Is a Wattbike Atom worth the extra outlay

Is the Atom really a better option for purely indoor training compared to a Kickr or Neo.
I’ve not tried any of them,but hoping to be in the position soon to just about have ££ enough for an Atom,is it worth the extra though?
The only benefit I can see is the Mrs would be able to jump on the Atom(she doesn’t have a bike to use with a regular trainer) not that I want to encourage her into The Cave mind you!
Cheers ,Col

I don’t really see the upside to an Atom vs a Smart trainer + your regular bike. If you train on your regular bike it will be familiar to you for when you take it outside to ride, you can’t exactly take the atom out for a spin. I think you could probably pick up a cheap road bike for your partner on top of a top smart trainer for the price of the Atom?

Purely indoor Spencer,I have retired from road cycling for the foreseeable future. I enjoy and miss the training though,purely an indoor setup.
Does an Wattbike atom have anything over a KickR or Neo on TR and possibly a ‘play’ on Zwift.

You should probably have a read of the DC rain maker review of the atom and similar products. Personally I think I’ld stick with the road bike :smiley:

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Looking at that sort of money I’d be looking at the slightly more expensive Tacx Neo Bike Smart as well. Just the extras like usb ports, interactive fans, customisable gearing, riding feedback, tablet holders, display, control buttons and experience they have with smart trainers… I have a hammer but this does like the future, not having to tie up your road bike… it’s due out soon but it’s not had the DCrainmaker/GPlama reviews yet. I’d hold out for their reviews and compare to the Atom and then make my choice…

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DC rainmaker should be the first stop for any indoor training equipment info, he really does a great job!

I am thinking of getting one. I don’t want to keep taking my bike apart to train. The early reviews weren’t spectacular, but a lot of the issues would seem firmware related. I would like to see a more up to date review. The Tacx smart bike did look good, but it is even more expensive.

I just couldn’t get my head around the ATOM. And typically when I say “I can’t get my head around…” it’s an indication that something isn’t right. Sometimes with me… sometimes with the equipment. If I have to re-learn anything about cycling indoors or how equipment responds, then it’s a fail in my books. It’s 2018. We need tech and equipment that allows us to ride just as we do outdoors, because after all, it’s the outdoors where we enjoy the fitness gains from inside.

My ATOM experience video is 27 minutes. I make no apologies there… it takes me that long to try and communicate where the thing falls over for me. WattBike ATOM Smart Bike: Unboxing, Build, Ride Experience - YouTube

As for the Tacx Neo Bike Smart … We’ll have to wait and see. It feels nice to sit on and ride. But the true tests are up against ERG mode, SIM mode tests, and ripping into sprints/accelerations to really determine if it’s a contender. It also comes down to how well we can adapt it to be a replacement to our real bike(s). Can we put TT bars on it. Is the Q-Factor all wonky. Does the gear changes get confused with slope changes in SIM mode. There’s a lot that needs to be discovered. I assume they have a lot of it nailed with the adaptation of everything ‘Neo’ in it… but nobody has solved the virtual gear changes. Yet.

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Yeah,the gear changes😴. Think I’ll be going the trainer/bike route, thanks all for input.

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I ended up getting a deal on Neo 1 when the 2 was hitting the market.
I’ve been playing on Zwift the last month or so,gotten pretty tired of it and just resigned up to TR…it’s the pure numbers and analytical sheeit I really like.

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