Tacx has been a leader in the bike indoor training and accessories industry for over 60 years now. It was originally setup as a bike and repair shop in 1957 and was based in Wassenaar in the Netherlands.. In the early 1970’s they focused all there efforts into manufacturing roller cylinders and designing and manufacturing the first indoor trainer. In 2000 Tacx came up with a innovative idea to allow computers to connect to bike trainers enabling cyclists to gather vital information including speed, cadence and power and bring their training to the next level. Things have progressed massively since then with the introduction of their smart series and direct driver trainers . I have been watching this progression over the last few years and with a new Model of the Neo and Flux just being released and I look forward to reviewing these in the near future
In the last few weeks I have been using the Tacx Spider on regular basis and I have been very impressed with the product. It arrived very well packaged and is extremely light weighing only 4.25 kg it can be folded up into a very compact size of 120x23x18cm . It is compact but very sturdy and will hold bikes up to a weight of 15kg. The Spider arrives partially assembled and in three main parts; the base, arm and tool tray. Setup requires you to insert the arm into the base of the unit and adding the tray. You will also have to add some plastic inserts to allow you fix your bike in place . Tacx send 14 inserts to choose from with a variety of sizes including 5, 9, 15 and 20mm front, and 5mm rear at 130/135mm, plus 10 and 12mm
One thing to note on the installation of the product, I had some issues with the arm not connecting correctly to the base because the point where they connect was over tightened. This was resolved very simply by loosening the connection on the arm with the Allen key that was provided. Once setup this is a great product to use, it can tilt and twist allowing you to position the bike at the angle you need to complete your work. I have a carbon bike that is pretty light, just over 7kg, I used to worry about the bike being mounted in a secure fashion but I never have to worry when using the Spider due to it being secured in place through the axle with the correct adapter. The Tray that comes with this comes in pretty handy with a decent size base and space to attach some tools to.
I have used this on many occasions over the last few months for minor bike maintenance and regular bike cleaning and I am very happy with it . This product is built to last extremely sturdy, Very light and compact so much so that I plan on bringing it to along to any events I travel to next year. I highly recommend the Tacx Spider.
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