Bicycles Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who build and repair bicycles, people who train cycling, or commute on bicycles. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Evening all,
Looking for advice please.
As a complete beginner, I'm unsure which type of road bike to match up with a Tacx Flux S Direct Drive Smart Trainer.
It has a this specification: Compatibility: Bike & Axle: Race: 130mm; MTB: 135mm; Cassette & Wheel : Shimano & SRAM: 8 t/m 11 speed
Would a Carrera Virtuoso Womens Road Bike 2020 with a Shimano CS-HG50 8 Speed, 11-28t fit?
Please help 🙏
I believe that this link at Halfords is the same model you have. As links to online retailers are often impermanent, I'm reproducing one of Halfords' pictures of the bike, focusing on the front fork. I chose this picture in particular because it appears to confirm that you have a quick release fork. The page stated that the Virtuoso had Shimano Claris, an 8-speed groupset.
Tacx's description of the Flux S says that it comes with a quick release, and that it's compatible with quick releases, so on that score you are good to go. One thing to note for the future is that most current disc brake bikes come with thru axles, which do the same thing as quick releases but have different dimensions. I may be mistaken, but it does not seem that Tacx package thru axle adapters with the trainer. They would be available for purchase aftermarket if you upgrade your bicycle later on.
The freehub body was described as being compatible with 8 to 11 speed Shimano cassettes. You would want to either get a second 8s cassette to use on your trainer, or to remove the cassette from your rear wheel to put it onto the bike. Unless you want to bring the bike and trainer to your local bike shop (LBS) every time you want to change things over, you should get the necessary tools - a lockring tool and a chain whip - and learn to do it yourself. For now, it would be simpler to just buy a second cassette and have the LBS mount it. I believe you will need to put a spacer on the freehub body to enable it to run 8 (or 9 or 10) speed cassettes, and I think the spacer usually comes with the freehub body. So, don't throw away any of the stuff in your package just yet.
