Tacx Trainer software

Posted by Mark on February 14, 2009 under training | 2 Comments to Read

I’ve owned a Tacx Fortius trainer for over a year now. I like it, the Catalyst training software, virtual reality training and live video training all help to reduce the boredom of turbo training.

However, I’ve still been a bit slack at using it. Just recently Tacx finally released their updated software, “Tacx Trainer“.

It looked good on paper [the screen] so I bought a copy. Installing it doesn’t overwrite the old Fortius software, it complements it. Presumably this is due to the fact the 1.0 release doesn’t yet support multiplayer. Tacx state on their website that a later release this year will do though.

So I had a bit of a play with some of the new functionality. The smartest new thing to come along with this update is the Real Life Training – or loading of GPS routes. Take a past ride, or one you might be riding, and import into Tacx Trainer as a GPX file. TT then links to Google Earth and lets you ride the route on the map, even setting up the contours of the route!

This single feature is worth the €59 price in my mind, it’s simply fantastic. Recce a race or Sportive route beforehand, getting used to how the road contour changes. Superb!

I’ll post some screenshots later.