KICKR vs Neo 2
 

Any one have thoughts or experience of one of these over the other? I'm not excited about the smart stuff, in fact probably won't use it. We got an apartment in the city and the main concerns are size and noise. My rollers just won't work. Size and portability and really important. Since I'll only use the place part time, it'll store in a closet so it's out of my family's way. These seem to be smaller than others. In fact, the kickr has a handle. But maybe there are others as well.

Option 3 - new saris h3, allegedly quieter, good accuracy, solid unit, $1000 new

I have a NEO 1. Its heavy (which I believe the NEO 2 is as well) but does fold up and is easy to store. Supposedly its the quietest direct drive (as of a year ago, things may have changed) since it has no flywheel. I can't speak to the KICKR other than from what I've heard its a solid product as well.

i'll plug for the Hammer/H2/H3 as well

Heavy flywheels means very good road feel

As for noise, certainly quieter than the fans/blowers I use to keep me cool

Also, Saris has cosmetic blemish H2 on sale for ~$800, I think.

all that aside, what's this desk?


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V0fBQnqbi3Q/maxresdefault.jpg

He might have the kickr desk but that’s a bit overpriced at like $250. I have a nearly identical one that can be had for like 130 on Amazon by a brand called RAD

awesome. thanks.

do you think it is possible to set it up a bit on the side, or on the side so as not to impede a forward place standing fan?

Possibly? I just took this picture so hopefully is kind of what you were thinking. I also highly recommend that blower fan,lasko pro performance, it’s become the gold standard for a lot of us indoor workout enthusiasts

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b7ec6e1f2.jpeg

:) I'm good with fans.

The desk I use is directly perpendicular to my bike so I can easily surf while I'm riding. But my laptop caddy is like 15 years old and getting a little long in the tooth.

That some expensive stand.

I bought a wooden music stand for like $30 and it holds the laptop up just fine.

If you are not going to use smart feature it kind of pointless to get smart trainer. Not to mention they are heavy AF, so pain in the ass to move around. Even with handle.
Just get fluid trainer, and some thicker pads for vibration insulation.

wheel on trainers are a non starter. I despise the feel and have trouble riding them for longer than 30 minutes. It's an 800 square foot apartment. I'll have to move it 6 feet from the closet to the bedroom to set up. There's just no way my spare rollers fit though.

what's the name of the very quiet trainer, wheel-on, where the wheel doesn't actually touch anything. Uses magnetic resistance or some-such.

Well I think you can use NEO 2 as dumb trainer without power source as a dumb trainer. But reviews mentioned that putting it away is kind of a PITA. Out of two I would go with Kickr 2. It has a handle, it doesn't slip like NEO 2 during hard and sudden accelerations. Neo has the "road feel" vibration thing when you are using it with zwift, but it sounds very gimicky.

Neat. I’m not opposed to plugging something in. I’m not a Luddite. It’s just that I couldn’t give a crud about swift or such things. I’ll stare at my srm for data and that’s what I’ll download.

a smart trainer would allow you to do ERG mode for a structured workout, but sounds like you don't need or want to do that.

Not sure why you think that. My computrainer had erg mode. I simply don't need the virtual, races, or social interaction. My singular desire for such a trainer is size and feel. I get that others want all the bells and whistles, but I've been training indoors predominantly for my entire race career, and almost exclusively for the last 15 years. I've ridden outside 12 times since last fall, and they were all races or training on a closed mountain road. I just don't need the learning curve or the motivation others are seeking by racing and having graphics to stare at.

well if you want ERG mode, then you do want a smart trainer.

I haven't commented on the original question because I have never used a Neo. I do have a kickr2 and it has worked flawlessly (except the power is not all that accurate, but I don't use the kickr power anyway). It's not that quiet, but it's not the newest version. And I have read many complaints about the more recent kickr's online having to be returned. I don't know if they fixed the issues or not.

Shakes head.

I don't care about erg mode (note my desires for a trainer above). Might I use it? Sure. But I'm not buying a 1200 dollar trainer for any of that. I'm buying it because it's small, and I won't need to travel with a rear wheel to the apartment.

I do not want a smart trainer. I'm going to buy one because it fits the other parameters of import better than other trainers.

What about a Feedback Omnium? It is by far the most compact when stored. You will need the rear wheel, but not the front. Mine is pretty quiet, but I have the zero resistance track version.

do they have resistance? They always seemed really expensive for what they appeared to be. Perhaps I'm wrong

They do. They have one with “progressive resistance” and one without. I don’t know how much resistance it has, but I know at least one person who trains on one exclusively.

I have an original Kickr and an original Neo that I do the majority of my training on (road bike on Neo and TT bike on Kickr). The new Kickr's have had some big production issues that make buying a unit a little hit or miss. If movability is your primary concern, I would choose the Kicker mainly because of the handle and it folds up a little easier. They both are fairly heavy and take up about the same amount of space when folded up. My gen 1 Kickr can get loud in certain gearing, but that has been cleaned up in the newest gen. The Neo is really quiet. I only hear my drive train and the responsiveness to changes is much better. The power meter is more accurate on the Neo as well, but it's not as much of an issue if you are using your SRM and power match (I use my quarq in the same manner.) The other advantage of the Kickr is that it's cheaper.

tldr: If your focus is the parameters you listed, I would suggest a Kickr or even a Core. If you just want the best smart trainer, I would recommend the Neo.

Thanks. In a lot of ways the core makes more sense (especially since I'll only be there occasionally). But that handle, and more compactness is enticing. I wish they picked a bigger apartment (which would require a different city), because I have a perfectly good pair of spare e-motion rollers.