How do you preset a wattbike pro?
The ramp test is one of the most frustrating tests to perform as it's constant changes in resistance using the resistance slider and changes to cadence. There's no robust nor repeatable way of doing it. It's completely manual adjustment on ours either by the air vent, magnetic resistance wheel or changing cadence.
As for lag, even on a ramp test as long as the lag is consistent when changing resistance, a unit like the smart bike will still be repeatable for comparable sessions.
I hadn't realised the atom was a fixed drivetrain like a spin bike though. I might have a look at that as well.
Tacx are going to release a static bike based on the NEO but it's over double the price of this which given the lack of additional features and cost over a standard neo unit is hard to swallow.
I had a fluid pro trainer with an old bike/powertap hub but again setup is an issue. I can also purchase a static bike for work so it makes more sense...
Sorry s2ook I just saw this. It possible I got the wattbike pro confused wth the spin bike I used in a gym on holiday last year, so sorry if that’s the case. It does seem odd to me though that a bike used so widely amongst pro athletes is so disagreeable to you. Perhaps a different version of the unit.
The lag in resistance change is an issue, particularly in erg mode because it isn’t consistent. Because you can find yourself in a position where the resistance yo yo’s in a way that is inconsistant with your cadence when the watts increase in an interval session. It’s annoying during long intervals. It makes it impossible to do short intervals.
In fact the lag is bad enough for Wattbike themselves to recommend buying the pro unit rather than the atom if you intend to do short sharp intervals specifically for this reason. That’s why I’m surprised when you said how hard you found it to change resistance settings on the pro. Not questioning your experience at all but yeah, just surprised. I obviously can’t comment on the Bkool bike, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had the same issue.
Side issue but perhaps pertinent to the Q factor debate. I saw dc rainmaker dismiss the importance of variation in Q factor. He argues that people adjust between road and mountain bikes which have different Q factor, so it shouldn’t be an issue generally. For me I’m not sure. I had some quite bad knee problems this year. It’s possible it’s general wear and tear (I’m 38 so maybe it’s right that things start failing!). But I can’t dismiss the possibility it was Q factor or the poor resistance changes on the atom that brought it on as my problems coincided with my training on the atom. On the wattbike Facebook page some others have also mentioned similar issues, although of course this could also be coincidence. For what it’s worth the atom is not perfect but is technically compatible with Zwift, bigringvr trainerroad, sufferdest etc. Although you can’t do ftp on trainerroad because of erg issues I mentioned earlier... From what I understand the Bkool unit isn’t? That seems short sighted to say the least to me!
The neo bike has the same q factor as a road bike for what it’s worth. But I’m guessing you’ve watched the dcrainmaker piece on it. You are right in that it has many of the same fundamentals as the neo. That’s obviously no bad thing considering how highly the neo is rated. But it also looks like it succeeds where other spin bikes fail. It honestly didn’t occur to me all the possible difficulties in producing a functioning smart spin bike. But tacx have put a lot of good features into their bike. Basically it looks like it performs like a normal bike.
The reason the atom is £700 or so cheaper is possibly because they’ve cut corners on build quality. The shifters are very poorly designed with the rubber hoods miss fitting, which in turn means it slip and encourages unwanted shifts. Why is this a big problem? It can be if you find yourself in the toughest gear without warning. Again, I can’t see this being any good on the knees amongst other things. Also many people complain about seat post and stems constantly slipping while using the unit. I could go on. Sometimes you get what you pay for basically.
Is neo bike worth twice the neo? Well I’d probably ask the question is it worth £2200 or whatever it’s going to be rather than compairing it with a different type of product. For me it’s worth it yes. Because it does the things I want it to do and I can’t see another spin bike that does. But I think other companies are also bringing out smart bikes this year right? So most likely you’ll have a few options.
Just one last thing regarding Bkool. They are dishonest in my view. Rather than tackling known issues with their products they deny the problems exists. Rather than taking on board criticism they spend their time deleting negative posts on Facebook. Their customer service team play ignorant to obvious failings. They are purposefully vague in their answers, slow to respond and often times don’t address the actual issue you’re having. The products I have had direct use of (Bkool classic, and Bkool pro) are poorly made. Just judging from the very small community we have here they seem to have a very low average shelf life. And by the time people’s trainers have died, they have seen how poor Bkool are and are ready to move on to another brand as they’ve lost faith. So to tie yourself down to a company like that is not recommended!
pssst do you want to buy a bkool pro 
