Best budget(ish) turbo trainer currently
Morning all,
Happy December 23rd.
My horribly young Nephew has recently bought a nice titanium road bike from the planet of x, and is considering a turbo trainer.
He lives in a flat (I think ground floor), so is looking for something reasonably quiet, although I guess vibrations are more difficult to deal with.
It's been about 8+ years since I seriously looked at turbo trainers, and I ended up buying a Tacx Neo OG, which is still going strong (With servicing), and more recently in April I bought a Wahoo Kickr core (£450ish) for my partner, though I have yet to set it up for her - might do so at christmas.
Anyway, I digress, I'm supposing direct drive is still the much better way to go, and also will recommend some foam mats underneath it to try and isolate the noise and vibrations to some degree.
There are a raft more turbo trainers out there than there used to be, and seemingly LOADS at more reasonable prices (Even Decathlon make a fairly well reviewed one I think!) - any recommendations for reliable ones I guess?
What kind of starting price, £250, £300, £400?
I've suggested due to the ashley he steers clear of wiggle/crc/evans/sports indirect, but most other places are up for review.
Thanks in advance.
Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
Scott CR1 SL 12
Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
Scott Foil 18
Comments
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Not much help as my experience is limited to Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll (noisy) and Tacx Neo 2T (too expensive).
I would say though that direct drive is a game changer and should be the default, and the 2T is near silent, and that's on wooden laminate flooring and no mats. My drive train makes more noise but that is drowned out by my music in any case.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.1 -
Thanks for your reply - I remember the name Kurt from when I was looking, are they less popular now, don't seem to hear about them.
Amazed how few (2) trainers Merlin had, Sigma (5 of which 3 were DD smart) also pretty poor - Tredz seem to be the winner currently, with a decent sale on, and a £25 off code over £250 spends, plus TCB of course.
They have a decent range on offer between ~£400 - £600, Tacx flux, Elite Suito, Elite Direto, Elite Justo, Saris H3.
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Tacx-Flux-S-Smart-Trainer_203337.htm
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Elite-Suito-T-Direct-Drive-FE-C-Mag-Trainer_236059.htm
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Saris-H3-Plus-Direct-Drive-Trainer_271337.htm
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Elite-Justo-Direct-Drive-FE-C-Mag-Trainer-With-OTS-Power-Meter_251000.htm
Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
Scott CR1 SL 12
Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
Scott Foil 180 -
Yeah, I couldn't sell my KK. I eventually gave it away to a recycler who restores cycling kit and gives it to the poor.
It was however an exceptional trainer at the wheel-on level.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.1 -
I would think direct drive ones will be a bit quieter? I have an Elite Direto, which seems fairly quiet, as someone above said, the bike transmission makes more noise!
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DC Rainmaker is good for reviews of stuff. The standout buy appears to be the (newish) JetBlack Victory, if you can get one...
Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS1 -
Love the DCR, great bloke.
Very quick scan, but perhaps the Jet Black victory is Zwift specific?
He's considering Zwift but might end up with Rouvy instead.
Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
Scott CR1 SL 12
Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
Scott Foil 180 -
I've just bought a Jetblack Victory based on reviews, but I haven't had time to actually ride it yet. It's not Zwift specific, but it does come with the Zwift Click for virtual shifting. You can put a standard cassette on to use with any other app. Based on what the likes of DCR and Shane Miller are saying about it, it's a bit of a no-brainer at the price. I can report back when I've had time to try it properly. The biggest problem is going to be availability, I ordered mine months ago and only got it last week.
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Not available till February according to web site.
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That's good to know it's not locked into Zwift - heard mixed things about the virtual shifting.
The thing I like about the Elite Justo, is it has a bit of left to right movement, something I REALLY like on my Neo, and on occasion I have completed a 3hr+ session with no weird side effects afterwards.
I also like the fact that the metal bits make it look quite industrial.
The strap thing looks nuts, imagine picking up in theory 1ks worth of turbo trainer by that, and then it breaking and smashing to the floor 😮 I guess if it is just used as a steadying mechanism it's ok, but people do stupid things.
*I've just clocked that little Red thing that looks like a foot, I wonder if that (either side) is akin to the old tennis ball solution, and facilitates that left to right sway - could be wrong of course.
Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
Scott CR1 SL 12
Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
Scott Foil 180 -
Rollers are pretty quiet as well as cheap and a much better ride experience than a trainer imo. Ymmv ofc.
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Saris H3 was/is £299 at Go Outdoors, Millets and Blacks.
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/16203542/saris-trainer-direct-16203542
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2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo1 -
This video might be helpful @daniel_b
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Rollers are great and keep your balance bang on otherwise your on the floor. Less chance of bike damage on rollers as not fixed or flexing as bad. But they are an acquired taste. Have only used dumb rollers though not smart ones.
Too many bikes according to Mrs O.1 -
I think this is probably looking to be the best value option currently, almost tempted to get one as a spare.
As you spotted, Millets/Blacks have it for £299, plus going through TCB gives 8% off the amount less vat, which would bring it in at just under £280, which is pretty nuts really, it wasn't long ago a Tacx Vortex was considered a bargain at £255!
Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
Scott CR1 SL 12
Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
Scott Foil 181 -
Just seen Kikr Snap for £150.
I've had a Saris H3 since Easter '22, replaced my v1 Elite Direto. Been great so far, it's done a vast majority of my cycling since my long covid bagan in October '22.
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2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo1 -
I've got over 20,000 kms on an H3 with no issues at all. I've read the top hat spacer can crack if you over tighten the QR (or over tighten something) but not had that issue myself and they may have solved that since I got mine - it's a cheap part anyway.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]1 -
Two years in with a Saris H3 here with no issues. Paid £430 at the time which was a bargain then.
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Did my first ride on the Victory today, just under an hour on Zwift. It feels pretty good, the resistance changes to match elevation happened nice and quick. I haven't tried erg mode yet but sim mode is fine. The virtual shifting is ok. That's one of the main reasons I bought it, as I have bikes with several different types of drivetrain (11 and 12 speed road bikes, 12 speed mountain bikes) and didn't want to have to change cassettes to change which bike I use. It will take a bit of getting used to as it is just a resistance change rather than an actual gear change. The change happened instantly, but it feels unnatural, and I was having to consciously suppress the instinct to soft pedal through the change.
The best thing I can say about it is that it feels very similar to my 2018 Kickr. I won't be getting rid of that yet until I've done a bit more testing, but it looks good so far.
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