smart trainer Archives - Cycling Hacks

How to Choose the Best Bike Trainer: Ultimate Buyer’s Guide

January 6, 2023September 8, 2019 by Cycling Hacks Team

If you want to turn cycling into a year-round activity, but don’t live in a warm locale, chances are you’ll need an indoor bike trainer. For years cyclists equated training indoors with a cycling death sentence, but then apps like TrainerRoad, The Sufferfest and Zwift transformed these mind numbing indoor miles into an opportunity to ride the world’s best courses and compete against our virtual and real-life cycling friends.

With so many apps and trainers flooding the market, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. What trainers are compatible with which apps and do you need a smart trainer to use Zwift? And what exactly is a smart trainer? From magnetic to direct drive, here’s everything you need to know to get started with an indoor bike trainer.

The Best Direct-Drive Trainer? Elite Drivo Long-Term Review

August 28, 2022January 21, 2017 by Cycling Hacks Team

When you think of high end, direct drive trainers, two names instantly come to mind:

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and Wahoo KICKR. As a record number of riders do battle on Zwift, the big players in the smart trainer market have finally stepped up to answer the call with some heavy hitters.

While Tacx touted their near-silent Neo and Wahoo claimed a true-to-life ride experience, Elite released the Drivo, a behemoth — built like a tank — with near perfect power accuracy. But is the Elite Drivo a third party contender or a worthy candidate for the best direct drive trainer?

Zwift Review: How to Boost Your Cycling Fitness Now

September 15, 2022December 13, 2015 by Cycling Hacks Team

Last updated: 12/29/16

If you hate the trainer, listen up. Zwift will save you from dying of trainer-induced boredom this winter and give your fitness a kick by spring. Here’s our official Zwift review and quick-start guide.

What is Zwift and should you try it?

Zwift is a software program that syncs your bike to a live, virtual course where you can ride and train with other cyclists. Launched in beta mode in the fall of 2014, Zwift quickly grew a following. According to Bicycle Retailer, riders from over 100 countries have already logged over 300,000 rides that cover more than 4.5 million miles.

Riding this wave of popularity, Zwift switched to a monthly $10 subscription last year, though they’re still offering a 7-day free trial to new users. Best of all, you don’t have to have a fast computer to enjoy the game. Now that you can play via iOS, it’s easy to see why Zwift is currently the hottest training tool.