I’m soon moving into a new apartment, and storage space (and space in general) will be tight. I won’t have the luxury of leaving my paincave set up when I’m not using it. What smart trainer is smallest when stored? Are there any that are particularly hard to setup or put away that I should avoid?
My Stac Zero Halcyon folds up easily to slip under a bed. I can set up and take down in just a couple minutes.
I live in a 1 bed / 1 bath place and have a Kickr Snap. Easy setup and tear down. On the non-smart side, CycleOps Fluid 2 folds up nicely.
+1 to the halcyon. My fan is louder than the unit too
The Feedback Sports Omnium Trainer is one extremely compact trainer that we recommend. It is our choice for travel due to its small size and weight
Edit: Sorry, not a smart trainer
+1 on Kickr Snap. You could put that anywhere. Very easy setup/fold away.
I’m definitely looking at that one, even though it’s not smart. How loud is it?
The halcyon looks really promising. I’m not the only one in my tiny apartment and making a ton of noise at 6 am is a nonstarter.
Some of the reviews I saw were critical of the “feel” of the trainer, at least on non-erg rides. I’m not a big Zwift person, so I would mostly be using it in Erg mode I think.
I’m also a bigger rider (215 lbs) and a bit nervous about stability of the unit given there is only one point of contact with the bike. Are you able to do standing efforts or sprints on it? I know this can be a bit tricky on trainers in general.
Thank you for all the advice!
I’m on the smaller side (145 lb), but I haven’t had stability issues with the Halycon. It’s my first trainer, so I’m not sure how to judge feel. It’s certainly good enough for me. It does come with wheel weights you can add to give you more inertia like a flywheel. I don’t bother with them, since they didn’t make a big difference in how I felt riding. (I ride only in Erg mode.)
IME, it is just as stable as my Gen 1 Kickr. As far as feel though, it is not the same as direct drive but better than a wheel on trainer. I have tried the gamut of trainers from OG magnetic trainers, to Computrainers, to knock off, Nashbar, to the original PowerBeam, to finally the Gen 1 Kickr and the Halcyon. With the wheel weights added, the feel is pretty good overall. In erg mode, you do have to change the gearing to get it just right. In resistance mode in TR, it’s pretty solid. I have not tried it on Zwift yet.
There’s the over-drive version as well. Quiet. folds up small. Road feel. It’s awesome. And it has increasing resistance curve. I’d recommend for sure.
I’d say it’s about even with the Kinetic Road Machine. Running completely slick tires helps to drastically decrease the volume if you find that it is too loud. Even minor siping on the tire can have a big effect on the noise generated while riding trainers .
Easy to set up, runs smoothly and you can take them to warm up on when racing
I do 100% of my training on that trainer (Feedback Sport Omnium Over-drive). I can’t say enough good things about it. Not smart though.
I’m leaning towards the Omnium. Being able to take it with me easily is a nice feature. Thanks for the advice everyone!
Kickr Snap
Would it be possible to carry the omnium by bike? I commute to most of my races by bike, but there is sometimes not a great area near the course to warmup. Could I sling it over my shoulder and ride with it to a race, or would it be to heavy?
Riding with an Omnium is doable if you can tighten the shoulder strap around you where it balances the load against your body. It’s similar to a heavy backpack but will sit on your body asymmetrically, which causes odd balance issues on a bike.
I’m also bigger, right around 215lbs. I have no problems with stability on the Halcyon during standing efforts. The one point of contact - the rear axle - is exactly the same as any other trainer, and the legs are plenty wide on each side.
I’ve taken the Halcyon with me to travel as well, and it packs up nice and tiny. I don’t bother with the wheel weights for travel, so it feels a little choppy on really low power efforts (under 100W), but otherwise I haven’t missed the wheel weights when I use TrainerRoad.