Better first confirm the dropped signal is not at your end first. Otherwise you will be disappointed with anything else you buy.

I run Tacx Neo with Garmin Vector pedals power-matching through TrainerRoad. Couldn't be happier.

To me the best part is that Neo is actually quiet, I live in an apartment and my girlfriend sleeps in the next room with no issues. I like that it also has a bit of a give side-to-side so it's easier on the bike.

I have experience with both Kurt Kinetic Road Machine (which I still have and it's awesome), and also Wahoo Kickr. I couldn't keep the Kickr cause it was super loud.

Yeah I've thought of that.. I've tried everything Wahoo, Trainerroad, and Favero have recommended and nothing has worked. I even trained in complete silence (i.e. unplugged Sonos speaker) with no fan, etc and it didn't work. I live in a detached house and my set up is in the basement so it's pretty remote from any potential interference. The weird thing is I didn't have any problems for years.

And I'm generally really annoyed at how slow and inefficient the support from Wahoo has been, so I'm being a bit of a baby with my reaction (i.e. buying an even more expensive trainer).

We have two Neos running in our house after 15 years on Computrainers. Main advice is buy from a retailer with good customer support and local if possible. I bought Neo first and it has been solid. Picked up one for my wife a month later from REI. It died in the first 30 minutes of use. Brake and or fan failure. REI is mail order only on these so round trip was about a month. Neo #2 comes and the same thing happens - dead in under 30 minutes with brake/fan failure message. She’s on Neo #3 now and it seeems solid, but it is hard to feel comfortable about this trainer after putting thousands of miles on the CT’s w/o issue. General word online at FB Tacx Neo user group is that these failures are claimed to be a result of a very hard drop.

I can’t help with dropout issue. Our workout room is full of electronics and ANT+ devices. The Neos have no issues and we run w/Quarq PM’s. Another consideration is that you probably don’t need the Powermatch with the Neo as it closely matches PM’s.

thanks, that's good feedback and a good idea.. I'll run both to test how close they are and if close enough then I won't use powermatch..

There are a LOT of reports of quality issues with the Neo, the most common one that comes to memory is the metal grinding that some people report experiencing straight out of the box. People who purchased online had less than stellar customer service experiences. I have two Neos, had them for over a year many hours of use and no issues whatsoever. I had Gen 1 and 2 Kickrs before that and hands down prefer the Neo no question. If buying one though I'd make sure to buy from a local bike shop that just in case there was an issue with it and you could get the support you need. There's a Neo Facebook group, lots of people post to that with their issues but generally people are very happy with the Neo.

happy with my Neo...

Vector2 & 3 pedals and Stages have been use with it... no issues

been running a neo for a year or so with zwift and trainer road. the only “issue” i’ve had has been a metal harmonic vibration sound coming from the unit at a certain cadence. outside that mine has been very solid with zero issues.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Are you getting dropouts on your powermeter as well as your trainer? If so, it is your basement setup.

If you haven't debugged that, I would setup my trainer as a dumb trainer in either Zwift or Trainerroad (don't worry about accuracy, just pick any dumb trainer), and then set your powermeter as your only power source. Then see if you get clean signal. If it's dropping out, you know it has nothing to do with the trainer.

The drop out issue is a common problem on the Neo, regardless of the set up, additional power meters, software platform. I'm not sure why it is happening with some units, and not others, but there are too many reported instances to think it is random. For those who aren't aware, the Neo will have a tendency to drop the signal completely and/or increase/adjust resistance well beyond the set power/course. If you stop pedalling, and give it a few seconds, it will re-adjust to normal.

The early models had some manufacturing issues regarding the metal shavings, etc, but this was corrected in their more recent releases and they were quite good and Warranty returns for those models.

hmm.. I've been reading through the FB group and comments on DC Rainmaker's review of it and I didn't notice a lot of that issue being raised. Will do some reading

Curious if your recent dropout issues are for bluetooth connections only? If not have you tried ANT+ instead? If both are not working is there something new in the neighborhood to create interference that you can think of? Cell tower, neighbors smart TV or other smart enabled wi-fi devices (I've been starting to see these show up for available networks when I'm home). Neighbor with a jammer that is messing with you (a co-worker of mine would mess with a guy who used to work with us by using a 3G cell jammer, back before 4G was common, at he was on the phone for personal calls all the time...he would wonder wtf his call dropped and he couldn't get any signal when that happened).

I recently picked up a Elite Direto and it is known for bluetooth connection issues too where it will for me connect but not control the resistance with trainerroad (I didn't realize it until after I bought it...but it wouldn't of affected my purchase decision though). So instead I just ran it in ANT+ mode since my other devices are still ANT+ too (including powermeter which I do use for powermatch). Haven't had an issue using it that way for the most part.

I do randomly about 1x a month it seems have my powermeter drop out for a period on trainerroad (sometimes short or sometimes a bit longer). Haven't figured that one out but is so rare it is minor frustration at best.

I have Tacx Neo/Trainer road/netflix combo and cannot be happier.
Tacx neo is super quiet, comfortable since more flex that with computrainer and I love the discipline of Trainer road!
Zero set up issues and i habe riden 3 or 4 times a week for 4 months without any issues.

ha.. I'll have to investigate if I have any jamming neighbors. It's actually worse with ANT+ for me. I ran through a bunch of diagnostics to look for interference on Wahoo's recommendation, and there doesn't seem to be anything. Wahoo has just come back with their final solution which is to sell me a new topcap so that settles it for me.

That's strange about your random drops...

Out of curiosity why would you not use power-match? I like that I have one source of power for both indoors and outdoors.

I also like that Garmin Vectors measure power more closely towards the source, while Neo measures more at the hub.

This was generally aimed at the OP who has been having data transmission issues.

For years my primary training software has been PerfPro. Drew was providing metrics on trainer load, trainer power and power meter power differences well before these were added to main stream software. Back when I started with PP it really illustrated the issues with wheel-on trainers such as the CT and how much power varied at the trainer vs. PM power. It changed the way I calibrated, so that my first 15 minutes+ of follow on rides weren't off so far on power. It also convinced me that most folks using wheel-on trainers probably were way off on their power readings and that virtual power (with no PM to calibrate) was even worse.

With PP I could see in real time when my CT would drift from my PM. With the Neo I just don't (can't?) see much in the way of difference in real time. Power is so stochastic that chasing minute differences varying across a second seems somewhat futile. Are these adjustments happening quick enough to catch up to the last difference? I'm not sure the resolution here is fine enough for the difference to matter against an average load. Powermatch first hit mainstream to deal with trainers that were returning power readings well off what a hopefully reliable PM returned. And things could always go the other way if the PM isn't zeroed before each ride or drifts during the ride.

That's my general take with the Neo anyway. No belts, no calibration, etc. I don't worry too much about the one PM being the control as I have PM's on all my bikes and I'm sure each is slightly different than the other. But no worries or criticism of someone that uses a different approach.

I also have a Neo and do not use power match. My quarq D-zero is a only couple of watts higher than the Neo (literally 1-3 watts). My limited experience using power match was that it was that using the NEO power directly to control load resulted in less load variability than with power match. Or it seemed that way YMMV. I do still go ahead and simultaneously pair to my Garmin Edge regardless of software used and this is the data for analysis, but it would be a negligible difference to use the Neo data.

To the OP: there is one (non) issue with the Neo for some new users. In shipment, sometimes a bit of solder will come loose and stick to a magnet and it makes a grinding noise. It isn't defective, just needs to have that tiny bit of solder removed. Tacx will give you an extraction tool to remove the disc and clear the solder bit. Also, sometimes the bit can be ridden away.

I love mine.

I've used both the Wahoo Kickr and the Tacx neo with TR for a few years now. I've been using a SRM, Quarq and stages power meters during this time.

I'm now using the Tacx neo almost exclusively indoors. Set up is incredibly easy and very straightforward. You will not have any problems, unless it somehow is signal based.


The biggest difference between the Neo and Kickr is the delay. The Neo is more gradual adjusting to changes in resistance, whereas the Kickr is much sharper. For intervals like 40/20's or 15/15's I much prefer the Wahoo or taking off the ERG mode entirely on the Neo. That said, I now live in a duplex and having the big flywheel on the Kickr running is no bueno. It causes a slight vibration in the flooring, the Neo does not. The Neo is so silent it is disconcerting. The light show is also a nice little touch.

10/10 would buy the Neo again.

Do you run a USB extension cable to get the ANT+ dongle as close to the trainer as possible? ANT+/Bluetooth signals suck with these things, and the only viable solution is to make sure the connections are as close as possible.

We have both a Neo and Kickr in the house and the only connection that reliably works for me is the keeping the ANT+ dongle around the front wheel (~2 feet away from trainer).

One of our customers got new USB based network card. Bang, signal drops here they come. So you would never really know. If I were you I would try to borrow any smart trainer and do a test to see what is to blame.

Mine squeaks relentlessly after 20 mins or so, I have tried everything ...

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AV8 | Team Wattie Ink Elite 2019

I live in Italy, bought one via Wiggle so it was send from the UK.

It's probably the best purchase I've made in the last few years.

I was worried about some of the online stories about things going wrong, but often you only hear the negatives. So I bought it, and couldn't be happier.

Here's my review I posted on Wiggle (the only online review I've ever posted), maybe it helps:

First review I have ever written, but I felt the need to in this case.

I was worried about buying the neo as there are a few horror stories on the web of things going wrong - but as people are much more likely to complain than praise, I took the plunge anyway.

The main issue for me is noise - living in an apartment, it's critical for people below and my sleeping wife next door.

The next issue for that is critical is power accuracy.

Sound:
The trainer is quieter than the bike drive train, it really is almost silent. At high speeds there is some low frequency vibration. In ERG mode you can prevent this by selecting a low gear. ERG mode has some low frequency vibration at higher power outputs (> 250W) I bought a washing machine mat, just in case, and no complaints from the people below.

Accuracy:
I compared with my BePro pedals, the Neo is about 5-8W below the pedals, but very consistent. This gave me peace of mind for the pedals also! It's very accurate at all power ranges (up to 600W in my testing)

Zwift / Trainerroad
With Trainerroad, it works superbly in ERG mode, both using ANT+ and Bluetooth. In free ride mode it also works well, power changes are reflected with no lag.

With Zwift, there is a noticeable lag between the power you put out and the software. Reading on the community forums, it seems that Zwift think the issue is Tacx and Tac think the issue is Zwift. A lot of people have reported it. My solution was to use my pedals as the power source and the neo to manage the gradients.

Road Feel:
This works really well, but does create noise!!! It's a bit of a gimmick, I switched it off after a while.

'leaning to the right':
I've read a few complaints that the bike leans to the right. I haven't noticed this at all!

Bike fit:
I use a Trek Domane SLR7 non disc. It fits with plenty of clearance.

I've had my Neo since it became available in the USA... I think since November 2015.

Have never had an issue and the thing has worked perfectly since day one.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Just following up on this thread . . hopefully the OP doesn't mind . .

I have a first generation Kickr which I have been VERY HAPPY with despite others complaints about power inaccuracies. My only problem with the Kickr is noise. I train very early in the morning and my wife complains bitterly that she listens to my entire ride. I am out in the garage, but the pitch and vibration go right through the slab.

Anyway, given the quiet reputation of the Tacx Neo Smart I'm thinking of switching .. . and quickly because there is a pretty good VIP sale at Clevertraining.com. Anyway, I primarily use Trainer Road to control the Kickr from my iPad or iPhone. I'm assuming I'd need an ANT+ stick to do so with the Tacx Neo. Correct?

Thanks for the help!

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Pete Githens
Reading, PA

Apple products don't use ANT, they use bluetooth. I would think the neo should talk directly with your ipad/iphone via bluetooth with no further hardware required.
I'm still gun shy on Tacx VR trainers after my previous experiences with their imagic trainers and shoddy software/service. Hopefully things are better now. I know a few folks that have had Neo's fail on them, but I guess the same can be said for the odd kickr too.

Thanks. Do any of the Android devices speak ANT+? I didn't think so but perhaps I'm wrong. To be clear, when I use Zwift or Trainerroad with the Kickr the app controls the trainer. It looks like to match that functionality with the Neo I'd need the ANT+ Key and 30-pin to lightning adapter. That's about another $100.00 together.

Thanks for the feedback on your experience. I know in the past Tacx software was pretty wonky but I thought a lot of that revolved around their proprietary ANT protocols. It seems like that is better now but it is a bit alarming to see a lot of the problems people have had.

I'm also checking out the Elite Direto. It may do everything I need. I think the big thing with the Kickr is the belt noise. It is shrill. Especially generation 1.

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Pete Githens
Reading, PA

I guess I'm a bit confused at what you are asking..

ANT and Bluetooth accomplish the same thing, communication. They communicate the same data.

Kickr's have both bluetooth and ANT, as do the NEO's.

If you are using an apple product to control your trainer via TR or Zwift, the apple product will communicate with either trainer via bluetooth automatically.

If you are using a windows computer, you either need an ANT stick or a bluetooth stick/dongle.

Android device - Might depend on what device and what operating system? I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab that has some version of Android on it, and it has both bluetooth and ANT built in. Seems to work with trainerroad, but for some reason the data doesn't track as smoothly as it does when using my macbook pro.

Sorry if I am misunderstanding your question.

I'll just add another piece of info which is often incorrectly stated about the Neo.

You can use it unplugged - also as a smart trainer.

I've been using mine for a while without it plugged in, ERG mode with Trainerroad, no issues.

Only thing you need to do is pedal during connection for the sensors to be active.

Really nice, imho.