Rockr Axis thoughts–this is a little long, but thought it might help to go into my reasoning for get it
TL:DR–Have a NeoBike, will have a NeoBike for the foreseeable future; not much else out there for smart bikes; don’t have time to DIY/kit; I could afford it and figured it was worth a try.
Rationale for (big) purchase: I’ve got a Tacx NeoBike Smart–use case at the time that was purchased (late 2019–serial # was <200) was 3 people of widely varying height training on it. Still 2 using it year round, 3 during summer/college vacation, and my youngest is getting ready to start within a year or 2 (she just missed podium at cross nationals and is starting NICA), so a smart bike is going to be the solution for at least another 6 years. There have been QC issues with the bike, and some things I’m not crazy about, but Garmin support has been great (just got #5 on warranty), so sticking with it until they tell me they’re going to replace it.
I use it the most–my set up is race/movie/TV on iPad on the bike’s screen holder, TR on my phone in the holder on the bars. My wife has a coach and works from prescribed workouts on the Garmin. When my son is home, mostly 2-4 hour training rides on Zwift when he can’t get outside.
My wife and I race cross and do recreational MTB, but don’t do multi-hour road or gravel rides (at least for now). Almost all of my bike-specific workouts are on the trainer year-round.
Since I started TR in 2017, I’d done low volume plans, with occasional weekend outdoor rides. After the 2022 season was over, I decided to try a block of the low volume polarized plan. I’d never had an issue with 90 minutes, but once things got to 2-3 hours I was definitely getting uncomfortable.
When the polarized plan finished, I went back to the usual LV plan, but started adding in a 90 minute Z2 on Sundays, then started adding in 15-20 minutes Z2 at the end of the weekday hour long ones during the summer since I didn’t have to finish the workout in time to get my daughter up, ready, and to the bus at 6:30 AM. Kept it up last fall as she started middle school and bus came at 7:30. Despite being out for 2 weeks with COVID in late August, still had my best season ever and looking to be able to cat up by end of this year. Doing a MV Master’s plan and trying when I can to extend some of the longer rides further. More butt pain, so starting looking at solutions that would work with the NeoBike, and following Chad’s threads and comments.
There aren’t many solutions available for the Neobike or Kickr Bike/Shift. I don’t have the time or tools to put something together myself, even from a kit, and, given the amount of use the trainer gets, I wanted something well-made. I would certainly have preferred to spend less, but figured worst case I could return it if I didn’t notice any difference/benefit
Impressions:
–I initially filled the balls to look like the pictures, and used a level to get them even. The first thing I noticed during/after my first ride is that it took more effort to get the same power output, and I definitely felt it in my legs more. This was validated by my (much more experienced) son. I got a cheap pump on Amazon with a gauge, and experimented with different pressures–had been at 4, but 2.5 psi is definitely the sweet spot.
–The fore-aft movement was really noticeable at first, but now it’s just a minimal amount and, as Chad has suggested, I think this is really one of the key benefits. (Because the iPad is fixed to the trainer, there’s no visual issues with moving towards and away from the screen)
–It’s a little noisy with movement, but with time the amount of movement except getting out of the saddle is much less. Still a little noisier than without (the SmartBike is super quite), but not nearly as noticeable.
–Because I was so used to riding the rigid trainer, I must have developed some bad habits, and I actually had some minor tennis elbow symptoms until I got better at handling the movement.
–Longer rides are definitely “easier” in terms of stiffness/saddle discomfort.
So I’m happy with the purchase. Is it worth another $1K after spending $3-4K on a smart bike? Not sure. That’s almost the difference between the NeoBike Smart and the Plus, or the Shift and the Kickr Bike, and I definitely think the Axis improves the experience more than the better shifters on the Plus or the Climb on the Kickr.