This topic is dedicated to help those that have the Realaxiom trainer.
1. The resistance unit is comprised of a motor driven movable caliper with imbedded magnets and a metal rotor which the caliper moves up and down to create more or less resitance. I had a problem with my unit creating this terrible grinding noise of caliper against the rotor (this is the design flaw IMO) until I added a plastic spacer indicated in the pictures below. I had to play with the assemble of the plastic housing screw tightness to get the pressure on the caliper just right so that the motor that moves the caliper does not have to function under undo load from this spacer.
2. Next problem was a cooling fan, as seen in the above picture, that I had to replace shortly after purchasing (the trainer was brand new from Nashbar). Simple enough to replace just get the right size and screw it in there. The connector is very small and requires special tools to make the new fan wire reconnection (very expensive so I am told) so I just jury rigged it for now until I get enough time to solder in by splicing the old wire and old connector to new wire. Yes that is duct tape that I used
3. You can see in the above pic the old contact switch that is broken. I couldn't find the same size contact switch locally so replaced it with the smallest I could find (you can see this in the pic below). This larger switch causes the path that the caliper takes to be less than what the original intended. This essentially makes the resistance of the unit start at say - 10% of total resistance capability (I am just guessing at this 10% number). This has caused the programs to be helluva harder! But in fact the resistance is now in my opinion more realistic to actual power outputs (I need to borrow a buddy Powertap to quantify). My feeling is, after a couple of sessions on the trainer, that on the lower slopes (2% to about 4%) the power needed is actually more than what the software tells you on the GUI. From 5% to about 7.5% it seems less but I could be wrong. Anything above 8% slopes the resistance does not change as the unit is maxed out mechanically so this affects your overall power averages for any given program, skewing your power numbers upwards, as the GUI is showing increased power without increased effort.
I think my power plug into the unit is next to malfunction...it is starting to deliver power intermittently but I have a little trick up my sleeve for this next inevitable fix
Can anybody help a brother out here...I heard on the webs that there is a software hack that allows you to take the windows that show speed, power ect that appear in your GUI (while riding My RealVideos or courses like Col du Galibier or Peyresourde ect) to an extended monitor. This sure would be nice to see the whole route while riding without windows cluttering the space - especially on a laptop!
If you have lived with this trainer for more than a year I know you have done hacks or repairs - why not share to make life easier for other Realaxiom users - I really wanted the emoticon banging head against wall to finish my post but its not available
