We have the Magnus, the grandfather of the M2. It is my understanding the only changes are cosmetic, the hardware is the same.

It has been serving me and my wife for 3 years with no issues. 8 rides totaling 12 hours a week during the winter and 4 rides totaling about 6 hours a week during the summer.

It is within a few watts of her C1 and my Quarq on most rides. The only known problems with the unit is the ratchet adjuster will get dirty and overtighten and the resistance unit will overheat at high power and low rpm. Regular cleaning and lubrication and a small fan directed at the trainer fix those problems easily.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I recently upgraded from a magnus (which i think is the older version of the M2) to a hammer. Before that i had 2 powerbeams - so a lot of experience with wheel on.

My magnus was perfectly fine for general riding and workouts in ERG mode. What it did struggle with was gradient. High power, low cadence stuff was very hard. A mix of wheel slippage, and death spiral type resistance. i didn't do a lot of riding on gradients with my powerbeams as things like Zwift were not that common until quite recently.


i don't think it was just my magnus as i have seen it discussed in message boards. So if you want to ride on relatively flat courses, do power based workouts or anything that doesn't involve a lot of low cadence climbing i think you will be fine.....but if you want to climb a lot on zwift i would get a direct drive.....in fact I'd probably get a direct drive in either case, my hammer wasn't much more expensive than a wheel on.

if you were close by i would let you have the Magnus i am not using if you wanted.

I know that you aren't asking, but I was like you, resisted the direct drive trainer for a long time, finally bought one this winter and the difference between wheel on (smart trainer) and wheel off is just night and day.
I totally understand now wanting to drop a grand on a trainer, but the hammer can be had for under $700.
If you are going to drop $550 and a M2, I would highly suggest stretching the budget by $150 to get he hammer
https://bikecloset.com/...1EAkYASABEgIOwfD_BwE

I have a new M2 that I got last month. I'm brand new to indoor riding, and never even had a dumb trainer before this, so I have nothing to compare my experience to.

I've been using my M2 on Zwift the past few weeks for training rides and have done a couple races too. I'm very happy with the M2. The ride feels pretty natural except for the initial pedal stroke getting started. I've read that that is due to the light flywheel. But once I'm riding it feels great. The resistance feels good going up hill. I initially had the Zwift resistance set at 50%, but recently upped it to 75%, because I like to feel the hills more and change gears.

I haven't noticed much slippage as others mentioned. The knob that tightens the resistance wheel to the bike tire is designed to click at the correct tightness and can't be over tightened, so there's no guessing if you have secured it correctly.

I have noticed significant wear on my tire in a very short time, but I'm assuming that is common for all wheel on trainers. I am wondering if that wear indicates slippage, but I really don't feel any or hear any squealing when I'm riding.

Side note: I had posted about my attempt to buy the M2 from Saris last month and had a "confirmed" order that never actually went thru. A week later I ended up ordering it from REI and received it in just 4 days.

Unfortunately for you now is a really bad time to buy a trainer in terms of value for money. 6 months ago and you could have gotten a 'scratched' Hammer direct from Saris for only marginally more than they are selling the M2. I am guessing they had a number of units get scuffed in shipment and the market was so saturated they needed to sell them cheap to move them. Fast forward and with the lockdown trainer companies can't get parts fast enough to keep up with demand.

The good news is that if you can wait a few more months you should be able to get a better trainer at roughly the same price. The entry level direct drive options (Tacx Flux, Wahoo Kickr Core, Elite SUITO) have struggled with a steep learning curve over the past few years. However all the companies have learned from their mistakes and the latest offerings are really solid. By entering the market now you should avoid the cluster f*** that is trying to warrantee a turbo which broke within two rides of being purchased. As soon as the lock down ends I expect another pricing battle that will benefit the consumer.

Alternatively just tell your wife you are buying one of these: https://www.elite-it.com/en/products/fuoripista (~$16,000). She will then be pleased with the price of all other options.

See my post above, Hammer can still be had for $699 (for now).
I actually saw a place selling them last week for $649 but they are now sold out.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

It depends where you buy it, there are various package/options depending on the retailer.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

you'll need to buy a cassette.....unless you have a spare.

that is the same offer ($700) i used when i upgraded from the magnus to the hammer. i think it is just a H1, and i had to update the firware......but that was really easy.

Kurt Kinetic was having a 30% off sale with free shipping. Don't know if it's still going on. Got my Kinteic smart trainer for $349. The initial resistance unit was defective but they took care of it ASAP.

I'm old and slow with an FTP in the low 200s so I don't put a ton of power into it but it handles whatever I do in Zwift with it. Longest ride I've done is about 1:40 and the unit barely gets warm and the 14lb flywheel gives it a nice road feel. I haven't noticed any tire wear nor did I when using my Super Mag Pro. The unit is also quiet with the bike drive train being louder than the trainer.

For me it works well for the hills. I've gone as far/high as 5he radio tower, no tire slippage, tons of resistance that changes fairly quickly. Per kinetic it simulates up to 10% grade and 1500 watts. As of now zwift doesn't have a difficulty slider so I don't know what it defaults to. When the slider was available the default was 50%. That doesn't change the amount of power needed to climb at a particular speed, it just changes the effect on gearing. My shortest gear is 34/25 and there is no way I could realistically do 14% grades with that.
If you have the money a direct drive would be the way to go, if you're just curious then a wheel on trainer is a good way to test the waters. Plus the kinetic can be used without power. It reverts to a power curve from their fluid trainer.

I am guessing that by now you have bought something already but just in case you have not, if you are a REI member you can get the Hammer now for $640, at that price I would grab it before it's gone, don't mess with wheel on trainers when you can get a direct drive at that price.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

after third time of my bike unclipping from the trainer (power pedals), i made the rei purchase. and im a cheapskate (with taxes, shipping... total price is 725). There are no triathlon races to be had this year so put my years race budget into this.

Seems like a good price but that trainer is now, what....4 years old and updated twice since then.....Which, in the trainer world, is quite old. I plan to switch from wheel on trainer so it should be an improvement either way, but I would hate to enter this market and then immediately be too far behind in the technology....thoughts??

Zwift can be done on a dumb trainer, but it will be just as boring as any of the old cycling training videos out there because its one-note for resistance and you have to force yourself to shift to make it anything else. The real magic is when a smart trainer adjusts resistance.

I rode a Kickr Snap for 4 years without issues until I upgraded recently to the Kickr Core. You don't have to buy a new cassette for a trainer if you have a bike you plan to dedicate to the trainer anyway - just take that cassette.

I will say that while I loved the Kickr Snap - the direct drive is a much better ride. I did have wheel slippage, especially on really steep inclines (~15% percent). My husband also had a snap at first, but his wheel slippage was much worse (puts out much more power) so he upgraded to direct drive much sooner.

With race fees saved, get the new trainer. Have you looked at DCRainmaker's reviews?

i think the skewer wore down, also the screws holding the bike in place start undoing after ~30 minutes. eventually when i put a hard effort in the bike comes off

Well, it sounds like it's out of your price range anyway, but you can get a Shimano 105 cassette for $40, even less if you shop around. No need to put a fancy cassette on a trainer.

A lot of us in our club have Saris H1/2/3 trainers and have had very good luck with them. My H3 power readings match my Quarq very closely.

I do lots of reading and try to keep keep up on all the latest tech, there really hasn't been all that much improvement in smart trainers, maybe the new ones are slightly quieter but not much more, I mean sure if you have the cash you can get a Neo 2 or something but for $650 I am sure that you won't be disappointed, and I doubt it will be obsolete in 6 months.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

Even at $725 I think you will be very happy with the purchase.
Check after you have ridden it for a bit and let us know how you like it.

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http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

I know everyone head their view, but Do you think is a better trainer than a Kickr Core which is not much more than this sales price!