And medical care.
I biggest issue with these expensive trainers is the lack of spare parts and repair manuals. These companies should at least have a mail-in repair service where you could get your $1200 trainer refurbished for $300.
The Wahoo Kickrs definitely had issues last year. Supposedly they are all ironed out with new QC procedures in place.
If I were buying today I’d try to get some kind of extended warranty - maybe with a credit card that extends the warranty for a year? Usually if the thing survives 2 years without a problem, it will go for 5 or more.
I had a Tacx Vortex wheel-on. It was an ok trainer. Power was very off at the higher end. It read 50 watts too high at 300 watts. Great for Zwift!
I picked up a used 2016 Kickr from a friend and now I enjoy training indoors much much more. I think the big flywheel on the Kickr makes all the difference.
If I were buying today, I’d go for the $700-900 direct drive trainer. I don’t use fancy features. I don’t even use erg mode. I don’t need a trainer with a downhill simulation feature. I’d never buy a Kickr climb. I might buy an InsideRide…
I’d try to catch a 20% off sale which is common in the US. Or, it was common before covid19. 
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I have a '17 KICKR and it’s been good so far. I’ve only had to replace the inner spacer so far on it. I don’t know whether it’s my Madone or the geometry of the thru axle adapters but the interaction between the two leaves a lot to be desired. I’m likely going to sell the KICKR and just use the rollers this winter. That’s not the only reason I’d switch to the rollers but a big enough one to push me to sell the KICKR.
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No sorry, no personal recommendations from me, I train on rollers mostly.
As someone above said, DC Rainmaker for reviews.
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There’s a lot to be said for a dedicated bike/ set up. Pre-covid, my permanent set up was a 7 speed on the hammer (which will be going back on shortly when the winter bike returns to duty!).
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In 3 weeks, my gen1 Kickr will be 7 years old. I have hundreds (maybe thousands?) of hours on it, and no problems to date except for replacing the belt about 3 years ago (it busted shortly after I adjusted the tension - make what you will of that).
If I was buying a smart trainer right now (and I have been thinking about getting a backup/replacement), I would seriously consider getting a used 2017 Kickr (the last one with the toothed belt). Its louder, but I think I would take the noise over the apparent unreliability of the newer models with the polyvee belt.
Maybe you can buy @Trippy’s 
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Hi @Journeyman - Do you have a power meter in the game plan too? If not, I suggest you consider one. I think you will find a power meter to be a valuable investment and a solid companion as you dive into your training. If you can swing a PM and a Smart Trainer, well then, bingo. But if you have to make a choice, I would recommend a PM over a Smart Trainer to begin.
For the price of a smart trainer you can get a top quality power meter setup for your bike as well as a standard trainer.
I prioritized an on-bike power meter over a smart trainer and I couldn’t be happier. It gives me the versatility to train and ride with power, indoors and out. As I’ve become a stronger rider and get into some of the VO2 / Sprint workouts I occasionally top out the resistance on my wheel-on resistance trainer, but it is still more than adequate for any workouts in my Sustained—Threshold power range.
The power-meter/wheel-on trainer has been a really great combo for me as I got into TR. And, as soon as I find that spare $800-$1200 (after paying for one more daughter’s tuition and a new set of wheels), a smart trainer is going in the shopping cart.
Most are really good. Had a problem with my H3 but Saris CS is very good in the US and took care of me. I recently got a Neo2T which is great as well. Still have the H3 but sitting in the box brand new since they sent me a replacement.
If anything happens with a H3, N2T and Kickr the companies are all great so dont have to worry too much. I know N2T has 24 month warranty.
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I bought an Elite Zumo off the back of a @gpl review and it easily copes with what I want it to do. It’s worked perfectly for nearly a year now. It was under £500.
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Hi @JimA thanks for the advice. I do have some extra sitting. The plan is to get a smart trainer, cheap alluminum bike for the trainer and then when April comes around next year, get a carbon bike for outdoors. I will need a power meter and I might just bite the bullet now. What power meter are you using?
Thanks @ericallenboyd I’m swaying more towards the H3 or N2T. Big difference in price but it’s the 2 I’m now looking at. The H3 looks solid and nice big flywheel, just hope if I get it I don’t have the knocking issue. The 2NT also looks really good but more money.
Hi
I have a Neo, It has worked perfectly straight out the box, remember and buy new cassette as well. I have had it for 3 years now and use 5 days a week.
Hi would recommend Assiomo Pedal power meter (Duo) as you can swap between bikes easily.
You need to get the bike first! The cheapest power meters are 4iiii and stages crank arms, but you need to know what your crankset is before you buy one.
Speaking from experience I would go independent rather than Evans if possible.
They had my Tacx Genius for 6 weeks twice this year, both times I ended up sorted the issue with Garmin direct, the second time they replaced the unit with a Flux 2. Evans would only deal with their supplier / the importer who were remarkably unresponsive.
I raised a query with Evans customer service back in June, still not dealt with and only an eventual holding response when chased. You only have to look on trustpilot or google reviews to see that is now normal.
Evans have (according to the recent experience of friends) amended their refund policies and are giving out voucher, in a similar way to Sports Direct, so even if the worst happens your money is kept with them unless you want to go to court.
I also had an issue with a bike, detail in a thread on here. Evans warranty guy did an inward whistle, shrugged it off and basically said it was unlucky. Went to another dealer who I have never bought anything from - they raised it with the Cannondale distributor and I had a new frame within a couple of weeks free of charge… (specifically little James at Thomas Cycle Evolution in Colchester sorted it, if they happen to be local to you).
So Evans have lost all future business, I supported their Chelmsford store as the mechanics had no choice in Mike Ashley buying the company and they always helped out - now however they are just hassle to deal with hence my business is moving elsewhere.
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Worth noting that if you really mainly want to go on zwift, get a good smart trainer and perhaps no power meter for now.
For training (TR or otherwise), a power meter and a dumb trainer is perfectly fine, but if you want to zwift, it’s much much much better if you can let zwift control a smart trainer.
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It also folds, which is what swung it for me. I have a really small living space and believe me, every little thing I can do to make things smaller is worth paying for!
I’d also be on the fence as to whether to prioritise smart turbo or power meter.
If you mainly train indoors, then I would say smart turbo. Particularly if you think you’ll dabble with zwift, but not only. ERG in TrainerRoad really helps my consistency during base - put on a movie or series and just work away. I can’t do that when I’m using my hybrid rollers and a power meter, even in endurance workouts.
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@splash it’s mainly for Zwift I want the trainer. I want to do longer rides without getting bored (spin bike was so boring).
Does smart trainer only refer to direct drive?
Or does Zwift control the resistance on the Saris M2, Kickr Snap and Kinetic road machine 2.0? Or do you need to manually adjust the resistance for these?
I’ve got the budget to get a proper set up but just want something that works on Zwift and gives me a solid workout
Both companies (Tacx and Wahoo) had tons of issues in 2019. I personally know many people who had issues with the last generation of Kickr and Neo2. I’ve heard good things about the 2T, but it’s not serviceable at home and Garmin service is ridiculously expensive. I’ve been trying to decide what I will do when my Neo OG (which I LOVE) dies.
I just saw this last night. This is a guy who has been a huge Neo proponent. Tl;dr version: he’s had it with Garmin, is letting his TacxFaqs domain go, and now recommends the KICKR v5.
Internet forums can be a very unreliable place to do product research, as only unhappy people post. And in many cases it is down to user error, rather than a product problem. Although product problems do exist. Best advice would be to avoid a new release, as there can often be problems with first introduction of a new model. Some of these issues can be addressed with a firmware update, but a hardware fix is a major hassle with something as big and heavy as a trainer.
In terms of the most reliable place to do research, the two leading independent reviewers of trainers are probably dcrainmaker.com and @gpl’s youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbcwZ8hm18GK6on_S_CgmFA
Both of these reviewers do respond to specific questions from users on their website/channels.
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