As a tech head and a recreational cyclist I was thrilled when looking at the latest developments in the bike smart trainer world. The idea to connect bike trainer with PC and run a game like Zwift or Road grand tours beta is very appealing :).

But I never owned a smart trainer until now. I looked on-line and found a smart trainer from Elite called Direto. It’s not cheap but I guess it’s a great price/performance unit. It allows for automatic adjustments of resistance (FE-C standard for bi-directional resistance control), it measures power (optic sensors) and cadence plus the noise level is much better than tire-based trainers. Check out great review from DCRainmaker, a well known authority on bike and running gear reviews. The other review I also watched is from Shane Miller.

The whole setup is a bit expensive; you need smart bike trainer, bike and a computer with ANT+ dongle for the ease of use. A monitor or laptop should be put on some stand and you probably need a ventilator to keep you cool. You really need a dedicated space for the whole setup.

But, the experience is amazing!!! I like climbing indoors, because I can keep the noise down (it’s certainly quieter than tire-based bike trainers) and keep the effort constant.

Road Grand Tours application has a few interesting routes, but I especially like two in my “training”:

• Mallorca – Cap Formentor (22km, 507m, 4% AVG)
• Passo dello Stelvio (14km, 1114m, 8% AVG)

Since it’s winter time, I hope to get to “level 2” by April :).

Oh, and a message to Road grand tours crew: please add a location on Tenerife :).

If you want to connect, here is my Strava profile.