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Reliable indoor smart trainer
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Hello all!

So i'm in the market for an indoor smart bike trainer. I want a trainer to track distance, speed and power. Riding outside is fine, but the weather, and (aweful, dangerous) drivers coupled with the long street lights is hindering my long (3 hour plus) rides.

Looking on Amazon cycle ops and wahoo seem to be the best brands, however for every 2 five star reviews there is a one star where people complain that the electronics are junk.

My goal is to get a trainer that is accurate with tracking my distance and power that will give me a quality endurance building workout. Any recommendations for durable and reliable trainers would be great. Thanks!
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [wduke59] [ In reply to ]
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There are 3 versions of kickr
V1, 2017 and 2018
You do not want to buy the 2018, it has well known problems with a clunky noise.

Otherwise they are great.

wduke59 wrote:
Hello all!

So i'm in the market for an indoor smart bike trainer. I want a trainer to track distance, speed and power. Riding outside is fine, but the weather, and (aweful, dangerous) drivers coupled with the long street lights is hindering my long (3 hour plus) rides.

Looking on Amazon cycle ops and wahoo seem to be the best brands, however for every 2 five star reviews there is a one star where people complain that the electronics are junk.

My goal is to get a trainer that is accurate with tracking my distance and power that will give me a quality endurance building workout. Any recommendations for durable and reliable trainers would be great. Thanks!
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [wduke59] [ In reply to ]
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You are opening a can on n=1 worms here. For any indoor trainer, there will be great experiences, meh experiences and horrific experiences. Do you think that you'll get enough unbiased reports to make an intelligent decision? Let me answer that for you - no, you won't. Consumer Reports is not interrogating this space, which may be why you are asking. There are some very clear failures - maybe you are just trying to avoid those (chapeau). You will hear about those systematically bad experiences here. But the subtle Tacx xyz vs. Wahoo pqr vs. Elite 123. Yeah. No. That's why there are money back guarantees and you should buy locally (not from Europe), so that the return shipment does not break the bank. My n=1? Tacx Vortex Smart from 3 (?) years ago. Practically the lowest priced Tacx with FE-C (at the time). Flawless, about 5,000 miles so far. BUT...n=1.
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [wduke59] [ In reply to ]
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Used kickr v2.

/ thread
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [wduke59] [ In reply to ]
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wduke59 wrote:
My goal is to get a trainer that is accurate with tracking my distance and power that will give me a quality endurance building workout.
Recalibrate your thinking. Distance and speed are irrelevant with a smart trainer. If you train on your 53x11, your will get insane speed and distance. If train on your 34x28 you will look like a stroll in the park. Me, I train on my 36x17 for low noise and a reasonably straight chain line for lower wear.

The only things that matters are power accuracy, feel, and durability of the device. KICKR is awesome across the value spectrum. Pick your product based on budget.

I own a Neo 2, and I used to have a KICKR. You cannot top KICKR value.
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [wduke59] [ In reply to ]
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There are certainly drawbacks, but if durable and reliable is your criteria, it would be hard to beat a used Computrainer. There are a number of us her still riding 20 year old Computrainers.
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [Thom] [ In reply to ]
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I've been using the Cycleops Hammer for a few years without any issues with it. have no other reference on the others as I have not used any other smart trainer.
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [wduke59] [ In reply to ]
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I own a CycleOps and really like it, but it is pretty noisy. DC Rainmaker has a good Youtube video showing a noise test between the CycleOps Hammer, Elite Drivo and Wahoo Kickr 2, if you're interested.
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [Thom] [ In reply to ]
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Thom wrote:
but if durable and reliable is your criteria ...

Concept2 BikeErg but more noise!
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Re: Reliable indoor smart trainer [lennyk] [ In reply to ]
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lennyk wrote:
There are 3 versions of kickr
V1, 2017 and 2018
You do not want to buy the 2018, it has well known problems with a clunky noise.

Otherwise they are great.
There are actually 4 versions:
- Kickr '14
- Kickr '16
- Kickr '17
- Kickr '18 (The new "silent" one with the host of problems, to be avoided IMHO).
https://wahoofitness.yonyx.com/...e7-b908-bc764e10c19d
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