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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - Riding & Training Techniques
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Tacx i- magic, anyone used it or anything like it? (4 posts)
|  Tacx i- magic, anyone used it or anything like it? | rockhound
Dec 27, 2003 9:33 PM | | Saw an ad in a magazine for the tacx i-magic virtual trainer. Looks like it would keep riding the trainer fun. Has anyone seen or used this thing? Also has anyone tried any of the spinervals videos? How do they work, was thinking about getting the climbing video. |
| yep - early indications: it will be great! | Big K
Dec 29, 2003 11:07 AM | | I saw the review of Tacx Flo in last month's issue Bicycling... research started there and led me to the I-Magic. Tacx appears to be very popular in Europe, but my sense is that they are more of a startup here in the U.S. If you read some of the early feedback on the forum, you'll get the sense there were PC compatibility problems, but the instructions on how to avoid them are pretty clear and I had no issues.
It took me a couple hours to set it up Saturday, including mounting a slick on my rear wheel and downloading additional SW. I rode 11 virtual miles thru the Sipscape terrain yesterday. Nothing will ever compare to real riding, but this is the best indoor riding experience I have ever had. I hooked my PC up to my big screen TV (w/ s-video) and set the bike back about 4 feet from the TV. It was amazing to feel the changes in rolling resistance timed with the visuals of going up/down hills (very much like a virtual reality "ride" at an amusement park). Also, as far as I know, the steering feature on the I-Magic is an exclusive and is WAY worth it... you can free ride by yourself and just like a video game, go just about anywhere you want to inside the virtual world you select. I-Magic comes with a couple of terrains and you can download Sipscape for free. Netathlon offers more terrains that are more video game-like (e.g. riding mtb on the moon and riding through city traffic). Both Tacx and Netathlon allow you to compete with other virtual riders by; 1) riding the same course when you feel like and sending in your stat's, or 2) riding in real-time competition where people "meet" in a web space and all start at the same time. I want to get a few weeks of solo training down before I get into that stuff.
Here is the essential info to get you started... let me know if I can answer any more questions.
Tacx info on Web:
http://www.tacx.nl/frameset.cfm?l=en&id=100
(go in under products-trainers-imagic)
FitCentric (Netathlon) web site:
http://www.fitcentric.com/
Tacx forum:
http://www.tacxtrainers.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi
NOTE: Both Tacx and Netathlon will run best when you've got a good graphics card... suggested base is GeForce Open GL compliant with minimum of 32MB video memory. I am using an IBM Laptop with an integrated S3 Supersavage video card (w/ 16MB video memory), which is OK, but I will want more eventually. |
| Does the I magic have an ERGO mode | earlofa
Dec 30, 2003 10:37 AM | | Does the I magic have an ergo mode, where you set the wattage that you want it to maintain. And regardless of your pedaling cadence the set wattage is what you are creating?
I am pretty sure the Basic, the flow and the excel/grand excel can do that
thanks |
| yes, but not in combination with terrains | Big K
Jan 5, 2004 7:47 AM | | The I-Magic comes with a program called Analyser, which provides all kinds of training data that is automatically captured when you ride various "courses". A course is a certain route/distance taken inside one of the virtual reality terrains (e.g. city, country, track). In addition to Analyser, you get a program called Catalyst, which is essentially a full ergo training program where you set the program and goals and it delivers the resistance needed. The thing to keep in mind is that the screens you'd be looking at in this type of workout (using Catalyst instead of the virtual reality terrains) are a bunch of graphs showing your program and progress. If you are after a strict training program, you may not need all the bells and whistles of an I-Magic. If you want both the training capability and the boredom-fighting aspects of virtual reality, then I-Magic may be a good solution. |
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