However, do those smart bikes really need to be so expensive or is it a deliberate choice which I struggle to understand?
Considering the amount of indoor time I spend, I’d be all over the kickr bike but the pricing is just absurd IMO.
The alternative would be a refurbished v1 which I struggle to put my trust into to be honest.
This Zwift just needs a few tweaks to make everyone happy (chain, seatpost) which should not be too hard to implement.
Yep, agree, what?
I have liked the Neo Smart, quite a lot. Yeah, I’ve had problems (not as much with the Kickr) and yeah, if one item fails your chances of riding are not guaranteed.
But for the cost, I had an unexpected inheritance, and bought the Kickr Bike.
But if people can afford them, they are a GREAT option for riders. I hated mounting and dismounting my bike on a Neo 2T, and the cost/time of maintenance was higher with a real bike. If the Neo Smart dies and Tacx says ‘Sorry!’, would I be happy going back to a bike on a trainer? No, not really, and I’ve run out of relatives for inheritances.
But smart bikes aren’t for everyone. The entry fee is high, and there are some tradeoffs, but the benefits, to me, are fully worth it. shrug
why is angle and offset an issue on an adjustable indoor bike?
Did anyone catch the discussion of the Rivet indoor bike frame on @dcrainmaker ’s FIT file podcast earlier this week?
I meant to post about it earlier but have been on the road, but I found that to be amusingly awkward timing to discuss imminently before the Zwift Ride launch that DCR and Des obviously knew about but couldn’t discuss.
?? I think you got my message wrong.
I was comparing the zwift bike which is non adjustable (hence the reference to the seat tube angle and offset) with the others which are. So on the tackx and kickr bike seat angle does not matter as you can adjust the offset (and some suggested even angle but offset’s enough).
Edit: I think I see your point now. Well, you can’t adjust for seat angle and offset simply by shortening the stem.
Also, I have experienced the exact 73.5 degree 20mm offset on an actual bike and even running the saddle completely forward I was too far back feeling like pro cyclists in the 90’s 
Or TR workouts are available on Zwift, which I’d guess will be sooner!
What maintenance? I lube the chain every once in a while. Occasionally wipe it down and pump up the front tire. What else is there? Change the bar tape once a year? I’m not understanding your comment.
There is more on a ‘real bike’ that can be damaged from being on a trainer 24/7 than a ‘smart bike’. Sweat drips everywhere…
Okay, maybe I over played it, but you have a headset with bearings, a front wheel and possibly brake caliper, a bottom bracket, a front mech on a 2-by, the chain, the rear mech, etc. Not to mention frame corrosion/rust. I hop on my smart bike and ride. I wipe it down every few months. With the Trek I had on a 2T, I had a lot more at risk, and a lot to replace that had failed.
A ‘real bike’ is not meant to be on a trainer if the owner just ‘hops on and rides’. The smart bike IS made for that (or should be for that money)…
(Finding so much damage on that Trek was shocking)
I have a trainer only bike and can definitely back this up. I’ve had this setup for over 5 years now while averaging 3 rides a week on it. Because I’ve only lubed the chain/wiped it down all this time the bike is basically unridable in the outside world now. The headset bearings are completely seized so the bars/fork will not even turn any more. The front derailleur was also pretty jacked up so I ended up taking it off to make it a 1x since I mostly ride in ERG on my indoor rides. Ended up taking the brakes off too. Come to think of it I pretty much turned it into this new Zwift bike.
For its purpose as a trainer only bike it actually works great, but a bit sad considering it was a pretty nice bike when I did use it outside. I of course could fix it all and get it running again (would actually be a fun project), but I prefer riding off road now and use my gravel and XC bike for all my outside rides.
I get the point, but with a good fan or two, a headband, and a towel, I never get sweat on the bike beyond what I can just quickly wipe down. Having said that, I’ve seen some bikes absolutely destroyed by people who sweat on them a ton for whatever reason, so yeah, I see your point.
I thought the same. Towel over the stem/bars, plus two fans in front of me and one behind. Even with that sweat still found its way into my headset. Again over a very long period of time though.
It’s amazing though isn’t it (the difference in people) I just went and had a look at my 2008 Giant TCR Advanced SL, which was my only outside road bike from 2009-2017 which has been on my turbo for the last 4 years, still has the original headset and BB in it, still as smooth as butter. Don’t have a towel over the bars, only maintenance it gets it clean the chain once a month (before a ftp test)
I sweat a ton and have had the same old road bike retired to be my dedicated trainer bike for at least the last 10 years and the bike is still fine. I have an old ass bike ‘thong’ style sweat protector and copious amounts of fans.
The other big miss is the lack of a “slider” type functionality to easily & quickly adjust saddle fore-aft. Both to increase the range of fore-aft saddle adjustability for correct fit, plus to make it easy to share with a partner
I share a dedicated turbo bike (parts bin build) with my partner and as we are close on height and both use SPD shoes, this is the only thing that gets adjusted. Have solved it with 2x seat posts, takes about 30 seconds to swap over.
My wife and I share a Stages SB20, and we are far off in saddle fore-aft. Plus given the very proprietary seat post for the Zwift Ride Frame, it’s not like you can just buy a 2nd standard seat post to make changing saddle position quick and easy. Further, the setback on the seat post looks like it will make getting the correct fit difficult.
Hopefully Zwift will correct the short-comings very quickly (no chance) in a v1.1 or v2 version, or someone else will
I sweat a lot. I have 7 fans (including the anemic ones on the Neo Smart) and even a huge floor mat, and ceiling fan, AND a ‘split system A/C’ in the same room. I have flooded the mat. I have had enough sweat that the mat is glued to the floor. I’ve had streaks of sweat extending off the mat in the front and back. I had so much sweat that the Neo Smart was glued to the mat!
I’m so glad to hear that some people don’t sweat as much as I do. I wonder what that would be like…
I just last year added a thing, and the sweat that drips towards the seat tube is still making quite a mess, and the amount dripping off the bars is still puddling. So I guess I must sweat 3 tons? My Trek was on the 2T for probably a year and a half (don’t remember actual time) and it was a mess, plus the bearings on the Speedplay pedals. (Completely destroyed the needle bearings)
I used towels (the fantastic Tacx towels) and STILL swamped them and puddled on the floor. shrug
I got a second seat post for the earlier Peloton we had. The person taking the order taking droid acted like I was completely insane! ‘You want to what?’ I need a second seat post. ‘So you want just the post?’ I want to be able to take one post out and put another one in, with a different seat on it. ‘Oh, so you want the slide it’s on?’ No, I want the slide and post. ‘I don’t think we sell those parts. Hold on’ 
‘So you want the ‘assembly?’’ Yeah, the whole thing so I can swap the seat with my wife. ‘Oh, um, why do you want to do that? Can’t she use your seat? This is going to be expensive!’
It wasn’t, and saved arguments and all that. Happy spouse… But I still had to change the posts. But saved issues… (But Peloton was kind of weird over the second post ‘assembly’ (I got the post, missing the slide and then got the slide and was missing the clamp bolt. Took far too long to get it together)
I could absolutely be wrong here, but it sounds like you have a bunch of fans that don’t do much. Do you have a Lasko that’s directly in front of the wheel pointed at your chest/face? It makes a huge difference if you don’t.