Trainers

Top smart trainers to take your winter riding to the next level

Top smart trainers to take your winter riding to the next level

With these trainers, you don’t have to dread the pain cave. Well, you might still dread the physical duress they can put you under, but that’s all in the name of getting fitter. These trainers are easy to set up and connect you to all the virtual distractions you could want when you are cranking away in winter, whether those efforts are for pixel podiums or for rides you plan to take outside in spring.

Elite Direto X $1,199 elite-it.com

With the Direto X, Elite continues to refine its line of direct-drive trainers. With the previous Direto, the trainer’s accuracy was +/- 2 per cent. On the latest model, launched early this past September, the company has improved that figure to +/- 1.5 per cent. Other numbers that look better are the Direto X’s ability to simulate grades up to 18 per cent (up 4 per cent on the old model) and the 2,100 W of resistance it can provide to really, really strong riders. Unless you’re a track sprinter, you probably don’t worry about the latter figure much.

Setting up the Direto X was easy. I merely had to attach the three feet to the main unit. The trainer is tall with its height of 54 cm. It has a wingspan of 85 cm and is 66 cm from front to back. For a direct-drive machine, it’s fairly light at 14.75 kg. I attached a 12-mm thru axle to the Direto, which was a simple matter of slipping in the right adapters beforehand. When I spun the Direto up, it was very quiet.

Elite has its own app, My E-training, that connected with the trainer using its QR code. With My E-training, you can run workouts and use the pedalling analysis feature. These features, however, require an additional subscription. To tap into the

Direto’s smart technology,

I headed over to Watopia. Connecting to Zwift via ant+

FE-C, the wireless protocol for fitness equipment, was a breeze.

I did a few workouts in erg mode, in which the trainer keeps you at a specific resistance no matter your gear or cadence. For workouts with more subtle shifts in power across intervals, the trainer worked well. When I was facing a huge (for me) jump, say from 220 W to 290 W and then back, the power readings were quite variable. I asked Gaetano Mercante, the R&D electronic manager at Elite, about this behaviour. He recommended using easier gears for lower power rangers and lower cadence ranges. This advice helped. In my initial tests, I was big ringing it. (Why not use some gear combinations on the trainer that I don’t use as much on the road? Use the whole cassette, right?)

As for riding in Zwift in simulation mode, the Direto X was great. It tracked my power changes accurately, its resistance always dialed. For racing and going for broke on climbs, the Direto X is your machine.— Matthewpioro

Tacx Neo 2 $1,649 tacx.com

The Tacx Neo 2 was released late in 2018. It has some impressive stats: providing 2,200 W of resistance and mimicking grades of 22 per cent. Also, it features the ability to simulate rolling down virtual descents. The Neo 2’s accuracy is posted as +/- 1 per cent. It’s also quiet. Really quiet. Compared with the original Neo, the 2 has added features, such as pedal-stroke analysis and left/right balance.

The machine has quite a bit of heft to it, weighing in a 21.93 kg. With its fold-out “wings,” it seems to have a big footprint, however, it’s a reasonable 75 cm wide and 58 cm from front to back. When the wings are up, the Neo 2 is only 25 cm wide making it stowable. Tacx trainers don’t come with cassettes, so you have to get out a chain whip and lockring tool to put on a Shimano or sram cassette. The unit comes with a quick-release and adaptors for 142 x 12 mm and 148 x 12 mm axles. There’s a handy video that will help you figure out the adaptors in a few minutes. Budget a few more minutes if you are the lemme-see-if-ican-figure-this-out-myself type.

Both erg and simulation modes, in Zwift, work very well on the Neo 2. In the former, the trainer switches between interval intensities well and can adjust for fluctuations in cadence. In the latter, cruising through Zwift was smooth.

At this year’s Eurobike in September,

I rode both the Neo 2 and the newest Neo, the 2 T. (The latest version couldn’t ship in time for testing.) The 2 T has a few minor refinements on the Neo 2, but there was one significant change that Tacx wanted me to experience. On the Neo 2, a rider could cause some slipping in the unit going from a slow cadence in a hard gear and then jumping into a sprint. When Tacx set me up on their Neo 2 to try to make it slip, I didn’t think a light climber-type like me could do it. But I did. I couldn’t cause the same slippage on the 2 T. Back in my home pain cave, I tried to recreate the slipping on the Neo 2 I had in for testing. I couldn’t do it. Had I gotten weaker? (Of course that was my first worry.) I think the problem is common in Neo 2s, but probably not for all, especially for low-wattage types like me. The Neo 2 remains a great option for training throughout the winter.— MP

Kurt Kinetic R1 $1,350 kurinetic.com

Anyone who has ever red lined while sprinting out of the saddle indoors knows the frightening feeling when the support legs of an old-school trainer start to lift off the ground. It’s like the indoor version of a speed wobble.

Way back in 2011, Kinetic introduced the Rock and Roll trainer, which allowed riders to sway side to side as they pedalled thanks to the base being separated from the wheel roller with elastomers. That evolved into the Rock and Roll Smart Control. Recently, Kinetic released the Kinetic R1, which combines natural movement with direct-drive technology.

The first hint of the Kinetic R1’s robustness is the “twoperson lift” warning on the box. At 21.5 kg, including a 6.3 kg flywheel, the trainer is not designed for easy transport, but it provides a solid base with no concerns for tipping under heavy loads.

While it’s fun showing the Rock and Roll technology to cycling friends on “regular” trainers, the movement is more beneficial for allowing a natural cycling motion than for leaning left and right like a Motogp star.

The R1 is fully Bluetooth and ant+ compatible and works with Kinetic’s own Fit app or any other indoor-cycling platform that controls a smart trainer. It offers 2,000 W of resistance with an accuracy of +/- 3 per cent and a maximum slope of 20 per cent.

Even for a smart trainer newbie, setup of the R1 is fast and uncomplicated. Riding the trainer is a blast. The direct-drive system isn’t particularly loud and comes with the added benefit of not launching bits of rubber against the walls and floor like older, tire-on-roller trainers. The side-to-side motion feels natural and makes time in the pain cave a little easier to handle.

At $1,350 the Kinetic R1 isn’t cheap, but it’s in line with other smart trainers on the market and comes with a lifetime warranty on the frame, two years on the power unit and a free six-month subscription to the Kinetic Fit app.— Dandakin