This is the first round of my weekly recap. I am thinking of calling it SMARTCap – short for SmartBikeTrainers Recap! I plan on doing these recaps on a weekly basis to share few things with you that I find interesting from around the fitness web. Also, some things don’t fall into a category of what this blog is about – generally smart bike trainers or indoor training related.

Also, I would like to use this weekly recap to update you on what’s going on with certain reviews I am working on. You’ve probably seen some photos of some trainers that entered my test cave but haven’t seen the light of day yet.

REI MEMBER PERKS

REI is having their annual member sale starting today through April 4th. You get 20% off one full priced item and you double up on rewards. The sale includes all smart trainers including Wahoo KICKR, Tacx NEO, and CycleOps Hammer.

  1. To get the 20% discount, make sure you are a member, if not, you can add the membership at the checkout for $20.
  2. Enter coupon MEMPERKS at checkout.

You can see a full list of trainers here.

FROM SMART BIKE TRAINERS

I am finalizing some trainer reviews and more things are coming in the next few weeks. I have been riding the TechnoGym MyCycling trainer for the past few months and finalizing my review. I am just waiting on some answers from TechnoGym. Hoping to have the full review published early next week.

Next up is the IC8 bike from LifeFitness. I’ve been riding this stationary bike for the past week but would like to collect more data before writing my full review.

I have also been getting questions about the Minoura Kagura wheel-on trainer. I received a test unit back in October of last year and have been working with the company to test out different versions of firmware. Once everything is finalized, I will be ready to put a review out.

FROM AROUND THE WEB

  • CVR (Certified Virtual Racing) World Cup Los Angeles is this weekend. 40 racers will be taking on the World Cup finals at StubHub Velo Sports Center in Los Angeles this Saturday and Sunday. All racers will be on CycleOps Hammer direct drive trainers. All trainers are calibrated by Saris engineers and double-authenticated via PowerTap power meter. Here is more information about this event and how to watch it.
  • All cyclists will need to fit detection beacons, says Manuel Marsilio at the Geneva Motor Show.  After the 49-year old Elaine Herzberg was hit and killed by a self-driving Uber car while she was crossing a road with her bicycle in Tempe, Arizona, we are now learning that  “Bicycles are generally considered the most difficult detection problem that vehicles systems are currently facing”.
  • Shane Miller reviews the JetBlack WhisperDrive Smart Trainer. You can watch his full review here. I reached out to JetBlack last year to see if they can send me a unit to test but they didn’t have one ready for testing at that time. But if you have been waiting on this trainer, you probably want to wait a little longer until they fix all the issues with the power and cadence accuracy Shane reported or look for something else.
  • Alpe Du Zwift Coming Soon. Last week, Zwift teased us with a short video clip of what it looked like the road from France’s Alp d’Huez. Yesterday, they made it more official and sent out a tweet with a video clip of a new bigger climb coming to Watopia soon.

WORTH CHECKING OUT

  • Tacx released a new carbon bottle cage manufactured with minimal material. The Ciro shell is made of carbon and the skeleton is reinforced with glass fiber. This resulted in a slim, lightweight – only 29 grams – and affordable bottle cage. I have one on my bike and they do hold the bottle in place. The clamping power is so good I plan on using one as my rear bottle holder behind the seat on my triathlon bike. They are currently selling for $19 and available in ten different colors in a glossy or matte finish so you have a total of 20 different options to pick from. You can check them out at Tacx website.

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