I remember when I headed to Zwift headquarters last year to learn about a new project the brand was talking about. There'd been rumors for a while about an outrageous design themed around the in-game Tron bike. That day though, there was no Tron bike. Instead, Zwift announced the Zwift Hub; a smart trainer that I knew would absolutely transform the market. Turns out I was right on the money this time and our list of the best smart trainers for indoor cycling has never been the same.
I wasn't entirely right though. I figured by now we'd all have a clear sense of the picture and it would be back to business as normal just with a new normal. As we head into the holidays, that is not the situation at all. The Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have only made the situation more confusing.
My job is to review bike technology. A big part of that, partially because I love using them, is reviewing bike trainers. Despite that experience, I was genuinely confused about the market and had to spend time combing through the prices and specs to figure out what were actually good deals, rather than just 'big discounts'. If you are looking for a new trainer this winter, and looking to score a Cyber Monday deal, here's how I see the market and what trainers I think are worth a purchase.
In brief: The best Black Friday smart trainer deals
USA Quick Deals:
🚲 Saris H3 Smart Trainer: $649.99 $549.99 at Amazon
🚲 Zwift Hub One Smart Trainer: $748.99 $599.99 at Zwift
🚲 Wahoo Kickr Core Smart Trainer: $699.99 $599.99 at Wahoo
🚲 Garmin Tacx Neo 2T Smart Trainer: $1399.99 $899.99 at Amazon
🚲 Wahoo Kickr Smart Trainer: $1299.99 $999.99 at Wahoo
UK Quick Deals:
🚲 Zwift Hub One: £679.98 £549.99 at Zwift
🚲 Wahoo Kickr Core Smart Trainer: £649.99 £549.99 at Wahoo
🚲 Garmin Tacx Neo 2T Smart Trainer: £1199.99 £959.00 at Evans Cycles
🚲 Lifeline TT-01 basic trainer: £100.00 £13.49 at Wiggle
The players and the rules
The world of trainers has settled into a four-tier layout for the 2023/2024 winter training season. At the bottom of both useability and affordability is the wheel-on-trainer. These are excellent choices when you are on a tight budget. Wheel-on-trainers were the standard for a number of years and will serve you well if that's where you need to start. Technology marches on though and these aren't the heart of the market anymore so I'm going to leave them out of this discussion, apart from calling out the slightly insane deal of 87% off the Lifeline TT-01 at Wiggle, which when you use the code OUTLET10, brings it down to just £13.49 plus shipping.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, you've got smart bikes. You can find these in our list of the best exercise bikes but I've never been a fan of that term. While an exercise bike includes spin bikes, and gym bikes, that's different from the type of bike designed to simulate outdoor riding. In this context we are talking about products that take a wheel off smart trainer and build a bike around it. They are an incredible luxury to use and definitely the best of the best in the space, but they are also still too expensive for most people. I'm going to leave these out of the discussion as well.
That leaves wheel-off (direct-drive) smart trainers as the option most people are shopping for. There are a couple tiers of this option and a few main players. Like anything there's always someone new who's trying to break into the market but the main players are currently Tacx (owned by Garmin), Zwift and Wahoo. There's also Elite, which is popular worldwide though less so in the US, and Saris, who have seen financial difficulty in recent years and haven't launched a new product in a while.
As you shop around for discounts, this is the style of trainer you are most likely to see on offer and these are the brands that make sense to consider.
Tier 2: Budget smart trainers
I'm starting with Tier 2, or budget smart trainers, because this is the most popular option for the most people. This is also the category of trainers that the Zwift Hub has all but decimated. Every major brand used to have an option in this category - some had multiple - but those options are now either discontinued or make very little sense to buy. There are some discounts to find but by and large, there's no need to bother looking at specs because the pricing just doesn't make sense anymore.
To compete in this category a brand has to sell at a price so low it's unrecognizable compared to the pricing from 18 months ago. It is worth noting that there is still one brand that, with current discounts, might be worth considering if you are in the US. That brand is Saris.
Saris was at one time a credible player with a range of power meters and bike trainers that competed at every level of the market. Then the brand started swimming against a strong financial current. At this point, innovation is essentially gone but the same Saris H3 Smart trainer that's been around for four years is still a decent option. I actually still miss the ease of using the Saris app to set a specific wattage in ERG mode, the specs give +/-2% accuracy with 2000 watts and 20% gradient resistance. Plus the price has come down significantly. The only caveat is you need an 11-speed drivetrain.
Outside of Saris, you've got two options that make sense. If you plan to use Zwift for your indoor training software then the Zwift Hub One is a brand new option that makes everything incredibly easy. Instead of a cassette to worry about, there's a single cog on which to put your chain and all your shifting will be virtual instead of on your bike.
The advantage of the Zwift Hub One is that you can use whatever bike you want without worrying about compatibility. You can also easily swap bikes with different drivetrains so sharing a single trainer is easy. The downside is that you won't be able to shift outside of Zwift and that could be an issue down the line. Also worth consideration is that the Zwift Hub One is only accurate up to +/-2.5% even though the resistance maxes out at fairly standard 1800 watts or 16% gradient.
If you'd prefer to use a traditional cassette than the single sprocket and virtual shifting, then the best option is the Wahoo Kickr Core. For the same price as the Zwift Hub One you get a choice of 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12-speed cassette preinstalled. The specs are also slightly better at the same 1800 watts and 16% gradient but accurate to +/-2%. I'd argue that's not particularly important but it's still a fact and it may matter to you. Both options also include a year of Zwift membership included.
Tier 1: Premium smart trainers
These are the premium options. Everything in this category offers something unique and different. It would be foolish to think this part of the market hasn't been at all affected by the Zwift Hub but there's still a variety of players here. Zwift doesn't have anything competing here and the brands that were in the space still are.
Wahoo
That starts with Wahoo. Wahoo has been the biggest name in indoor trainers for a long time and the brand still has more than one option here. If you want truly premium then the brand new Kickr Move is the most expensive wheel off smart trainer. The big feature is 8in (20cm) fore-aft motion but there's also the typical 2200 watt or 20% grade resistance available plus +/-1% accuracy. Wahoo isn't giving any discounts here for the holidays but it's an impressive piece of kit.
If that's a bit out of your price range then the other option available is the Wahoo Kickr v6. The resistance is the same 2200 watt or 20% grade but Wahoo added a bunch of race-focused functionality in the last update. The Kickr has a Race Mode (faster data reporting between the Kickr and your computer) that's so fast the UCI outlawed it in the last UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. On top of that there's WiFi and direct ethernet connection options if Bluetooth or ANT+ lead to dropouts for you. Even if racing isn't your thing, adding the Wahoo Kickr Climb accessory means the front of your bike will raise and lower as you climb, or descend in Zwift. Both the Kickr and the Climb are on sale right now.
Tacx
Moving away from Wahoo, another premium option comes from fellow long-time player Tacx. Garmin actually owns Tacx now so you may see it described differently but Tacx was an early smart trainer company and the brand continues to have excellent products. The Tacx Neo 2T also adds realism but not by moving the bike. Instead the brand uses the same system that provides resistance to shake the trainer slightly depending on what you are riding across. It's surprisingly realistic and while not totally necessary, it's fun.
Perhaps more interesting, is the Tacx Motion Plates. Similar to the Wahoo Move, these provide motion to the trainer. The difference is that the Tacx approach is to make them available as an accessory. Right now the Tacx Neo 2T is cheaper than the Wahoo Kickr, in the US anyway, but only by about the price of the cassette that the Kickr includes and Tacx doesn't. The real competition is between the Kickr Move and the Neo 2T + the motion plates. Tacx offers similar specs but when you add a cassette and the motion plates, it's a cheaper package. Also, in the UK the deal is arguably better and Garmin is just throwing in the motion plates for free.
Elite
The last brand that might be worth looking at in this space is Elite. Elite recently introduced the Elite Justo and while it's not common in the US, the specs are worth consideration. Like the others you get 2200 watts or 24% grade resistance and +/-1% accuracy. You also get an absolutely beautiful design that folds up quite small and uses less plastic, bluetooth bridging for Apple TV users, an optional ethernet connection accessory, and there's a system to better move you from a rest interval to a work interval. Unfortunately as interesting as the Justo looks, there’s no deals and the pricing makes it hard to recommend when you compare it to the discounts available from other brands right now.
Which one to buy based on discount?
My advice here is pretty simple. If you have a dedicated bike for your trainer then get the Wahoo Kickr Core. It's a great system at a great price and it preserves your ability to use whatever training software you want in the future. If you don't have a dedicated bike for your trainer then go with the Zwift Hub One. It's so simple to drop any bike on or off of it that your life will just be easier. Also, it's not impossible to use it with other systems as most of the time you don't shift unless you are on Zwift.
If you want to go for a premium option then Wahoo is again my advice for most people. The Wahoo Kickr V6 feature list is impressive and having connection options is always good. It's incredibly frustrating to experience dropouts and they do happen. You'll have no way to know if it's an issue so including ways to solve the problem is great. Unless you need motion or you aren’t in the US.
For some people the static nature of indoor smart trainers is torture. If that's you then get the Tacx Neo 2T and add the Tacx Motion Plates. The whole system is smooth, quiet, and far better than the myriad of motion plates using inflatable balls you can find for less money (see Lifeline Rocker Plate for details). In the US it might make sense to add the motion plates.
Other Black Friday deals
- Black Friday bike deals: Our central hub of all the cycling deals this year
- Black Friday bike helmets: Safety on a budget for road and off-road use
- Black Friday cycling clothing: Kit out your cycling wardrobe without paying a fortune
- Black Friday cycling shoes: Save on summer and winter kicks
- Black Friday electric bikes: Power your way to savings
- Black Friday gravel bikes: Gravel grinding doesn't have to cost a fortune
- Black Friday kids bikes: They grow so fast, so don't pay full price
- Black Friday turbo trainers: Everything you need to get Zwifting on a budget
- Black Friday Castelli: Save on winter kit just as winter takes hold
- Black Friday Garmin: Smartwatches, cycling computers and more
- Black Friday GoPro: Shoot for the moon with top-quality action camera deals
- Black Friday Rapha: Big deals on the British clothing brand
- Black Friday Wiggle: One of the world's biggest cycling sales
- Black Friday Wahoo: The best prices on Wahoo's range of cycling tech
