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Tacx Neo direct-drive smart trainer could be The One

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Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

The Tacx Neo is the latest smart trainer to hit the market, and it may just be the sleekest, smallest and best looking one to date.

By using a true direct drive design without any belts, transmissions or gears, it’s able to fill a minimal space that folds up small enough to slide behind some couches. Yet it’s able to produce up to 2,000 watts of resistance and, by using the the ANT+ FE-C protocols, any compatible app can control the resistance to simulate real world riding.

Check the video and tech specs below…

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

Despite the narrow profile, it puts out a maximum 2,000 to 2,200 watts of resistance, available at low and high speeds to accurately replicate anything from an all-out sprint to a grindingly steep uphill climb. Up to a 25% grade, to be exact. That’s done via electronic braking by magnets, which makes it very quiet and (likely) very durable. It’ll also accelerate the wheel (or, at least, decrease resistance) up to 5% on a simulated downhill.

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

Built into the device is advanced software that mimics real world road feel, factoring in things such as rolling resistance, wind, air pressure, rider weight, temperature, altitude, inertia and more. All of that data is calculated against the speed of the roller 1,000 times per second to deliver the appropriate resistance. An LED beams a changing light underneath you, glowing redder as your power output increases.

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

The Neo comes with an Edco freehub body that’s compatible with SRAM, Shimano and most Campagnolo cassettes (there’s a compatibility chart on their website). You’ll need to supply your own cassette, though, but in our experience just about the cheapest cassette works fine on indoor trainers so long as the number of cogs matches what’s on your bike.

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

The only downsides appear to be compatibility with some frames’ integrated under-the-bottom-bracket brake mounts, and it won’t work with thru axles yet…an adapter is supposedly on the way. So, as forward facing as its tech and design is, if you’ve got a fancy triathlon bike or modern disc brake bike, it may not work for you. They have printable PDF stencils for both 130mm and 135mm axles to confirm.

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

Tacx provides free smartphone…

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

…and tablet apps that provide real-time power, speed and even cadence thanks to motion sensors on the trainer that figure out your pedaling speed. Their software lets you control the trainer’s resistance by selecting wattage output or desired incline simulation, and they also have virtual worlds you can ride or upload your own ride data.

Tacx Neo direct drive smart cycling trainer

The apps are free, the PC software isn’t, but provides the most robust experience. But, thanks to their use of the standard ANT+ FE-C trainer protocol, it’ll work with Zwift, TrainerRoad, Kinomap, Bkool and others.

Or, disconnect it from all that and it’ll mimic the feel of a fluid trainer, ramping up resistance the faster you pedal it…even if it’s not plugged into the wall.

Retail is about $1,600 / £1,200.

Tacx.com

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anonymouse
anonymouse
8 years ago

is that Keanu Reeves

KC
KC
8 years ago

If you buy one of these, make sure you purchase from a brick & mortar store who will agree to unbox it and test it before you take delivery. Judging by my own experience and the DC Rainmaker review comments, a large percentage of the initial units are defective and sound like they are full of rocks. Not saying you shouldn’t buy, just make sure you can test it before taking it home. It’s heavy! Which is a good thing… as long as you don’t have to haul it back to the store 🙂

joenomad
joenomad
8 years ago

So 40 plus comments on magnetic nostril enhancers but only 1 on a $1600 trainer.

Dsand
Dsand
8 years ago

Tac X Neo, the one

Tarek
Tarek
8 years ago

I’ve purchased a Neo Smart and i’ve returned it to the bike store within week. Besides the compatibility issues with all the programs they advertise on Tacxs website, i noticed the smell of the magnets would smell burnt and this would stink up my house.
Thank God I didnt sell my Kickr!

Pette
Pette
8 years ago

@KC, full of rocks? its not just me then!! I’ve had mine for 2months now and its a lot of fun and I much prefer it to my Bushido. But all this time I’ve been trying to source that random grinding sound and it isn’t from anyone of my bikes. Does anyone have an idea what the source is? for the price it should be flawless!!!!! I have an original Bushido when they first came out 5+ years ago and it has given me no trouble whatsoever.

McClain
8 years ago

$1600

I rather buy my two closest non-cycling friends new bikes.

Dave
Dave
8 years ago

KICKR rocks

MaxG
MaxG
8 years ago

I had mine for 9 weeks and yes I have the crunching sound after 5 min riding to.
But the biggest issue for me is that TTS 5 seems to have problem controlling the unit.
The watt curve looks like a mountain range.
First the cadence was fluctuating, the smoother you pedaled the more it fluctuated.
Then there where a big (1GB+) TTS update where the cadence was capped (pedal real smooth and it simply locks/flatline) but now the speed is waay off fluctuating wildly while riding on a single gear.
I only use watt – time and have a P2M to confirm it is not just a software glitch.
Hopefully it can be sorted with software/firmware but I start to suspect the hardware is not up to it.

BTW The bouncing side to side while riding (it made it hard to read my Garmin 510) really annoyed me.In desperation I put my old front steerer frame on (front only) and voila it is simply perfect, the rear is moving a bit back and forth and the handlebar stays still just like riding on the road.

MaxG
MaxG
8 years ago
Reply to  MaxG

To be fair: after deciding to try to pull the flywheel off myself and fix the crunching sound I found out that the axle spacers on booth sides where only screwed in halfway from factory.
A little 222 (mild thread lock) and 5mm I think it was Allen key to tighten them and all is fine now,
I also greased the bone dry freewheel ratchet.
Also riding with slope/time shows the speed more correct, about 10km/h higher than on watt/time (same gear) not that I use anything else than watt/time.

John
John
8 years ago

I was going to have Neo be The One, but maybe I’ll wait for version 2, so they have time to work out the bugs.

bjorn
bjorn
8 years ago

Super happy with mine so far. Done about 200km on it.
I only use zwift for indoor training.

No issues at all. Trying to figure out how it calculates cadence, which is an algorithm that needs some tweaking. So I use my garmin cadence sensor instead.

Love how quiet it is, no cunch sound. My father has one as well and no issues there either.

Bob Log
Bob Log
8 years ago

Oh man, I’d stay far away from anything Tacx that might possibly, maybe need support.

I will say this new trainer looks like it could give the KICKR some competition, but knowing Tacx it will have a critical flaw out of the box (grinding rocks sound?), if you are lucky enough to get past that, there will be some other hardware defect (burning magnet smell?), then they might get around to a software update that will seriously limit the hardware in order to workaround the hardware defects (say to a max wheelspeed of 25mph like they did with the Fortius), but don’t worry, the next software update will fail horribly & nothing will work until the next software update after that one becomes available, which won’t be free (but it won’t really work either… maybe the one after that will work, but it’s not a free upgrade either).

Seriously, I’d read up on their history with their other trainers and the TTS software before going forward with this thing. I want to like it, but I can’t get past the feeling that I’d get screwed if I bought one.

RollerGuy
RollerGuy
8 years ago

http://www.insideride.com/

These guys are now offering an electric resistance unit that is compatible with BKool, Zwift, etc. I’m a beta-tester for it and I’ve been using it for just over a month and its great! I ride Zwift 2-3 times a week during the winter and the combination of Zwift and these rollers is really tremendous. They will be available after the first of the year, and its best-in-class as far as I’m concerned… oh, and in the US it’ll be cheaper than this thing for sure!

Darryl
Darryl
8 years ago

Agree with Bob, I spend more time updating and figuring out the latest introduced bugs and wondering why it’s giving me 500 watts resistance when it is set to 200 on my Genius.
Will never buy a Tacx again.
On the plus side it is really quiet.

Ben Lawson
8 years ago

We’re selling the Neo as fast as we can stock them!

We did see a few early units that made squealing or growling sounds. We got great support from our distributor though. Hasn’t always been the case with Tacx… One unit was replaced, we corrected two others ourselves. The primary problem was an ungreased bearing within the freehub body as I recall.

Best connectivity comes with the Windows software package that includes an ANT+ antenna on a long USB cord so it can be very close to the unit. Personally, I’m waiting for improved IOS/Apple TV functions. My own Vortex Smart is working great but the iPad software was troublesome until the middle of last summer.

Marc
Marc
8 years ago

Sure it is quiet, sure it is good looking…and I really wanted one….but didn’t buy it after testing. The side to side rocking motion (apperently better for your frame) is just to annoying. Even at 90rpm 180w (aka just cruising) you feel like you are on a small boat in a big swell. Not on your bike on a smooth road…ended up buying the Kickr Snap at half the price of the Neo (original Kickr too noisy) and loving every minute on it (also thanks to Zwift)

Pette
Pette
8 years ago

@Ben Lawson, how easy is it to remove the free hub body and grease? Thought I’d ask before getting the wrenches out.

Btw, it is a quiet trainer, that is until you start doing tempo or interval work, there is a pleasant hum that builds to take your mind off the pain.

stravafan
8 years ago

No disc brake compatible? What a crap

Pette
Pette
8 years ago

Never mind, it was a 2 minute job with a 5 mm to remove the freehub body, grease and back up running in no time. Problem solved! No more crunchies, the axle on the Neo as well as the spacer the sits between the axle and the freehub were bone dry. My bearings were fine.

Nate
Nate
8 years ago

“bjorn – 12/18/15 – 3:51am
Super happy with mine so far. Done about 200km on it.
I only use zwift for indoor training.
No issues at all. Trying to figure out how it calculates cadence, which is an algorithm that needs some tweaking. So I use my garmin cadence sensor instead.
Love how quiet it is, no cunch sound. My father has one as well and no issues there either.”

No issues at all except that cadence doesn’t work?

Rwajtb
Rwajtb
8 years ago

After years of TACX software frustration, I’m not sure I’d ever go back to them. Even more so after seeing these comments and the pricing. I’ve found happiness with the KICKR and Velo Reality software. Best support ever and great videos at reasonable prices!

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