There is not zero to go wrong with a neo since I had one and it went wrong, garmin replaced it with a refurb unit for free (I was 1 week out of warranty).
I would still go for the neo, if it hasn’t gone wrong by now it probably won’t. I would make sure you can try it first though, make sure when cycling it’s smooth, quiet and there are no nasty metallic sounds when it’s spinning.
I would agree Tacx Neo and with David about checking it out as fully working. I don’t know Zwift Hub but I know there are loads and loads of non/hardly used Direct Drive trainers due to COVID purchases and then little or no use. Pick up a bargain.
I went for 2nd hand Tacx Neo 2 and no complaints.
Except cooling fans did go after 3/4 months but probably my fault for leaving in very cold and very humid outdoor cabin.
Edit: if this is a 2018 model was it purchased by a regular cyclist and has been well used? No problem if it is still working. But if you look for newer second hand models possibly they will have been bought during COVID and not used to anywhere near the same extent. ( mine looked like it had not been taken out of the box).
Neo. If something was going to go wrong with it, it probably would have by now assuming it’s been used all these years. Put a bike on it, give it a test drive if you can.
My Neo has around 20,000 miles on it. Works as new. I would recommend the Neo over the Zwift Hub. Though definitely take a look at the Neo to make sure the previous owner didn’t completely destroy it…
i bought a used Tacx Neo (bike store floor model) and it has gone nearly 19,000 km without a problem so I would go with the Neo. There are other benefits with the Neo - more accurate, can do steeper hills, responds faster to inputs, surface texture if desired etc. - might be of some interest.
Its a first edition Neo bought as new 2018. Ill get it for 380€ but don’t have the chance to try it since the seller will send it to me…but I hope it will works fine…
I had a gen 1 and managed wear out the main bearing but takes a lot of riding. And if you’re just a litlle DIY it isn’t the worst job to replace the bearing.
Putting in some new SKF’s makes it even better than i remember it was new.
Be aware that the freehub needs replacement from time to time, if you do some serious miles
I bought a used Neo 1/OG as we all knew back in 2019 and did 50,000km+ till this year when the bearings started to whump but still spun pretty much there. I decided to jump to the 2T than wait for the bearings to be fixed.
Before this I was using a Magene Gravat 2 which is quite similar to the Zwift Hub and boy it was a whole of upgraded different. One time pain paying for it gave me the most immersive, realistic feel on any trainer could have given.
One word of caution, you may find the NEO tougher than most trainers because its true. It trains you to be a better cyclist that way.
Now they offer the entire Bearing Kit than having to replace them individually after much dismantling. How times have changed to make life more bearable
I forgot about that. The one problem I had was the free hub had to be replaced. It was couple of email exchanges with Tacx, then they sent it 2nd day delivery from the Netherlands to Taiwan for the low low cost of FREE!!!
Now i regret my purcase…neo is showing like 15-20watt lower than my favero assioma and absolutely need all watts I can get in my races…I just put it out for sale. Looking for a kickr core or direto xr instead…
Mmm… well… the NEO is measuring wattage after drivetrain losses where the pedals are at the point of power input, before the drivetrain.
Drivetrain could easily account for 5 Watts of loss. 15-20Watts? I suspect your pedals are mis-calibrated, weren’t torqued to the correct spec when installed, didn’t have zero angles measured, whatever. It’s not “free Watts” if your pedals are over-reporting.
The NEO self-calibrates and has no strain gauge to go out of calibration - I would be more inclined to believe the NEO numbers.
If we lived in the same country and you were insistent on selling the NEO, I’d likely take it off your hands for a friend, they’re just that good.