Updated - 16 Jan 2025 22:47 - see the bottom
Hey all,
… taking a side the budget part , I will repeat - taking a side the price/budget part, I will repeat again…
Short review for Garmin Tacx Neo 3m :
The trainer is great. Very, very smooth ride And I would buy it again, and again and I will repeat maybe even one more time again. Thats it,couldn’t ask for anything better.
A little bit longer review:
- The movement part:
The first ride impression was how similar it is to the ride feel of the Kinetic Rock&Roll trainer.
The side to side movement and the general feel.
The back and forward movement, while riding at the constant pace doesn’t feel so much (but it does move), it gives that general feeling that the movement comes naturally, very smooth ride.
Any sudden jumps out the saddle to sprint, will be resulted in a loose of momentum (I suppose this is an issue with any trainers with the movement features). Thus, for those who seek for the 500000++ watts sprints, might not be interested in this trainer, or, for any short rides with big sprints, probably a good idea would be to turn off the movement plate.
\The movement plate could be mechanically turned off, you cannot turn it off through the soft while on the bike, as it is a mechanical part without any electronics - but it might be a very nice feature for the next version, but probably might cost additional 2-3 k above the actual price…lol…\
The movement plate eliminates the need of the bulky rocker plate.
- Size of the trainer Tacx Neo 3m
Bigger than the alternative Wahoo trainer.
But once in the open position it will take probably the same area surface as a Wahoo movement trainer (never really measured it), but Tacx Neo 3m will be higher than Wahoo Kickr Move one.
- Very quite trainer
Thats it, it is a very quite trainer.
For those who seek a total silence - its not totally silent.
The gear switch is much louder than the trainer noise.
Be noted: when using virtual road feel, the noise is considerably higher - you can actually hear those vibrations from the pedals. So for a quite night rides, you might just turn off this feature.
- Virtual Road feel.
Really liked this part. On some specific road surface (bridge, gravel etc…) you can actually feel the vibrations on the pedals of that surface. The feature is working only when you pedalling on that surface, when coasting it will not vibrate on the pedals. But be noted, those vibrations on the pedals are also comes with the noise, so if you need a really quite environment, it can be turned off inside Zwift or inside the Garmin trainer soft.
- - - Important note: when connecting the Tacx Neo 3m through the ANT+ the virtual road feel will not work. Virtual Road feel works under Bluetooth connection only.
But there is sort of “work around” you can connect it through the ANT+ and than disconnect the part of the Resistance sensor and connect it with Bluetooth. Thus, the Virtual Road feel feature, will require the Resistance sensor to be connected with Bluetooth, everything else can be connected with ANT+.
- Front wheel plate
During very active ride, short sprints, sudden jumps out of the saddle, the front plate might move and might come out of the front wheel (didnt happen to me, but I can suppose it is a risk).
As a solution, the plate might be taped to the floor. Advanced zwifters with lvl 90++ might use some long nails and hammer it directly to the floor with it.
It might be also a good idea to fix the trainer to the floor, as it might move during a very aggressive jumps out of the saddle, as any other trainer with or without the movement feature. …once again, nails and hammer is your best choice here.
- Setup experience and mobility of the trainer
Very simple and fast setup. Very easy to take the bike off the trainer, fold the trainer and move to any other location.
- Garmin watch integration
very simple connection to the newer Garmin watches, its recognizing immediately the trainer and can be used with the Virtual Ride app on the watch. Tested on Garmin Instinct 2.
- Bike fit and cassettes:
- Trainer came with 10 speed cassete. Changed it to 11 cassette . No issues with disk brakes road bike to fit it. But heard that some specific bikes might have a problem, so in this case you could use a small fitters.
- Trainer can be used without electricity
Yep, take it to your forestry cabin and ride it.
- Fly wheel (only when plugged in)
Nice feature when going down the hill. Give additional immersive feeling.
I was really skeptic about this part and the noise that it does when go downhill.
But the feature is not loud as I though, and the virtual fly wheel really adds to the whole immersive experience. Very nice feature.
- Virtual shifting - officially not supported in Zwift (at least for the moment 14 Jan 2025)
But seen some work around with the third party soft that will enable the virtual shifting feature.
Didn’t had the time to test it yet. And actually really like the real shifting experience.
- Advice to Garmin:
- at this price point (yes…I do remember, that the topic is not about the price…), you could provide in the box:
- Garmin towel 2. Garmin bottle 3. Sweat cover 4. Some nice stickers
(Garmin, you can always contact me directly, if you forgot to provide it in my specific box, and I’ll accept those accessories without any additional discussions)
- Garmin Tacx mate - can be purchased separately
Decided to bring this up here, since was very surprised by the low quality of this Tacx mate that I’ve purchased separately. It took exactly 5-6 steps on it with the bike shoes (Shimano SPD clits) and it made several holes in the mate. Very, Very low quality mate.
Have an old Kurt Kinetic bike mate, and it is still in very good shape.
Garmin Tacx Neo 3m vs Wahoo Kickr Move
Why not Wahoo Kickr move at cheaper price?
Well…taking the price/budget part a side.
I just think Garmin Tacx Neo 3m is a better trainer.
It is simple as it is.
By the way, I think, that for those who seek to fix the trainer to the floor, or some wooden or other surface, it will be easier to do ti with the Wahoo Kickr move than Garmin Tacx Neo 3m.
To fix Tacx Neo 3m to the surface, will be more challenging…
Updates
Movement Part of the trainer:
This concerns not only Garmin Tacx 2M but also the Wahoo Kickr Move.
For any long rides, when you pedalling stable, not going too jumpy out of the saddle, the whole concept of the movement back and forward - is very smooth and comfortable - this part was already mentioned.
With this in mind, I do not think, that as a future feature this type of back-forward movement is the best optimal solution for ANY trainer.
It might be, in case, if the movement plate will be integrated with electronic option to switch on and off during the ride - in such a case, that would be a perfect solution for any one that would like to jump to the sprint or out of the saddle without losing the momentum.
At the present state of art, this is the best solution \personally to me\.
…to be updated