Is a wattbike worth the money?

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raycoltrane

New Member
I have tried the WattBike original and the Atom. It may work in a gym, but for your home it's a waste of money and half the functions don't work reliably or properly.

Whether you think you will need ERG mode or any other features or not, for the cost of an indoor bike trainer you should be adding these in to the longevity factor and additional capability, particularly if you become a better cyclist and get more into the hobby.

As someone who has cycled for decades I would strongly advise anybody not to buy an expensive static bike. Issues with positioning, saddle fitment and a whole host of other issues mean you are stuck with the bike and the supplier until the entire bike breaks. This applies to hardware and software. Peloton did allow zwift integration before, in the sense of allowing users to sideload, with some fuss, zwift on to the peloton tablet. This is gradually being disabled across the range of Peloton bike.

Your best bet for future compatibility AND sell-ability in future is: indoor turbo trainer, a bike you are comfortable to ride and enjoy using, with an old laptop, tablet or even your phone connected to any old monitor to use your favoured training program.

I now use a Tacx Neo (version 1, original) and it is fantastic. It is user serviceable, unlike the new 2T version that Garmin has used proprietary bearings within and no tool yet exists to service it.

If you aren't into cycling then a £300 to £600 turbo trainer, used with your favoured bike, should last you for years. My own personal preference if I was doing things all over again would be to buy a second hand Tacx Neo v1, as they appear to be bulletproof and are easily fixed. I've not had to fix mine in 4 years and I love how quiet it is - another consideration for those living in apartments or living with those with sensitive ears.

I explored a range of options over the last two years and various faults with the WattBike Atom and software restrictions put me off buying one. It is worth remembering that with a trainer+bike+phone/tablet/PC combination you are not tied to any software.

I use zwift, but also use RGT (RoadGrandTours) and Golden Cheetah. Golden Cheetah is opensource and free. You can load training programmes and/or videos to cycle to. I don't use the videos much. This gives a way to achieve FTP improvement and cycling goals without much brain effort. Watching a TV series or movie means I don't mind 60 to 120 minutes on this setup. I strongly recommend it and, having used a WattBike in the gym, can only say that cycling in comfort on my own bike indoors rates far higher for me than having a massive single unit arrive with everything integrated. I therefore won't be engaging with Peloton or WattBike in the future, nor the other brands who provide a single unit bike for indoor training, as they lead to a world of captive software, less comfort and of course less enjoyment of cycling indoors.

Cycling should always be enjoyable.
 

AndyMacca

Senior Member
Location
UK
I have tried the WattBike original and the Atom. It may work in a gym, but for your home it's a waste of money and half the functions don't work reliably or properly.

Whether you think you will need ERG mode or any other features or not, for the cost of an indoor bike trainer you should be adding these in to the longevity factor and additional capability, particularly if you become a better cyclist and get more into the hobby.

As someone who has cycled for decades I would strongly advise anybody not to buy an expensive static bike. Issues with positioning, saddle fitment and a whole host of other issues mean you are stuck with the bike and the supplier until the entire bike breaks. This applies to hardware and software. Peloton did allow zwift integration before, in the sense of allowing users to sideload, with some fuss, zwift on to the peloton tablet. This is gradually being disabled across the range of Peloton bike.

Your best bet for future compatibility AND sell-ability in future is: indoor turbo trainer, a bike you are comfortable to ride and enjoy using, with an old laptop, tablet or even your phone connected to any old monitor to use your favoured training program.

I now use a Tacx Neo (version 1, original) and it is fantastic. It is user serviceable, unlike the new 2T version that Garmin has used proprietary bearings within and no tool yet exists to service it.

If you aren't into cycling then a £300 to £600 turbo trainer, used with your favoured bike, should last you for years. My own personal preference if I was doing things all over again would be to buy a second hand Tacx Neo v1, as they appear to be bulletproof and are easily fixed. I've not had to fix mine in 4 years and I love how quiet it is - another consideration for those living in apartments or living with those with sensitive ears.

I explored a range of options over the last two years and various faults with the WattBike Atom and software restrictions put me off buying one. It is worth remembering that with a trainer+bike+phone/tablet/PC combination you are not tied to any software.

I use zwift, but also use RGT (RoadGrandTours) and Golden Cheetah. Golden Cheetah is opensource and free. You can load training programmes and/or videos to cycle to. I don't use the videos much. This gives a way to achieve FTP improvement and cycling goals without much brain effort. Watching a TV series or movie means I don't mind 60 to 120 minutes on this setup. I strongly recommend it and, having used a WattBike in the gym, can only say that cycling in comfort on my own bike indoors rates far higher for me than having a massive single unit arrive with everything integrated. I therefore won't be engaging with Peloton or WattBike in the future, nor the other brands who provide a single unit bike for indoor training, as they lead to a world of captive software, less comfort and of course less enjoyment of cycling indoors.

Cycling should always be enjoyable.
Sounds like a solid thumbs up for the fantastic Tacx Neo v1 after 4 years of trouble free use, that is commendable. Does make me wonder why you even looked at Peloton / Wattbike though? There has been a few more bikes introduced in this space over the last year or so, I expect we'll continue to see more coming out too and they should get better as they learn from the consumers.
Just to clarify, the Wattbike Atom doesn't restrict buyers to proprietary software, it's designed to be used on as many platforms as possible, it's no secret I'm a fan and use mine on Bkool, Zwift and BigRingVR too. I've used it almost every day this year and have had no problems with bike fit but I guess we're all physically different.
Also the space the bike uses is far less than my road bike on a turbo.
It's not perfect though, slow gears and sometimes you can get variable resistance on a downhill but overall it's got me a lot fitter and stronger, if I had to set the road bike up on a turbo then I'm not sure I'd have done so many rides. Plus I love having my bike available if the weather does improve or a club rider suggests a quick spin. Just for fun here's my distance so far Atom: 7495km (14months), main roadbike 3055 (18months) though lockdown has massively boosted the Atom's numbers.

Never used the Peloton but there's a Peloton shop near where I work and I had a quick look once, it did feel like a captive ecosystem and put me off however I've got a friend who really gets a lot from the trainer led sessions.

Yes cycling should always be enjoyable👍 except when you want to suffer :laugh:
 

JtB

Prepare a way for the Lord
Location
North Hampshire
Our Wattbike Atom arrived just in time to open on Christmas day. My wife and I have used it every day since apart from today which is our recovery day.
566322
 

JtB

Prepare a way for the Lord
Location
North Hampshire
looks great!! Considering one of these in the summer for next winter, can you plug a tablet into it to charge?
Unfortunately not, that’s one of my little niggles with this machine.

PS. Another little niggle is that the shifters require batteries, it would have been better had they been powered by the Atom’s main power supply. I guess though that Wattbike have used standard components.
 
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AndyMacca

Senior Member
Location
UK
Unfortunately not, that’s one of my little niggles with this machine.

PS. Another little niggle is that the shifters require batteries, it would have been better had they been powered by the Atom’s main power supply. I guess though that Wattbike have used standard components.
Yeah they missed a trick with the lack of power to the handlebars, I've mounted (cable ties) a 5 port USB hub to the front upright and have a decorators overshoe to cover it from sweat. :laugh:
 

SWSteve

Guru
Location
Bristol...ish
Okay, I had hoped it would have some USBs suitable for tablets as I seem to get 1minute/% charge when running zwift.
I’ll wait and see if this gets added with future models.
Also bizarre the shifters (a ‘major selling point’ of the atom) aren’t part of the central power system.
Thanks
 

Supersuperleeds

Legendary Member
Location
Leicester
Mine came Christmas Eve, done 336 "miles" on it so far including an 100 miler on the 27th to get ahead of the festive 500 curve.

The Watthub is bloody useless, doesn't show you how far you have gone until you stop and save the ride.

Zwift is great, though I hate how slow it makes me going up hill.
 
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