I have been on the sufferfest for about 2 years and done a fair load of KM’s.
Using my Tacx Vortex Smart it now has a bizarre issue that never used to happen before , it is all calibrated properly (do this every other session) and software up to date.
While doing GOAT on the low cadence parts when it asks for 50 rpm and my FTP number i can’t get the 2 to balance out, if you do 50 rpm it will not go near my power target, it will be around 50% of it.
To counter act this i am having to ride at 10 rpm on average higher to hit the number.
This never used to do it and has been normally pretty spot on.
I am using Bluetooth which i have been for a while, it reacts far quicker than ANT + and avoids a 6 second delay.
I think I had a similar issue with my old Tacx Flow trainer. Turned out that the engine (magnetic resistor) was shot and I then got the Neo. The flow was basically not changing resistance dynamically anymore.
My Flow died on the exact same day that the Neo was announced, back in 2015.
Long story short, I called the importer and prepaid for the Neo on that same announcement day, and received the 1st unit to land in the country a few months after. Couldn’t be happier.
It has well over 50,000km on it by now and I service it myself once or twice a year.
HATE my vortex-not-so-smart, only had it for a year but already thinking of upgrading to Kickr core or something else DD. Yes I have same issues with any low cadence targets to the point where I ignore cadence targets when they drop below 60 and just ride to Power target.
Good callout though @Adambell79 about responsiveness when connected via bluetooth than ANT+ - will try that next time.
Maybe shift to a bigger gear? No trainer can produce big watts at low cadence and a small gear. Resistance is not unlimited. Shift into the big chainring and try the range of years in the cassette…
Yeah I have tried that as well. I always ride big ring at the front unless I’m in slope mode on a session or using Bkool.
It used to work pretty well and I could hit both numbers.
@Adambell79 that’s a strict limitation of the trainer. It just does not have enough power under low flywheel velocity (low cadence) to generate the watts needed. To get around that, they have a bunch of Neodymium magnets to help with the lack of resistance provided by the electromagnets. It is still not enough during my testing. Mostly, you need a high(er) end trainer.
I agree with Aaron, I don’t believe the vortex has a mechanical issue as such, it just struggles to do it. I have the same issue and tend to ride around 60rpm.
All trainers have their limitations- I did violator a couple of days ago and I don’t think any trainer could keep up with the quick power changes in any mode, particularly the third interval. I basically had to do it in level mode as starting starts…