I know there are a few hackers/ tinkerers here so thought I’d share this which I found today:
Looks like a pretty neat and solid project; I’d be wary of using it with something other than the Climb-compatible Wahoo trainers though (as those have the appropriate rotating mounting).
Yeah, saw this via FB. Cool idea, but not wise for the Neo since axles are fixed.
I’m not going to say this is right or wrong. I simply don’t know what will happen long term so bear with me.
I have a full suspension MTB mounted to a Neo 2 and run the rear suspension in a semi open position. The frame rotates on the fixed axles every time I apply force to the pedals.
When I first got the Neo I was worried about this and locked out the suspension fully. This didn’t stop the bike from moving up and down slightly every pedal stroke.
After a month or so the drop outs started creaking. There was a tiny bit of wear visible on the drop outs. Really tiny.
After adding a tiny bit of high pressure grease there is no more noticeable wear and no more creaking. Months later it’s still the same even though I haven’t re-applied the grease.
If I was to make something like this rig for fun I’d be adding some super thin greased washers into the mix for longevity. That’s my take on how to resolve the possible issues with the fixed axle on the Neo.
You could build a incline platform similar to many of the rocker plates where the trainer becomes part of the system and the incline happens external to the trainer. You might need a stronger linear actuator depending on where the pivot ended up but it would be a simple woodworking project if you were concerned about the trainers that don’t have pivots in their axle mounts.
Correct, adding a pitch motion platform would be a fine solution for otherwise pitch-restricted trainers.
I actually have a few rough designs that I penned, using my Wahoo Climb. They main goal was to use it as an indirect actuator rather then direct fork support. I wanted to shift the pitch axis more towards the center, rather than be at the rear axle.
The moving platform idea is really elegant freedj - would have saved me a lot of tinkering (maybe I like the tinkering but anyway) I’ve actually added bearings to the rear axle so the rotation is not happening at the interface with the dropouts.
Thinking more about the platform idea I do wonder whether you could actually build a hexapod (like a flight simulator) and go properly immersive! Plus you could have the thing move more like a real bike when you’re out of the saddle - most of the rocker plates end up going the wrong way iirc ie down on the side you are pushing the pedal on.
That is a user setup issue, most often too stiff on the leveling springs.