Believe all the versions of Neo can take through axle though may need an adaptor?
I’ve had two Neo’s. First went back after 2.5yrs when overheated. Second going fine.
Always used to be put off the more expensive turbos second hand as you were potentially out of pocket if they failed but number of options now for repair/support.
This guys seems able to sort most issues of run into trouble.
And not helping at all… The saris at sigma also £450… But quite a few discount codes around to knock that down towards £400.
I nearly mentioned that but wasn’t sure if they’d started rising again now they’ve been bought.
Halfords were flogging them cheap as well.
They’ve just released v4… Not really clear what’s going off. But still a great deal.
The Neo didn’t materialise. Found a Tacx Flux S for £175, seems like its had fairly light use? A good enough deal for a decent unit? Or should be looking elsewhere? My knowledge on these things is minimal!
We’ve had a mk1 flux for years and its been largely faultless. However; I think we have been lucky.
Quite a few known issues - however there is also a really good FB group and one chap who I know from local club has started making replacement (better) parts for them.
So there is an aftermarket resolution should things go bad.
I’ve been lucky with my ‘hum generation’ Direto.
No belt or bearing issues.
It has an easy life these days but has been properly abused when I possessed some ‘twin pillars of doom’ 
I’ve been using a Flux S for years now, it’s been pretty good
It is my second one though - first one seized up, I have changed the poly vee belt on this one as it was squeaky, could probably do with a new one now as well
£175 though, I’d say that’s definitely worth it!
I bought the Tacx Flux Smart (Not an S as I though but its barely seen any use). Is there a cheaper way I can get it to accept a thru axle bike, without having to buy the overpriced £60 kit which I believe I’d still need to modify to get it work and not need half of them? Or does anyone have the bits that might be surplus to requirements? 
I used some man maths and got hold of a Neo2 for £300 and will hopefully be able to easily flog the Tacx Flux for what I paid without too much issue. Anyone want it for what I paid. Drop me a message!
Two choices for @leahnp…
The short version
The debate on here & the Smart Turbo thread, got me thinking about an alternative to my turbo.
Then, while ‘just looking’ on Ebay for something like a Wattbike Atom, I found this…
Listed under ‘Exercise Bike’ for £90 (buy it now) and just over 6 miles/20 odd minutes away.
Erm…. Sold. 
Anyway, I figured it was a low-risk option to see what this type of exercise bike is like.
Or…
This all started when cycling standing up on the turbo…
Chain slipped & I ‘kneed’ the tri-bars, not once, but twice in the space of a few minutes. 
The problem was easy to spot and a replacement chain ring was ordered and fitted.
But this simply drew my attention to just what a state my road bike was now in.
Here is just one example of the bubbling paintwork.
Bought in 2005 (via TT1.0 ‘on sale’ link), it cost either £599 or £699 (can’t remember which).
So, it owes me nothing and I’ve been on TT long enough to know the answer to any problem is…
Buy a new bike!
But there was no point in buying a new bike if it is just going to live on the turbo and slowly rot.
Which brings me back to the short version above and buying an exercise bike.
Once I got it home, my first job was to re-connect the head unit.
As the seller removed the bars to make it easier to carry by mistake and a wire popped out.
Obviously, this turned into one of those jobs where everything had to come apart first.
Next the power cable supplied was clearly wrong, as it fouled the pedal…
So, a temporary swap with my wife’s treadmill lead, until a new cable arrived.
With a now working bike in the kitchen, my wife helped me carry it to the summer house.
For now, the bike and turbo were shoved in the shed until I can sort out some space in there.
Next job was to cut some alloy strips to shims the handle bars to reduce the wobble.
I also had to take a jigsaw to one corner of the plywood base I had under the turbo.
This allowed me to push the base to the back wall of the Summer House.
Mistake #1 - I’d ordered a spare set of SPD pedals, rather than remove the ones on my bike.
Unfortunately, I may have only used toe straps for a few days in the last 20 years…
So, obviously, my feet slipped out and I slammed the metal pedal into my shin HARD.
Again, not once, but twice.
A literal blood, sweat and tears session.
(My shin was a light shade of green for a few days after this.)
Switching from cycling shoes to trainers seems to have resolved that problem for now.
Mistake #2 – I did not check the seat was tight & I didn’t notice it slowly slipping downwards.
(So many other things were different, I just thought my legs were struggling. )
First Impressions
There was no way to match my previous bike set up exactly, as most adjustments are ‘chunky’.
So, I was using the same muscles slightly differently, especially my arms, and aching more.
(I’d forgotten just how much time I spend down on the tri-bars on the turbo.)
I’ve been using the bike on the ‘level’ setting as the ‘gearing’ is obviously different too.
(Although my time and distance numbers are similar enough to the turbo, just harder work.)
The instructions for calibrating the incline were not very clear, but I did it sitting on the bike.
Whilst going ‘up’ was interesting, feeling the bike pointing ‘down’ was very odd indeed. 
For now, I am going to stick with this and swap over the pedals and a spare saddle I have.
Next Steps
To paraphrase @Hammerer on the swimming thread…
The 3 secrets for really improving my cycling:
Later this year, I will scour Ebay for both a new (to me) road bike and the latest version of this bike.
Which has a better range of adjustment and the option of fitting some tri-bars.
So, my £90 ‘bargain’ will end up costing me a lot more than I thought.
Cheers, Paul. 
The fly wheel looks like it could be used to like a monster dremmel
If it had a reverse gear it could cut its way out of the Summer House!
Any long term opinions of the Saris H3?
Think @mw22 @fruit_thief and maybe @stenard has one.
Mines almost 3 years old… Other than the bearing in one of the pulleys that went on the first 6 months I’ve had no other issues.
Only minor gripe, I think it could be more stable under sprinting (tho my floor probably not helping).
I didn’t get that 100w bonus version like fruity did 
I think for nigh on £400 it’s a great price (sigma + discount codes). I paid double that!
Loved it, great bit of kit. But kills your baggage allowance.
What did you do about the bearings?
There are some good deals about but I think they have sort of gone under so not sure what the warranty would be like.
I’m not sure they have… There’s a H4 out now. Don’t know if they got brought out or just had injection of cash.
Short term…lubed them up.
Long term they sent me many replacement parts as we wildly guessed at what was wrong!
I’ve seen plenty more issues with zwift hub/jet black.
Ah yeah looks like they have been bought out so hopefully warranty issues like that would still be sorted out ok.
Did the send the parts from America or have they got a UK distributor that they use?
I got mine from America. The service level I got was frankly amazing.
I’m not sure others received such service. But can only speak personally.
I was receiving international shipments in days at no cost. I got a lot of spare parts 
