Official Forum

Due to some competitive pricing I aim to give Elite a try after returning my direct drive smart trainer due to quality control issues

I have the option for a Drivo 1 or a Direto - with a price difference of about 20%

I will be mainly using virtual platforms like Road Grand Tours / Zwift. BUT will also be doing structured training with ERG mode
From reading the reviews - both look to have good accuracy [very important for on-line races] - with the Drivo obviously having higher specs - but I suspect the Direto will be enough for me (ftp of about 260W and a max around 700W).

I worry about the comments on both forum boards suggesting that ERG mode is an issue for both trainers

Does anyone have experience of both trainers to compare?
How bad is the ERG issue?
Is it believed to be a firmware issue - of a "feature" of the way the resistance is controlled?

My vote goes for the flux 2
Elite is a joke. I bought my drivo 2 years ago, knowing some issues. They promised a firmware update, but they still can't release even an app to update it...

Go for the flux, or a hammer 2

I have done flux - twice! Very nice when it works - very noisy when it doesn't. Not that accurate with the power - which is only annoying in races. Now back on the Bushido .... OK for spinning on virtual platforms ... but cant wait to be back on a direct drive device

If my experience is anything to go by, avoid the drivo. Erg mode does not work properly using Ant+ in windows 10 or BT in iOS, across many different applications. Can’t vouch for the direto. Luckily I have managed to return my drivo for a refund after 5 months of putting up with it. It may be cheap but that doesn’t mean it’s value for money. Another problem I’ve had is low resistance when sprinting in Zwift.

Hi humphuk

I want to specify something about ERG mode, then I'll give the floor to other users.
I'll try to be as clear as possible.

There's NO issues on ERG mode with Drivo or Direto.
There are 2 major topic that are triggering users when using our Direct Drives:
1. the reactivity time
2. the power oscillations

About reactivity time, you have to consider that Drivo and Direto have both a stepping motor inside.
When you have a power change during ERG mode, the motor has to rotate to move the magnets to adjust resistance.
This may take some seconds (the higher the power gap, the longer it will take).
We never considered this a problem, as those seconds are necessary also to adapt your pedaling to the new resistance (a sudden change will be a problem for your legs). But recently many users like to do trainings with short high power segments, for example 10-20 seconds, and in this case the motor may be not reactive enough.
The delay is few seconds, but if the communication is not good (interference) there may be also some more seconds of delay. So, consider also this. In many cases in which the delay is higher, the problem was due to interference in the area (and have been solved with actions to improve the communication).

About power oscillations, some users have problems on seeing all those spike in power.
This is due to the precision of the power sensor, that track down every single variation between a pedal stroke and the other.
If you compare the power from the trainer and the one from a power sensor, the spikes are present in both.
In the forum I've already posted some graph about it. If a user prefer to see less oscillation, the power on screen may be averaged by changing a parameter (power smoothing). But variation will be always present.
As the trainer will continuously try to match the power with the target one, it will continuously change the resistance. This requires you to pedal without changing too much your speed or cadence, to have a good control of the resistance (otherwise, the target value will continously change between very different values). So, try to keep a steady pace even during the changes in power and the trainer will behave properly. Pedal in a less controlled way and it will take more time to stabilize.

This is all, I hope to have been clear enough