Comments on: Your Picks: Top-Rated Premium Direct-Drive Smart Trainers

By: Ingemar B.

Ingemar B. — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 13:07:13 +0000

In reply to Rick V.

I also had an issue with my Direto XR-T when going up the Bonus Climb on Zwift. It resulted in a grinding noise when the gradient was over 14%. As soon as the gradient dropped below that, the noise disappeared.

I contacted Elite support, and it turned out to be one of the magnets that was rubbing against the flywheel at higher gradients. They gave me instructions on how to fix it. It was a simple procedure that only required a screwdriver. After taking off the inspection cover on the flywheel side, it was just a matter of turning the magnet adjustment screw 1/4 of a turn anti-clockwise to increase the magnet distance slightly. That’s it.

The whole procedure took 5 minutes. Afterwards I rode up the Bonus Climb without any issues.

Could this have been caught by Elite QA? Yes, however the fix is so simple that anybody can do it. I find it a positive thing that Elite provide this kind of technical support, give detailed instructions on how to tweak things and allow end users to perform them.

By: J. Screever

J. Screever — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 17:30:46 +0000

In reply to Eric Schlange. Garmin's support of older models is non-existent.

By: Rick V

Rick V — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 15:50:52 +0000

Bought a Direto XR-T, had an issue that the magnets working on the physical flywheel were touching the physical flywheel at higher inclines >12%. After communication with Elite and my retailer, I could return it to my retailer. Elite insisted I tried to work on the machine it self which I’d rather not do. My retailer send a new unit which arrived the next day.
Unfortunately the exact same issue occurred and I went straight back to the retailer. They apologised and offered me a pick of trainers to chose from ignoring any price differences.
I’d highly recommend to stick to Tacx or Wahoo and I would always advice people to stay away from the Elite product.

By: Pierre Babeu

Pierre Babeu — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 20:47:14 +0000

I love my Saris H3 with the exception of the sleep timer feature. I am trying very hard to find a way to remove this feature without any success so far. So if you know the answer please let me know. This feature drives me nut.

By: Bruce Saddler

Bruce Saddler — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 02:23:54 +0000

I own two CycleOps H2 trainers that I used extensively for the past several years. Both recently failed within a short time of each other (November and December). I tried to contact Saris for support and have not received a reply to date. You cannot reach them by phone and they do not respond to messages. Not what you want from a company that you have been loyal to. I decided to purchase a new trainer and could not bring myself to purchase another Saris unit due to the non-existent support. I selected a Wahoo Kickr and could not be more pleased. The unit is fabulous and light years better than the H2’s were. Better road feel simulation, quieter, faster gradient changes, easier set up, no signal loss, no need for spin downs to calibrate. Couldn’t be happier!

By: Kim S

Kim S — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 16:13:12 +0000

In reply to Richard Marzec. I’ve had similar good luck with my Saris H3. Very reliable and good road feel. Quite satisfactory for Zwifting.

By: Fran

Fran — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 08:14:00 +0000

In reply to VolFan. Kinetic totally sucks. That’s just the sad truth. I wish i had not thrown away my money the way I did and that I could be writing a much different review. But that is just not the case. I upgraded to Tacx Neo 2 and couldn’t be happier. Accurate, quiet and plain awesome, their machines just work. No need for customer support.

By: Eric Schlange

Eric Schlange — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 20:38:41 +0000

In reply to VolFan.

Unfortunately, Kinetic is like the Kodak of smart trainers. They were great once, but took too long to get on the digital (smart) bandwagon, and when they did their initial offerings were pretty poor.

I agree that the R1 is their best yet. But there’s a reason why they’ve discounted it heavily. Check DC Rainmaker and GPLama’s reviews… power accuracy is lacking, among other things.

By: Tay

Tay — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 16:29:27 +0000

In reply to VolFan. It’s terribly inaccurate. Just like the road machine, it’s plagued with flaws. They still haven’t updated support for android devices. So you’re forced to only pair with a Mac product, otherwise it drops signal in 5 or so minutes until you restart the thing. I broke three of the resistance units over the course of a year, and they kept sending replacements. They know their products are riddled with errors, yet they ship them out anyways. The Kinetic name doesn’t hold as much weight as older cyclists give then credit for.

By: VolFan

VolFan — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 23:33:44 +0000

You seriously left out the Kinetic R1? Are you kidding? An actual trainer that rocks side to side is much better than any of these on a rocker board. Been on it for over a year with no issues whatsoever and best direct drive I’ve used.