I have been looking for the same thing.
From what I see, the Kickr models can be set to level mode where you set a powercurve and act like a fluid trainer. Now you would need to connect the trainer to smartphone app. But sounds like it works similar to the H2. Anyone who owns a Kickr can correct me if I am wrong on this.

Also h2 is now on clearance at REI for $800.

The trainer I seek is for my wife who is very anti-technology. She currently uses an old fluid trainer and wants the same simplicity but wouldn't object to metrics on her smart watch.
It seems that one cannot purchase a "dumb" direct drive trainer these days. Crazy!

My good old Computrainer does both!

I am selling my elite turbomuir dumb direct drive. However likely would cost too much to ship (unless you are in the Seattle area.

Eric

You said she wants to record basic information on her watch, so this likely doesn’t help, but if she uses one of the newer-ish garmin edge head units she can control the resistance or enter an exact power number (erg mode) directly from the head unit. You can also run a course, or a workout that you have built in Garmin connect. All pretty easy and straight forward to set up and use, which is kinda unusual for garmin....

Your computrainer is not direct drive.

She doesn't want to record basic info on her watch, but would use it. She literally logs her workouts into TP by hand.
Don't want erg mode either. I want a power curve based on wheel speed.
I don't want to have to drop money for a head unit, which is the whole point of this thread.

All smart trainers have a slope mode. You'd use the watch (if it has FE-C) or the native phone app to set the slope or resistance or whatever they want to call it.

Now, you merely shift to make it easier or harder...just like a dumb trainer. They almost all transmit speed/cadence/power that her watch can pickup (if it supports these cycling metrics) if she pleases.

The only ones I know of are some of the Elite Muin models. Those are truly direct drive dumb trainers.

Any other smart trainer would have to either default to a progressive slope mode (like the dumb fluid trainers) when either not powered or not connected to a control unit. I'm not sure of any that do that. Or, maybe they all do that. I can certainly ride my Neo2 disconnected, but I am not sure how the resistance slope is set.

If you are depending on a head unit to tell a smart trainer to do a non-ERG mode with a progressive resistance mode, it seems like you would be moving against your desired no-technology approach.

Ahh yes, true story.

The Muin is discontinued. Ha!

I think what I'm looking for doesn't exist, except the Cycleops H2 which is pretty pricey what I'm looking for.
You either go full smart trainer with phone/head unit or you're stuck with a wheel on, non-electric trainer.

Seems like an old lemond revolution and a power meter would fit the bill.

Possibly the old Cycleops Silencer too... Wasn't that a direct drive "dumb" trainer as well?

Elite makes a couple of options but their naming system is super confusing. Elite uses the term 'Interactive' to describe what everyone else calls 'Smart' and the term 'Smart' to describe what everyone else calls 'Dumb'.

For what you are describing the Volano Smart B+, Turno and Kura all fit the bill. These are all fluid resistance based units so they are super quiet and adjust dynamically but come with all the caveats of fluid units. You will also never be able to control a fluid unit from an app so if you wanted to go down that road in the future its a no go.

My personal experience with Elite's fluid units is that they are rock solid. After 6 years of heavy use I have one that struggles to maintain resistance but I still use it for warming up/cooling down.

I'm curious to know why you'd want such a trainer? Is just for the convenience of not having to connect to an app? Seems like this requirement would greatly limit your choice of trainers. Of all the things I do to get ready for a trainer ride (get water bottle ready, get towels, etc.) connecting the trainer to an app or to Zwift takes next to no time at all.