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…
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