I’m seeking recommendations for a new trainer. I currently have a few year old Wahoo Kickr that’s been a bit of a lemon. It developed the infamous Clickr problem which I fixed with replacement parts from Wahoo, it is loud because the flywheel isn’t well balanced, and the power has never been accurate (reads about 10% low compared to my other several power meters).
In any event, I’m looking for recommendations for a new trainer. My preference is not Wahoo, but I’m in the United States so it may be my best option.
I’d check out trainers from Elite. I’ve been running an Elite Suito for almost 5 years without any issues at all. I’ve also been quite happy with its “feel”. Suito’s are still available. The Avanti and Rivo, newer offerings, are also worth looking at.
I’m also looking for a new trainer, but I had a bit of a bad experience with my Elite. I bought the trainer at the end of 2020 and some bearing broke recently, making the trainer unusable. I contacted Elite for a repair, but they say they don’t have any spare parts any more so there’s no repair option. That makes me disinclined to get another Elite model. 5 years seems a reasonable expectation for repairability to me. And it breaking at all surprised me since I basically only used it from November to March and probably less than 2hrs/week on average. For five years, that’s ~200 hours of use…
I only very briefly looked into the possibility of repairing it myself. I found some experiences talking about switching out bearings and having to send the trainer in to Elite for recalibration anyway which made me disinclined to pursue this further.
In any case, I would like a company to be able to repair a piece of equipment that costs several hundred euros five years after purchase. Elite does not seem to run their business that way so I’m inclined to look elsewhere.
It doesn’t get a lot of attention, however the Saris Hammer series has been really good to me. I have the original Hammer and after more than 30K kilometers it is still spot on with power readings compared to my Assioma pedals. Other than the power brick replaced under warranty a few months after purchase it has been solid for about 10 years. Saris used to be Cycleops/Powertap and Powertap was a pioneer in power measuring devices.
Had two Elite Diretos over the years (one died and was repalced by warranty). I like the fact that in Erg mode, you can “overpower” it if you want and go harder. It is kind of a blend between Erg and Resistance modes. But if you are someone who like straight lines on their workouts, probably not the best option.
I then had a Saris H3 that I got when they blew out excess inventory. Fantastic trainer and can be had for good deals. However, you will be limited to 11 spd systems as 12 spd cassettes are not supported (but some have managed to make it work).
This winter I got a Zwift Ride and a Kickr Core2 package deal….and love it. The virtual shifting is great and provides a huge range of gears. Responds quickly in ERG and I can set up the Ride into almost any configuration needed.
I can’t see spending more money on a trainer than a Core2. For <$500, you get everything you need.
I too had the H1 with many years of trouble free service. Switched to the Garmin Neo bike as our trainer room isn’t very big, and with the kids getting older, more of us were trying to get on and cassette + axle variation issues (Pre Zwift Cog) drove us to a standalone unit. The Garmin bike has been solid too, and the road feel is kind of fun to keep you engaged.
I‘ve done a „chain of upgrades“ since 2017 (wheel on tacx – kickr core v? – Neo 2T). I had some issues with the kickr core (noise, feel, stability) and it broke within warranty.
The Neo has been pretty amazing and going for 4 winters. It‘s been service free, silent-ish, consistent with power readings compared to my assioma duos and the bit of flex it provides makes longer rides indoor noticeably more comfortable. I don‘t use roadfeel as I just do simple workouts.
Neo 2T is on sale right now so I’m going to pull the trigger. Seems like the best options for my parameters including wanting to try something outside the kickr ecosystem.
Reporting back, the Tacx is whisper quiet and compared to my Kickr and seems to read within a watt of my quarq power meter. I need to put more virtual miles on it but I’m currently a happy camper.