Thanks zacster- this is a good assessment. I'm still on a Kinetic fluid trainer + Power meter, and have been going back and forth between whether I really need a Smart trainer or not. I also have particular storage/space considerations that a Smart trainer will slightly complicate, whereas my current rig just works, but I'm missing the immersive dimension.
I've been enjoying the big climbs lately on Zwift so I think I'll get there eventually-your post may have helped nudge me in the Smart direction! Looking at the Core or maybe Kickr18 too.
Oh yeah OP- enjoy the Magnus and indoor training! sorry to go off on a tangent.
Originally Posted by
zacster
For the money that sounds like a good choice.
I went from using a Fluid 2 trainer in "virtual power" mode, to buying a pair of Assioma Pedals so I had real power readings, to buying a Kickr Core as soon as they were released. Somewhere in that transition I also bought an Elemnt Bolt.
Riding with virtual power as a start got me into the whole power training thing, except that I was able to determine that the virtual curve was not at all accurate and the perceived feel got harder during the ride even in the same gear. Using a power meter with the Fluid trainer at least kept me honest as the Assioma pedals are pretty accurate, so even if the trainer would start getting harder as it warmed up, the effort was still being measured elsewhere. I rode really hard, got some really good training in but still felt I was missing something. When I got the Kickr a few weeks ago I found out what it was. With a smart trainer there is no cheating. In ERG mode you are forced to ride at the power setting that the app is showing. Slow down and it gets harder, speed up and it will get easier, but the net result is you still need the same power. Then in simulation mode I finally got to see what Zwift is really about. During a ride a hill feels like a hill. I would always follow the cadence and power on the dumb trainer, except of course when I didn't, and when there was a hill, there was no feedback that it was a hill, you just shifted to make it seem harder because it told you to. With the Kickr Core or Magnus you shift into your natural hill climbing gears and you climb. When the grade changes you feel the grade change. I know that after a long real climb I'll use the leveling off period to take it easy to catch my breath a bit, and you can do the same here. The one thing that isn't realistic is downhill, but only because I never go that fast out on the roads in the eastern US, wherever I happen to be. It is just too dangerous.
Enjoy it.