Worst smart trainer I've owned. Bluetooth rarely/never works, resistance doesn't increase as it should, buy something else

Where to start with this piece of garbage.

1. Won't connect with Bluetooth to my macbook pro. I have zero problems connecting literally ANY other device to my laptop. I've gone through all the Tacx and Bluetooth troubleshooting steps. Ended up having to buy an ANT+ dongle.

2. Even with the ANT+ dongle, the resistance adjusts incredibly slowly - as in it's delayed by MINUTES from when Zwift or the Tacx app increases resistance.

3. Using the Tacx app it won't go above 250w no matter what. I can set the Watts Setpoint to 500w and the most the trainer will hold is 250w. Before Garmin replies with their non-answer, I know it's a problem with the resistance because I can put my bike in the hardest gear, get it up to the 250w max it'll hold, and then back off the watt setpoint to 150w and the trainer will reduce the wattage to 150w.

4. About 10% of the time the Tacx app will just stop working. Resistance goes to 70w, have to stop my ride, unplug/plug back in and start over.

Buy something else. This trainer is terrible.

Reading these forums it seems I'm not the only one with these problems but Garmin never offers any solutions. Wish I would have bought something else. Lesson learned.

0 9907761 over 3 years ago

I agree the biggest waste of money I have ever spent, and I have two. Wahoo kicker next.

0 3860290 over 3 years ago

I am having exactly the same issue. Garmin replaced my Tacx Flus S because it was making a scraping sound. The unit also started having the power issues, but was initially 100% perfect. The replacement unit is doing the same thing regarding power dropouts and an inability to hold power. I have to go up and down the entire gear ratio and still it cannot hold the correct power number. This is all following a firmware update I think. The unit is otherwise perfect and used to work correctly.

0 hendeezy over 3 years ago in reply to 3860290

Since Garmin can't be bothered to respond to these posts, start a support chat and explain the problem. Be emphatic about the problem and be prepared to explain it in 5 different ways (it was as fun as talking to internet support - they even said to unplug it for an hour and see if it still happens lol), but they finally sent me a return label to send my trainer back and sent me out a replacement right away (probably 5-6 days total without a trainer, so not too bad). No clue if the one they sent me works because it just arrived today.

0 3860290 over 3 years ago in reply to hendeezy

I am very interested to see if your replacement works properly. Mine doesn't.

0 Hafer over 3 years ago

The trainer is working great with the previous "Trainer Software 4.0". But then Garmin forced us to use the cloud-based Tacx App-Crap. I have a lot of problems with it- Today - after an update - nothing works anymore. I cant do intervalls the trainer doesnt react. Never ever Garmin!!

0 Alex Masalovich over 3 years ago in reply to Hafer

Hafer said:
The trainer is working great with the previous "Trainer Software 4.0". But then Garmin forced us to use the cloud-based Tacx App-Crap.

TTS4 has worked, is working and will continue to work. Garmin can't stop that.