Ha, I got the shock of my life (okay, I exaggerate somewhat), when I bought a power meter. My tacx ‘power’ that I used for about 3 years was about 25-30% over. I thought my FTP was well into the 300s and 250 was cruising pace.
I was crushed.
4 Likes
I’ve had a basic Halfords turbo for six years that has been fine…that said I’m now about to enter in to the world of smart trainers with an intention to spend loads of time through the winter working on the bike for next year. Best IM split of 5.50 in favourable conditions so there’s loads of improvement to be had.
Mind you, I’ve read so much info over the last week and still undecided on exactly what to get…
When I had the same decision to make, price was my key determinant. Coming from a dumb trainer, any smart turbo was going to be a step up.
My key points were direct drive, and middle of the road price. Hence I landed on the Direto, mainly because I got a great deal on sport pursuit (when it was still the latest model). Direto X is now out but I’ve had it 6+ months.
Game changer for me. Road feel, erg, etc are all so much better than a dumb trainer. I now enjoy the turbo a lot more!
2 Likes
I have a Direto but haven’t heard of the Direto X, is that massively different.
I think it’s largely just incremental improvement
1 Like
@stenard what deal did you end up getting?
Been on the look out for a new trainer and Halfords have the Directo for £550 and I think i can get another 10% off with BC membership.
I bought in the first wave they had them on sale. That was £540 and I then used one of the three 15% vouchers you get with active advantage membership to bring it down to £459.
The annoying thing was I was mid spring marathon training. By the time I’d got it out of the box a couple of months later, they’d dropped the price further to £460. So I could have got it for £391 
Now sold out
I’d say £495 is still a good price if you can get it for that. Definitely seems the best about at the moment. Whilst it was frustrating to have not yet used it and known I could have got it cheaper, the price I got it for was still a good deal, and I’m certainly happy with it. I’m not sure there’s much that can compete with it for under £500
You got it at a good price and it is always a pain when it drops again after 
They are doiing 12 months interest free on it as well 
Is it a quiet trainer?
That’s a good price. My Direto will be 2yrs old in Oct and it cost me £750!
Its not silent like the new kickr’s are meant to be (although I’ve not heard them myself), but I’d say my drive train is the largest part of the noise. It’s much quieter than my old wheel-on fluid trainer. I could now listen to a programme on the tablet without earphones if I wanted to (I still generally wear them, but a couple of times the batteries have died), which I wasn’t able to before and really hear everything properly
Friend of mine bought the Elite Turbo Muin Smart (direct) from Halfords for £250 after BC discount and has lots of good things to say about it
I have the original Elite turn muin smart with the bluetooth unit. I tested it with the power meter and found that the ‘smart’ bit was 50 watts under when doing a FTP test. I ditched the smart bit and relied on the power meter instead.
I have just picked up a Tacx flow s off the wiggle eBay site for a very good price. So I will give that a go today. The main reason for getting the new turbo was that I wanted the road bike on the trainer rather than the TT for now.
Problem with that one in the modern era is that it’s effectively a dumb turbo that just outputs some speed/power data. Despite it’s name, it’s not a “smart turbo” in the general meaning of the word. So no erg mode, or gradient simulation
Ah, thought it was pretty cheap for a direct unit!
Thanks @stenard
Could you do me a favour and let me know the distance from the center of the cassette to the back of the unit please.
I have to squeeze my trainer and bike into a small space so need to know how tight to the wall it can go. Obviously with my wheel on trainer the back wheel determines this but on the pictures the Direto looks like it doesn’t take up as much space if you know what I mean.
Lucky for you, I have physio in an hour so am working from home! If this is what you mean, then about 32cm (perspective on the photo makes it look a shorter distance)
Haha the old ‘working from home’
That is exactly what i mean thanks.
Do you reckon that is less than if a wheel was on there?
Mine fits in the same space I used to use my old wheel on trainer. The best I can say is it’s not overly different, but as I dont have the old trainer I can’t check
Nice one and i will check when I get home tonight what the distance is on my present setup.
Hope the physio goes ok 
@stenard picked up a Direto from Halfords at the weekend.
Managed to get it for £450 and had a £20 giftcard hanging around from Christmas so handed over £430 to them. Reckon I got a good deal.
Not set it up yet as I can’t find my chain whip and cassette removal tool haha
2 Likes