Chinese indoor trainer

[Willos]

Hi all,

I’m looking for an indoor trainer and wanted to hear your experiences.

I noticed Magene also makes trainers (sometimes even manufacturing for the big brands), which look like a good value.
For those who’ve tried different setups: which trainer do you think offers the best balance of price, reliability, and features?

Thanks!

[raisinberry777]

I'd wait and see what the new Wahoo Kickr Core v2 due on September 1 brings before considering any Chinese devices. The Zwift Cog and Click is also a feature not yet offered by any Chinese trainers, consider whether you want that.

[Willos]

Any info on the wahoo kickr core v2? Sounds promising

[sbellote]

in terms of costs, it depends a lot on where you are, due to shipment, taxes, etc..

Thinkrider has some good offerings, low cost and seem to be positive reviews overall. There are a lot of models being continuously released, which is kind of bad since the reference changes a lot (models reviewed by GPLama for example are phased-out by now), but it's also good because it seems they're mostly improving them.
if I'm not wrong, there's a topic in here about the brand..

I have a Cycplus T2 which I've been pretty satisfied through the last 5 months. It's very silent and works really well, and although GPLama trashed it some years ago, through research I found they've released new versions and improved significantly - the model remains as 'T2' only but mine is like the 3rd version, and there's already a newer one in China.
bonus for the cycplus is that they offer a wireless control that can raise or lower the resistance. I still have to buy it to try it.

and there's Magene, which is a big brand doing a lot of stuff and seem to be doing well, but the price is normally a bit higher which is related to the brand name being more known.

regarding the zwift cog+click and everything... I've been using MyWhoosh with virtual gears for some months now and I pretty much stay in the same physical gear on all rides. I gotta reach for the mouse or keyboard to change virtual gears, but it's not that much of a hassle. And I plan to test a macropad and set it to control the gears, see if it works well for riding
it seems like a similar solution while at a much lower cost.. although I never used the zwift cog, so I don't have personal experience

[Dan S.]

I’m looking for an indoor trainer and wanted to hear your experiences.

Depends on what you are looking for. I have the "dumb" trainer Thinkrider A1 I bought for roughly 190 USD locally. No ERG mode, nothing, apparently it is set to feel like a constant 3% gradient or whatnot. I use it as a Zwift trainer for steady efforts just to survive the winter time. I did not want to invest in anything too expensive. Magene is not available in Europe and Cycplus are just as expensive as other Western-branded trainers. I was thinking about purchasing the new JetBlack Victory, but as it was always sold out, I scratched the idea. Currently thinking about purchaseing the ThinkRider X2 Max, seems to be a good deal and the reviews are somewhat positive.

[Cheesecake]

Just ordered the Thinkrider XXpro for 260, with all coupons etc. Will give u a my opinion once i used it for same time. It's my first Indoor Trainer though. Hope I made s good decision, also felt little overwhelmed with the offerings and what's better and actually necessary.

[gribs]

I've been using a Kickr Core for nearly 5 years now and it's been faultless so Magene can clearly make decent smart trainers. I've set up and used friends Jet Black Volts that were purchased cheaply (~£200) and they're also working perfectly a couple of years later and feel pretty similar to ride. In the UK there's plenty on the second hand market that were bought during covid and barely used so if I was buying myself I'd look for one of them locally.

[aliexpress_junkie]

Anybody tried the cycplus r200:

https://www.cycplus.com/products/r200-smart-trainer

https://road.cc/content/news/has-cycplus-mastered-affordable-turbos-315951

The specs look way way too good to be true, so I'm a bit skeptical. It's basically a neo 2t at less than a third of the price.

[Tijoe]

In 2021, I purchased the ThinkRider X5 NEO Smart Bike Trainer.   It has been fantastic!  No problems.  I have used it every winter connected to Rouvy.
It was the top of the line model and I paid about $500 for it.

[Pifcp]

+1 using van rysel D100. Works great. But im only using last 3 or 4 months, so cannot talk about reliability. But with decathlon and europe 3 years warranty, should be no problem. If you dont plan racing, the 600W max power limit should not be a problem 

[cramy]

what about the jetblack victory, specs are similar to the kickr core 2.

[raisinberry777]

what about the jetblack victory, specs are similar to the kickr core 2.

Lots of reported hardware QC issues (at least in the Escape Collective Discord channel). Hopefully they're able to get it sorted but you'll be hoping you're one of the lucky ones.

[Dan S.]

There is also the new Van Rysel D500 trainer. Very similar to Kickr but for a very competitive price. Not sure about other countries, but in Czechia it retails for 9 999 CZK (≈ 412 EUR). Comes with Zwift Cog and Click and 2 months Zwift trial. Pretty good deal imho.

[BikerJens]

There is also the new Van Rysel D500 trainer. Very similar to Kickr but for a very competitive price. Not sure about other countries, but in Czechia it retails for 9 999 CZK (≈ 412 EUR). Comes with Zwift Cog and Click and 2 months Zwift trial. Pretty good deal imho.

It's cheap, but you really get what you pay for:

Max 600W
+/- 5% accuracy
No Ant+

600W?! I get that most people don't push extreme watt, but 600W is a very low max!

[bossanove]

It's cheap, but you really get what you pay for:

Max 600W
+/- 5% accuracy
No Ant+

600W?! I get that most people don't push extreme watt, but 600W is a very low max!

That's the D100 - the D500 is 1500W +/- 1%

As far as I understand Magene actually manufactures the Decathlon ones.