Tacx Training App Review: Is It Worth Using?

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Tacx Training is an indoor cycling app developed by Garmin that is suitable only for Tacx bike trainer owners.

The question is: Is it worth your time and money once the trial period ends? Shouldn’t you use another 3rd party app?

In this Tacx Training App review, you will find out! I tested it and compared it with other popular indoor cycling apps to learn how it works, its pros & cons, and much more.

My Tacx Training rating at a glance:
Ease of Setup 5/5 | Engagement 2/5 | Community 1/5 | Routes 4/5 | Training 3/5 | UX 5/5 | Platforms Availability 4/5 | Price 5/5 | OVERALL 3.6/5
More about this indoor cycling apps scoring.

Tacx Training Summary

What is Tacx Training?
Tacx Training App is Garmin’s indoor cycling app that plays videos of routes worldwide while you ride on a trainer. It also includes structured workouts and training plans.

Who is it for?
Tacx Training is perfect for people who want to explore places worldwide and improve their fitness. You will like it if you don’t mind riding solo.

Who is it not for?
Tacx Training is not for non-Tacx trainers users (because it’s only compatible with Tacx trainers) or people who want to meet others in the app.

You probably won’t like it if you prefer game-like graphics and sophisticated motivational elements.

My Experience with Tacx Training

Here is my experience with the initial setup, routes, user experience, and more you can find in Tacx Training.

Initial Setup

You won’t be able to connect it to the app if you have a smart trainer from another manufacturer. So, you have to have a Tacx bike trainer.

I paired it successfully with the Tacx NEO 2T and Wahoo TICKR heart rate monitor.

The app didn’t show my power meters, so I couldn’t even pair them. It’s strictly tied to Tacx trainers.

INDOOR CYCLING TIP: Improve your comfort and engagement with a cycling rocker plate and its swinging motion. I also recommend buying an indoor cycling fan that will keep you cool down.

In-App Experience

The real-world footage is like in FulGaz or Kinomap. Tacx Training doesn’t augment it with virtual objects like ROUVY.

GPS rides are similar to Magic Roads of Wahoo RGT. You upload your GPX file from Garmin Connect, and based on its profile, Tacx Training creates the route and shows it on a map. Pretty boring, in my opinion, but you can train the exact profile of your next race.

You can also do structured workouts. I write more about them below.

Engagement

Tacx Training doesn’t include a sophisticated motivation system like Zwift, for example.

This means you have to be internally motivated to continue using it, similar to TrainerRoad or Wahoo SYSTM.

You can collect badges, but for me, this reason alone is not strong enough to use the app.

Chasing other people can be a good incentive, but in Tacx Training, you only see their icon in the route profile. It doesn’t show any avatars like ROUVY or Zwift.

You can try to beat your previous times if there are no other people on a given route.

That’s where the external motivators of Tacx Training end. You have to be internally motivated (to maintain/improve your fitness, explore places worldwide, etc.) to use it.

Routes

Tacx Training offers hundreds of routes from which you can choose. However, the free version is limited to two routes only.

You can ride famous climbs, such as Mt. Ventoux, Passo Stelvio, etc., or other famous places worldwide.

The routes library also includes many gravel routes, so you can take full advantage of the Tacx NEO 2T and Tacx NEO Bike gravel simulation.

The library has helpful filters so you will quickly find the route you want (or have time) to ride.

Training

Tacx Training has a workout library and a few structured training plans. The structured training plans are for premium users only. I couldn’t figure out how to enroll them in the free trial period.

So, you can use Tacx Training as a training tool if you are dedicated to improving your performance.

The workout user interface shows you only the information you need, such as your power, cadence, workout time, interval time, etc. It’s like TrainerRoad, but worse.

It’s visually pleasant but shows the wrong data. I don’t care about my speed indoors. I care about sustaining the target power and the duration of the interval. Ironically, this information is written in tiny font, so it’s hard to read.

User Friendliness

Tacx Training has a nice, clean user interface, making it easy to use.

I admit that the fonts could be larger for better readability from a distance, but otherwise, it’s pretty ok.

It’s responsive, easy to navigate, loads relatively quickly, shows you demos of the routes, and more.

I didn’t experience any signal dropouts or app crashes. It also has high reviews on Google Play and the App store.

Platforms Availability

Tacx Training is available on all major platforms, including iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows, except Apple TV.

Tacx Training Alternatives

There are plenty of indoor cycling apps out there. The closest alternatives to Tacx Training are:

• TrainerRoad – is a fully performance-oriented cycling app with a comprehensive workout library. It only shows you your ride data, no virtual world or video footage.
• Zwift – utilizes a virtual world built from scratch. It doesn’t have as wide a route library as ROUVY. It is much closer to being a game.
• ROUVY – is the closest alternative to Tacx Training. It also uses real-world footage, but ROUVY augments it with avatars and other objects. It has a huge route library and allows you to explore beautiful places from the comfort of your home.
• Wahoo SYSTM – includes traditional cycling training, yoga for cyclists, strength and mental training to make you a better, faster, and more resilient cyclist.
• Wahoo RGT (formerly known as RGT Cycling) – features a virtual world inspired by real-world roads. Its graphics are more realistic than Zwift, but it doesn’t offer as sophisticated motivation mechanisms.

I created a rating system to evaluate the following features. It helps to keep the comparison between training apps consistent.

• Price – how expensive is the app relative to other indoor cycling apps?
• Ease of setup – is the app easy to set up with a smart trainer? Can it be used without it?
• Engagement – does the app keep you engaged and motivated?
• Routes – does the app offer a wide route library?
• Training – does the app include prebuilt workout plans? Do they help you get faster?
• User-friendliness and intuitiveness (UX) – is the app easy to navigate, easy to use, clear, and intuitive?
• Platform availability – is the app available for multiple platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, AppleTV, etc.?

The following table shows my ratings of specific areas on a scale of 1–5 (5 is the best).

My Verdict

Do I recommend Tacx Training?
Yes. Tacx Training offers most features you expect from an indoor cycling app. So, it should satisfy your needs if you don’t mind riding solo and are internally motivated.

Do I recommend it to everybody?
No. Tacx Training App is not for people who lack motivation because it doesn’t include sophisticated motivational features.

Most importantly, you need a Tacx trainer because the Tacx Training App is incompatible with 3rd party trainers. It is also unsuitable for socially oriented people because you won’t be able to chat with others, and its community is not as big as Zwift’s community, for example.

Tacx Training FAQ