So looking at upgrading from my rock n roll trainer and power meter (on bike) talking to zwift to a proper smart trainer
would prefer one with movement as I love my rock n roll and also can spend plenty of 6 hr rides on trainer in winter
So what are the best recommendations for comfort, ease of set up (reliable connection) and nice and quiet
Probably leaning towards a taxi and the new zwift bike complete set up
Or and what is the zwift cog”
I use the wahoo kicker with Zwift cog on a soft yoga mat. Moves side to side without feeling unstable. The Zwift cog is great because I have both sram and shimano group sets on different bikes and do not have to change out cassettes. Also the cassettes are getting pretty expensive so I would rather wear out the cog. I am not sure the cog is compatible with all trainers so you if you are going to use one check out trainer compatibility first before selecting a trainer.
i love my saris h3. you can purchase one for $430 shipped
Any experience with the Thinkrider XXPRO?
Tacx Neo with motion plates is the best top tier option. It checks all the performance boxes, and the tilting and forward-back motion give max comfort. I highly recommend.
The other fantastic option is the Wahoo KICKR Rollr. This one is hugely understated because it is super easy to live with, gives you maximum comfort, and gets the job done. Its only weaknesses are a little slow to respond on interval spikes and it requires an external PM. But, if you are doing triathlon training, you will never notice the difference.
Wahoo Kickr Core and Inside Ride e-Flex Plus (E-FLEX Plus: advanced rocker plate for Wahoo KICKR /CORE, Zwift Hub and JetBlack Victory trainers — Inside Ride)
Kickr Core is Close to 6 years old with about 10000 km a year on it. Seems (fingers crossed) like it is unkillable. The Inside Ride really adds another dimension to it with the sway and fore-aft movement.
His looks awesome,
Pity I can’t put a taxt trainer on it
Saris h3 here. It’s been great. Freewheel is a little loud but you don’t idle much on a trainer. They were on super sale not long ago. Might still be?
Is the e-flex worth purchasing. Seems very pricey.
I’ve an OG Tacx Neo that has now got over 24,000km on it (ok, technically zwift is telling me 23,999 at this moment), but definitely at least one ride didn’t upload 
. In fact I have a second one that my wife (occasionally) uses as I liked so many aspects of it. Whilst spendy, then it’s paid for itself over the 800 hours (really, that all?) use it’s had.
I ended up taking my original tacx imagic to the dump a few years ago as it was superceeded by the Neo, but that was still functioning close to 20 years after I got that (ok, the software was janky as hell, but the hardware was bullet proof).
Now support has moved to garmin I’d think a bit about what I’d replace the Neo with if I needed to. At the moment there is absolutely zero technical reason for upgrading as the OG neo still delivers at the same level as anything else. For reference this has coped with me at 110kg after surgery, several years of injury, racing Zwift cat B races with sprint finishes, 5+ hour IM training rides and structured workouts at both sustained 350+w efforts and 900w peak all out sprints.
The newer Neos are evolutions of that platform, and ultimately is what would make it too hard to move to a Kickr I think. Especially if / when the network module comes out, although in fairness with ANT+ connection dropouts are pretty rare.
I think it all depends on your situation. I ride almost all indoors. I’ll take my bike out 3-4 weeks prior to race to get used to rough roads, wind, technical stuff, etc. With so many hours on my trainer, it’s totally worth it for me. It makes long rides (>2.5hrs) way more tolerable and easier on my saddle region.