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Best Indoor Bike Trainers for 2024: Tacx, Wahoo, Saris and More Compared [CNET]
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Lindsay Boyers is a certified nutritionist and published book author who writes articles and product reviews for CNET’s health and wellness section. Her work also appears on mindbodygreen, Healthline, Verywell Health and The Spruce. When she’s not actively searching for the best products at the best prices, she’s most likely creating new recipes, reading in her hammock or trying to force her cats to love her.
Cycling is a good way to get your body moving. If you enjoy cycling but can’t always get outside, an indoor bike trainer might be exactly what you need. Whether it’s the weather, lack of time or the traffic that’s keeping you home, indoor trainers can help you get cycling done without leaving the house. It makes sense to buy an indoor bike trainer to prevent those factors from playing the spoilsport to your workout routine. The best wheel-on trainer options accommodate your riding style, cycling experience and training goals.
Indoor riding may not be easy to adjust to, but the best indoor bicycle trainers will bring you the feel of the road right at home, with realistic resistance, climbs and descents. Standard exercise or spin bikes don’t offer that but instead have progressive resistance and not much else to make you feel like you’re riding on the road.
Finding the best indoor bike trainer can be a lot of work since there are many different cycling trainer options to consider. There’s the roller trainer, friction trainer, magnetic trainer, direct drive trainer and a simple stationary bike stand. If you want to go a little more high-tech, there are also a bunch of smart bike trainer options. I’ve scoured the internet, read cycle trainer reviews until my eyes started to cross and tested a variety of the top models to give you some guidance.
My goal was to end up with a list that included all types of indoor bike trainers for cyclists at different skill levels and with different budgets. I considered several factors, looking for a quiet bike trainer that offers several levels of resistance. I compared all the options and found the best indoor bike trainers at several different prices. Then, I thoroughly tested them. Whether you’re brand new to indoor cycling or a pro looking to upgrade your cycling gear, you’ll find something here that fits.
The trainer was super quiet, which is nice if you’re an early riser who wants to get some training in without waking up the rest of your house. While I don’t have the leg power or stamina to get up to the Neo 2T’s power cap of 2,200 watts, even at my high speeds, it stayed stable without any shaking at all.
There are some things you have to keep in mind with this trainer. The Neo 2T Smart trainer is the only one on this list that requires full removal of the back wheel and the cassette on your bike. To do the job properly, you need specialized tools. Another thing to note is that while the Tacx Neo 2T does come with several spacers to make your bike fit, it’s only compatible with certain cassette models. If you’re thinking of buying the Neo 2T, which retails at around $1,400, make sure you check the specs first and ensure that you have a compatible bike. Or, decide if you’re comfortable investing in a different bike that is.
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The Tacx Neo 2T Smart Trainer is not your grandmother’s indoor bike trainer stand. OK, your grandmother probably didn’t have a bike trainer, but my point is that this thing is intense — in all of the best ways. Although you can use the Neo 2T as a standalone trainer, I focused on testing its smart training capabilities by connecting it to the Tacx Training app, which is free for basic functions, but requires a monthly subscription of $10 to $14 to access premium features.
With the app, which is similar to Zwift, you can connect your trainer via Bluetooth and choose from several different workouts or “movies” that take you through simulated roads and inclines of up to 25%. The result was almost eerily realistic and provided some serious road feel. If I closed my eyes, I would have thought I was riding up the slopes of the Dolomites.
The trainer was super quiet, which is nice if you’re an early riser who wants to get some training in without waking up the rest of your house. While I don’t have the leg power or stamina to get up to the Neo 2T’s power cap of 2,200 watts, even at my high speeds, it stayed stable without any shaking at all.
There are some things you have to keep in mind with this trainer. The Neo 2T Smart trainer is the only one on this list that requires full removal of the back wheel and the cassette on your bike. To do the job properly, you need specialized tools. Another thing to note is that while the Tacx Neo 2T does come with several spacers to make your bike fit, it’s only compatible with certain cassette models. If you’re thinking of buying the Neo 2T, which retails at around $1,400, make sure you check the specs first and ensure that you have a compatible bike. Or, decide if you’re comfortable investing in a different bike that is.
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