Turbo Trainers

[Deleted member 4366]

A while back a guy mentioned that he'd put his bike on one of these and it gave a read-out of the power like a dyno.

After a bit of investigation, I decided to get one, so I just placed my order through Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005OVL0MC/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

I chose this one for it's ability to go up to 1000w actual output and power read-out.
I'll probably have to adapt the wheel-holder to take the bigger axle nuts, but hopefully, it'll give some interesting results. I'm not too bothered about accuracy, but repeatability would be important to get comparitive results for different bikes. Hopefully, it'll give some interesting data to compare different motors and to compare input power from the wattmeter to actual output power. If not, at least I'll be able to get fit!

 

[NRG]

Look forward to the results Dave, would be good to measure actual power at the wheel and then calculate back to see if the results marry up to the simulations on ebike.ca

 

[Jimod]

How will you connect it to the bike with the motor wire coming out through the spindle?

 

[Jeremy]

Look forward to the results Dave, would be good to measure actual power at the wheel and then calculate back to see if the results marry up to the simulations on ebike.ca

As d8veh says, this would be for comparison, rather than absolute measurement. People have looked at the accuracy of these things in the past and it's not great, as they don't seem to have any sort of meaningful calibration. For comparing different bikes against each other it's ideal, though.

BTW, Justins simulator uses calibrated dyno data from his motor test dyno: DIY Ebike Motor Dyno made by Justin le at ebike.ca - YouTube This is, I think, one reason why it gives pretty accurate results, as the input data comes from real-world measurements rather than manufacturers information or theory.

 

[mike killay]

Well, I don't know if it is just me, but was that video made by someone who is severely challenged in the balance sense?
Sound was very poor.

 

[jackhandy]

Careful d8veh: You'll have the Sons of Ludd complaining about technical posts again

It was my post that I was hoping to use the speedict on various bikes over the same test hill-route for data gathering purposes that sparked the last Crusade!

 

[Geebee]

I have the Tacx Vr trainer that has that feature built into it, it does show how efficient a crank drive (well maintained) is after efficiency of the motor comparing input to output the differences were very small, I can't remember the exact figures as I haven't been able to use it for over a year (health issue) one thing it did show was the massive losses a really dirty chain can cause.
I love the trainer and hopefully will be back on it by Winter, I can call up a ride any where in the world and ride it with real world incline, decline wattages matching the video.

 

[Jeremy]

Well, I don't know if it is just me, but was that video made by someone who is severely challenged in the balance sense?
Sound was very poor.

Luke shot it on his 'phone, I think, and as usual was a wee bit excited at meeting Justin and seeing what he was doing!

PS: Luke is the battery development guy for Zero Motorcycles.

 

[flecc]

Careful d8veh: You'll have the Sons of Ludd complaining about technical posts again

Once again, there was no complaint about technical posts. There was a call for simple answers where that was all that was necessary. As I said at the time, both types of answer are desirable, and I've posted many of both types.