So, here’s the 2020 buckets, aligned to the trends of trainer pricing over the past year:īudget – Sub-$450: Most of these (all of these?) are wheel-on trainers that have basic smart trainer functionality (including replicating climbs, setting specific wattages, and working with apps). Meanwhile, someone looking for a $599 trainer isn’t likely the same person as one looking at a $1,199 trainer. Meaning, someone looking to spend $599 is probably OK spending $699, and someone teetering at $529 might be OK spending that $699 too if the benefits make sense. My purpose isn’t so much moving the goalposts, as it is making the groupings more logical. I had to change my price bucketing last year to account for this (again). For example, functionality and accuracy that used to be reserved for $1,200 trainers has slid down to $900 trainers and even $700 trainers. Over the last few years we’ve continued to see major shifting in price vs feature-set combinations. Still, I’m lucky enough to have been able to try almost everything made by all the major trainer companies this year, at least at the mid to upper end (I don’t tend to review the 342 different models of trainers from $75 to $200). This is, again, my *recommendations*, not the holy grail of everything ever made by everyone. Though I will briefly discuss why I didn’t include some trainers in this piece at the end. My goal is NOT to make a roundup of every trainer on the market. I keep it simple and explain exactly why I feel a given way. When I look at recommendations across all products I make, I try and recommend products to you in the same way that I’d do to friends and family. And while one might think you can just look at a past similar trainer, my testing has shown that’s rarely the case (and in fact, we see very specific examples of that this year with the KICKR 2020 and ATOM 2020 being different in the accuracy realms). It’s simply hard to judge things like accuracy or total ride feel unless I’ve got a unit in-hand. There honestly hasn’t been a fundamental shift in apps since then, as most apps have been trying to keep up with the surge in their user base.) How I Make Trainer Recommendations:įirst and foremost, I only recommend trainers I’ve actually used. (Oh, and if you’re looking for my 2020 Cycling Smart Trainer Apps guide, you’ll find that from late this past spring here. I have my guide from last year, though that was prior to the Stages Bike SB20 this past June and Wattbike ATOM 2020 a few weeks ago. In other words: A company has to follow the well recognized standards to even be considered for this list.įinally, for indoor bikes – I might do a separate shoot-out guide on those, if there’s interest.
Specifically ones that transmit some sort of ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart signal (dual/concurrently), and allow control of the trainer itself (via ANT+ FE-C and/or Bluetooth Smart FTMS). Keep in mind this guide is essentially focused on smart trainers. I do not expect any further/new mainstream trainers until next summer. Still, I have swept through and added or removed some trainers for various noted reasons, as well as retested trainers where applicable. So the vast majority of this guide remains pretty similar to last year. Note that as one might expect there’s been very few trainer announcements this year, and those that have occurred have been incredibly minor updates. Still, on the off-chance you do have some choice on what you buy – then this guide is here to help you pick the right trainer.
So in some ways, the recommendations guide this year could read: Buy anything you can actually find.
Especially the more popular models, or rather, the ones you actually want to buy. The simple reality is that finding in-stock trainers is near impossible in many regions of the world. For nearly a decade my trainer recommendations guide has been a staple of this time of year, consolidating all the latest trainers into the do and don’t buy list to consider before spending some hard-earned cash to then suffer inside.