garysol1 

I have been wanting a Computrainer for some time now but with Performances 20% deal this weekend I had to pull the trigger on the Travel Trac Real Axiom V3. I also ordered the Alpe D' Huez DVD to go along with it. I have been using rollers for years now so hopefully I can make the transition to a Trainer ok. I am thinking that racing against others on the video will help keep the boredom factor down this winter. If anyone has any real world tips for the V3 I would love to hear them.

LIUser22

i wish i were you... i've been wanting a computer trainer forever but just can't justify it.

Let us know how you like it, maybe a video with it :-p

enjoy!!!

JohnKScott

Congrats!

alanfleisig

What do they call it when you can video game against other players on the Internet? Seriously, I forgot. At any rate, I noticed one of the VR trainers now alllows you to "race" other people using the same VR trainer, in real time. I saw it in one of the 10,000 Performance, et al. catalogs I get. I think maybe it was in World Cycling.

JohnKScott

I guess that would be on-line gaming and in this case on-line racing or virtual racing? Anyway, the RealAxiom is capabale of that. For now, I just race myself and try to beat my best time.

garysol1 

Here she is........

Az B

Just wait until you try to lean into a turn...

Az

LIUser22

that's amazing, it helps that you have the huge screen too and your laptop has a video out... im missing a lot of things i geuss. UGH!!!

enjoy, when you get bored of it you can send it my way

cat4ever

As far as I know the realAxiom can't race online. I have had that trainer since June 2006 and that's news to me.

cat4ever

I want to order some of the longer video courses that are available on real axiom's web site. But with the short courses using 1 gb of hard drive space each, my computer would be full in a heartbeat!

garysol1 

The V3 appears to have the option. I have not yet entirely figured out how it works though. It appears you have to have the other persons IP address. It would be nice if there was a forum somewhere to meet others and get share IP addresses.

cat4ever

I'll do some checking around on this, as it comes as a total shock to me. Want to race up Alp D'Huez? Ouch

cat4ever

From performance bike's website:

"New features include the ability to race against a human competitor on a LAN and multiple menu languages"

Mine is a V3 but I hadn't heard of this.


Under "competitor setup" there is an option to connect to another IP.

Anytime anyone wants to try this, let me know!

garysol1 

My IP is shown as 10.0.1.3

JohnKScott

Wow!! Nice set up. I'm looking at mine on my 17" monitor. Although I've toyed with the idea of hooking up a projector to the computer

JohnKScott

I did have the bike come off the trainer once...

Just make sure that the SMALL notch is at the bottom and the skewer lever is inserted in there. Never having set up a trainer before, the directions were not that clear to me and I did it wrong and came off the trainer. I was able to unclip quickly enough to catch it, but the plastic file cabinet got tipped over when I tried to use it to hold myself up .

JohnKScott

Hey cat4ever - what's the longest you've ridden the trainer and have you had any issues with overheating the unit or your tire/wheel? I was talking to a guy last night that used to be a pretty serious biker (did the ultra cycling stuff where you'd fall asleep on the bike etc. ) and he used to own a bike shop. He warned me to not ride the trainer too long as he used to see tire/wheel damage from over heating on trainers. I haven't noticed any excessive amount of heat when I am done with a session but I've only ridden a max of just under an hour at a crack so far. Have you noticed any issues like this? It could be that this was the case with an older model trainer, or user error or something. I just wanted to check with you if you have noticed any issues along these lines.

Thanks in advance!

cat4ever

The max I've ever been on the trainer is 3.5 hours. No issues other than the real axiom feeling easier after a couple of hours (like the tension loosens up).

dino250gt

Hey JohnK they actually make special tires for trainers to prevent wearing out, but i wouldnt know about the machine itself getting too hot.

JohnKScott

Thx guys.

waitasec

so has anyone actually hook up and race via the internet???

cat4ever

Garysol1 and I haven't gotten the chance yet. Hopefully soon we'll figure out if it works.

garysol1 

I did get to ride the complete Alpe De Huez DVD today. I took me just under 50 minutes of pedaling the 8 to 10% grade. I think that the trainer resistance felt a bit easier then a true 10% grade does outside and that is just fine by me.

JohnKScott

Yeah, I noticed that too. Seemed quite a bit easier. However, I upped my weight in the program by 25 pounds over my body weight (now 27 pounds over because I lost a couple pounds) and it make it significanlty harder. Still not quite as hard as climbing a real hill, but closer. However, I noticed that the flats seem HARDER now than if I was out on the road by only just a little bit. That's ok by me. I figure the watts even out in the end then!

garysol1 

I wish I still had my Powertap so I could compare the wattage readings. They seem to read a little low but that is just by the seat of my pants. That and heart rate seems to read a little high when compared to my Polar.