Saris H3 smar t trainer and MP1 Nfinity platform
H3 £850, MP1 £999, saris.co.uk
The Saris H3 is right up there among the top-end smart trainers, being compatible with the big online platforms like Zwift and Trainerroad, boasting +/-2% power accuracy, making very little noise (a claimed 59db at 32kmh) and replicating up to 20% gradients. So the next step, says Saris (formerly known as Cycleops), is to make home training even more like riding outdoors. Which is where the Nfinity comes in.
It’s a platform that you put your bike and turbo trainer on, allowing the whole setup to move in a way that feels like riding on the road for real. Conceptually this is nothing new – Kinetic has long since had the Rock and Roll turbo that moves side-to-side – but what makes the Nfinity unique is its 360° ‘multi-dimensional’ movement. Using a series of rollers and bowed tracks, the Nfinity can shift 24cm fore-aft and tilt 12° to either side. This, says Saris, not only makes riding feel more natural, but aids performance by engaging the core and upper body as well as the legs. Encouraging shifts in weight also alleviates that dead backside feeling that comes from hours sat in a rigid turbo position.
The Nfinity is designed with the H3 turbo trainer in mind, but Saris says the platform will work equally well with most other trainers and the company provides a guide for how to secure each model to the solid birchwood base using straps that fit in special grooves in the platform.
At a pound shy of a grand, the Nfinity is more expensive than most turbos, but if money is no problem then it will add a new dimension to your indoor training.