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With the weather turning and a recent dislike for running I've started tentatively looking at second hand direct drive smart trainers for winter use. The main driver is to be quiet but using Zwift etc. would be a bonus. Will any old smart trainer work with Zwift? And any recommendations for quiet ones?
Pretty much any of them will work, I’d be looking for one with a reliable power meter though.
Check out the reviews on DC rainmaker.
Try and get a wheel off, direct drive trainer if you're serious.
They're all fairly quiet, tbh the noise of my fans is much louder than the trainer.
Noza S smart trainers are pretty quiet and sometimes cheap.
My Saris H3 is much quieter than my old Direto, got mine from Rutland for ~£485 a few months ago in a sale, I think recently Sigma have had them a bit cheaper.
I've just binned Zwift, not using it. I'm commuting on the bike for base miles when in work (2-3 days in office) and I'll register for the free RGT cycling app and give that a try.
I picked up a noza from CRC for about £450. It is barely audible.
As above, but I'd add that even a modern-ish wheel on trainer is likely to be quieter than the big fan keeping you cool. I've got a conparitively ancient b'kool wheel on smart trainer and it's quiet enough to ignore. Not very accurate (probably), and runs out of resistance pretty quickly but it's just about enough to make zwift feel "normal".
So if you're unsure, have a look on eBay first for a bargain and see if it's something you'll actually use.
I find Zwift is quite nice at a very basic level for just riding arround fairly aimlessly. It's never going to feel like riding outside, so the cartoonish nature suits it. Tried some of the more realistic ones and the stumbling block is that the reall world is actually pretty flat and dull.
Wheel off is the way to go. And zwift for the social aspect may help for motivation. There's plenty of clubs, race series etc.
Wheel off is a chunk quieter than wheel on trainers.
I’ve got a Wahoo kickr core and it’s really quiet. The fan I’ve got is much louder (vacmaster cardio).
My breathing is noisier than my Tacx Neo (old one picked up secondhand). I think all the decent wheel off jobs are pretty quiet.
To add there are other platforms as well as Zwift. I think that one is the best one for social rides / races, but TrainerRoad is probably better for focused / structured training plans (what I use - but it is a bit boring to look at), then the likes of Rouvy is meant to be really nice to look at in terms of graphics. RGT is another but I don’t know much about it.
Direct drive smart trainers make almost no noise, my chain makes more. I’ve had a Jet Black Volt since January it’s been great, I had a Xplova Nova S before that which I returned as faulty because it used a non-standard protocol to communicate power over Bluetooth which meant that although it worked with Zwift it didn’t with Wahoo Systm which I use for training.
Awesome, thanks. Smart trainer bought off ebay!