With winter nipping at the heels of folks in the Northern Hemisphere, cyclists may be thinking about moving their daily rides indoors. Garmin has just announced its most accurate and powerful direct-drive trainer to help keep you in trim.
"Our goal is to make indoor training as realistic to their outdoor rides as possible and we’re proud to do just that with the introduction of the Tacx Neo 3M – the only trainer to offer built-in multidirectional movement, a virtual flywheel and a magnet motor," said the company's Dan Bartel. "Now, cyclists can take advantage of features and technology they won’t be able to find anywhere else and, as a result, level-up their training like never before."
The Tacx Neo 3M trainer is made up of a rear drive unit sporting a "state-of-the-art Neo magnet motor" and an 11-speed cassette that you mount your existing bike to, and a pair of front-wheel risers that support a front tire up to 60 mm wide. The stylish tablet stand shown in the promo images isn't part of the package.
An electromagnetic motor braking system enables the setup to deliver a variable-weight virtual flywheel for "the feeling of riding on different road types" such as gravel or cobbles, while integrated motion plates make for front-to-back movement to go with "the natural side-to-side flexion of the trainer." The motion plates can be disabled if preferred.
The unit needs to be plugged into a wall outlet, and there's 88 Nm (65 lb.ft) of torque and up to 2,200 watts of power on tap. The system can simulate inclines of up to 25%, and virtual downhill is also included. Garmin reports that power, speed and cadence are accurate to within 1%, and a LED indicator changes color to demonstrate "how hard a cyclist is pushing."
The 3M works with the Tacx Training app for immersion in high-quality route videos from around the world, nailing workouts, competing in challenges or joining virtual group rides. Other platforms like TrainerRoad and Zwift are also supported. Bluetooth and ANT+ are cooked in for wireless connection to a smartphone or tablet. The trainer doesn't come with Wi-Fi or Ethernet out of the box though, but is compatible with a Tacx Smart Network Adapter should more connection stability be needed for virtual races.
The Tacx Neo 3M indoor smart trainer is available now for US$1,999.99, which includes three months of free access to the Tacx Training app's premium subscription level. The video below has more.
Product page: Tacx Neo 3M
