I’ve got a bit of time to think about it, but I was telling Mrs SR the other day that I would LOVE to get a Wattbike, with a view to enjoying all the data feedback it can give you, as well as using Zwift on those (many) long, dark nights when I am otherwise unable to go outside for a proper ride. She has a few questions, though, to which she would like answers before she would even countenance letting me spend £1600 on a Wattbike.

In light of this:

Do you have any experience of a Wattbike? If so, what is it like for you? What is good and bad about it?

Is Zwift a good way to stay motivated? What are its downsides/best features?

Is a Wattbike the best way to use Zwift? Or would you argue for a smart trainer instead?

Can you say anything else about using Zwift and/or a Wattbike and/or a smart trainer that could be helpful for me as I decide whether or not to invest?

I think that one of my zwift team mates has a watt bike and thinks it is compromised for zwift usage. Perhaps due to powermeter accuracy (is it one sided only).

Smart wheel off trainer for substantially less than £1500 would be my recommendation (use you current bike or have a cheap turbo only bike on it). Decent models from elite are around £5-600ish.

If find zwift a good way to stay motivated. The races are particularly addictive.

I did a load of research into the Wattbike Atom and general thoughts were that erg mode was no good for short intervals. It’s ok for longer efforts though. I’d get a Tacx Neo or Wahoo Kickr instead

Decent models from elite are around £5-600ish.

Elite Zumo is £450 (bought one a few weeks back) and works fine with Zwift etc.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/wattbike-atom-in-depth-review.html

There’s a section in there specifically about Zwift where it suggests that lag in the gear shifting system compromises the bike for Zwift use. It may have improved since then, but I’d definitely be checking that one out.

Also, you couldn’t put a Wattbike on a rocker plate, which may sound trivial, but I’ve found it makes a big difference to comfort. And given the price, you could buy a top-end smart trainer and pocket a whole lot of change. The one advantage I can see with a Wattbike is that potentially you could adjust it easily to suit several users with widely different physiques, but otherwise I don’t really see the point outside of a professional gym environment anyway.

This is all really helpful so far. Thanks.

One thing that I like about the Wattbike (or the forthcoming Wahoo Kickr), is the fact that they are self-contained. If I was going to get into Zwift (and come close to equalling what a Wattbike would do), would it not involve:

a) getting a decent smart trainer
b) one of those elevation devices for the front end
c) a stand of some sort for the ipad or computer (or whatever)
d) and even, possibly, a dedicated bike for the task?

And once I get all that stuff (if it’s necessary for a good experience), won’t I be spending more than the cost of an all-in-one device?

I mean, I can’t imagine having to set my bike up for Zwift use, and then taking it out on the road a day or two later, and then setting it all back up again…

b) one of those elevation devices for the front end

I’m guessing you mean a Kickr Climb? Im which case, no, you don’t need one of those, it works perfectly well without. Essentially with a wheel-off trainer you take off the rear wheel and then stick the bike on the trainer. It takes about two minutes.

Edit: or just a riser block?

d) and even, possibly, a dedicated bike for the task?

The advantage of a wheel off trainer is that you can use it with pretty much any bike you have already. Just fit a compatible cassette and off you go.

Yes, you’d need a stand. If you want to go posh on that front, Wiggle does the Lifeline Trainer Table for 75 quid.

I guess if you want a permanent installation and you can satisfy yourself that the gear shifting works okay then the Wattbike would work, but the process of putting a bike on a trainer takes minutes. Even if you fitted a Kickr Climb, it’d still only be like swapping the front wheel out. I use my cross bike on the Kickr and outside. The only real hassle is if it gets proper filthy and I have to hose it down before sticking it on the turbo, but then I’d do that anyway eventually.

Can you demo a Wattbike somewhere / try a mate’s indoor set-up with a smart trainer?

Laptop stand is not really required, pile of boxes will do that. I’ve got our old main TV on a cheap TV stand (£30) which has a shelf for the laptop. Then use the companion app on the bike for comms/control in a cheap phone bike cradle.

The climb is not required and any old bike can be a permanent zwift bike. I use my old 10spd road bike and just leave it set up.

Fan wise a cheap big gym fan does the trick (£40 ish)

A direct drive smart trainer everytime over a Wattbike for me.

Advantage being that you ride your usual bike, and your not stuck with a cumbersome clothes horse if you don`t fancy using Zwift during the hotter summer days as most people dont; the bike goes back in the garage and the smart trainer back in the cupboard.

I love Zwift – its definitely great motivation. It will keep your fitness to a certain level – but I would argue it wont beat actually riding outside to get you stronger.

Riding around the different courses on Zwift is almost as boring as doing an hour on a normal turbo after a few weeks; but racing is its real selling point.

a) getting a decent smart trainer
An Elite Direto is about £500

b) one of those elevation devices for the front end
Why would you even want one of those!

c) a stand of some sort for the ipad or computer (or whatever)
I got a 48″ Tv on the wall in the spare bedroom ..

d) and even, possibly, a dedicated bike for the task?
Your summer bike will do – you will only be using it during the months its too wet to use the summer bike anyways.

And once I get all that stuff (if it’s necessary for a good experience), won’t I be spending more than the cost of an all-in-one device?
Possibly just over half the amount id say.

I mean, I can’t imagine having to set my bike up for Zwift use, and then taking it out on the road a day or two later, and then setting it all back up again…
Equal time I would imagine to getting dressed up in all your biking gear … with zwift its old bib shorts, any old t-shirt .. HR strap .. shoes

Just set it up in front of a workbench etc, no need to buy a table!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2h7G4u5]Turbo setup[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

I got a 48″ Tv on the wall in the spare bedroom ..

I’ve got 8 kids, man! I don’t have any spare rooms! 🙂

I have a Wattbike for almost a year now and used it all year round, I’ve improved my cycling, running and overall health dramatically as a result. I don’t use Zwift so can’t help on that, but understand updates have improved gear response, I use FulGaz.

It save masses of time as sometimes I don’t have time too get to a trail centre but an hour or so on the Wattbike can give a very good workout.

It’s the best thing I have bought for cycling and health and fitness and has had the biggest impact, as I can ride when normally I wouldn’t have time too, before work, other weekend commitments etc.

The only bad thing is I shouldn’t have procrastinated and bought one sooner than I did, oh and the standard saddle wasn’t comfortable for me at least.

@footflaps

How are you finding the Zumo? It looks a good price but I can’t find any info on it other than an old DC Rainmaker partial review saying it didn’t work properly but that it was going to be fixed…

How are you finding the Zumo?

Fine. I have no idea how accurate it is as I don’t have a power meter to test it against; but frankly I don’t really care. It’s quiet, works, is ‘smart’ in that it controls the power etc.

I honestly don’t care if it’s 0.1%, 1% or 5% accurate, as it’s just for training.

The main thing is it is infinitely better than my old tyre-on dumb turbo which could quite easily wake the dead. I can watch TV on the Zumo without having to turn it up!

SaxonRider

I’ve got 8 kids, man! I don’t have any spare rooms! 🙂

Unless you just want to ride the different courses and not race them – then any indoor trainer will mean you will be sweating loads; that means a good bit of space is needed to ensure you not dripping or spraying it over anything within a 4ft area of you .. when you sprinting for the line or trying to stay with an attack up the last climb then your blowing that sweat running off your face pretty respectable distances. You definitely dont want to be set up in the kitchen or hall .. your wife wont be happy with that at all.

I had a rental Wattbike Atom last winter, best things about Wattbike vs trainer were 1) no rotating sharp oily bits anywhere 2) Wattbike is shorter than bike+trainer (length wise fitting better to certain location in my house) 3) easy to change the fit for different riders, well except for saddle fore-aft position, ended up buying second seatpost with extra saddle.

We are relatively lucky in our abode as we have two spare rooms now the kids have grown up and departed.

Wife has one and I the other, and we have a trainer in each. She has a Neo and I a s/hand Kickr mk1

Both work superbly and tbh have a better feel than the Atom we tried at the bike show last year.
Maybe this is because we use our own bikes and the Atom was only vaguely set up being a show model.

For me I used an old hardtail frame and suspension forks with a bull horn bar to give my hands a few positions. 42t single chainring and the 10 sp cassette that the KickR came with.

Works really well although most of my riding is in erg mode on training. Actual racing I suspect I’d struggle due to gearing but that isn’t what I want from it.

Also find that putting suspension forks on has given me quite a good feel and movement, plus they encourage good form at high cadence or else it pogos everywhere.

I’m considering a smart turbo trainer setup for the winter months. This would be on a budget and I think the only space I have for it is in the shed…

Is the Tacx Flow any good?

A 2-way interactive turbo that can emulate 10%+ gradients makes turboing far more interactive for me compared to the old turbos with a manual resistance scale combined with changing gear on my bike.

Personally, I think those Wahoo incline devices are a needless gimmick. Front wheel on a suitable riser, job done.

You could get a stand or a device that connects to the bike bars to hold a mobile/tablet/laptop, but I find it’s simple to set things up and use a kitchen worktop, chest of drawers top etc.

Some manufacturers don’t like you using their bikes on turbos, in which case maybe a cheaper dedicated bike might be worth buying. I currently use my road bike because my fatbike won’t fit on my Direto, but disconnecting it from the turbo to fit the rear wheel again with a hex key for the bolt thru axle is typically less than a 2min job, most of that time is simply moving the bike/turbo away from its storage position.

For me, Zwift’s major advantages over RGT and Virtugo (the only other apps I’ve tried) are…
The racing
The large number of ERG training sessions based on your FTP (but you can easily fudge that figure up or down to change the effort), where Zwift tells your turbo to change resistance to hit a given power number while you usually stay in one gear all session (34/18 is good for approx 84-484W on Direto with approx 70-90rpm cadence)
The number of routes, albeit some are level locked
It’s actually very playable on an Android mobile when I don’t have access to our Surface Pro 4 laptop, at least on my Mi A2, albeit that means I have to use Bluetooth connections instead of ANT+

For those of you who use your trainer in the house, do you not find it far too hot?

I normally use my garage which is freezing in winter, so cold that if I leave a bottle of water in there overnight it will partially freeze. Even with it being so cold, when I train I need the up and over door open and about 10 minutes in I need to turn my fan on.

Perhaps I am just run freakishly hot?

Nope, airflow massively trumps temperature.

My setups in the conservatory (so basically outside) and have a big 18″ floor fan to keep me cool.

For those of you who use your trainer in the house, do you not find it far too hot?

I turbo indoors, either in the kitchen or the bedroom, with at least a Honeywell 900E fan and sometimes a floor stand fan in addition. It’s usually at least 15C if not approaching 20C before I start, depending on if the oven is on.

When I’ve not turboed for a couple of weeks, as will be the case after this lurgy goes, the lack of heat wicking away from me compared to outdoors is a bit of a shock. Consequently, my heart rate for a given z3+ power is higher than outdoors.

But after a few weeks of 3+ sessions a week of 30mins+ including a lot of z3+, my body has adapted and I’m putting out similar numbers to outdoors for a given heartrate. I’m simply drinking more water, typically ~1.5l per hour.

I’ve got 8 kids, man!

And this doesn’t motivate you to get out the house for a ride instead of using a trainer?