Best trainers/bikes for at home indoor cycling classes
Since our whole little pandemic started I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights researching this very topic. I went through all the phases of wondering what to get so that I can continue to train, and also teach my cycling classes from home.
Initially I thought I should get a basic turbo to use with my road bike but then I realised that they can extremely noisy especially during something like “Ride 35” when you can be at high cadences for a long time. Not only is this a problem because I live in a city centre apartment during a time when everyone’s home, but it’s a big problem when you want to record/livestream a class. I don’t think many people want their speakers to be playing live Heathrow audio (from a few months back).
As the money I was going to have to spend started to increase I was then looking at exercise bikes/ ”spin bikes”. They are mostly super quiet so I could definitely teach from one and give it some serious power, but talking about power, that’s a metric I’m going to miss if I get a normal exercise bike. To find bikes with good power measurement you have to spend a lot of money. I was on the precipice of buying a “Schwinn AC Power” but my Dad talked some sense into me about where I was planning on storing such a thing, and he was right. For a lot of us a dedicated indoor bike is just too big.
So I needed something quiet, that measures power, and isn’t the size of a 2 seat sofa. It’s then that I came across the world of direct drive smart trainers, a category that has been booming in the background since 2015 without catching my eye until now. Let me break that down, a direct drive trainer is a machine with a cassette that your normally see attached to a bike’s back wheel. You take the back wheel off your bike and mount it to the trainer like it was a wheel. The advantages of DD trainers in general are: quietness, max resistance, stability, and not wearing out your back tyre. This is all pretty good but it’s the smart aspect that intrigued me, this means a trainer that is connected via ANT+, Bluetooth, or both to a device and can transmit data such as cadence/power, and receive data such as when to change resistance. So with a smart direct drive trainer you can put down lots of power quietly and see your metrics, hurray! I have personally opted for a Tacx Neo 2T, but you can see my other recommendations below.
Key terms:
Turbo - Also known as Turbo Trainer, Indoor Bike Trainer, or just Trainer. These are machines that you attach a real outdoor bike to and let you pedal while the bike stays still
Exercise bike - Typically these are big gym style bikes without exposed flywheels, they’re terrible
Studio bike - Commonly called a “Spin bike” (but technically that term is copyrighted) are great, they follow road bike geometry and have a big spinning flywheel to simulate bike momentum and smooth out your pedal stroke
Smart - Means it can connect to devices, usually capable of both transmitting and receiving data to give you a better workout, track performance, and allow advanced computer control
Interactive - Some companies distinguish between real smart trainers and dumb trainers that just transmit data with the term interactive, Elite tend to use this term. If you are after a proper smart trainer it should also be interactive.
Wheel-on - A Turbo where you keep your bike’s back wheel on and mount it onto the machine, this then applies resistance to the back tyre using a small roller
Direct Drive - A Turbo where you mount your bike’s chain directly to the machine
Smart Bike - A new hybrid between a smart Turbo, and a Studio bike
Best options for different budgets:
Up to £200
If you already have a bike you can get some decent wheel-on trainers, even smart ones. For new products I’d recommend the “Elite Novo” from halfords (when it’s in stock) as it’s basically the cheapest you can get a smart trainer. If you’re willing to scour eBay for a deal try looking for a used Tacx Vortex or similar. Just search for a smart turbo trainer, but stay away from no name brands. Stick with models from places such as Tacx, Wahoo, Elite, and Saris.
Up to £500
Now you can start looking at used studio bikes, used Direct drive smart trainers, and new mid range trainers. I’d recommend trying to find a used/discounted Wahoo Kickr Core, Elite Direto, or Tacx flux S. Or buy a new Elite Tuo or Wahoo Kickr Snap. If you don’t have a bike already or want something multiple members of the household can use then look at used ex-gym studio bikes. Trust brands like Schwinn, Star Trac, and Stages. They are generally solid and quiet but as always with used things shop around.
Up to £800
This is where we get to the good stuff, you can get a brand new Tacx Flux 2, Wahoo Kickr Core, or Elite Suito. These are all good interactive smart direct drive trainers. You can also find discounted/old models of high end direct drive trainers at this price such as the Elite Drivo, Tacx NEO, and Wahoo KIckr. You can also buy new mid range studio bikes at this price, if you can stretch to it I’d recommend this Schwinn AC sport I found for £899 (subject to change), they are very good (but not smart) bikes.
Over £1000
New high end direct drive trainers, there are only a few that own the market, the newest 4th generation Wahoo Kickr (very popular), the Tacx NEO 2T (which I use), and the Elite Drivo II (often can be found weirdly cheap). You can also easily find both new studio bikes and used ones that have power meters and computers (very helpful). I nearly bought a 3 month old Schwinn AC power for £1400 so shop around. If you can spring for it look at a new Stages SC3 or Spinner Chrono power. Just make sure if you’re spending this much it has a good power reading as that will make a big difference to your training.
If you want an interactive smart experience but don’t have or want to use a bike hooked up to a trainer there are 3 perfect options in the form of ‘Smart Bikes’. These look like studio bikes but use technologies from high end direct drive smart trainers to interact with applications and adjust resistance automatically. The Wattbike Atom at around £1600 is the cheapest, the £2300 tacx NEO bike smart is the most sturdy and powerful with built in fans and the £3000 Wahoo Kickr bike is the most realistic as it even adds to the mix an incline feature that tilts the entire bike to follow the terrain!
Pros and cons
Any “dumb” or non-interactive trainer
Pros- Cheap, no set-up fuss, reliable
Cons- You have to control the resistance yourself, easy to cheat, less fun
Studio / ”Spin” bikes
Pros- You can produce crazy power and use a lot of resistance, quiet, durable, adjustable for multiple users, might become a clothes rack, stable
Cons- Expensive, no smart interactivity, big and heavy, might become a clothes rack
Wheel-on trainers
Pros- Cheap, easy to take the bike on and off, usually fold up small
Cons- Noisey, wears your bike’s back tyre and freehub out, can’t produce as much power as direct drive
Direct Drive Trainers
Pros- Stable, no tyre wearing, quiet (to various degrees), can produce more power and steeper gradients than wheel-on
Cons- Expensive, faff to take bike on and off if you need to often, usually bulkier than Wheel-on trainers
Smart bikes
Pros- Interactive, stable, adjustable for multiple users, can produce lots of power
Cons- Expensive, clothes rack territory
Recommendations
In general, for participating in my classes I recommend anything “Smart” this could be a basic wheel-on Smart Turbo like the “Elite Novo” up to a high end direct drive model like the “Wahoo Kickr” or “Tacx NEO”.
You can use a “dumb” trainer or a normal studio bike but you’ll have to adjust your resistance yourself and that makes it awfully easy to cheat! Smart trainers can give you an even better experience than a gym based class.
Unlike me, you probably don’t have to be as bothered about absolute silence from the trainer, so you can get away with a much cheaper device, just look at the rated powers and max inclines and think about how much you need. In my classes I’m commonly teaching 5-6% gradient standing climbs, and most trainers can simulate that, but if you love powering into really steep gradients, producing lots of power at very low cadences then you might need to spend more money.
Message/email me if you need any additional advice
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Stay safe and keep riding,
Chris