CycleOps PowerBeam Pro Bluetooth Smart Trainer

*****UPDATED 11-16-2015**** The trainer quickly started making a bad noise when we encountered uphill grades 5% or greater. It sounded like something inside the roller/resistance unit was loose and slipping. It was not tire slippage. We were using the Virtual Trainer app, on an iPad Air. The app seemed to work great. We called CycleOps Customer Service (they only work banker hours), and it was determined the unit was defective. Bottom line, Bluetooth worked great, the Virtual Trainer app worked great, it was the mechanical part of the trainer that failed. **** End Update*****-------------------------------------------------------------We were not sure which version of the CycleOps PowerBeam Pro to buy, the Ant+ of Bluetooth. Since we own Polar bluetooth devices and were going to use the trainer with an iPad Air, we went with the Bluetooth version. It works great. If you own an Ant+ heart rate monitor, such as a Garmin, you may want to go with the Ant+ trainer, but then you have the gimmicky adapter to purchase and plug into your iPad to pick up the Ant+ signal. Actually, you have to buy two adapters, if you have a newer iPad with Apple's "Lightening" connector plug. Older reviews of the trainer from DC Rainmaker, etc. say to go with the Ant+, but I think that advice is out of date. The bluetooth will work easier for most people. Especially if you do not already own a heart rate monitor (HRM). In that case, buy a Polar H7 or Wahoo Blue HR bluetooth HRM to use with this trainer. Both are available on Amazon.We installed the CycleOps app on our iPad and set up an account with the free 2 week trial. The iPad paired easily with the Virtual Training app in the Apple App Store. (The app works with our iPad Air, but would not work with our iPhone 6 using iOS 9.1). Our trainer came with a bluetooth speed and cadence sensor, which also paired easily to the iPad in the Virtual Training app. In fact, the speed and cadence sensor provided with this trainer is virtually identical to the Wahoo Blue SC.There are tons of rides available in the app to download and ride. The rides available can be professionally produced or uploaded by users. I can't emphasize enough how you will be amazed to see all the rides and the quality of the video. The resistance you pedal against is automatically varied by the app according to the steepness of any hills. You shift your gears to account for the resistance when going up or down hill - just like a real ride on the road. You can even film your own ride and upload it for your use or use by others. You must pay $6/mo for the Virtual Training app after the free trial, or $60/year - but it is well worth it and much cheaper than a gym membership or personal trainer!During your rides, the screen gives you the option of an overhead map view, or an on-the-road look-ahead view with local sights and scenery. Awesome, to say the least. The road profile shows on the bottom of the screen so you can see when you are going up and down hills. The left side of the screen displays your data, heart rate, speed, cadence, power output in watts, road grade in percent, etc. It is possible to connect your iPad to an HDTV, via an HDMI adapter, but we have not yet tried that out. Your ride data is recorded, with your workout estimated in "kilojoules" (kJ) - which are basically equal to calories.Back to the CycleOps trainer. It is sturdy and fairly easy to connect to your bike. The two yellow knobs are a bit tight to turn and some women may need some help, but I think most will be able to get it with practice.You will need a trainer tire. We tried a Panaracer Pasela 700 x 35 (as our bike is a 29er), but the tire slipped on the metal roller when the virtual trainer increased the resistance on steep climbs (that is hills over 10% grade). That tire worked fine for flatter rides with hills less than 10%. The trainer tires have harder, more durable rubber compounds needed to run against the roller's contact wheel. During use, our Panaracer tire got warm and started to transfer a black gummy residue to the metal wheel on the trainer. We we able to rub the residue off, but became convinced a trainer tire is needed for riding hills.

I purchased this trainer along with all the accessories from CycleOps directly around 6 months ago. The trainer itself, like the Fluid2 I had previously, is well built and looks to go the distance. Noise levels are low enough to spin up to 120rpm at around 30mph in my apartment without disturbing the neighbors.My low marks for this product are due to the lack of compatibility with 3rd party software and the poor customer service from CycleOps and Virtual Trainer (their software affiliate). The Bluetooth Smart version of this trainer is not compatible with any other 3rd party app I've tried for resistance or ERG control. You can read the power data on most 3rd party apps, but the resistance control is what I'm after and it seems to only be available with the subscription based Virtual Trainer software.Furthermore, there customer service is incredibly lacking for such an expensive product. In both phone and email support, I've received pretty vague answers (or none at all) regarding the proper setup for this trainer. Personally if you're going Cycleops, I'd go with the ANT+ version which is supported by most apps and devices, or go with the Wahoo KICKR which supports both ANT+ and BT Smart with superior customer service. Again the trainer itself is great, but if I could do it all again I'd go KICKR hands down.