Well, I start to understand better how the thing works, especially in respect with its little brother, the Imagic.
One thing is sure, the choppiness problem occuring in slopes steeper than 10% is recurrent...
I'm considering buying (an used) Imagic...
What will I loose ?
-The inertial effect of the fortius electronic flywheel
-The ability to produce high wattage at low rpm, although nothing about the wattage capabilities of each model is described on the Tacx website. I've post a topic about this on the Tacx forum, we'll see...
As far as slopes and power are concerned, the difference between Imagic and Fortius are as follows :
When you get on a steeper slope with the Fortius, the motorbrake just brakes harder and harder till you get to 10% slopes, then you've got that choppiness feeling. Till 10% Speed, slope and Power on the screeen are the same as in "real life".
To solve the Fortius choppiness problem, Tacx introduced "virtual speed" in late 2007. Which means that to a given power your speed will be virtually reduced. You're going harder to overcome the steeper slope, but your speed will decline... It's like if the software decided that a strong wind would blow in your face as soon as you would get on a slope steeper than 10%.
When you get on a steeper slope on an Imagic the virtual speed kicks in as soon as 5%.
Nonetheless, people who have tried both trainers said the Imagic felt "smoother", less choppy...
As (I repeat it) nothing about the wattage capabilities of each model is described on the Tacx website, I wonder shall I buy an used imagic or send the fortius back to my LBS hoping they'll accept a change for an imagic.
I bought the Fortius, cause I thought it could deliver more power at lower RPM, but maybe I'm not able to sustain that kind of power and an Imagic would be enough for me. (I've got a 400w MAP)
lundi 24 mars 2008
samedi 5 janvier 2008
I've found a guy who was selling his Fortius, I've bought most of his videos... :-)
Now, I own 15 RLV (including the f.....g Ergovideo). Lots of fun waiting for me... the hardest part was to install them all in my new hard disk (yes, as those videos take some room... I've bought a 250mb hard disk to install them all... was it necessary... mpppfff.... don't know... A good thing, is that in the RLV control panel, I've got all the routes at my fingertips, no need to dwell with the DVDs...
I hope it will be possible soon to make (as a Tacx guy wrote it on the forum) multisessions trip out of several DVDs... Currently, it's only possible from only one DVD...
Now, I own 15 RLV (including the f.....g Ergovideo). Lots of fun waiting for me... the hardest part was to install them all in my new hard disk (yes, as those videos take some room... I've bought a 250mb hard disk to install them all... was it necessary... mpppfff.... don't know... A good thing, is that in the RLV control panel, I've got all the routes at my fingertips, no need to dwell with the DVDs...
I hope it will be possible soon to make (as a Tacx guy wrote it on the forum) multisessions trip out of several DVDs... Currently, it's only possible from only one DVD...
I've ordered the Argus Tour this week. On the Tacx website, they were very laudatory about it.
....
I've rode about two hours on it, huuuurkkk... it's ugly... it looks almost like a Youtube video... dull colors, poor definition...
Besides, the ride starts on the Capetown's suburbs, then rolls on highways for about an hour... bwwwaaarkkk...
It gets better latter with some rolling hills on the seaside... one will find there the "like on a bike ride" feeling of the RLV on a Fortius, accelerating on downhills, turns, and hard on climbing...
The rider's simulated view is quite realistic, wide enough to get most of the scenery, and reacting as a real rider would on the turns (i.e. look some meters ahead on the curb, and not just in front of the camera car bumper...)
I've discovered later that the older Tacx RLVs were filmed on DV, then compressed, then stretched, then got their framerate adapted... and eventually end up looking just as Youtube clips...
The next RLV's will be filmed in HD with a higher screen resolution, and could look like this :
pretty good... isn't it ?
....
I've rode about two hours on it, huuuurkkk... it's ugly... it looks almost like a Youtube video... dull colors, poor definition...
Besides, the ride starts on the Capetown's suburbs, then rolls on highways for about an hour... bwwwaaarkkk...
It gets better latter with some rolling hills on the seaside... one will find there the "like on a bike ride" feeling of the RLV on a Fortius, accelerating on downhills, turns, and hard on climbing...
The rider's simulated view is quite realistic, wide enough to get most of the scenery, and reacting as a real rider would on the turns (i.e. look some meters ahead on the curb, and not just in front of the camera car bumper...)
I've discovered later that the older Tacx RLVs were filmed on DV, then compressed, then stretched, then got their framerate adapted... and eventually end up looking just as Youtube clips...
The next RLV's will be filmed in HD with a higher screen resolution, and could look like this :
pretty good... isn't it ?
dimanche 23 décembre 2007
The Videos and the virtual worlds
I've tried yesterday the "crazy game", it's just a bunch of crap... unplayable, uninteresting, uninstalled after the first trial...
As some people said on the forum, Tacx should first solve some bugs and try to improve its OEM Fortius software before releasing such an useless thing.
Velodrome is simple but nice. Too bad you've got to buy it... I think it should be supplied with the three terrains you've got when you buy the Fortius.
Atlantis is the more interesting terrain of the three supplied with the Fortius. It's the largest, with many possible variations (if you have the steering frame).
You can even go a little bit offroad, on the grass and the sand, on the railroad (strange...), but not through the woods... so you MTB adventures will be quickly limited to the vicinity of the roads...
As some people said on the forum, Tacx should first solve some bugs and try to improve its OEM Fortius software before releasing such an useless thing.
Velodrome is simple but nice. Too bad you've got to buy it... I think it should be supplied with the three terrains you've got when you buy the Fortius.
Atlantis is the more interesting terrain of the three supplied with the Fortius. It's the largest, with many possible variations (if you have the steering frame).
You can even go a little bit offroad, on the grass and the sand, on the railroad (strange...), but not through the woods... so you MTB adventures will be quickly limited to the vicinity of the roads...
samedi 22 décembre 2007
The Fortius potentialities
Besides the several drawbacks and caveats described in this blog, the Fortius is a fantastic toy at an affordable price.
The Fortius limitations
Yes, although the possibilities offered by the Fotius are numerous... it's got some limitations...
First, if you live in the USA, you can't go faster than 26mph (42kmh), the motorbrake is limited because of the limitations linked to the 110v supply.
If you want to go faster, you must equip a room in your home with a 220v supply, and buy an european version of the TACX (with a 220v power supply).
With my Fortius, in Europe, pedaling on a 53X12 at 104 rpm, I've been able to go over 58kmh downhill, which is about all the speed I could have reached in real life.
If you try to climb a slope over 15%, the tire gets slippery (although I'm using the Tacx "trainer's special" tyre) and it becomes quickly very unpleasant to pedal with a choppy motion. For the moment, I think this is a probleme linked to the RLV, I've tried steeper slopes on VR, and it didn't feel slippery till 20%. More on this later...
At least, when you go on the Computrainer website, they warn people that their device is limited to 15% slopes... I think this is a limit that will never be overcome, as it is linked to the conception of those trainers : a 20mm tire, past a certain applied power , will never have a grip sufficient enough to sustain that same power. I'll try a larger tire...and will tell you about it later...
You can't repeat a short ride right away.
Let's say you've done a 250m sprint on the Velodrome course, and you want to do it right away after a 30" rest, you must record the sprint you've juste done, then go back to the starting panel, then choose that run again, then wait for the PC to load it, then start again... it took around 2 min...
So, if you wan't to do intervals with Fortius, you'd better plan them before...
You can't record the video of your run, this is a thing you can do with some online car racing video games, you can't do that and watch your races with friends.
You can't use the terrains made for the Imagic (Capricorn and Sipscape)... although you can use the terrain made for the Fortius with the Imagic... It's a bit like buying the latest japanese car, and having less options in it than in your 5 years old Chevy.
First, if you live in the USA, you can't go faster than 26mph (42kmh), the motorbrake is limited because of the limitations linked to the 110v supply.
If you want to go faster, you must equip a room in your home with a 220v supply, and buy an european version of the TACX (with a 220v power supply).
With my Fortius, in Europe, pedaling on a 53X12 at 104 rpm, I've been able to go over 58kmh downhill, which is about all the speed I could have reached in real life.
If you try to climb a slope over 15%, the tire gets slippery (although I'm using the Tacx "trainer's special" tyre) and it becomes quickly very unpleasant to pedal with a choppy motion. For the moment, I think this is a probleme linked to the RLV, I've tried steeper slopes on VR, and it didn't feel slippery till 20%. More on this later...
At least, when you go on the Computrainer website, they warn people that their device is limited to 15% slopes... I think this is a limit that will never be overcome, as it is linked to the conception of those trainers : a 20mm tire, past a certain applied power , will never have a grip sufficient enough to sustain that same power. I'll try a larger tire...and will tell you about it later...
You can't repeat a short ride right away.
Let's say you've done a 250m sprint on the Velodrome course, and you want to do it right away after a 30" rest, you must record the sprint you've juste done, then go back to the starting panel, then choose that run again, then wait for the PC to load it, then start again... it took around 2 min...
So, if you wan't to do intervals with Fortius, you'd better plan them before...
You can't record the video of your run, this is a thing you can do with some online car racing video games, you can't do that and watch your races with friends.
You can't use the terrains made for the Imagic (Capricorn and Sipscape)... although you can use the terrain made for the Fortius with the Imagic... It's a bit like buying the latest japanese car, and having less options in it than in your 5 years old Chevy.
What Mr. Tacx should do to improve my toy.
There's much to say there...
The software and its menus are not that bad, but not as intuitive as they should be... Particularly, when one wants to choose a new route, or set his rider profile...just have a try at it, you'll understand...
The long names of your opponents are overlapping each other in the menus, so not that easy to choose one...
Why don't they make some serious map...
the virtual "worlds" are in fact virtual "kindergardens"... you've got three "maps" there, with only one of them with enough roads to allow you to actually create your own runs using the steering frame... The two others maps, basically, will let you pedal around a tiny island during 20' and you're done... would'nt be the opportunity to ride against other riders on those virtual worlds, it would quickly get boring (which is the inverse aim, I guess, of that kind of device...).
A good idea could be the release of a map editor... apparently, Mr. Tacx doesn't want to (Frankenstein syndrome ? the fear its toy could live by its own...)
The RLVs :
they are filmed from a motorcycle in real life. Several drawbacks are linked to this method of making the RLV :
-In real life, you're forced to slow down at road jonctions and stop signs, so the RLV movie will slow down proportionnaly to the slackening of the motorbike used to make the RLV.
So, while riding on your RLV, you're going full speed then you arrive to a stop : although your speed (as displayed on the screen) stays high, you "visually" see yourself slowing down... no matter how hard you go on the pedal... (of course the faster you go, the faster you'll get out of the "slowing down passage" but you'll still have that feeling of a "speed drop" compared to the speed you were going just before...).
-In real life, when you're climbing or going downhill on sharp turns, you don't look in front of you, but 4 to 5 meters ahead in the curve (or else you'd quickly hit the planet). When making a RLV the camera is fixed to the motorcycle, so what you see in a sharp turn while riding your bike on RLV, is just the first meter in front of you... NAUSEOUS....
I think a good idea for Mr. Tacx for doing his RLV may be to use a camera as the one skydivers use, it is to say, fixed on the helmet of the rider.
Besides, doing so, the RLV would seem more realistic.
No lap function, what you can do with a tiny bike computer, you can't do with the 3 ghz PC powered Fortius... It could be notably useful, to work out with a lap function while doing intervals on the velodrom.
The software and its menus are not that bad, but not as intuitive as they should be... Particularly, when one wants to choose a new route, or set his rider profile...just have a try at it, you'll understand...
The long names of your opponents are overlapping each other in the menus, so not that easy to choose one...
Why don't they make some serious map...
the virtual "worlds" are in fact virtual "kindergardens"... you've got three "maps" there, with only one of them with enough roads to allow you to actually create your own runs using the steering frame... The two others maps, basically, will let you pedal around a tiny island during 20' and you're done... would'nt be the opportunity to ride against other riders on those virtual worlds, it would quickly get boring (which is the inverse aim, I guess, of that kind of device...).
A good idea could be the release of a map editor... apparently, Mr. Tacx doesn't want to (Frankenstein syndrome ? the fear its toy could live by its own...)
The RLVs :
they are filmed from a motorcycle in real life. Several drawbacks are linked to this method of making the RLV :
-In real life, you're forced to slow down at road jonctions and stop signs, so the RLV movie will slow down proportionnaly to the slackening of the motorbike used to make the RLV.
So, while riding on your RLV, you're going full speed then you arrive to a stop : although your speed (as displayed on the screen) stays high, you "visually" see yourself slowing down... no matter how hard you go on the pedal... (of course the faster you go, the faster you'll get out of the "slowing down passage" but you'll still have that feeling of a "speed drop" compared to the speed you were going just before...).
-In real life, when you're climbing or going downhill on sharp turns, you don't look in front of you, but 4 to 5 meters ahead in the curve (or else you'd quickly hit the planet). When making a RLV the camera is fixed to the motorcycle, so what you see in a sharp turn while riding your bike on RLV, is just the first meter in front of you... NAUSEOUS....
I think a good idea for Mr. Tacx for doing his RLV may be to use a camera as the one skydivers use, it is to say, fixed on the helmet of the rider.
Besides, doing so, the RLV would seem more realistic.
No lap function, what you can do with a tiny bike computer, you can't do with the 3 ghz PC powered Fortius... It could be notably useful, to work out with a lap function while doing intervals on the velodrom.
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