Best Indoor Trainer for Winter 2020-21
Best Indoor Trainer for Winter 2020-21It’s obvious, the best indoor trainer is the Tacx NEO 2T. That said, I’m happy with my Wahoo KICKR.
Second lockdowns are upon us in the EU and UK, now is the time to buy your lockdown/Winter Indoor Trainer whilst there’s still stock. The first lockdown saw global stocks of indoor trainers vanish from the shelves and even now, as you’ll see below, some brands have still not replenished their stocks.
I’ve ranked the Top 3/best indoor trainers available in each broad price category and a quick justification of those ranked best. I’ve tried to include trusted home turbos from historically trusted suppliers, taking into account what is in stock right now or likely to come into stock in late 2020.
Table of Contents | Jump To
Best Indoor Trainer – Budget
Your old bike on the Tacx Flow will produce accurate-enough power, you’ll probably need a special trainer tyre but that’s it. TACX is now owned by Garmin, so you get the security of support from THE leading home cycling electronics company.
There are even cheaper options than the Tacx Flow but connecting them to Zwift may not be super-straightforward.
Best Indoor Trainer – Mid-Range
As price bracket goes up, so there is an increase in the smart, electronic features you get as well as better accuracy. Naturally, you can talk to Zwift or have your Garmin control the resistance during a structured workout. Realistically, these 3 options also all require a special trainer tyre as your normal tyre isn’t sufficiently durable.
- Wahoo KICKR SNAP – $499, £429, Eu483.91. This is almost a no-brainer with the lowest price and all the sensible smart features you need
- 4iiii Fliiiight $599 – on par with the KICKR SNAP. Get it if you can find it for the same price. Or any price…currently out of stock everywhere (Nov 2020)
- Saris/CycleOps M2 – $499 currently out of stock everywhere (Nov 2020)
Elite Tuo & Zumo would be sensible too if you can get hold of one.
Best Smart Trainer – High-End
You’ll get all the Sufferfest, Zwift-fest, Garmin-fest love you could ever sensibly need in this price bracket. These are all feature-full indoor trainers where you simply take off your rear wheel and put them on the trainer.
You won’t go wrong with any of these and my personal preference would be to cycle in silence with the Wahoo. You might prefer to stick with a one-brand solution to match your bike computer with Garmin (Tacx) or Wahoo, or you might have space constraints in which case go for the Elite which perhaps also just edges it with the overall spec including accuracy.
- * Tacx Flux 2 (improved 2020 model) – $899, €799, £699
- Wahoo Fitness KICKR CORE – $899, £699.99, Eu789.59
- Elite Direto X – currently out of stock everywhere (Nov 2020)
Elite Suito is a sensible choice too coming as a ready-to-ride trainer that’s easy on the pocket with various bits free extras at Don’t fancy a Fux 2 then go for the Flux S
Best Premium Indoor Smart Trainer for Home Usage
The standout feature here for me is that this new price bracket brings you notably higher accuracy than the previous price band. Of these, the Tacx and Kickr are more accurate than the Saris. I don’t think the price is going to be an issue for you here but if you still want something ‘cheap’ then the H3 gives you a lower price than the other two, also edging out the Direto XR. Garmin’s Tacx NEOs seem to sell in greater numbers because they are Garmin or maybe they just have slightly better specs of things that you probably won’t need ie the ability to simulate road-noise, steeper uphills and faster downhills.
- Tacx NEO 2T – $1399.99, £1199.00, Eu1352.47 – Everyone buys these, they’re super quiet.
- Wahoo KICKR 2020 – $1199.99, £999.99, Eu1127.99 – I prefer this, it’s super-quiet too and just as accurate.
- Saris H3 (CycleOps Hammer 3) – $999.99, £747.99, Eu957.67 – To save a few bucks and still get a great spec
Best SMART Bike
These are indoor smart bikes that are specifically designed NOT to look like a real bike and yet are simultaneously designed to match a real bike in every possible way, down to the feel of the gear shift. I’m not entirely sure why I’d ever buy one of these other than to save the faff of taking my favourite bike-of-the-moment down to my pain shed. That said, they look REALLY cool.
More serious riders will welcome the precision and ease of shifting from road bike configs to TT configs; or from changing your setup to that of your partners.
Wahoo is the clear winner as it is the joint-most-accurate, has 3x BLE connections, and is the only one with proper brake levers. Even though the Stages is about $500 cheaper than this Wahoo, at this price does that saving really matter to you? Tacx is simply second-best in this category to the Wahoo and that’s why it’s cheaper…because it’s not as good.
- Wahoo KICKR Bike – $3499.99, £2999.99, Eu3382.87 – The best.
- Tacx NEO Bike Smart – $3199.99, £2299.00, Eu2593.27
- Stages Bike – SB20 – $2899.00, £2700.00, Eu3045.60
- Wattbike Atom 2020 (not USA, 170mm cranks, 2% accuracy)
Peloton? nah. You’re too cool for that.
Most Accurate Indoor Trainers
If you are interested in the most accurate turbo trainers then take a quick look at this short post where I highlight all the most accurate trainers.
Top 10 Most Accurate Indoor Bike Trainers 💪 Smart Turbo Power for Zwift
Reader-Powered Content
This content is not sponsored. It's mostly me behind the labour of love which is this site, meaning it's entirely reader-powered content ❤️ I'd really appreciate it if you'd follow, subscribe or Buy Me A Coffee ❤️ Alternatively please buy the reviewed product from my partners (which costs you no extra) and, for that, I receive a small commission. Thank you!
FTC: Affiliate Disclosure: All links pay commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
1) Any chance the Tacx Flow Smart will be back in stock anytime?
2) Will the Tacx Flow smart/wahoo kickr snap work with a 29” MTB bike?
What about Elite Tuo?
indoor trainers not toasters.
so, do you think it is not worth any attention? I am thinking about buying a trainer and I am between SNAP and Tuo
think about the risk of new tech. Kickr is safer, same claimed accuracy.
there are some benefits to Tuo obviously but i would say they are marginal for many people.
what is important to you?
Price (both fit ok), noise (low), easy to use. I just want to mix cycling with my running and now with colder weather and shorter days (and being closed at home maybe) I think it is good idea to buy a trainer.
You’re way too optimistic about Tacx service being assured due to being part of Garmin. It’s the opposite!!!
I’m held on a string for months now. There’s no repairs done. You can get a new one, for which you have to pay as soon as there’s no warranty anymore.
It’s at Garmin’s HQ’s that this has been determined. Tacx themselves might very well regret this a lot although they already refused me to ride by (I live ‘around the corner’ from their HQ) before Garmin took their latest decision. But maybe because of Covid craziness…..
in the sense that they will still be in business.
You mean they had problems? Might be, I know them for years. Bought my first one in 1988 or so. Their inventiveness wasn’t matched by their organisational skills….
Under High End, did you mean to put Direto X instead of Direto XR?
Tricky because of its good pricing. I had the XR more down as a ‘premium’
Two comments: 1. Tacx service had become better the last 2 or so years. But Garmin was hardly the owner when they changed the level dramatically. I guess warranty will still be handled but outside of that they don’t do nothing anymore. If you don’t count paying 800+ dollar for a refurbished 2T while sending in yr old machine. It’s that or nothing. No repairs, no parts, no help, nothing.
2.Trainer tyres: I’ve seen several tests that said these aren’t deteriorating slower and don’t make less noise.
I had an out-of-warranty TACX unit, that I hadn’t even bought new myself, replaced. 4-5 years ago.maybe a bit longer.
there’s always good stories and bad ones