trainer today and set it up this evening . The whole process wasn't without its problems though ; I seemed to pick up an issue with getting the licence number accepted and just getting started without any real life video isn't very intuitive and requires a bit of messing around when all you want to do is ride the thing .

I'll keep plugging away and I'm sure I'll get to where I want to be fairly soon .I'll watch your thread in case I need any help .

Thanks and enjoy the training .
RichG

 

PS. Can anyone tell me if there are any power /time based intervals workouts available for the Fortius trainer either in the software ( I can't seem to find any ) or elsewhere maybe on the Tacx website somewhere . I will have a good look myself but any help would be appreciated .

RichG

 

First off all, congratulation on the excelent review! It gave my strenght to post this HELP message:

I' ve recently bought the Tacx Fortius, could after a while mount it correctly, however my stress started on installing it on my Windows Vista!

I could not yet make it work, fore it keeps sending the message related to INF section invalid, to sum up, it does not work!

I've followed all possible intructions steps, re-installed the software twice and also done a few suggestion on the Tacx Forum.

Can anyone help me, please! I've sent Tacx a message, but no repply given...

Is it the Windows Vista? and the 64 bits version? or has the driver nothing to do with it?

Bellow follows the error message code:

VR-Interface, a service instalation INF is invalid

Description
Windows encountered a problem while installing device drivers for your Unknown Device
Problem signature
Problem Event Name: PnPDriverInstallError
Architecture: x64
Win32 error: E0000217
Inf name: vr_interface.inf
Driver Package hash: b2cb83d1e867e1333c177a8f8681ff3da9202004
DDInstall section name: Install
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1046
Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 332521305

Thank you!