Hi fellow Sufferlandrians,
I’m thinking of upgrading to a direct drive trainer, and possibly including a climb as well. Anyone with experience of using the Climb together with Sufferfest video’s? Does the Climb offer an extra?
Thanks for your comments!
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I have a Climb and I really like it. Does it add an extra dimension to indoor training? Absolutely. Is it worth £500? That’s your call.
Whilst it doesn’t work with every SUF video you can easily adjust it manually mid-ride to a gradient you want. For example some videos will call for a low cadence but they won’t adjust the climb, a few secs before the change in cadence I’ll manually rise the Climb. Many videos do work, and just today I did thin Air and pretty much left the Climb to be controlled by the SUF app. Only a few times when it called for very low cadences (eg 60 or 70) when it was putting the Climb to around 9% I manually made it a tiny bit higher.
It’s been shown through pedal dynamics that when you’re climbing you’re muscle fibre recruitment patterns are different to when on the flats, so it can only be a good thing to train your nervous system on your indoor rides to mimic outdoor ones more closely.
But aside from all of that, I just think it makes it an even more enjoyable, immersive experience.
Hope that helps.
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I’ve had a similar experience as Ross above. Does it enhance indoor riding? Absolutely. Is it a must-have or value for money? That’s a more personal question.
While it doesn’t work with every SUF video, the manual controller is a pretty simple alternative until they bring in support.
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I’ll keep this short, because my experience is exactly the same as @Ross and @kevins above.
For me, yes, it definitely adds to the experience. Is it worth the money? That’s really personal both on your interest level and cashflow.
It would be nice if more videos used it natively, the ones that do it’s great to have in and like the others, I tend to lift the incline on climbing or low cadence videos that don’t use it.
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It’s definitely not required but it’s nice to have - I did 14 Vice Grips yesterday and the 14 work intervals all felt quite different thanks to the various gradients and cadences.
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The Kickr climb is another tool for your toolbox. It adds another element to your training and helps to add variety to your sessions. GOAT was a whole different experience for me using the climb and I found myself recruiting muscles that I might not have otherwise. So while it’s not necessary it could be a great addition to your training especially if climbing is an area where you’re looking to improve.
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Mine just failed and is going back under warranty, and I already miss it.
To me that’s the indication when something adds value to your experience.
In general in addition to the enhanced VR experience I would say the Climb has enabled longer indoor sessions: varying the static position, more similarly to IRL ride makes a difference.
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You bad bad people, now I want one!!!
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I liked it more when I was using Zwift. I am disappointed it does not work with more Sufferfest videos.
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Did it fail so it was permanently as low as it would go? My first one did that but my replacement is now about 15-16 months old and has been rock solid.
I love mine and use it most sessions (if my bike is on the Kickr it’s always on the Climb too, but some sessions don’t call for it, such as Omnium) but most do have a use for it.
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Do it. You know it makes sense!
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It’s bound to happen at some point 
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It was completely dead, seems like a corrosion issue from sweat.
Replacement should be here Monday
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As an old knight finding his way back to the castle I had no idea the Climb would work with TSF videos, definitely adding this to the pain cave.
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Hi All,
I’m thinking of upgrading the pain cave soon. I’m going to start my 4th SUF plan in a couple of weeks, having switched from wattbike workouts at the gym to indoor suffering at home (like many others, courtesy of the pandemic!). Over the last 9 months I’ve been adding to the pain cave - I like the look of the Climb and am also thinking of using a rocker plate or Kickr Axis Feet.
What do you think would add more to the indoor suffering experience? Kickr Climb or Rocker plate / Axis feet? The reviews I have read for rocker plates are more mixed than those for the Climb.
Thanks
I haven’t used either, but I did see DC Rainmaker’s review of the new Kick squashy feet and he wasn’t very impressed. He could hardly tell any difference. So I would check that review out for yourself before buying those.
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I really like mine and feel it was money well spent.
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Ok thanks peteski, will check out DC Rainmaker. From what I can tell on the forum comments rocker plates are not widely used, so maybe that tells the story. Cheers
Not sure about proper rocker plates, but the issue DC R had with the new feet was that they don’t squash enough to make a significant difference to the ride feel. Link to review below:-
I believe some people use a couple of half tennis balls under the standard feet for a DIY solution, so that could be worth a try to see if you like the feel.
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So I really disagree with DCR - I’m not sure if it’s his weight/floor setup or what, but I have found the AXIS feet make a real difference in terms of comfort/bike rock for me. My bike is on a bargain basement $30 exercise mat as well.
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