Well, these latest gen models all made very notable changes from their prior designs (that were generally solid for reliability):
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Tacx Neo 2T swapped to much larger magnets in the resistance unit, to address the “wheel slip” issue that exists at low rpm, high torque loads. Those happen in sharp sprints or steep climbs and were noted in a number of reviews as well as users.
- The 2T largely solved that slip issue (with some still claiming slip apparently) but lead to some early issues with power reporting and ERG response (too fast). Much of it seems to be addressed in firmware.
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Wahoo Kickr 18 and Core swapped belt and pulley design to a ribbed (vs cogged) that was aimed at being more quiet.
- They got super quite (in line with the Neo, that was their goal), but they ended up with a large number of bearing and shaft related issues, failures and noises. They claim to have it fixed, but we still see more failures on “new” or replacement units than I would expect if they were actually resolved.
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Saris H3 did a similar change to their pulley and belts to address noise.
- It worked, like the Kickr, but they have belt slip issues and some with noise.
So, in all the main cases, there were real design and function changes that were “new” to each maker and is more understandable for seeing issues (vs the existing designs that were “stable”). We can only hope they learn from these mistakes to make the next steps better and reliable to the level we’d all like to see, and they offered in prior models.
- Totally agree and it’s the reason my Neo 2, H2, and K17 are staying right where they are with no plan to replace them until 6 months after the next steps are in hands of users and seen to be any better for reliability.