And where is Part III ?
I have to assume there is something wrong with the bike and he’s waiting on a replacement or somesuch.
I think its a cop out tho not to post something in the meantime and describe the issue/cause of the delay
I realize you are probably not asking me specifically (since I just shared Shane’s videos), but he may well just be busy… looking at all the vids he’s posted since Part 2.
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Rule #1: Better to ask than assume. Directing a message to Shane via any of his channels (or even here) would be better than speculation and guessing.
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Based on very recent comments from Shane (within the last 2 days) he has a very high opinion of the Neo bike… which is in stark contrast to his still hesitant stance on the Neo 2T, (and this review is also not “done” since they haven’t fixed the issues he has identified).
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Comments like this confuse / baffle / bother me. He is doing a service for no fee or cost to you. He is quite obviously busy (as shown above) and working to do whatever is on his priority list.
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Not to mention being a new dad right now and all that it brings along.
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He is under no obligation in any way, shape or form here. He has provided more for all of us than any other member of this forum could hope to offer (excepting Ray and Tariq if he keeps at it
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I just don’t get why people have to put a negative spin on something with no other info than a timeline that doesn’t meet their preference.
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As with all good things in life, (and the damn bikes in the first place)… the review will be done when it’s done.
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Bottom line: my best guess is that he is just plain busy.
Sorry for the minor rant, but we have no right to effectively place demands on these great content suppliers.
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It looks like Shane has a bunch of things in the queue to review and is doing a larger comparison video later on.
And as Chad mentioned, he’s posted in a few different places about the Neo Bike power accuracy and other bits. He is probably on the clock for a lot of other brands to get content out ahead of the winter training season in the northern hemisphere.
At this point, the only thing I’m really waiting on from Tacx is the fix for Erg mode wobble, otherwise I’m really happy with mine.
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Yeah, you’re quite right, I didn’t mean to sound so unappreciative/ungrateful.
I do apologize for that.
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Just got a Tacx Bike delivered & set up today 
Thank you for the honest opinions @stevemz and everyone else in this thread. Still decided to stick with the preorder (also thanks to no alternative - neither the Wattbike nor the Kickr will be available in this part of the world anytime soon).
So, here are my very first impressions as well, after the first day:
The bike seems to deliver on most of the key aspects we based our purchase upon: A lot (!) quieter than our previous setup (Elite Direto + 2 bikes), less space occupied, less hassle to switch from me to my SO. Especially the lower noise is a game changer in our apartment in a historic building - less worry about finally pushing our neighbours over the edge with some late evening intervals. The tiny fans are noisy and not very effective though, but no surprise here after reading some of your reviews. Very minor thigh rub for me, but still hoping this could be fixed by adjusting saddle positioning (or losing weight… 
).
There was some weirdness with the firmware at first. Our unit came with (IIRC) 0.0.36 installed. Tacx utility showed no update available. Halfway through my first workout I decided to check again, because ERG mode was so horrid I was fully expecting our Bike to be DOA. For some reason, there was an update available then to 0.0.39 which vastly improved ERG mode for me. It’s about the same quality as the Direto now.
Road feel etc. is good without app conection, flywheel and gear changes feel very nice. But Tacx seems to clearly push this towards Zwift. In TR ERG mode, most of these features are inconsequential. Maybe there is hope TR will add functionality to use the Bike in Standard Mode some time in the future? Only ERG and Resistance are available right now, gear changes are doing nothing for me. (See Big vs. Small Chainring discussion )
Overall I’m happy with the bike so far, but obviously there still is room for improvement. Those people having the patience to wait for Gen 2 are in for a treat, I guess
This was Carson on the Tacx bike. Before the firmware update, the bike didnt even manage to go anywhere near the recovery power and was flucuating wildly during the intervals. Very much improved to acceptable levels afterwards (The drop/spike after the 4th interval was me stopping to adjust the position, nothing to do with the bike)
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I put in a request with TR to be able to grab the Ant+ power meter signal rather than always pairing it as a smart bike.
That’s probably the simplest solution, since I would love to use the gear shifting instead of Erg.
Low priority for them though obviously since there aren’t very many of us with this bike.
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Also, as a further update on my end, I’m committed to keeping the Tacx Bike at this point, even despite any problems that may arise.
I’ve been doing really long 4+ hour inside rides on the bike and its so much more enjoyable of an experience compared to my road bike. Not really sure why tbh, perhaps its the smoothness, or the stable platform.
My SO is also loving it. Money well spent for us.
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Interesting thing that I noticed…I paired a Wahoo headunit prior to updating to firmware .39 and didn’t see L/R power. I figured it was coming in a future update.
However, I removed and repaired the bike to my Elemnt for an unrelated reason over Ant+ and it turns out that L/R power is now showing up correctly!
Pleasant surprise today!
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One more NEO Bike Owner here - for two weeks. Really satisfied so far and the Bike has replaced my trusted and rusty Kickr (1st gen) which has served me well the last years and has reached its deserved retirement.
Best features - compared to my Kickr: This thing is quiet! Includes Cadence Signal (recorded by TR). Good „Road-Feel“. Adjustability.
Best gimmick: the colored light 
Areas of improvement: Being able to shift (virtual) gears (see: Big vs Small Chainring - Same Power (ERG Mode Gearing) ). Where can i vote on this feature?
Areas which probably cannot improve: The buttons on the handlebar shifters. Those on my Outdoor-Bikes are so much better. Regularly mix/miss the two buttons. Don’t know if i’m able to adapt.
Still undecided on the Cockpit. Though it’s nice to have one. The Display is good, the Storage Area is a bit to small for my needs, Fans are fine to focus on specific spots.
And now on to many virtual miles and real watts…
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Thankfully I missed this post a few weeks back… @mcneese.chad nailed it.
I’ve been busy. I’ve also been to Tacx HQ (on my $ and my time) to discuss the bike among other things.
@schiegl ERG gearing (or more accurately “ERG Inertia Selection”) was discussed with Tacx. As was the levers/buttons, adjustment handle length, seat post/collar width, and a few other things.
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Still like this thing, but some more notes after several additional rides:
I was able to fix the thigh rub after some experimentation with the saddle position, so yay for that 
There is some low frequency resonance happening at unpredictable times. If I’m not mistaken it can also be heard on ray’s video he posted above, around 12-13 seconds in. No deal braker, but something that can be heard through our (apparently paper-thin) walls. Also, unlike it seems in DCRs video, this is not limited to certain lower cadences but also appears seemingly at random around 90 rpm. A couple of seconds up to a minute later the sound is gone again.
I really hope some improvements for ERG mode are being worked on if this is something that can be improved via software at all. Right now it’s borderline unacceptable for me. Steady state work is somewhat OK, intervals less so. This seems to be similar to what folks have been experiencing with the 2T, given they’re basically the same trainer. Sadly, I was unable to find out whether that was improved by fw updates?
Also, there seems to be a wattage floor in ERG mode. Less of an issue for me, even though I noticed it in workouts with low recovery valleys. My wife also did a couple of Sim rides without issue. But imagine her surprise today when she tried the TR Ramp test and the bike would not go below ~110W@90RPM. The warmup was supposed to start at 57…
Amazingly, she was able to stick with it and even reach an improved FTP compared to last winter.
But still, this will be an issue for her. I’m not sure, but may this have something to do with the missing gearing (or “ERG Intertia Selection”)? This would mirror a traditional Trainer in “impossible” gearing combinations, like doing 100 W sprints in a 52-11.
Is this something you guys or your SO’s (unless they all have 300+ FTPs) have experienced?
This is her test, btw:
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Yes, my SO encountered this.
The ERG is less bad than at first for steady-state work, after updating to the .39 firmware (which sometimes doesn’t get recognized properly when you try to update), but it definitely still needs a fix. I believe Tacx is still working on it.
Here is my Lazy Mountain graph:
Still though, I would love to be able to use the gear shifting in TR. Right now, I don’t have an option to do non-ERG intervals (which is my preference) in TR on the Neo Bike. I have to just run the bike by itself and capture power data via an Elemnt, or I’ll use Zwift purely for the undulating road simulation.
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So would you buy it now? Am I right that ERG mode on TR doesn’t work reliably and you can’t use non ERG? Not especially compelling…
ERG is acceptable but not to the level of the Hammer H2
I’d buy it again, yes, even with the current issues. But let’s just say it’s not a financial consideration for me, more of one of choice.
This is how my brand new Neo Bike smokes after 3 minutes of pedaling.
Garmin want me to bring this 60kg brick to shop to investigate whether it shoukld be replaced.
Not joking. I am … off.
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Maybe contact support@tacx.com.
And you could check with tacx utility app for issues, for example overheating icon (usually in that case there also is a red blinking light on the Neo itself).
If your lucky it’s just this (from Tales from the llama...: Tacx Neo Smart T2800 User Review - June 2016):
“The first three green jersey sprints I tested the unit with on Zwift (~900W 20 seconds) resulted in an electrical odour coming from the Neo. The unit gets pretty hot under normal operation, so I suspect this is simply some bedding-in from the factory taking place. Maybe some excess glue on the heatsinks inside the unit?
A Tacx representative has posted the following statement after others reported the same,
The smell is caused by the power resistors which converts the energy from the sprints to heat. The resistors have been burned in at a high constant power level but in sprints the peak power can be much higher and this causes the smell which will reduce after repeating the same power levels. - Martin Smits”
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I actually contacted “both” - I mean it is one company now and it seems the support for all products is now done under the brand of Garmin.
I am not sure it is clearly visible on the video I posted, but when I say “smoke” I mean real smoke, not just smell/odour. And I was not doing any sprints - I was hardly sitting between 300W and 400W.
I am also talking about Neo Bike Smart - of course I underdtand that it is in fact the same (or very similar) to Neo 2T.
Here you can see even better the smoke…
Video 1
Video 2
I am upset more by the reaction from Garmin than by the fact the bike does not work. I have been wating for the bike moren than a year, lost money on buying and later seeling other trainers when it seemed the bike would get delivered. Now I have it and it does not work and Garmin is far from trying to solve it or make the actual solution easy and smooth for me. Just try to think about how are you bringing this 60kg thing to eShop you have purchased it from!?
Oh, wish you good luck and hope things settle well. Just tagging @dcrainmaker and @GPLama, they might be interested…
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I own a Tacx Neo Bike that is completely fine…
but, Garmin’s response is unacceptable. I’d be pissed too.
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