Nailed it with the reference to ride feel. That's so important if you're spending time on the ergo and are serious about gains for specific events. If you're aiming for a good performance over 90km/180km on a fast flat course then there's no reason to be on an ergo with little inertia that's 'simulating' riding into a head wind, up a hill, with 40psi in the tyres. Which is how the Fluid2 feels to me. Sure it'll train the legs, but not as well as something that'll better simulate the ride feel of your event.
On the dumb trainer side of things the LeMond Revolution is king here. Anyone who's ridden one knows that buttery smooth feeling and road like forgiveness when you're smashing out and effort and need to drop the watts for a second or two without being punished by ERG mode.
Smart trainer wise.... This is a can of worms and starts wars. The Kickr is great, the Hammer and Drivo are also up there with a similar feel. The Neo is good but a little less forgiving in ERG mode with a quicker roll down time. The surprise player at the "budget" end is the Direto which should be hitting stores within a few weeks.
The best deal is a 2nd hand / pre-owned Kickr1 if you can find one. The parts that wear are replaceable (belts, shims) and they usually go for pretty cheap if someone really doesn't like indoor training and wants to move it fast.
Shane Miller - GPLama
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