Genius - manual

[RainerF]

I´m a happy owner and user of the Genius multiplayer since Dec 26 last year. Everything works fine and no more stupid inhouse cycling. One point I´m interested to get feedback. Being proud getting my Genius I opened the box at home and realized - assembly instructions for brake and black track available - but no real user manual for the Genius interface. Hoping to find these on the CD/DVD I installed software - but no manuals - not on the CD/DVD - not in the help-function - and not even on any TACX-webside. Is this the reality - learning by doing ? I.e. I realized during 3rd ride - the red spotlight on the interface is just the sign that the heart rate belt is working and submitting signals. But where is the button callled "Cancel" on this interface ? Comparing with old Bushido dfescription I assumed - it must be the left button - but it doesnt work (i.e. switching back to a certain position when I lost the track during Real life training). My question - especially to TACX - for such an expensive packgae - is there any real user manaul available ? Or does anybody else know a source for manuals for interface, brake and black track ?

[thebigoneinfront]

Maybe this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZrnUHpQ ... ata_player tells more than the printed instructions? I am still waiting for the Genius to ship with TTS4, so I dont't know yet. There were no real "manuals" for the Fortius back then either. (But of course function printed on the buttons.)

There's an interesting article on Tacx in first issue of Rennrad magazine this year. Family-run company of 50 people that make far more products than just the trainers. They plan on just 8000 Genius trainers per year, half in Europe, half rest of world.

These trainers really are a niche product from a small company. I think that writing manuals (even for the only four languages at issue) is quite a bit of effort. So the choice is either delaying sales until the manuals are ready or start selling without manuals. In either case, people will fire on Tacx, so the choice is obvious and manuals always will lag behind. I assume manuals will appear on their homepage as soon as they are written. Guess Tacx are busy with getting TTS4 out and a major overhaul of manuals is due anyhow.

Happy training!

[mcorn]

Manuals are a very difficult problem for companies, which is why so many companies hardly produce them anymore, even for large volume products. Customers are nortorious for not reading them, and if you asked if the customer would be willing to pay an extra $25 for one, most would say no. Compound this with have to do them in multiple languages and keep them up to date, it is a huge effort.

[Dedgi]

Could also be Steve Jobs` influence - he believed that his products should be easy enough to use to not require a manual. Unfortutanely, Apple may be a bit better at achieving this simplicity. However, Jobs had a few temper issues, to say the least...

Hmm, I guess I'm a little off topic...

[malfukt]

However, Jobs had a few temper issues, to say the least...

& billion dollar company with money to pour into R&D..

[fionnghal]

I can see why complete manuals are tricky but there is little to no information whatsoever. Not so much as an explanation of what the various parts do - viz the chap who had to work out for himself what the red light means (assuming he is correct that is.) That is a major lack and can only lead to potential customers being put off. I am still trying to work out things that should be a simple two line instruction such as how to edit your user profile. Still cant find that one.

No user manual means very restricted ability to troubleshoot problems. That will lead to frustration and unhappy customers.

[mcorn]

I can see why complete manuals are tricky but there is little to no information whatsoever. Not so much as an explanation of what the various parts do - viz the chap who had to work out for himself what the red light means (assuming he is correct that is.) That is a major lack and can only lead to potential customers being put off. I am still trying to work out things that should be a simple two line instruction such as how to edit your user profile. Still cant find that one.

No user manual means very restricted ability to troubleshoot problems. That will lead to frustration and unhappy customers.

Actually, quite a bit of this stuff is covered on both the TTS3 and TTS4 manuals which are downloadable:

http://www.tacx.com/en/service/handleid ... tware3.dot

http://www.tacx.com/en/service/handleid ... tware4.dot

[Lard42]

Just got my Genius and all seems to working OK. However, is there an explanation anywhere on the status of the LED's on the brake? I kinda get the green LED is everything is connected OK. Then when is use the amber LEDs seem to light up the faster you go.

Is that all there is to it or is there anything more significant? Are there any other status lights I need to be aware of to warn of problems, etc?

Struggling to find confirmation anywhere.

Cheers

Mike

[malfukt]

Yes that is fine, what it is doing now as regard to lights..

[Blueberry]

I think the videos intructions and the pdf you can download are pretty much ok but they still leave a lot of unanswered questions.

And partly they are not product specific enough...

[gruffle]

I am quite happy with no printed manuals, they are a pain for manufacturers and constantly out of date as soon as they are printed.

I recognise that Tacx are not an apple/Google/Microsoft size enterprise.
But I would encourage a website presentation or youtube walkthrough of the setup. Should limit the multi-language issues if done with on-screen graphics.

Nothing too elaborate, but enough to give new users confidence, and actually to point out the main features.

[jpalcover]

Have you looked here?

http://www.tacx.com/fr/service/manuals/ ... eo_manuals (two tabs : "pdf" and "video")

http://www.tacx.com/en/service/manuals/ ... df_manuals (two tabs : "pdf" and "video")

http://www.youtube.com/user/tacx/videos

Cheers

[gruffle]

...and a bit of paper in the top of the box pointing to these sites