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TECH NEWS
Ride simulated cobbles with Tacx Neo 'road feel' update
One of the nice things about riding on a turbo trainer, besides sheltering from the horrible weather, is the smooth feel of the tyre on the roller. But if you want a more realistic training experience, you can now ride simulated cobbles, rough roads and even muddy mountain bike trails with the latest update by Tacx to its Neo smart trainer.
Introducing a feature that we didn’t know anybody could possibly ask for, it's called 'road feel' and Tacx allows to you ride different road surfaces from the comfort of your own home. Could be an interesting way to prepare for riding the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix events?
Tacx says this new feature is possible due to it being able to control the position of the rotating parts in the Neo trainer up to 1000 times a second, simulating the vibrations of different roads.
You can access this new feature with a Neo trainer, which costs a cool £1,200, and through the Tacx Cycling app, Tacx Films or Tacx Trainer Software 4. You can even do it in Zwift. You’ll need to conduct a free firmware update to enable the new feature called ‘road feel demo.’
- Review: Tacx Neo Smart trainer
“The NEO is the only trainer with road surface simulation, allowing you to experience the feeling of riding on cobblestones, gravel, off road or other types of roads, all while you are indoors. You feel the vibrations of the road surface in your legs, exactly the way it would feel outdoors. This entirely new feature can be used with some Tacx Films when you ride in our virtual worlds and with Zwift,” says Tacx.
If you’ve got a Neo trainer do let us know if you’ve tried this update, we’d love to know what it’s like.
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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13 comments
So... they are adding vibrations to their very expensive trainer and to your lovely bike. My guess is that it will shorten life of both.
P.S. I heard that, in future updates, they will add water, dirt and grit for even more realistic experience...
yes, for a fee, some guy from Zwift will come over and pelt you with ice pellets while you ride.
Indeed, vibrations shortening the life of your lovely bike is why people should never, ever go outside with them
As for the trainer, being a Tacx there's a reasonable chance something random and electrical will kill it before then anyway...
Probably worth pointing out ,as there seems to be some confusion, the Neo doesn't actually vibrate as such.
What happens is that your pedalling stutters as it would if you were riding over a rough surface. So if you stop pedalling and free wheel you loose the 'road feel'. The road feel isn't that stong (in Zwift anyway), I don't think will make any difference to the life of my bike or the Neo. Not when compared to the roads round here anyway.
Apart from making the Zwift more realistic, it sort of trick your mind a bit as you're, say, going over the boards at the docks, I'm not too sure what the point is, from a training point of view.
The thing is it costs nothing and you can turn it off in Zwift if you don't wan't it. It's off for workout mode by default.
Anything that makes turbo training less dull is fine by me and I'm a nerd and like stuff like this.
The real question remains:
How to simulate centrifugal forces?
*checks date*
Nope, definitely not April. I'm confused
About what ?
About whether or not this nonsense is an April fools.
Well yes but which bit ? Smart trainers aim to reproduce the experience of riding, but without the act of riding outside. If people want to add a certain extra 'realism' to that, for gamification or visual/tactile feedback, I fail to to see why that would be 'nonsense'. If trainers aren't your thing then fine, but for those that do use them this is an interesting extra bit of functionality that can be used for fun or to try and make the experience more immersive and realistic - curious peoples apparent inability to understand the impact of something they don't like and/or have no experience of yet feel compelled to pass judgement on.
Riding indoors is the only time I get to experience a smooth road.
Be careful what you wish for, because realistic terrain can become too realistic. I suppose the cycling equivalent would be if the entire turbo trainer was mounted on hydraulic rams, that suddenly and violently jerked downwards every few miles, to simulate the potholes in typical British roads.
Very nice. Does it allow you simulate jumping a shark?
No, thank you.