Blimey. I can’t believe that’s not plugged as a feature more heavily. That’s a huge usp. I looked into them thoroughly (or so I thought) and it was only the incompatibility with the Plasma frame that stopped me getting one. Yet I only ever read of powerless functionality along the lines of “suitable for use during a road side warm up”.
Why does it even need power at all if it can fully function without?! I guess it must just be things like the downhill sim you mention, and maybe the cobble feel thing?
EDIT - the stopping pedalling point you added is a good one. That makes sense as to why you’d generally want it powered.
But for someone like @Mungo2, sounds perfect for his 5hr garden marathon sessions!
downhill sim is certainly one feature that is lost… but not sure on the road surface/cobbles simulation… i’ll have to check now!
Its certainly a bit easier with power, as you can connect up and then still go and fetch your water bottle that you forgot and left on the kitchen drainer without having to reconnect, and you can roll down the alpe d’zwift without pedalling to keep the connection, but they’re pretty minor things really for a useful feature.
They’re not cheap though… so whether thats a benefit that justifies the cost depends a lot on your use case… I’ve got an original Neo, that i’ve had for, must be 5 years now… and have done many many thousands of miles on… I love mine.
I can concur the Neo works fine not plugged in just never found a scenario where you wouldn’t just plug it in since you got tv, laptop, fan ect to plug in anyhow. Suppose I could do a workout in a power cut if I was desperate
All these techno turbo trainers. Mine is a Elite Volare Jan Ullrich model that has lasted decades. Use a power meter on the bike. Simplicity and never a problem. I have rollers also for the fun of it, always good for no handed riding to spice up the long sessions. Would like to try one of the new ones though. But spend my money on new toys instead.
I’ve got the Kickr V1 and would love to go to the newest one to make it quieter. However it still works fine and that’s a large layout for minimal additional benefit. New road bike first methinks, still lusting over that Ribble CGR SL.
