Today, Elite announced an update to their flagship
Interactive Direct Drive Smart Trainer, the Drivo...
... with the Drivo II
Building on an already solid base of the Drivo I unit
The Drivo II has a few more refined specs
to take it to the next level and reading them on paper
it gets people like me a little excited
First up...
the number one thing that stood out for me
was the claimed power accuracy
below 1% plus or minus 0.5% percent
Making the Drivo II at this point in time
the most claimed accurate Smart Trainer.
We will put that to the test.
Secondly, the resistance changes on the Drivo II unit
are said to be 3x faster than the original Drivo unit.
So that should be good for SIM mode
going up and down hills
and those quick ERG mode changes
we need for short intervals.
The Drivo II has some pretty wild braking force behind it as well
so the numbers here are 2300 watts resistance at 40 kms an hour maximum
and 3600 watts at 60 kms an hour.
If you're doing even half of that indoors
you're doing very very well.
What this means for you and I
who probably aren't pushing those kind of numbers
is that the unit has a ton of braking force behind it
and a ton of braking force means it can simulate steep climbs.
The Drivo II can simulate up to 24%
So Alpe d'Zwift feels like Alpe d'Huez.
The size and form factor of the Drivo II
is very similar to that of the Drivo I
but it's borrowed the legs
off a Direto.
So it's a bit of a redesign with the stabilization of the unit
and it comes in black
The original Drivo I came in an off-white/white colour
which was a topic of discussion for a few people.
So this one is the dark night edition
Rear axle support for the Drivo II
is the same as the Drivo I
So out of the box, you'll get
quick-release 130/135 mm
and also components in the box for 142 x12 thru-axle.
Elites now ship firmware that has dual Bluetooth
and Ant+ support simultaneously.
So if you're collecting data from multiple sources
or you're controlling the train with one app
and riding another, you're covered with this unit.
Similar to the original unit
The Drivo II also has Pedaling Scan Analysis
within the My E-Training app.
Speaking of which there's a 36-month coupon
to the My E-Training app in the box.
There's also a KinoMap coupon...
...a SufferFest coupon...
...a Bikevo discount
and a training test here to complete
which was developed with the Map A Sports Institute
That looks painful.
Okay enough talk.
Let's get this thing out of the box
and through the Lama Lab Test
Okay with everything out of the box
We have the power cables.
We have the cadence sensor supplied.
We have all the tools required.
A rear skewer.
The feet.
a shoe of some type
I'm guessing that goes in the middle there.
We'll find out in a minute.
And the unit itself, the Drivo II...
...in black.
First observation is it has Direto
or Direto style legs out the front.
so let's try and get those on
which should be pretty straightforward.
Breaking from tradition
I will have a quick scan of the manual here to make sure I've built this front-end correctly
It's a little different than the other Elite Trainers that I've had
Clicks into place.
Feet on - we got the right direction
Bolts through with washers
Feet out locked into place
Nose cone on
We are...good to go
Fantastic, okay
Happy days.
Everything we need here
so we have thru-axel support
and we have standard road axel support here
So these are the two that we need for 130
or 135
The little port right next to the power input there
is for the supplied cadence sensor.
So if we're going to use that for pedal analysis
That's where that plugs into
and the sensor goes up to your bike
Here's the full cadence sensor kit as supplied.
The height of the unit sits...
...34 cms off the ground
So that shouldn't need a front wheel chock.
We'll see how it feels when I get on the bike.
And it's not too bad, but just out of preference
I will put the front wheel chock in
because I am going to be riding up
a few hills with this during the Lama Lab Test.
Lama lab tests now complete
and a few additional kms for good measure
Let's jump over now to DC Rainmaker Analyzer Tool
and put the Drivo II up against the PowerTap P1 Pedals.
So it's standard Lama Lab test here
which I can identify a mile away
This really is one of the closest I've ever seen
between the PowerTap P1 Pedals and an indoor Smart Trainer.
So look, I'm not going to dive too hard into it.
It's one for one pedaling along.
It's all good
Nothing to complain about there whatsoever in a steady state
Let's have look at the sprint response
and the pedals of course
are going to be a little snappier.
I had to grab an extra a couple of gears there
which threw the sprint out a little bit
But the responsiveness not too bad whatsoever.
We'll have a look at the maximals in just one moment
Now into the over-and-under intervals here
I'll just zoom in
You can see there 238 versus 238 average power.
Absolutely beautiful.
The shadowing you see there
is just a recording interval
probably just getting in the way there.
But the Drivo and Drivo II rewards smoothness coming into a resistance change
So you don't try and punch through
those upcoming watts
that ERG mode's going to force on you.
You just ride into it
and then it smoothes out
so you can see there the last one in the 450 zone
nice and smooth into it
on the pedals as well and...
...perfect.
Then I gave it a little bit of a crack up the Watopia Wall KOM
Here's the data from that...
...so looking at 490 versus 491 for about two minutes.
I managed to snag that Jersey so happy days.
Now I am getting a bit of a reputation
for being a bit critical
when two power meters don't match.
I got nothing to say about that.
Good enough for me.
After breaking free of the Lama Lab Test
I did jump into SIM mode on Zwift
and check out the responsiveness of the hills ups and downs
and through those S's
Excellent response time.
So the stepping mode being a little bit quicker than the original Drivo?
Spot-on.
Works well.
While we're still here on DC Rainmaker Analyzer Tool
jumping down to cadence
that all looks pretty good as we're riding along.
And a quick look at the overall stats here from that ride.
Now this can be a bit skewy because I calibrate at 10 minutes in
but the average there 169 versus 165 not too bad
Normalises pretty close.
Max power - PowerTap Pedals reporting 1286
and the Drivo II reporting 1168.
It's not too bad
I don't expect that trainer measurement
to grab those initial spikes that the pedals do.
That's pretty damn close
So my experience there in summary with the Drivo II unit from Elite -
Killer power accuracy.
Good responsiveness to ERG mode and SIM mode.
Good ride feel, just riding along.
Noise wise, it's not silent.
It's no louder or quieter than the original Drivo unit.
But most of the time what you're hearing
through the camera here is a shotgun mic
pointed straight at the unit
So it might sound a little louder
but you can also hear the chain
and the drive chain over the unit itself.
So it's not too loud. It's not too obnoxious.
And those direto style legs they've added to the Drivo II
add to the stability of the unit when ripping into maximal sprints.
Onto the pricing and availability now
The Drivo II - €1390 euros
£1199 pounds. US dollars $1349
and Aussie dollars $1799
It states here they'll be shipping in August to European stores.
North America by the end of September
and in down under, here Australia, by the end of October.
I'm really looking forward to getting a lot more kms online
And it's just about time for the Aussie hump day ride.
So look out, I'll be taking the Drivo II
undercover to the hump day ride tonight.
Okay. Thanks for watching. We'll see you soon