NEO conundrum

[Sittingduck]

Hi all

I have a (nearly) 3 year old Neo mk1. It has been faultless until the last week when when it has developed an intermittent squeak. It is definitely not the drivetrain or bike. Video taken and asked opinion on Fb Neo owners group - so far not much. Sent description and video to Garmin (have taken over Tacx apparently). Their summary - it is not fixable by the user it is out of warranty, you can have a replacement (refurb to new standard) Mk2 (not T2 model) for £646 + postage of the existing unit back to them at my own expense.

I am considering my options and use it daily - I have temporarily rigged up an old wheel on trainer to a bike with Stages PM so at least I can have accurate power and cadence, but not convinced on the controllable feature for this trainer (Tacx Flow).

Option 1 - stump up the cash and get a refurbed Mk2 Neo
Option 2 - stick with wheel on and save the cash
Option 3 - source a extractor tool and take off the flywheel disk to try to troubleshoot inside (probably dirt inside attracted to the magnets)
Option 4 - tell 'em to get stuffed (be satisfying as I don't like Garmin) and buy a Kickr Core for not much more money (but no reel road feel feature)

What would you do?
TIA

 

[bridgy]

I think the first thing I'd do is get an extractor tool and see if cleaning it up helps at all - useful video from GPLama here showing how to use the extraction tool and do some basic cleaning & re-greasing while you have it apart -

View: https://youtu.be/x1YeJVST8c8


You can pick up a 3D printed extraction tool for around £14 on Ebay - I have one and it works fine. So it's quite a lot cheaper than getting a replacement if it does work.

If that doesn't work I'd go with either option 1 or 4 as personally I wouldn't want to go back to a wheel-on trainer. I don't know whether I'd go for another Neo or the Kickr, but I wouldn't miss the road feel feature as I ride on Zwift with it turned off anyway

 

[Sittingduck]

Thanks for the reply - yes I found an extractor on ebay and almost purchased it this morning. I have watched a similar vid and maybe I should try this first but don't want to jeopardise the return process.

I bet it's just some grime that's gotten inside the disk when I was cleaning the chain the other day... £646 plus postage for a refurbed item seems a p*ss take slightly... dunno

It isn't grinding though it is definitely squeaking. I will try to embed the vid...
NEO Squeak

 

[bridgy]

Thanks for the reply - yes I found an extractor on ebay and almost purchased it this morning. I have watched a similar vid and maybe I should try this first but don't want to jeopardise the return process.

I bet it's just some grime that's gotten inside the disk when I was cleaning the chain the other day... £646 plus postage for a refurbed item seems a p*ss take slightly... dunno

It isn't grinding though it is definitely squeaking. I will try to embed the vid...

As long as you don't break anything whilst doing it I wouldn't have thought removing the flywheel and giving everything a clean will cause problems with the return process because Garmin themselves do sell the extractor tool and recommend using it to clean your trainer without invalidating any warranty (although I can only see a tool for the Neo 2T on there at the moment - not sure if they're slightly different size to the Neo 1)

 

[Velochris]

Did you try turning the axle with the freehub removed? It may help eliminate the freehub completely.

I would not pay £649 for a reconditioned one. I think you only get 3 months warranty on them.

 

[Sittingduck]

Did you try turning the axle with the freehub removed? It may help eliminate the freehub completely.

I would not pay £649 for a reconditioned one. I think you only get 3 months warranty on them.

No I didn't try that and it's going to be tricky now as I have removed the cassette etc. It doesn't occur straight away and I can't be arsed to try and replicate it again, lol.
I am inclined to agree about not stumping up what will effectively be best part of 700 quid for a non brand new unit. I will probably get the extractor tool and try to remedy it myself by cleaning behind the disk and if that doesn't work will pay the 700 to Wahoo for a Kickr Core instead. At least that's the way I am heading as I think about it. Going to have to try the old Flow trainer and see the loopy power readings it tells me vs the stages (it was over measuring on my quick 5 min test earlier). Really hate the prospect of going back to wheel on, even if it's only for a couple of weeks or so... 😒

edit - ordered this

 

[CXRAndy]

Extraction tool on Ebay, cheap. Worst case it needs new bearings, you can get them too online

 

[Venod]

Have you seen this group on FaceBook ? I don't think its active anymore but still contains some good advice.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/tacxfaqx

 

[Sittingduck]

not that group no thanks. I posted in the Neo owners group and that is normally quite responsive. I plan to try to fix myself with the extractor. Just did first Zwift in 3 years with wheel on trainer - felt nasty and hard to get the power up, maybe wheel slippage, maybe lack of talent, we shall see... thanks all

 

[Aleman]

I would have a look at the ReAxle kit. It replaces the non drive side axle, which is prone to cracking and collapsing. It's not "cheap" but it's not over £600 either

 

[Sittingduck]

Ok I will investigate that if the removal of the disk and a clean up doesn’t sort it. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Milkfloat]

I have had every noise known to man with my Gen 1 Neo. It is now running silently. I suspect bearings and you are lucky that you can DIY them on the Gen 1. If you are after a new freehub, let me know as I have a brand new one here that I purchased just to get the steel tube that comes with it that I managed to lose when taking the unit apart for the twentieth time.

 

[Sittingduck]

I have watched a few vids of the typical noises, haven’t heard anything similar yet. My thoughts were some granular particles have gotten inside the flux capacitor thingy and causing a squeal when they warm up, dunno sounds plausible or maybe just my made up musings 🧐

shame the extractor I ordered off ebay has a 3 week eta. Might just use it with the squeak until then as the FLOW and Stages combo are not measuring power very accurately and the noise of wheel on is driving me insane (after only 2 rides).

 

[CXRAndy]

Pretty much any hub puller, which uses bolts to latch onto the hub,section and centre screw to force the hub off should work.

Something like this

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/CNWOOAIVE-Installer-Puller-Universal-Removal/dp/B08GFT5RKN/ref=asc_df_B08GFT5RKN/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=463218305272&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9308361390167049437&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007079&hvtargid=pla-1012667109326&psc=1

 

[Sittingduck]

This morning i took the freehub off again and the sleeve spacer and thoroughly cleaned and re-greased everything. Also inspected the crack between the disk and the casing and can see small evidence of black dust in a couple of places, I have fashioned a skinny cleaner device from some thin plastic and wrapped in a baby wipe - tried to clean via the small crack as best I can. Will do a proper test again later on Zwift - see if it has made any diff. If not waiting for the extractor tool...