BKOOL turbo trainer

[Luka1980]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone else in Australia is using one of these. Just got given one as an early chrissy present but noticed it's not easy to find rides/leagues in Australia?

thanks

[craigvl]

Hey Luka,

How is the Bkool trainer going? I have been looking at indoor trainers and this one looks rather good for the price. Any info you can give me would be appreciated, also if I purchase one will have to line up a race :0)

[GKA Sports Store]

Hi Luka,

We have recently started distributing the BKOOL trainer in Australia and we have setup a league, where we will be holding regular races and winners will be offered prizes at certain races. Our league is called "GKA Sports". Look forward to racing you

[Fransb2586]

Hola Guys,

I had a play with the BKool system today, here are my thoughts:

Initial Set Up

- Unlike many wind trainers, this one comes straight of the box ready to go. No assembly required.
- Software setup was moderately intuitive, the manual appears to be written for another generation of the BKool trainer, but it gives you an idea where to start.
- The interface is a bit clunky, you have to switch between the Bkool website to create your sessions and the actual BKool simulator to import and run your sessions.
- Purchasing a session was kinda easy, having a grasp of Spanish is helpful. (Hints as to this products origins)
- Putting the bike on, one gotcha, you MUST use the skewer supplied or it does not fit well into the locking mechanism.
- The wheel sits on the resistance roller well, it uses your body weight to keep the wheel on the roller - more about this later.
- NOTE: the manual says to fit the supplied cadence sensor, however, there was none supplied and I could not get it to detect my ANT+ one already on the bike.

The Ride

- I choose two rides: a) a straight steady 4% climb for 30 mins b) a simulation using Google Maps interface of a climb of La Vuelta

The straight 4% climb was easy and nice, a bit of a vibration from the resistance roller, which went away once the system warmed up.

The Vuelta climb was where the system let me down really badly:

1) The visuals of the interface - a simple little avatar places you on the Goog Maps surface, his legs does not move and the Google Maps interface is not the best of graphics. I felt I had time warped to the early CGI graphics games of the 1980's
2) The climbs; La Vuelta has some good ones. I was climbing often at 10% or more which required me at times to get out of the saddle. This is where it comes unstuck. As you get up out of the saddle, your weight shifts forward, and the resistance on the rear wheel changes, so much so that the wheel starts to slip on the roller. It becomes really annoying when you suddenly spin forward 1/2 a crank turn and lurch forward and jar your knees.

I was 16km into a planned 27km ride, the climbs were endless, and with the wheel slip, it became unbearable. I stopped.

My suggestion is to save your money and buy a TACX system; better graphics, better options etc. Not perfect, but better than this little baby. They have a good idea, but a little way to go. A standard wheel tension system would probably alleviate the slip and make this product worthwhile.