Reviews over the

Elite Direto XR-T

Been using the Elite Direto XR since the end of October. Service at Mantel excellent, they even fitted the new cassette to the trainer on request. Chose the Elite because of Campagnolo 10-speed compatibility (with extra hub to be purchased), which for example the Saris H3 I actually had my eye on does not have. Still, there are some criticisms of the Direto. Firstly, watch out that you don't - as I did - accidentally pull the sticker off the trainer, because apparently you lose the warranty by doing so. A strange story. Next, the Elite doesn't really feel premium, it's mostly hard plastic that all doesn't feel super-sturdy. No idea how this is with other cycletrainers, by the way. Also, occasionally things don't go quite right between the Direto and Zwift. Sometimes, at the start of a ride, the Direto gives a huge amount of resistance that you can't really pedal through and you have to restart to get it working again. A problem I've also seen on the internet. However, the biggest problem with mine is that it makes some strange and disturbing noises (presumably the flywheel) that really don't belong. Reported under warranty to Mantel, I'm sure given their service it will be fine. Still, yet another confirmation that it all doesn't really feel premium. Otherwise, the Direto in itself cycles nicely, although I have no comparison material with other trainers. To the review writer of 5 December last: the phenomenon that you don't experience extra resistance when climbing a slope in Zwift is probably because then the ERG mode in Zwift is on. Is not due to the trainer.

Pros & Cons

I am currently using Zwift on my Elite Direto XR I have found while using zwift that the performance displayed on the screen does not match reality at all, the revolutions constantly fluctuate with very large differences e.g. from 40 to 90 while I am sure I am pedalling around 90 revolutions, The speed isn't right either and the percentages of incline don't match reality either, if I ride up a 10% incline at 120w according to the display on the screen, I don't feel any difference compared to normally pedalling at 120w, I then pedal at 90 revolutions and barely ride 6km/h. I have the impression that the speed, the revolutions, the inclines don't match reality at all, I can't check the wattage. Could this be due to certain settings or the Bluetooth connection? Of the Elite Direto XR they say that it reflects reality up to less than 2% difference.

Pros & Cons

and on top of that, in some tests I have done with bkool, the stiffening is delayed depending on the slope of the route. in bkool fitness it doesn't stiffen by itself, I have to use the option to press on the screen to stiffen the roller when doing segments of different power. I'll keep testing it because I've only used it 4 times, but I thought it would work better.

The bluetooth connection fails and can't be used. And on top of that, the bkool simulator does not show this Direto XR model and it connects to Elite Trainer, which looks like a generic ANT+ one. Is there any way to update this by Elite or BKOOL?

When you simulate climbing a hill, it takes several seconds (between 5 and 10 seconds) for the roller to simulate the slope of that hill.

Pros & Cons