Well my old Direto had finally given up the ghost and I’m fed up of crashing on my rollers during threshold efforts so maybe time for a new trainer.
Have a few options:
Saris H3 plus
Tacx Flux S
Direto XR T
Kickr Core
Suito T
I’ve heard that the Flux has a belt issue. Do any of the others have known issues that drops them off the list. Tbh I’ve fallen a bit out of love with Elite and their customer service.
Which should i go for and why and is there a glaring omission from the list?
Uk based £500 max price, need to take thru axles which im sure they all do. Reliability and lack of noise are top wants.
I’d like to get a super consistent training block underway…
Cheers and mods feel free to bump, merge or whatever if there is a similar thread already.
I’d be interested to hear what @GPLama and/or @dcrainmaker would recommend. It’s only for TR and maybe a very rarer Zwift pootle.
All of the trainers you’ve listed are nearing on 10 year old tech/features.
Saris H3 plus
I wouldn’t bother with anything from Saris for now. They seem to be in a “Weekend at Bernie’s” mode, appearing to be alive on social. Who knows if their heart is actually beating? Whatever happened to the H4? I have one here… collecting dust. They’ll need to bring something to the table soon to show they’re back in the game or just simply clearing inventory.
Tacx Flux S
No. The Flux is well overdue for a refresh, or ideally, to be sunset and replaced with a ‘NEO Lite’ or similar. Garmin have effectively sunk the Tacx brand since acquisition. They’ve excused themselves from the indoor party. Unlike Saris, the company(s) are doing fine. We just don’t know what their commitment to indoor cycling is ongoing.
Direto XR T
A solid performer. The stepper motor resistance unit can be a little harsh for ERG interval changes (and SIM gradients). Elite have mentioned they’d be pushing an update to support ZP Virtual Shifting, so they still consider this worthy of updates.
Kickr Core
A true workhorse. Also due for a refresh on features as the Victory has given it an extreme wedgie on connectivity and value/price. Still a good option.
Suito T
If you’ve fallen out of love with Elite, this won’t help. The compact size of the Suito is really neat. The Direto XR would be a better choice if sticking with Elite.
It’s a pity JetBlack can’t meet demand with the Victory. It smokes all of the trainers above on features/value. It’s what all trainer companies should have released in 2024, but only one did. For various reasons.
tldr; @OreoCookie summarised it well. Core / Direto XR.
To add to that: I only use erg mode for endurance rides and rely on my Quarq’s power numbers. The Suito’s power numbers were initially in agreement with my Quarq’s. When I checked last, both, the slope and the offset were markedly different despite several spin downs. At my FTP, the difference was of the order of 10 % or 25–30 W. I suspect that wear/bedding in of components made the mathematical model used to deduce power from changes in flywheel speed inaccurate, and that the relevant parameters are not fitted or fitted correctly during spin down. The rest of the Suito’s hardware is great.
It seems the optical torque sensor is a better way to determine power.
This is N = 1, so I don’t know whether other people have made similar experiences. I wish, I would have gotten the Kickr instead, but at the time that was much more expensive.
I have suito after 3 years now I have grinding noise that I can’t get rid of ( tightening everything etc…). The power is also off from my power pedals and the ERG mode is horrible… Luckily I just use it with my powermeter and in resistance mode, for that it is still ok. But since the direto XR and the Core are now often at a similar price I would take one of those.
I hope many Suito survives until jet black can meet demand for the victory or Wahoo updates the kickr core.
Many thanks to all that have replied especially @OreoCookie and @GPLama for the comprehensive response. Think it may be a case of hold off, find some workaround and order a Victory when they come back into stock if i get desperate it’ll be a kickr.
Am i correct that i could use the Victory and zwift hub 2 in TR doing a workout in ERG mode?
I have a kickr core and it just works. I have testet accuracy against my Assioma’s and every time it is pretty accurate. As long as the other options (excluding the victory which is hard to get a hold of) does not pose a significant amount of money saved I can not se a reason to buy something else.
If they get to meet the demand, then looking forward, what are the chances we may see a motion-enabled (built-in, not rocker) variant from JetBlack? Seems about the only thing missing from it.
Mine made a grinding noise about 2 years back. IIRC to stop it I had to take a large adjustable spanner to the silver cone on the left of the trainer and touchwood it has been silent since. Apart from its size/foldability I don’t think the Suito has much going for it though
Not to derail this thread too much but mine made a similar sound (I wish I still had the video -maybe it was different).
For anyone else who might have weird grinding sounds - Elite gave me instructions to take off the screw holding that red fan on and unscrew the nut behind holding the flywheel still. Take the belt off and remove the small metal pulley. Clean off any metal dust then put Loctite 638 when re-installing the pulley. Let it cure (~24 hrs) then put everything back together (including threadlocker on the flywheel nut). You might have to mess with the belt tension to match the offset value afterward. But at least when I did it the sound went away for a couple years and trainer kept on truckin.
