Havnt been in the market for a trainer in almost 4 years. I’m currently about to receive my 5th kickr core warranty replacement and likely gonna sell it and move on. I’ve watched all the most recent reviews from the big guys (GP and DCR). Looking for some guidance on what seems to be working well long term. While the kickr core has been abysmal for me, their warranty process has been amazing and considering a kickr. Saris is a bit cheaper but saw an entire thread dedicated to issues with it. Neo 2T comes in at around the same price. I’m on the trainer most of the weekdays and outside on the weekends.
For those that train a lot indoors, what are you using and what do you like/dislike about it? I have a motion plate so don’t care about this being built in
Thanks!
Ive the Elite Suito, for portability (compacted foldness) its great, but for ERG its probably one of the worst (not that I can actually compare it to anything else). I don’t use ERG and the portability element wins for me currently.
I had a Kickr v5 for almost 4 years and had zero complaints. Just sold it after giving up on Wahoo ever bringing virtual gears to it. I still say it’s BS the claims by Wahoo saying it’s not possible, I think they’re just being greedy and forcing people to upgrade. My plans were to get a Kickr Bike but I’m not very pleased with Wahoo right now and part of me wants to go with a different brand. The Elite Square Bike is appealing with the belt drive. Hoping that some more reviews will come out by winter. I’ve used Elite trainers in the past and had some minor issues but Elite always fixed them.
I’ve heard good things about Elite and the price is certainly appealing on some of their slightly older trainers
The Tacx Neo 2T has been on sale for <$1,000. It’s a good trainer. I have always been all in on the Garmin ecosystem, using Rally pedals on my road bike and a Garmin Edge computer. I also have been treated well by Garmin support over the years, which makes me a more loyal customer. I’d suggest skipping the motion plates or the Neo 3M though, and putting the money you save to a nice rocker. IMO, the Garmin motion plates are overly expensive for what they are, and only make sense if space is limited and you can’t use a full rocker. I use one of these: https://velocityrockers.com/
Already have a MP1 so not concerned with their rockers. I’ve been heavily leaving towards the garmin
Been on the Elite Suito since last fall, came from a kinetic road machine with the replacement control assembly to make it smart. Have not had any issues with ERG on the Suito. For the price very happy with it. Only traveled once with it but it was compact and easy to move like noted above.
I just bought an Elite Nero after 3 years on kickrs (v5 and core, honestly didn’t notice any difference between them except no longer a need to spindown). I really like the Nero
Rollers add a whole now dimension to cycling although I can understand it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Out of saddle sprinting will take me quite a bit before I will master that without falling but to me that adds to the excitement and the feeling of riding rollers is just so good
Where are you located, Wahoo just had a sale, still some discounts in the UK to be had on Wahoo trainers.
I have had Neo2T for about 4.5yrs, currently on my third. First one just died, returned to the retailer for a refund and bought another, 2nd one the axle broke, I was a year outside warranty but I contacted Garmin to find out if I had any repair options and they replaced it with a refurb FOC.
Prior to this I had a Kickr, at that time you had to calibrate the trainer and my belt snapped, trainer was never the same after that.
Moved to the Neo2T as no belt and no calibration required. The consistency is what I like, hopefully this one lasts a couple of years.
The feel between the Kickr and the Neo are very different (imo)
If I were in the market now I would buy another Neo2T.
Been using an original Neo for 6 years, all I done to it is replace a free hub …
Had nothing but good experience with Garmin customer service regarding other products so I assume it would be similar with the Neo if it was still in warranty.
Bought the new kickr when it came out. The mag trainer finally died. Hahaha. Before that was a wind trainer and rollers. The difference is like night and day. I have no experience with any of the other ones. Kickr has been great. If I’m going to run a bunch of Bluetooth devices I connect the kickr first to avoid any weirdness.
Same, except I haven’t even done that
If you’re someone like me who does the majority of their riding inside, the Kickr Bike is the way to go. I got my about 2.5 years ago, and it’s great. I don’t worry about sweating on it and ruining my bike; easy to adjust and does everything I want. It does have a much higher price point but honestly I get my money out of it.
I’m genuinely considering that. I do a ton of my training indoors. 3 small kids and a busy career just doesn’t make getting outside during the week a regular occurrence. Hard to justify the price but I’m certainly convincing myself of it
Glad to know the neo’s have done well. If I go with another trainer, I think the responses so far have pushed me to garmin
Another vote for the smart bike option.
One thing I see as a benefit is that it is very easy to tweak your position on the smart bike. Sort of an option to do on the fly bike fit adjustments as you get fitter / better at holding an aero position etc.
By doing that, then when it comes to new (real) bike time, you have a more informed idea of the size / set up to get.
Started off with a Kickr in 2014 or 2015. After a few years I replaced it because it was not overly accurate and loud like hell. Got a Neo 2 which died with burnt smell after two years. Some non replacable internal blew. Got a Kickr v5 which has been used without any issue for 3 years now.
I wouldn’t get a SmartBike. I do not have a lot of trust in bike tech, these products die too often. Smart Bikes are too expensive and bulky for my liking.
The size of the bike isn’t really an issue to me, more concerned with how volatile the market is. I almost pulled the trigger on a stages bike when they were on sale last year and really woulda been kicking myself now. Wahoo was almost in the same boat a year ago. Really trying to avoid the $3k paperweight if one of these brands goes belly up.
Still looking at bikes but $1000 is kinda the upper limit of what I’m hoping to spend unless I find a very compelling way to convince myself otherwise
Had one of the first Tacx NeoBikes, and am now on my 5th through warranty–the Garmin/Tacx customer service has been great and I’ll keep going with it until they finally stop replacing it. I’ve got a particular use case for a smart bike (4 users), but if I were in the market right now I’d get a Tacx/Wahoo/maybe Elite trainer with a bike now, and very seriously consider the Elite Square if the reviews of the shipped version are positive.
Same here, done over 80000km on my Neo and haven’t had to do any maintenance
I have had the Tacx Neo 2T for over 4 years. Have not had an issue with it. Would definitely buy another one.