The best smart trainers

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It started with phones, moved to TVs and now it seems like everything has to be ‘smart’ these days, including turbo trainers.

Having something to distract, entertain or inspire you while you’re slogging your guts out on your own makes sense. And having accurate feedback on your speed, cadence, heart rate and power is invaluable for training.

But what companies mean by ‘smart’ can vary. Some units are ANT+, so need a dongle to connect to your phone, tablet or computer, but can link to most bike computers. Some are Bluetooth-only, so can connect to electronic devices without a dongle – but can’t connect to most cycle computers. The CycleOps comes in either ANT+ or Bluetooth. Others are smart enough to communicate in both protocols so you can marry up Bluetooth cranks with a dongle-equipped PC and ANT+ heart rate belt as well as your phone via Bluetooth, so you can see exactly what your heart rate and power output are while texting to fellow riders around you on the real-time online racing platform Zwift.

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So, just what are the realities of smart trainers? First things first. When it’s already a struggle just to drag yourself into a cold pain cave for a session on the trainer, any interruption is the last thing you need.

Set-up or mode-changing seems deliberately secretive or obstructive? Bluetooth won’t connect? Wattage out of whack, dongle gone dodgy? Your avatar keeps buffering, or your session won’t start because it’s waiting for Miguel in Madrid? All of this happened to us during testing.

And even when your smart trainer is working as it should, bike-mounted sensors and software can provide much of the same data and ‘enterpainment’ (to borrow a phrase from the excellent sufferfest.com video series) for less money. And because they’re bike-mounted they’ll do it whether you’re in your garage or on an actual ride.

Things to consider

The best smart trainers

Wahoo Kickr £950 / $1,099 / AU$1599

• Wattage deviation: -5
• Roll down from 200W: 12 secs
• Noise level (200W): 79dB

Tacx Vortex Smart  £375 / $530 / AU$749

• Wattage deviation: -5
• Roll down from 200W: 11 secs
• Noise level (200W): 85dB

Tacx Satori Smart  £260 / $400 / AU$569

• Wattage deviation: -10
• Roll down from 200W: 13 secs
• Noise level (200W): 90dB

Tacx Neo Power £1,200 / $1,599 / AU$2,299

• Wattage deviation: -5
• Roll down from 200W: 11 secs
• Noise level (200W): 78dB

Kinetic Rock & Roll 2 inRide £465 / $569 / AU$ TBC

• Wattage deviation: +0-10
• Roll down from 200W: 19 secs
• Noise level (200W): 80dB

Wahoo Kickr Snap £650 / $700 / AU$949

• Wattage deviation: -50
• Roll down from 200W: 16 secs
• Noise level (200W): 83dB

Elite Volano £350 /  $ NA / AU$ TBC

• Wattage deviation: -5
• Roll down from 200W: 7 secs
• Noise level (200W): 85dB

Also tested

CycleOps PowerBeam Pro£825 / $1,000 / AU$ TBC

• Wattage deviation: 0
• Roll down from 200W: 18 secs
• Noise level (200W): 82dB

Jetblack Whisper Drive £430 / $700 / AU$749

• Wattage deviation: +/- 10
• Roll down from 200W: 17 secs
• Noise level (200W): 81dB

BKool Pro £450 / $700 / AU$750

• Wattage deviation: 0
• Roll down from 200W: 13 secs
• Noise level (200W): 90dB

Elite Qubo Digital Smart B+: £300 / $500 / AU$ TBC

• Wattage deviation: +/- 10
• Roll down from 200W: 7 secs
• Noise level (200W): 87dB

Tacx i-Genius Smart £750 / $1,100 / AU$1,499

• Wattage deviation: +15-20
• Roll down from 200W: 7 secs
• Noise level (200W): 85d

Final verdict

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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