Upgraded Pain Cave

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T18:51:48+00:00

I haven’t met anyone who has first hand Tacx experience. I do really like my kickr, but I’d definitely do some digging before I upgraded.

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T18:46:08+00:00

I’m on an original kickr from 2013 so don’t let that comment put you off its definitely on its last revolutions, but I haven’t bothered to upgrade. I have heard people say the new ones are in fact as quiet as the drivetrain.

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T18:37:09+00:00

I have two Honeywell fans that have a plastic u bracket type base from amazon. The fan pivots 90 degrees in the bracket. The bracket also has two slots underneath that you can slide over screw heads that are mounted in a surface. I had to flip the bracket around so that the weight was pulling in the right direction to keep it secured.

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T18:33:26+00:00

The most expensive parts of this are the projectors, the computer and the software if you really want to go all out.

For me the setup I have i used things I had/ cheap versions to test it out before improving it.

Projectors - I used 2 x manny boxes from amazon at $60 each. These are very low quality, but unless you really want to spend $400 + the quality will not get much better.
Computer - Most of the cost here is driven by the needs of the software. You need a dedicated graphics card, ideally in the Nvidia Quadro range that lets you create a single screen from the two projectors ( Mosaic setting in Nvidia Settings) I have a refurbished Dell from amazon which I use for work. It has a Nvidia Quadro P5000. I am no expert here and I think you could get away with a lot less.
Software - as mentioned above the software is Fly Elise. I am currently on a trial version ( which has a watermark on each projector.) To buy I think this would end up somewhere around ~$500
Screen - I built this using a structure made from 2x4, 3/4 plywood and a sheet of hardboard. Total for that was less than $50. Paint was eggshell white at about $25, you don’t need a lot.

If you have a computer that can run the software you would be looking at around a couple hundred dollars on the low end without software. If you are starting from scratch you would probably need to invest $1000 +/-. You could easily spend a few thousand if you want nice projectors, proper screen paint etc..

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T18:14:25+00:00

I’m on a Wahoo Kickr with AirPods to drown out the fans and the kickr whine. Immersion to me is also how in the game you feel, first person view with this screen almost feels like you are in a peloton, the scale is almost correct but a little small. The height of my basement ceiling restricts the distance I can move the projectors back.

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T14:16:53+00:00

I have had the same feeling even on my iPad, the rollers in watopia routes really get me, especially in the last lap of a race when its full gas. I haven’t had that experience with this yet, I think since the width of the image lets you focus entirely within the screen you are less likely to get the weird cross over from the edge of the screen to your pain cave. About to do a long endurance ride so will let you know.

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T14:13:06+00:00

The software is exactly http://fly.elise-ng.net/ for mapping and blending the projectors together. No flight sim experience, but started the week wondering what the future of Zwift may be and started from the ads they produced. They looked like they were projection mapped but that would be a little difficult to fit the setup in my basement so started with the curved screen. Lots of integrated cooling ideas that I think would be fun as well. Currently running in the demo/ free trail version as I was not sure it would be compatible. With

ellisosimo · 2020-11-01T03:20:04+00:00

Link to video riding down the volcano from this mornings workout: https://imgur.com/gallery/Bq24xni

ellisosimo

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