Garmin Tacx Flow Smart Trainer

The Garmin Tacx offers a ton of bolt adaptors to fit almost all road/commuter bikes that I've found. Due to my bike having a 3/8 bolt-in axle, none of the smart trainers I have tried so far have actually fit/been verified to fit. Garmin's website offers a 3/8 bolt axle adapter that I was able to easily screw onto my bike, and it's been a dream ever since.As some have mentioned, I've noticed that the ERG mode occasionally goes wonky, but I feel the smoothness in transition when riding Zwift and the overall ease of use makes this product amazing. Highly recommend it and have started to fall in love with cycling because of it.The only gripe is that it is quite loud - it can be heard throughout the whole house, even in the garage. I don't mind it when I put my headphones in, but I'm sure other people in the house will find it annoying if they're not getting any workout out of it.

Been using the Tacx Flow Smart Trainer for a month now and I`m very surprised. It can be used with Zwift or Rouvy. It comes with a Tacx and Zwift 30 day license, The resistance when climbing a hill is amazing you really feel it. When going down a hill sometimes it makes a big buzz but it's not permament. Also It can be used without any App but you won't be able to use the resistance. Price is also great compare to similar Trainers in the market. I used to have a normal bike trainer so for Me it's definitely an upgrade and feel very happy with it,

Long term review: Buy a different trainerFinal update. After my reports of problems, I received several messages from Zwift users. In sum, they said the Bluetooth connection does not work reliably on Garmin machines. At their suggestion I bought an ANT+ receiver for $20. It worked, for three sessions. I have now asked for a refund from the seller.In the weeks I have used this trainer I have discovered that Garmin trainers have a known issue with connectivity. There are dozens of message strings discussing connectivity.My final review is this: buy a different trainer. I really wanted to like this trainer but the signal won’t hold and if it won’t work, I can’t support it.—————————————————————I have had this trainer about 6 weeks. The trainer operates fine. But I got it solely to work with Zwift. Garmin advertises Zwift compatibility. In the last six weeks I have had nothing but trouble connecting to Zwift. Right now, Zwift won’t connect at all. I have spent hours troubleshooting to no avail. Reading Zwift forums, Zwift has trouble connecting to Garmin trainers. My lesson is this: if you are buying this trainer to be controlled by Zwift app, look elsewhere.—————————————————Assembly is easy EXCEPT the tire size issue. You have to select slot 1 or 2 depending on tire size. However the slots are connected so getting the right one is a little tricky. That’s why I deducted one star. There has to be a better way. My rear wheel skewer would not fit so very glad they provided one.Once bike installed and Tacx powered up, pairing with Zwift was effortless. Once on Zwift ride, trainer provided a good feel. Resistance on hills not overpowering but realistic. Downhill was even better.Some people have reported excessive noise but I did not find that at all. I replaced a magnetic resistance trainer and this one is much quieter.Overall, I am really happy with this purchase. Good trainer for good price. And now I actually enjoy Zwift.

I'm not a cyclist so I previously owned a dumb trainer, the Elite Qubo Fluid+, using it with Zwift by attaching a speed and cadence sensor to my Trek 7.5 fx. I really did not care for the "virtual" effect of going up hills which only made my avatar move slower as I peddled faster. FTP with the speed and cadence sensors simply did not register what I knew I was capable of. Finally found something within my budget that gives me the "feel" of the hills in Zwift and I'm absolutely loving it. I know there is a 5 to 10% variance on Power but as a novice I'm okay with that. My legs feel so very different due to the "real" effort I am putting in climbing up hills since Zwift is capable of adding resistance to my Smart Trainer to make it harder.I'm a newbie to cycling and will probably never be able to afford some of these higher end trainers so if you are looking for something that matches your budget then I highly recommend this trainer.

The TacX Flow smart has a terrible design. The machine stopped working properly (housing assembly separated) before I made It to 120 miles on it. It is very fragile compared to other machines of the same kind. The housing separates easily and will make a lot of noise.Garmin who now owns TacX said they will replace but not let you trade out of this design. I have had other TacX machines that have worked much better. I super glued the housing and it worked better. I will continue to super glue as the housing separates and then I will sell the machine in a yard sale.

We bought one of these trainers about a year ago to use for our road bikes and just bought a second one. We are not avid bike riders. If you want a smart trainer but don’t ride enough to justify buying an expensive model this one is a great solution. For the price, this trainer is amazing. We got tired of switching our bikes back and forth on the trainer and are super excited to now have 2 at home.

This trainer has been working well. We appreciate that it folds compactly and gives 1-month trials for both Zwift and the Tacx training software. We did have to replace the quick release on our rear wheels with the ones silks by Tacx to make them fit snugly in the trainer. We were worried about the noise before purchasing (based on other reviews), but it hasn't been too bad compared to our previous magnetic trainer. This is our first smart trainer and we are very satisfied.