Wow that Rockr Axis looks pretty rad. Still at the $1000 price point, but the engineering looks solid. I want it all… a smart bike with up/down movement and 2-axis platform movement. I guess the Kickr Bike on a rocker basically, but I’m not sold on Wahoo after the debacle with my Kickrs several years back.
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@mcneese.chad How did you like this rocker?
Edit: Apologies - looks like you just posted so probably haven’t set it up yet.
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No idea yet…
Still in the box sitting right next to me. I may take it out and build it if I get time this weekend.
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I pulled the string started with @jmvcolorado into the main Rocker Plate thread since it is partly off topic from the greater topic from the Saddle Sore discussion.
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Yeah, the Rockr Axis would be fun to try. About the only mass-market high-pivot I can think of. And their manufacturing is reliable from all I’ve seen & heard.
Agreed that a Kickr bike (with or without Climb based on preference) is an interesting option. The footprint of the Kickr bike means it can fit on must of the tapered & tear drop rockers with no issues. It’s still my favorite smart bike and would be my pick if I chose to get one. Seems they have most of the bugs handled and I prefer the basic layout to all other smart bikes too.
With your Neo, I think you have plenty of options and it’s a matter of whether you really want to gain fore-aft as the real question.
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I’m actually thinking of switching from the Neo Smart Bike to my 2T and springing for the Motion Plates. I remember having the Kickr Bike, and the climb function did tend to make me more mobile on the bike, and I have been having numbness issues on the Neo Smart, so maybe throwing my old and true friend Trek Madone on the 2T would be the best choice. But the price of the plates is still a little hard to swallow. Hmm… I didn’t see them on sale for Black Week.
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Question:
Has there been any discussion of side to side motion versus fore and aft motion (like the new kickr, tacx, or inside ride solution)? I’m finding it hard to search on this.
Call me motion curious. I have a Kickr v2 that is perfectly operational. I was thinking that an Inside Ride e-flex would be an easy solution.
The other way to go would be to find a Kickr Move on a discount and then sell my Kickr V2.
Or deploy some other motion solution.
My other issue is that I have some asymmetry going on with my body. I always feel like I’m sitting crooked on a bike. This happens when I first get on a bike and outside, the feeling will disappear.
Indoors, I often feel like it’s hard to get my kickr feeling centered. I get on, start warming up, and will adjust the feet on my kickr almost every ride.
I’m wondering if I got a Move or an E-flex whether I’d always feel like I was falling to one side and fighting it.
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I have a pretty minimal guide in my doc.
I started my motion journey with a full season on DIY motion rollers (obvious lean and steer like all rollers, but also the fore-aft motion) and loved them. That experience and knowledge of the Kinetic Rock & Roll trainer is what lead me to make my first rocker, purely lean action. I spent at least 2 seasons on that pure lean and was quite happy with the results.
That was before fore-aft with rockers became a thing. I showed the ‘why’ of how lean action helped with saddle comfort in my old video. I never got a chance to try fore-aft with my saddle pressure mapper before it broke. I have always wanted to test pure F-A and the combined action to see what differences might exist.
In short, some people swear that one direction of motion is the key to their comfort while others just like both combined as the ‘best’ solution. I am not sure I can put my finger on which does more, but I’d expect lean action matters more in my case. That said, I prefer having both in any current solution I would use.
- Likely not a surprise that I endorse this idea 100%. The E-Flex Plus is the best motion system I have used and still the one I will pick given my many options.
- I don’t think so, but that is dependent on you. Too many people criticize the rocker for the movement they get when the reality is that the movement is caused by and allowed by THEM* and only them. I starred the word before with one notable caveat.
- Proper rocker plate setup is an essential first step, but once done all the end result motion is from the rider. There is no magic here and the rider must take an active roll with their hands and booty to move and control the rocker.
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I have seen and experienced this on a number of levels personally and with others. A rigid setup will often feel ‘wrong’ for people even with everything is “perfect” since it never moves. Asymmetries add to this issue and can lead a person to feeling better with some amount of lean being "right.
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As such, I think a rocker is a better solution since the rider is able to find their own “center/level” within the movement range. This is better as a dynamic solution vs trying to dial in a fixed one and feeling it’s always just a bit off.
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Thanks Chad!
I do like the idea of the e-flex since if my Kickr ever goes kaput I could just buy a replacement (used or new) or even a Core with a different adapter clamp.
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Here’s what I use with my Core. I believe it’s compatible with the regular Kickr. It’s cheaper than an E-Flex but it doesn’t have the steering ability and I assume it’s not as nice.
Updated link here
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This is where I’m tempted to buy the 2T ‘rocker plates’. The 2T has side to side down, so front to back would be the only motion that they don’t do without a significant amount of effort and risk (joking). The problem is, it’s not ‘a lot of motion’. The amount of side-to-side sway on the 2T is good, but how does that compare to the front-to-back of their plate(s).
Their Neo Smart could sure use some movement in SOME direction, but that’s a different tangent.
That’s really awesome! Thanks!!
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I have not use the Neo Motion Plates, but from reading & watching reviews (specifically Ray’s recent Neo 3m vs Kickr Move video) the Motion Plates are a smaller option for travel. Not to say it’s bad, because most people I’ve seen try them end up liking them. Just a shorter travel option compared the the Move and other rockers with that motion.
If you can stomach their high price or snag them on sale, I see them as a worthy upgrade, especially if you are happy with the flex in the Neo frame.
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It seems like it gives a little of everything for owners. I also haven’t seen them on sale yet. I tink even on ebay, they are the same price. 
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Yeah, for that price I’d be more tempted by some actual rockers instead. One I have to test and find super interesting is the TrainerTweaks rocker. It is a DIY style but features fore-aft along with lean action for less than the Neo Motion Plates.
$234 from a local Montana builder that seems to have cracked the fore-aft code for the lowest price I have seen.
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I understand the point of lateral movement, but why fore-aft? That motion doesn’t occur when riding outside if I am thinking about this correctly
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I have not taken the time to demonstrate my hypothesis, but I believe there is some subtle fore-aft motion in regular riding. Most present in lower inertia situations like climbing, but I can also be present on flats in specific cases like standing and sitting. In short, our body is the largest mass of the whole system, with that staying most “stable” in holding speed / inertia / momentum. As such, there are situations where our non-continuous power production can lead to slight surges and slides.
Regardless of that black box, the presence of fore-aft motion on trainers is an additional “Degree of Freedom” that aids the improvement in seated saddle comfort. I feel that minor motion adds to the lean action to make seated comfort just that much better.
There are some other considerations that I think apply in rarer use cases like standing and sprinting, but those are often disputed while the seated improvement is nearly universal.
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I’ve seen people’s bikes shoot backwards when standing up to sprint. Probably not what people are thinking of for front/back motion?
Yeah, that is one instance I hinted at above. Relates to the body mass I mentioned relative to the lower bike weight. That “rearward” slide can be improved and even worked on inside by paying attention to the fore-aft motion as you stand. That mass delta is also why a “bike toss” where the rider shoves the bike forward by extending their arms and legs works to get a bike across the line sooner.
Neither of those are all that important to most people, so the slight motion seated is still the big win.
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That’s where so much of the ‘motion’ has been odd to me. Maybe the Wahoo Move gets it better. Standing to sprint is going to push the bike backwards under the rider, it’s not going to cause the bike angle to change. I think the Saris gets that motion down better, and using springs to return to center/neutral is great, depending on how sharp that force is. Standing up, the body shifts forward, the bike going back, and eventually the body shifts back to hit the seat. If the ‘return’ shoots the bike forward, that would seem to make it awkward, and potentially injurious.
It seems to me that in some ways pulling off ‘realistic motion’ on a static bike trainer is not unlike the early astronomers trying to explain the motion of the planets and stars. 
So many of their ideas for the motion were so outlandish and Rube Goldberg… But that said, the TrainerTweaks kit looks pretty interesting. (1’s left so trying to restrain my urge to splurge is getting difficult)
(And below that is a handmade bullet proof vest! But I’ve never been on Etsy before)
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