Last year at Eurobike Tacx announced their intentions to make a smart bike, the blend of an indoor trainer and a bike. Similar to a ‘spin bike’ in looks, but under the hood totally different. It’d have full resistance control just like their Tacx Neo trainer, while also having handlebars and shifting like a bike. Much of the focus on smart bikes has been spurred on by Zwift aiming to capture a wider indoor training market.
At the time though the concept of the Tacx bike was more rough sketch than final. No specific pricing was announced, nor was it near shipping. They said it was something to look for at Eurobike 2018.
And thus, here are: Eurobike 2018. They’ve now got pricing and shipping details, as well as a fully functional unit that’s very close to being final production quality. With it, the unit gained functions like realistic shift feedback that makes you feel like the gears are actually moving below you. It also gained a small display to help clarify gearing and other critical stats, as well as gaining fans that change speed based on how hard you’re working.
Finally, to be super clear – this is not a review, and certainly not an in-depth review. This is a brief look at the final bike with merely some brief riding time last week on it. I don’t even dive into aspects like testing power meter accuracy, or other apps beyond Zwift, or configuration of the virtual shifting. All that will come in due time with my usual in-depth review closer to shipping. So hang tight for that! In the meantime, you’ve gotta check this thing out, it’s surprisingly cool.
The Final Specs:
So let’s get right into the specs and what this bike features, since that’s what you’re all here for. Of course, before we do that, sometimes it’s just easier to watch a video on it, so I put together an overview of a short ride on the bike, where I walk through from front to back all the nuances and the details of the bike.
As you can see, it’s not only quiet, but also essentially a Tacx Neo bundled into a bike. Except, that definition skips over the nuance of some of the more bike-focused features like adjustable crank lengths or virtual gear shifting with virtual gear combinations.
So to start, let’s just do some bullet-point style specifications. I like bullet-points because they’re easy to convey a crapton of information without a crapton of flowery words:
– Priced at $2,599USD/EUR (+/- $100-$200). EUR pricing is set, but USD pricing still in flux a bit. GBP is 2299GBP
– Availability set for fall 2018 worldwide, but volume will be limited initially, so may be tough to get until winter.
– Has the same specs as a Tacx Neo Smart in terms of resistance/accuracy, so +/- 1%
– Max power resistance is 2,200w
– Can run with or without power cord, self-powering
– Handlebars have shifting control buttons like normal bikes, for virtual shifting
– Shifting can be configured to replicate any chainring/cassette combination
– Handlebars also have brakes (both sides), to allow braking, or potentially even turning
– Contains a small display (powered by you) that shows gearing/power/heart rate, and other metrics
– Includes dual position-configurable fans that can be controlled by HR, speed, or manual
– Has a large clamp system for holding a tablet
– Has a small tray for placement of phone or M&M’s
– Includes two 2.0 AMP USB charging ports below the small tray, for powering phone/tablet
– Internal battery charged while you ride to charge ports and display
– Customizable saddle height/position, handlebar height/position
– Ability to change out handlebars or seat for your own if you want
– Ability to add clip-on aero bars
– Adjustable crank lengths built-in: 170mm, 172.5mm, 175mm
– Q-Factor is standard road-bike q-factor
– One glorious water bottle holder
Phew…got all that? Good!
As you can see, it’s an impressive set of specs. If we look briefly at how it compares to the WattBike Atom released last year, the core additions are heavily focused on user experience aspects that shine better in apps like Zwift than ERG mode. For example, compared to the WattBike Atom you’ve got:
– Added feedback that you’re actually shifting (a vibration of sorts)
– Added USB ports for charging tablets that run apps like Zwift/TrainerRoad
– Added brake levers and I’d argue better shifting buttons in terms of feedback
– Added a display for core data metrics to be displayed
– Added fans up front to keep ya cool
– Ability to customize virtual gearing to match your bike/what you want.
– Doesn’t require power cord
– Crank lengths adjustable, versus statically set
– Q-Factor matches road bike, versus wider stance
There are a few minor things the Wattbike Atom has though that the Tacx Neo Bike Smart doesn’t. For instance, it doesn’t include aerobars like the Wattbike does. With the Wattbike you get regular handlebars as well as aerobars in the box.
Of course, all these extra features cost you extra cash. In the case of the Wattbike it’s only really sold in the UK, and the price there is 1,499GBP. Whereas the Tacx Neo Bike Smart is slated to sell in the UK at 2,299GBP. And of course, the more prudent issue: The Wattbike is actually available today, versus the Tacx bike is at best a few months away for those lucky enough to nab an early spot.
With that, let’s talk about my first ride experience.
First Test Ride:
Of course, the key thing with smart bikes is how they feel. We talked about all the specs up above, but none of that really matters if it doesn’t feel right across all the apps. That was sorta the challenge with the Wattbike for me. It was awesome for me with ERG mode and overall functionality, but when it came to Zwift it kinda fell apart because of shifting in particular. So the inability to know what gear you were in (partially solved since), but more importantly feel the gear changes was tricky.
It’s something you take for granted with your bike – when you shift, you feel it. You feel the click of the levers (or even the button press of Di2 is still tactile in nature). You feel the drivetrain briefly release tension for a split second as it moves between rings or cassette cogs. But with the Wattbike, none of that happened. It was like a fart in the wind, somewhat unknown.
So jumping right into it I adjusted the saddle height on the Tacx bike quick and easy and was off and running. The fans weren’t quite final and were the only piece in the system that felt a bit beta to me (as they admitted). But it was merely because the bolt wasn’t firm enough, so they kinda floated too much. But that’s a trivial fix.
The fans are designed to pair to your heart rate sensor or trainer speed, enabling you to simulate going downhill faster. I suspect though that novelty will wear off quickly, and folks will just leave them on full blast. Still, having the option is appreciated.
Next, while there was a tablet holder I used my a phone to bring up Zwift. I did this simply because I wanted to record the Zwift session for the video.
Note that below the tablet holder is 2x2AMP USB ports for charging. These charge based on your pedaling power, or you can simply plug the bike in too.
Within Zwift I paired up the bike via Bluetooth Smart, just like any other trainer – no different there really.
Once I did that though the onboard display on the unit re-adjusted itself to a paired down version that minimized the information and focused on core metrics like the actual gearing and my power. Essentially it wasn’t just re-duplicating everything on the Zwift screen, but really just the information you cared about. Still, I think this is super useful, and you see the same thing on the new Elite bike as well. It’s another differentiator between the Wattbike and the Tacx bike.
The gearing will be adjustable down the road, so you can program the chainring/cassette if you want to replicate your exact bike setup. Want a configuration that’s better for climbing? No prob. And Tacx is looking at doing the same for replicating Di2 vs eTap and other shifting methods, so that it feels identical to you from a ‘how to shift’ standpoint. Again, these are the little details that matter.
What’s most astounding on the entire bike though is that when you shift you feel it between your legs. That’s because the Tacx bike has the ability to ever so briefly (for a split second) pull back on the resistance, so it simulates the exact same feel that your shifting does on a bike where for that split-second there’s almost no resistance. It’s mind-bogglingly cool, and exactly what Wattbike is missing. Part of this is the way the Tacx Neo (and thus the Tacx Bike) is designed from an electronic resistance standpoint. It’s effectively the same underlying technology leveraged in the Neo’s ability to replicate cobblestones and other bits of terrain.
I’d say at this point that for other smart bike manufacturers, some sort of feedback like this will become a requirement to be successful in the market. In my limited time riding this, it was without question the missing gap on Zwift that the Wattbike needed. While other companies can implement this virtual gearing realism in different ways, implementing something is required – otherwise Tacx will simply win every conversation and test ride about it.
Now I will say that the only caveat with shifting is that I wish the buttons themselves were a bit crispier. I want a ‘click’ on the buttons (as well as the feel of the drivetrain). Whereas today the Tacx bike lacks the click but has the drivetrain replication right.
In addition to shifting there’s braking, you can pull the brake levers to brake the bike. This has two purposes down the road. The first is to stop the bike mid-ride, but the second could be to replicate/simulate directional turning. So the idea that you could potentially brake one side or the other to turn the bike. Zwift supports neither today, but Tacx says they’re ready when Zwift is.
Like the shifting though, my second and only other complaint about the Tacx bike is that I wish the brake levers had a bit more travel distance and stopped the bike a bit faster. Given this was the first unit off the line, I suspect that’s an easy thing to address.
Circling back to some of the hardware elements, the unit has three adjustable points in the crank lengths. By using a small pod inset into the crank arms they can give you 170mm, 172.5mm, and 175mm with nothing more than swapping the pods out:
The q-factor on the Tacx bike is identical to that of a normal road bike. Additionally, you can adjust the front handlebars forward/back, as well as up/down. The rear seat post can go up/down, as well as slide the saddle front/back.
Next, you’ve got sound…or rather, lack thereof. As you can hear in my video, it’s virtually silent. There’s a very low hum, similar to a microwave operating in the background (before the ding). Sure, in my video you hear it in an otherwise totally silent room, but you can also hear my phone playing the Zwift music/soundtrack in the background, and my phone isn’t on full blast. Remember, it’s the same flywheel situation as in the Tacx Neo – so if you’re familiar with that, it’s roughly in the ballpark of that with one key difference: Your drivetrain is gone, which is typically the noisiest part of the equation.
As far as road-feel, it feels identical to that of a Tacx Neo…except with the rumble in the jungle of the virtual shifting. I’m personally pretty good with the Tacx Neo road-like feel, though some like the KICKR better. I think that’s purely a personal preferences thing.
Ultimately though, after riding it for a short bit – I’m really impressed. I guess going into it I had no expectations. I’d seen it last year at Eurobike like everyone else, but that was merely a frame of what was to come. It wasn’t much more than a barren tree. Now it’s a real product that they’re fine-tuning the production line before scaling up for real-world production in the coming weeks. Certainly my time was limited, and I’m looking forward to getting it into the DCR Cave for longer term testing across more apps than just Zwift. But at this point, I’m far more impressed than I thought I’d be.
Going forward:
Ultimately, as far as I can tell at this point Tacx is easily taking the crown of best indoor smart bike, at least in terms of features. While the new Elite Fuoripista is, of course, a head turner, I don’t think even if prices were equal that I’d choose it over this. Mostly because I prefer the practicality of the Tacx Neo Bike Smart with things like fans and shifting feedback that the Elite unit lacks. Meanwhile, if you compare it to the Wattbike Atom, as I noted in my review the main deal-killer there is the shifting still isn’t ideal for Zwift. Zwift has made some progress in terms of a gear indicator, but the lack of tactile feedback has always been a big challenge.
Of course, a $2,500 (Update: $3,199USD, EUR pricing will be notably lower) bike isn’t going to be for everyone. For a lot of folks, they can buy a perfectly good bike and smart trainer for that price. But as the Wattbike Atom proved, there’s also plenty of people that want an easy to use stationary unit that multiple people can jump on and quickly configure and just ride. This fits that (large) bill in my opinion better than anything else on the market.
Certainly I expect more smart bikes over the course of this season, though whether or not those companies manage to hit fall timeframes remains a big question. If I wanted a smart bike for this season, I’d probably be putting my name at the top of the list for the Tacx unit, and then deciding in early fall if that was the right choice after all the announcements have been made. Whereas if you wait till fall to order, you realistically won’t get this unit till next year according to the numbers that Tacx is looking at. As you might expect, manufacturing and delivering such a large product is a different challenge than their much smaller trainers.
Of course, Tacx has experience in massive products though. You’ll remember their Magnum treadmill (and it’s 8,000EUR price tag). That’s far more complex from a technical and logistics standpoint. So I wouldn’t assume the limitation will be experience here.
In any event – look for me to probably start riding a unit in August, for a full in-depth review likely sometime in September or so once they start shipping out units. I’m definitely looking forward to getting more time on it and digging into all the nuances.
Until then – thanks for reading (and watching)! Feel free to drop questions down below as usual and I’ll try and get them answered.
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Hopefully you found this review/post useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
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There's no better bang for your buck in getting Zwift (or FulGaz/etc) on your big screen TV than Apple TV - it's the primary way I Zwift. Even if you don't have a 4K TV, the 4K version has more powerful graphics than the base, worth the extra $30.
This is a super basic trainer mat, which is exactly what you'll see me use. All it does is stop sweat for getting places it shouldn't (it also helps with vibrations too).
I use Apple TV for Zwift the vast majority of the time, but also just for watching YouTube/Netflix/etc on the trainer. The Apple TV remote sucks though. This $8 case fixes that, it's a silicone strap that makes it easy to grab, but also has a strap to easily place on the edge of your handlebars. Boom! Note: Not compatible with 2021 Apple TV Edition.
I've got three of these $12 fans floating around the DCR Cave, and I frequently use them on rides. They work just fine. Sure, they're not as powerful as a Wahoo Headwind, but I could literally buy 20 of them for the same price.
One of the most popular trainer fans out there, rivaling the Wahoo Headwind fan in strength but at a fraction of the price. It doesn't have smartphone/ANT+/Bluetooth integration, but it does have secondary outlets. I've been using it, and a similiar European version lately with great success (exact EU variant I use is automatically linked at left).
This desk is both a knock-off of the original KICKR Desk, but yet also better than it. First, it's got wheel locks (so the darn thing stays put), and second, it has two water bottle holders (also useful for putting other things like remotes). I've been using it as my main trainer desk for a long time now and love it. Cheaper is better apparently. Note: Branding varies by country, exact same desk.
This is by far the best value in trainer desks, at only $59, but with most of the features of the higher end features. It's got multi-tier tablet slots, water bottle holders, non-stick surface, adjustable height and more. I'm loving it!
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
The ability to change directions in zwift with the shifters would be awesome. Please Zwift get on this! I would love to have a button I could put on my bike and turn right or left in Zwift. I know you can do this with the companion app but messing with my phone during the ride is not enjoyable.
It looks like my next indoor trainer for me, and maybe another one for my wife.
I do have a question though. Did TacX improve their quality assurance? I have two Neo units, and they both came faulty, out of the factory, generating weird noises (whistling, rattling) from day one. I had both disassembled myself, readjusted and the problems went away, but it suggests TacX does not care to test their units before they leave the factory. Did that change or do the owners of the heavy Neo Bike will have to face the dillema of either shipping them back for repairs or repairing themselves to get them to work as quietly as advertised?
I think they learned a lot of lessons from the early Neo and Flux teething pains. Things seem to be better these days, and it sounds like they’ve put a lot of new focus on QA.
Ray, further to LRs comment “for me, and maybe another one for my wife”, with all the adjustability, is the positional marking of the seat & bar positions good enough that if two (or more) people were sharing a unit, swapping settings would be easy or would it require 15+minutes and a measuring tape?
On the unit I tested, they hadn’t put the handle on it yet for making adjustment a two-second thing (it had pretty much rolled straight out of the factory next door into the room like minutes before we got there). But the handle will definitely be there, it may already be on the ones at the showfloor here at Eurobike, I’ll look.
The measurement numbering wasn’t on this unit, but I think they said that was coming and just didn’t make the cut for the unit we tried. At least, I don’t think I’m blending two different conversations there. I’ll ask when I swing by just in case.
I confirmed the final unit will have measurement markings on it. Also, as noted above all adjustment points will have the knobs as well (no need for hex wrenches).
Hopefully they did. I had 3 Neo units that all made crazy noises too. The owner of my LBS thought I was being too picky, so we opened a brand new one up right off the palette and it made that awful knocking noise, you should have seen the look…
Half of Tacx’s QA issue is their crappy attitude. I contacted them directly and they essentially told me “live with it’
I would never buy a $2500 from them unless I had an ironclad guarantee of safisfaction and they could cover any shipping costs.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who got good units, but I know that their failure rates were crazy high. If anyone wants to buy a used one, I have it sitting in my garage… only makes whistling noises…
A feature of the Wattbike Atom which seems clever was that they provided a “wizard” which would walk you through measuring your road bike and then give you the settings on the Atom for seat post height, bar height, stem extension etc. I’d imagine it’s tricky setting up one of these stationary bikes to be an exact fit to a road bike otherwise because your normal points of reference are different (.e.g it’s perhaps a different height off the ground etc.). Are you aware of whether Tacx plan to produce a similar “wizard”?
You just need a diy laser that projects a vertical and horizontal cross. I have all of my bikes set up with mm of each other using that (vertical line through centre of bb), horizontal is then a datum (I have mine going through the bottom of the saddle rails). Can do saddle set back and step length from the vertical, and stem height and saddle from horizontal
It does get tedious taking the bikes (two of us here, with 2 Neos in the house) on and off and cleaning all the cassettes. Couple of these would be grail pain cave setup.
Two big points though.
Sprinting – the Neo currently has lateral movement. I love that. Had a Flux for a month and ended up getting a second Neo as it just doesn’t feel as good out of the saddle or sprinting on. That will get lost with this I’m sure, though there is a major advantage in that you’re no longer afraid to trash your carbon frame. I’m always quite conservative when sprinting and it really is just a fear of going all out and something going snap around the seat stays. Will be interesting to see reviewers put down some proper sprints and see their opinion on it.
And… the adjustability. Missus’ cranks are 165mm, so I know this can’t replicate that unfortunately. More importantly though, both our bikes are aggressive aero bikes so would really need to see this being able to get us into those same positions for winter when we’re on the trainer 90% + of the time. If not, then it’s no dice. Mimicking position is pretty important for us so looking forward to seeing just how thorough they’ve been when designing this.
Damn you @Jay… I was happily reading through this thinking “nice, but as I’ve already got a Neo I couldn’t justify this” and now you’ve given me two good reasons – the hassle of bike on/bike off (particularly as I’m thru-axle) and worrying about the load on my carbon stays, especially out of the seat.
Whilst I’ll totally admit that the first is laziness, in those periods when the weather seems to flip on a daily (or even hourly) basis, it’s still the difference between ‘I can’t be bothered to stick my bike on the trainer just for today when it’s going to be off again tomorrow’ or sweating away for another hour in the garage when there’s actually a short nice break in the weather outside.
Jay –
The slight later movement (side-to-side) of the Neo is a real Patellar tendon saver for me. Seems like you think it will be missing on the Smart Bike— I hope not. That feature seemed to be a differentiator for Neo vs the rigid locked in Wahoo products.
Thanks Ray, nice overview you’ve put here. Please info, can this tablet holder be removed (for Zwifters who use big tv’s in front of them, tablet would only come in the way?)
Wife was looking at Peloton, perhaps this would be the better buy. Looks enticing, especially since we could then chose various platforms to ride on/with :)
Does an app exist for group spin classes for smart trainers? Peloton is a dumb trainer (solid built spin bike…no smart other than web connection). I suppose you could get a group together and agree on a workout…cycle team, etc..
Any chance Tacx could consider bringing virtual shifting to the normal neo maybe via the tacx app and/or some bluetooth buttons? it would be nice to “virtual shift” in Zwift etc. with the neo without having to worry about the physical shifters / derailleurs etc. on the “trainer bike”
Ray – do you have a link where Tacx is taking pre-orders? I couldn’t find anything on their website. (As you can tell i’m excited about this and was hoping you would be posting on this! Thanks!)
I just emailed Tacx to ask about pre-orders and within 2 minutes got a reply saying they don’t yet have a release date and were not taking pre-orders at this time. The speed at which they responded makes me think I’m not the first to ask!
Finally! A suitable replacement for a 10 year old Cycleops PT300 Indoor Bike (powertap ant+ hub), which was a dumb trainer, but still felt great to ride (and I actually preferred it after trying a Kickr Snap for a month or so).
Have held off buying a wheel off smart trainer since seeing this unit last year. Hopefully I can convince my wife that it’s time to upgrade.
I’ve been wondering about turning my current bike + Tacx NEO into something similar. For me the biggest gain with the Smart Bike is that it’s readily adjustable for different users, so people of different builds can share the same device. That can be replicated for the seat post by at worst using different seat posts per user and using a QR seat clamp, but I’m not sure how to replicate the handlebar adjustability. Do you have any ideas how that can be achieved?
I think once you put the quick release hands on there and the centimeter markings it should be quick and easy.
I don’t know if you could swap out the entire seatpost as an accessory. I can ask though, that’d be an interesting one – especially if partners have different saddle preferences.
Yes please definitely ask about swapping out the seatpost.
Not sure if you understood my original question though: I’m not sure I want to purchase the Smart Bike since I already have a NEO. It’d be great if I could replicate the adjustability of the Smart Bike by swapping out a few parts of the current road bike that’s attached to the NEO. Do you know of a way to replicate the ease of adjusting the saddle position and handlebar position on a normal bike?
I got a email a couple of weeks ago from Swedish distribitor of The Wattbike. They now ship Atoms to costumers in Sweden. It’s the first country besides Uk that can get them from a local distribitor.
In the email it also was some words of the Atom is going to have a new version that is more focused on gyms etc.
Did TacX mention adjustability (seat and handlebar position) limits for short (or very tall) riders? I know many 155 – 160 cm short riders out there. Crank lenght 170 mm minimum will not promise too much. My opinion is 165 mm crank lenght should be possible.
I quess they have decided design specs for max/min rider size anyway.
My wife is 5′ tall too, and it would be fantastic if we could ditch both of our current trainers and simply share this one smart bike. My biggest concern would be the seat height. Has Tax stated anything about the minimum inseam or minimum rider height?
Do you think you can ask Tacx whether they can come up with some sort of trade-in program for those of use who already own the Neo? I’d love to buy this, but I have to worry about whether I can successfully sell the Neo…
I came here to make a comment re: crank length choice, but it looks like it’s already the most common comment. I will echo what others have said and add a little.
I think 170mm at the short end is too long, especially with the move to shorter cranks, particularly in triathlon and TT. And then of course there are shorter riders, who even on their road bikes ride something shorter than 170mm.
I am 6’0″ and ride 175mm road and 165mm on the TT bike. I would like to see the ability to not only go to 165mm, but even shorter, say 150mm. This would allow the Tacx Smart Bike to function as a bike fit tool. Want to see what 150mm cranks feel like? No problem! Just change crank length, adjust seat position and go. Then observe changes in feel and measure power.
This level of adjustability would be easy to implement (fit bikes do this already) but would compromise aesthetics. And aesthetics matter for a product like this. Well, not to me, I would take the functionality, but for a large segment of consumers, they would prefer the sleeker look of the minimally adjustable crank.
Are the crank arms easily removeable/replaceable or are they more or less integrated into the bike? If the former, I would be first in line to buy if Tacx or a third party offered a more adjustable crank option.
Finally a properly silent ergo/trainer. Some of us are living in apartments in Germany etc you know; almost impossible to use a trainer without constant complaints. And that is the reason for popularity of Kettler units despite their medieval software and limited features.
I hope this one has an accurate powermeter (not stupid calculations, a pm with strain gauges), ergo mode with pre-created workouts (cannot articulate how important this is), local ride recording (I would like the unit record the trainings in a local fit, tcx etc file) and a good service center. No zwift, apps etc required but welcome. I do not want to scramble for a phone, tablet etc every time I do a session. Controlling from a pc is also acceptible and a good alternative.
Ray, what did you mean by this, “In addition to shifting there’s braking, you can pull the brake levers to brake the bike. This has two purposes down the road. The first is to stop the bike mid-ride, but the second could be to replicate/simulate directional turning. So the idea that you could potentially brake one side or the other to turn the bike.”
While brake levers are L/R, brakes themselves are F/R, squeezing one brake lever doesn’t turn you on a real bike; does it do such on this one?
What it really needs is some programmable buttons somewhere that can activate different zwift (or alternative) view modes, or other zwift commands like a gaming keyboard/mouse have.
I especially want a button to “summon wife for water refill or plug in the fan”
In you in-depth review (and an update to the storm review) it would be nice to have a part focused on the noise of the bike. As it was referred, in many countries, living in a flat, having a bike creating a lot of noise is a big no-no. In your reviews it would be a nice improvement to have the amount of dB created at, let’s say, 100 rpm (for comparison across bikes).
I think they’ve found a good niche to fill here. Spin bikes lack road bike feel. What I would like to see is this with a front end that raises with incline like the Wahoo Kickr Climb.
To me, the biggest selling point to a smart trainer is that I can finally keep my bikes in the garage and out of the house. No more black stains on the walls and doors from bumping my tires against them!
@ Jared, if you watch the video closely you can see leveling feet on the front. Or at least some knobs that look suspiciously like them. Also hitting F5 for a chance to preorder on CT. Wife is convinced!
Fear not – I’ll drop a comment with the links here as soon as there’s a listing available on CT (so if subscribed to comments, you’ll get notified immediately).
That said, I’m a bit concerned with some of the pricing updates/details I’m hearing post-Eurobike…
This would be an insta buy for me as a time trialist as it means I can save 10-12 hours of wear and tear on my time trial bike when training indoors if they can provide satellite gear shifters that you could add to tribar extensions so I could change gears without getting out of position.
I will definitely be following this product with interest and with a high interest in purchasing.
Just as a quick update – Tacx has confirmed final USD pricing for the bike…and it’s gone up a bit.
It’ll come in at $3,199. EU pricing remains the same at 2,599EUR.
Personally, I think this is too high. Given most US buyers will still have to pay local sales tax (another 5-9% likely), that puts the total price upwards in the $3,500 price bucket.
That’s about 50-70% higher than the Wattbike Atom, if of course Wattbike ever got around to shipping their units in the US.
Woof. That’s steep. That’s about US$1,000 more than I paid for my Neo, a used carbon 105 bike off ebay, cassette, install tools and sales tax. People will pay for convenience though and this type of product is aimed at the “Peleton” crowd. I have two non-cyclist friends that would love to start zwifting but the complexity barrier of buying all the right parts (trainer, bike, etc) and putting it together (for non-cyclists) is too steep. $1,000 is a big margin though, especially since a Peleton Bike is only $2,200 with california sales tax (despite its clear inferiority in terms of control-ability). US$2,500+tax seems a lot more competitive. Hope Tacx doesn’t shoot themselves in the foot and lessen the success of this important product avenue with such pricing.
As I wrote some days ago, Wattbike Atom now ships go Sweden. The price is 2111 Euro.
So a Tacx neo smartbike is not that far away on europeian pricing. What I have read about the two I would put my money on the tacx.
I checked with Tacx and nope, no trade in. I think it’s a silly long term move, as I don’t see how most people’s flywheel and circuity will accumulate enough wear as to make them unrecyclable.
Ack! I was all-in for $2500. $3200 has me in the “wait for the 2nd gen/a price drop” category and that’s without sales tax (Oregon). I suppose it’s another season on the G1 Kickr.
Mike, Ray already dropped the preorder info on this thread. With 10% off and free shipping, order comes out to $2880 fully delivered. May be worth a relook if you were considering at $2500!
Ray…from your brief test ride does the Neo Bike feel the same as a regular bike on a Tacx Neo in terms of inertia?
As opposed to a spin bike which doesn’t feel like riding on a road at all.
Ray, how does it compare to the Wattbike Atom? Does it have the “spiral of death” where resistance gets ultra hard if you stop pedaling? and overall which you you buy? Thanks!
I didn’t run into the spiral of death, but I also wouldn’t say I had a ton of time to get myself into that situation either.
At this point, the Tacx bike is coming in substantially higher than the Atom, and the Wattbike folks sound like they’re getting fairly close to some major firmware updates too. So might be worth a revisit there.
Wow… this is pretty far outside of my affordable price range, unfortunately, but it looks (and sounds!) amazing… here’s to hoping my gym will get them at some point. Great video, Ray, finally subscribed to the channel :)
Hi Ray,
Tacx have announced the Tacx Flux 2 as well as this Tacx Neo Bike Smart but they have nothing announced about a new Tacx Neo trainer on the 2018 Eurobike – Do you still expect a new version of the T2800 Tacx Neo Smart direct drive trainer in the near future or is it ‘safe’ to buy the current T2800 model? As they use the current Tacx Neo model in this Tacx Neo Bike Smart I assume that we can be pretty confident in the support (software updates…) of the T2800 model.
Great write up as always many thanks. I’m just wondering if you know the best way I can get my hands on a unit as soon as possible after reslsease. I live in the UK.
I’ve just sold my wattbike atom after being left disappointed by its failings. This looks like it ticks all the boxes the atom failed to.
For me it just depends whether I can get one in time for the winter.
A few people have asked about the crank lengths namely sizes outside of 170-175mm which come as standard.
I use 165mm cranks to alleviate pain from a hip impingement so I would need that option if I was to purchase the Neo bike.
I imagine many others will have reasons for needing cranks either bigger or smaller than 170 – 175.
Could you maybe ask Tacx if the cranks can be replaced or if they are considering it as an after market add-on?
OK- my first thought is “wow DC Rainmaker responded to me.” Second- I read somewhere that The Girl wants a Peloton Bike and I think I would like one also- but I don’t like the proprietary stuff– so I have been waiting for a good substitution. Is this that bike? I am sure a pink saddle and bar tape could be installed…..
i wonder if You could please repair the tags You have created for the articles about the Tacx neo smart bike, actually there are 2 articles which have different ideas for tags, so in case I want to find them – i google them.
The tags actually look like this:
tag/tacx-neo-smart-bike
tag/tacx-smart-bike
tag/tacx-neo-bike-smart
Thanks, I’ve now made both articles have the same Tacx-focused tags.
The reason there’s actually two sets of tags:
Tacx Neo Smart Bike
and
Tacx Neo Bike Smart
Is my way of correcting for a weirdly worded name. The official name is ‘Tacx Neo Bike Smart’, whereas in English, nobody would say that – we’d say ‘Tacx Neo Smart Bike’, because the word ‘Smart’ will always go in front of whatever we’re describing as smart (smart home, smartphone, smart etc…).
The number of times I’ve had to correct myself writing or verbally…
Hi Ray
When I Google ‘TACX Neo Smart Bike’ the only recent posts I see are this page and yours and Shane’s YouTube videos.
Nothing on the TACX website.
Any idea what’s going on?
You mention the first units will be sold out so there will be a wait at launch. Any idea how to actually buy/pre-order? I’ve googled this and can’t find it anywhere except your reviews
Yeah, in short Tacx has been super-slow at getting ‘official listing information’ to retailers. Basically, the exact wording and pricing so that retailers can properly list it. Said wording has to be standardized, else things like features can get muddled when one retailer might got and say something that’s incorrect.
Normally, manufs have this ready on Day 0…but apparently some things were in flux here (no pun intended).
The split second that I hear it’s listed, I’ll definitely post here!
Here’s the email I got from TACX this week when I inquired about pre order and release date:
Thank you for your message and great to hear that you’re interested.
It is not possible to pre order the NEO Bike Smart.
We hope to release the trainer end October or beginning Q4.
Kind Regards
Many of you have been asking for purchase links via CT for the Tacx Neo Smart Bike…and finally, those are here (for the US anyway, UK/EU links should follow very shortly).
The final Tacx retail price (as decided by Tacx is $3,199USD). There is no fee for shipping to you fwiw, which is somewhat notable in the indoor bike realm (most times it’s $250USD, such as Peloton).
The official ship date for this is currently listed as ‘late November’, which is a bit of a blend of Tacx’s timelines, plus Clever Training being the usual very conservative with manufacturers dates and padding things a bit more.
Note that you as DCR Readers can still use the DCR Reader 10% off coupon code, DCR10BTF to get 10% off. As noted, you’d already get free shipping on this item…this just makes it faster free shipping. Plus, you support the site and all the usual goodness.
Paypal isn’t currently a payment option for some reason. I’ve sent an inquiry. Large ticket item like this, it’d be nice to get interest free payments to spread it out. Very annoying that it’s not an option. If you have any inside pull would you mind asking if it’s intentional? Trying to get my preorder in as early as possible in hopes I’ll have it as soon as possible.
Kris: I just shot a note over asking. They do have Affirm payment plans available, but it doesn’t appear to be interest-free on this item. Sometimes it is/was, but I’m not sure how it’s decided.
TL: Yup, Europe links coming shortly (I hope). They’re still waiting on Tacx on the EU/UK side.
Ray when you review the Smart Bike, please do devote a section to maintainability, e.g. how many parts do we have to take out and grease? Are there any actual gears/chain to replace? One of the biggest reasons I want this is because I don’t want to go through the hassle of maintaining my turbo-attached bike, and if it’s as simple as the current Tacx Neo setup of greasing the flywheel every half a year or so that’d be great.
Please PLEASE test tri-bar extensions for your full review.
I am a TT’er and would be purchasing this so that I can stop using my TT bike indoor and reducing wear and tear on it.
I am concerned how TT bars would fit on this and whether TT bars would run into problems hitting or obstructing the display panel.
If the bars themselves wont obstruct the display, would your hands, when training in the TT position simply obstruct the display and how will Tacx accomdate TT’ers/Triathletes who train in the TT position??
The bike looks great, and is the biggest contender for an upgrade of my Pain cave. I had a Neo previously (with no problems at all) and wonder how the material and production quality feels with the bike. There is nothing that would be more off putting than spending all the cash on this bike for it’s awesome technical (and mechanical) features just to experience it to be creaking in it’s plastic panels and that it feels put together with parts that just ALMOST perfectly fit if you understand what I mean. Can you say a little about your experience around build- and material quality ?
I think the build and material quality were great. Same as the Tacx Neo. Obviously, it’s not designed to be a gym bike with 10-15hrs of usage per day, it’s designed as a home bike. So it doesn’t need metal paneling, which they don’t have to save on shipping/etc…
Question: The Tacx Neo allows a bit or rear wheel sway (side to side) this is important to me vs the dead rigid feel of some bikes locked into trainers. My knees actually feel less stress with a little give vs a rigid mount. I assume that is missing in this Neo Bike Smart?
Yeah, but they won’t ship it to the US, and honestly, if you had any problems you’d be hosed on that since the US distributor wouldn’t help you get it resolved.
Meant it would be nice if they had taken your advice and adjusted the price point between the date CT listed and the date Sigma listed it. I wouldn’t try to purchase from a UK based vendor for the reasons you mentioned. Unfortunately the push in delivery date means that the purchase on the card will go through at same time as other holiday stuff.
Bummer….looks like the delivery is pushed out to December on clevertraining.
“Pre-Order : Expected Early December”
I was hoping to get it before Winter hits :(
EU deliveries are expected late November, but often times what Tacx (and Elite) does is they actually take the first week’s worth of production and sticks it on a boat, and then starts Euro production. This way the US shipment gets on its way a bit sooner.
Still, I agree, I don’t foresee a scenario whereby US folks get Tacx bikes before Christmas, unless Tacx decides to air-ship them. Which, perhaps they might (I’ve voiced my opinion clearly that they should, at least for pre-orders prior to Christmas). It’d cost them, yes, but it’s actually not as bad as shipping a Wattbike, due to the unique design of the Tacx Bike. In theory the box will actually be thinner than the Neo (but slightly longer. Kinda like a Ikea bookshelf.
I’m not sure what content would go over that HDMI port?
There’s no native app on the unit itself. Rather, you use whatever apps you have. It can hold any tablet you want. The iPad was merely what we had that day. It has standard USB ports, so you can use anything that supports that for power.
Sure would be great if they would air ship for pre-orders. I’m dying to get this in the cave. Free shipping and the 10% off helped get this within range, plus I’m selling the bike I have on my current trainer, as well as selling the trainer, so won’t be too big a hit on the wallet. In return I’m expecting a much more versatile tool that everyone in my family can use with no more hauling bikes on and off the trainer. Can’t wait for this to arrive.
Exactly. For the price (at least in USD), I can have a trainer unit that’s just as good and a decent spare bike (that’s my current setup). This price might work for folks who buy things like Wahoo fans, but the rest of us? Not so much.
For me this will be a godsend. I’m so sick of changing bikes and cassettes every time someone else in the house wants to zwift. This isn’t all that much more than some other high end gym bikes but you get so much more. I can’t wait.
I preordered it through Clever, I hope we hear some dates soon. I was hoping Nov but Dec is ok too. For now I have a kickr but I’d like my bike back so I don’t have to switch it in and out if I want to ride downtown…
I did a preorder when first available. Had to cancel that credit card due to fraud and have a new one now. What should I do to make sure the preorder goes through correctly?
Hi ray
Are the gears and drive chain real or virtual, if it’s virtual do you get the option of chainring sizes I.e. 53/44. 52/36 and compact 50/34
I did note in a vidio the cassette can be 12 speed or 14 speed os are the cassette sizes optional
Cheers ivor
Yes. I have had and sold the wattbike. Even if you don’t by the tacx bike I’d highly recommend you avoid the atom. It just comes up short in some key areas.
Hey all, just stopping back with some news. I noticed today tacx finally put up a product page on their site with some interesting details throughout: link to tacx.com
I would pre order the Smart bike today if I could confirm that the small amount of left/right sway that the Neo is known for is still present in this bike. My patellar tendon really appreciates a little give in the pedaling motion vs the locked down feeling of the Wahoo.
1. DC Rainmaker did not mention it in his initial video
2. no mention of it in the Tacx product page.
If anybody knows if this motion is still present – please let me know ! Thanks !
I honestly don’t remember well enough (it was almost 4 months ago now), whether there was any noticble motion or not.
Plus, there have been a variety of internal changes since then anyways. I can ask though, and hopefully I’ll be able to confirm soon enough (sometime November) on a test unit.
My general suggestion would be to pre-order now (since you can always cancel later if it doesn’t meet your needs – my review will release at/before shipping, or at worst I’ll have a unit by that point to answer question on). I suspect availability will only get tougher as they get closer. Which isn’t so much a push to order, but just setting realistic expectations.
Have you seen a Skillbike in person? It looks very promising as well, but not sure what it costs. Technogym Skillbike looks like it will compete in the same arena with all the connectivity. I’m not sure if they are currently shipping or not.
I’ve seen in person the Skillbike and I got a chance to try it. My personal impression was very very good! Execellent build quality and the thing that very impressed me is the shifting gears, ’cause seemed to me to ride a real bike on the road!
Hope the nudge between your legs turned out to be benign.
With such a substantial investment in mind, I was wondering what are your thoughts on the future of the transmission protocols that are currently the industries’ standard, and hence drive the Neo Bike Smart’s communication with online platforms? I know it’s hard to predict, but would you think they are still relevant in 10 years?
(If for the purposes of discussion we use ANT+ FE-C, since that standard is more advanced than FTMS at present…)
Right now the standard is lagging a bit to keep up with the convergence of what is basically the control aspects of FE-C with the gear-shifting monitoring aspects of the Gear Shifting profile. There needs to be some extra pages in FE-C to cover that.
At present companies are just doing it privately via private pages on FE-C and FTMS, but that’s clunky. And to be fair, everyone knows it. It’s a matter of figuring out how to find that middle-ground.
I think 10-years out out for almost any protocol is tough, but if we look back 10 years we’d see ANT+ power is still here (and more powerful than ever before), and it was here 10 years ago. HR profile is older than that, as is speed/cadence.
Definitely no issues there. After all, Zwift is still supporting the CompuTrainer, a product released well over a decade ago (depending on which version), and that was stopped being sold 1-2 years ago.
The numbers of CompuTrainers out there is trivial in comparison to even just one product line of FE-C or FTMS trainers. To put it in perspective, Wahoo will ship more KICKR CORE units in two months than CompuTrainer ever made in their entire history.
Can one do standing-start efforts on this trainer?
Background: I currently have a Tacx Neo and if I try standing starts (I’m a track cyclist), i.e. from 0 cadence, max power to ~130 cadence in a few seconds, the trainer gives out, almost like a breaker popping to protect itself. It goes to zero resistance and I have to stop pedaling to reset. I’m sure this effort is no where near the 2k watts or so it’s supposedly capable of, though I suspect this is for a higher cadence than the beginning of a standing start. Perhaps it comes down to the torque rating. I can do these efforts if I ramp it up slowly, say over 10-15 seconds, but that kind of defeats the purpose. The Internets, FWIW, also suggest mixed results on these kinds of efforts for Neo and Kickr.
Not surprised – bike industry just cant seem to get timing figured out. I ordered a high end Mountain bike and delivery has been postponed to December… not the best time to deliver a warm weather product.
And for home trainers… I can see where this is heading, November became December and now its January. Feb or March is next….
I truly think this is going to be an awesome product … but looks like Fall 2019 is making more sense now.
Yeah. Do note that US vs EU/UK shipping will vary by roughly 3-4 weeks. Last I heard (last night), they were on track to have a final prod unit to me the last week of November (or, last few days of November more specifically).
While it takes only about 20ish minutes to get to my place from Tacx, it takes about 3-4 weeks on the open ocean to get from Tacx to ‘Merica. So if the first production units roll off the line Nov 30th, then the soonest US shipments would arrive would basically be Jan 1st.
Typically what Tacx does is take all shipments from the first week and send them via container to the US. Then the secondish week becomes EU/UK shipments. This gets the US ones on the way.
I’m really on the fence here. This product would be ideal for my situation. But any delays beyond January delivery and it makes sense to wait until Fall – next year. Sales would have been brisk if this product would have been available in September/October. I am a little worried about taking the first ones off the assembly line. I have retailers that sell Tacx nearby – but they dont know about this bike yet. So I would be ordering from Clever Training – I hope post sale support can be figured out should these early units have issues.
Yep, got the same email. Bummed, but not surprised. Will just have to put up with switching bikes for another month. If the delay means a better qc’d product, that’s ok with me.
Hey Ray, you might have more connections with TACX than I do. I hear from distributor that there have been some “problems” in quality, and production is halted at the moment!
They were aiming to have their first product units completed last Friday, but that has slipped slightly. As of last night they were still working on them.
I suspect we’re realistically a couple weeks away before we see any production units go to consumers, as I suspect we’ll see the first production units get some more detailed testing once off the line.
We are tacx retailers and as far as we know, until mid-late december units wont arrive to retailers, so I doubt that you will get it before that in any retailers
Pre-ordered fr Sigma in the UK was meant to ship before Xmas, emailed them to comfirm all was still good, told they were in regular contact with Tacx and no changes noted. Few hours later email from Sigma stating delay and no new date could be confirmed. Becomimg a typical issue with companies, Kicker climb as an example.
Does the unit have motorized adjustable seat/handlebar positions? What I’m getting at is the ability to save positions, so if I swap from TT to Road, I choose so in a menu, it puts everything back, and viola, instant bike transformation and no tools required (other than some fine tuning if the saddle angle is different, mine is for example). That’d almost get me to jump on this bandwagon. Also, does the unit have full ability to get your TT position right in terms of height/length? Can’t tell if the aero bars would get in the way of the tablet holder and all of that.
Your TT position will depend on whether your bars would fit to match on this unit. There’s some concern from some people about the console being too wide for some bar setups.
Ray – how do you feel about the “future profess” of the Neo smart bike? There’s so much innovation in the smart trainer space at the moment that the idea of getting locked in to a certain level of technology doesn’t make sense to me. Firmware/software updates will only go so far. Also, if this goes wrong – imagine how difficult it’s going to be getting it back to Tacx.
It is based on the neo 2 so should get everything it can get.
Seems like the main tech this doesn’t have is climb like functionality. Even Nordictrack has that now link to nordictrack.com (though guessing not zwift compatible and lots of other shortcomings as its more a spin bike to compete with peleton)
I see on your recent DCR Pain Cave tour you are in receipt of the Neo Bike. Is this a pre-production or 1st product run unit? I have one on pre-order in the UK and now doubt its going to be a Christmas let alone an early Christmas present to myself and guess I’m looking at sometime in Jan 2019 unless you have more insight from Tacx?
Any indication from Tacx when the production units will ship? I heard a comment from Shane Miller saying they were almost ready whilst he was visiting you.
When he was here, that was the plan, they were going to try and get units to us while he was here. But things slipped, and then slipped again, and at this point it’s the holidays – so unsure of when things will hit.
I received these dimensions from Tacx in case anyone else is interested in figuring out fit for multiple family members. Looks like a pretty good size range.
Unfortunately I’m hearing late January delivery at the earliest now. I’m starting to wonder whether to cancel my pre-order and just wait til Fall if it slips any further.
My general rule in life when it comes to pre-orders and whether to cancel is to always wait till the very last second to cancel. In most cases it doesn’t cost ya anything to hold your spot in line, and ya never know whether you (or perhaps someone else you know) might want it.
I apply this to all sorts of things – cameras, drones, watches, etc…
Agree completely. I still want it but I’ll use it less during the warm months, so if delivery drags on til Spring I may just wait until Fall. Then again, the vip discount on the preorder will be hard to give up. Just wish they’d hurry up and get these things out the door. A little concerning that it keeps gettting delayed.
BTW, the attachment with dimensions doesn’t seem to be showing. Will try again here. They should put the diagram on their website.
I just had to cancel my pre-order, I am out of town for 3 months starting Feb 1st with nobody to accept the heavy package… oh well, ill read reviews and grab it when i get home.
Can I ask where you guys are based and where you are hearing that it could be a few more weeks wait? I have one in order in the uk and the shop is telling me early jan. I’m hanging on to blind optimism at the moment!
Right now most of Tacx is out on holiday till after the New Year. Thus, the Neo Bike lines won’t be spinning back up again till likely the 3rd or 4th, and that’s still in a goal to produce the first production unit.
They’ve been trying for about a month or so now to get ones off the line that meet their quality standards. Each week they make a go at it, and then end up tweaking things (which, to be fair, is good for consumers that they aren’t pushing out unacceptable units to consumers, even if frustrating to us).
So, the earliest a unit would realistically come off the line is the week of Jan 7th. Those first ones would then be allocated likely to Tacx folks/media/etc for more detailed testing/etc. Then, Tacx usually allocates the first full week of production to the US market, since it then takes 3-5 weeks to get them across the pond via ship. The second week tends to be Euro distribution (so now we’re mid-late January). I don’t know how the UK falls within that and whether it’s part of the EU distro or another pile the next week.
Anyway, I don’t think we’ll see any units hitting any consumers in Europe until mid-late January – and that’s assuming folks come back from vacation and things work perfectly the first time.
Yup, just got the note from Clever that we’re looking at early February now. Not surprised given Ray’s info on the production challenges. Still holding on with my pre-order and hoping this doesn’t slip again, but certainly won’t be surprised if it does. As long as they are making product improvements I guess it’s a good thing. Riding the Direto is not so bad, but I really am looking forward to getting my bikes out of the house when this comes.
Ok then you heard more then me. Only thing i heard was that they were still planning to run production week 2 of januari, but they planned to start production several times before
I have one of these on order from my LBS. So may get one in late Jan or Feb I guess. My aim is to be able to do precise interval sessions to get a bit stronger ready for the summer. No need for endurance as I’ll ride outside for this.
I know I can subscribe to one of the on-line services but I think I’d just like to use it without having to subscribe to anything.
So! How straigtforward is it to use for simple interval sessions. Can I record them, put them on Starva, do I need to use a GPS or would an iPhone or iPad be enough to log a ride? Do I need to plan an interval session beforehand somehow or can I just ride and alter the resitance on the fly as I ride?
Not having used a smart-trainer before I don’t really know how to do this. I guess it’s all possible, but a simple ‘how to guide’ would be nice :-) Is there one anywhere?
UK Retailers are moving their availability dates back to end Feb/early March. It’s becoming a bit of a disaster! It just makes me more wary to avoid a pre-prder as there is bound to be an issue somewhere. Tacx needs to come out with some kind of statement about their delays.
I just heard from Clever training that delivery to US is still on for early Feb. This is for an early pre-order, so the UK retailers you mention might be for new orders only.
I suspect at this point that Tacx hasn’t updated the US distributors, which in turn haven’t updated CT (or even Tacx updating CT).
Short of Tacx dropping off a unit tomorrow to me (a mere 15-20 mins away), and also having had an entire shipping container already on the docks to the US, early Feb won’t happen. I’ll check with them again tomorrow (I shot them a note last week too), and see where things stand.
On the bright side, at least they aren’t shipping broken units.
Sigh. You’re probably right. I’m just hoping to get the thing before Spring when my indoor time will go down significantly. If only they could use the world shifting time warp portal from CVRCade to get it here. Agree that it’s better than shifting bad units, but jeez, they were talking deliveries last Fall. Somebody got way out in front of production on this one. Must have required some major redesign or substantial issues with manufacturing or third party supply at any kind of scale.
Hmm, I think there might be some confusion on the delay. I talked with Tacx on Friday, specifically the product lead and the CEO, and the reason for the delay is currently:
“Working on test equipment to automate the calibration process.”
As you may know, Tacx has a highly automated factory (all in the Netherlands). They do all their own robotics/automation work in-house as well. That’s a huge advantage over their competitors once things are up to speed, but it also means the work falls on them to get that up and running (versus an outsource factory).
I haven’t heard anything about certifications from them. They didn’t have a specific date for when they’d be ready to ship unfortunately.
Without asking, I would suspect that it’s mostly due to the physical aspects of it. The NEO2 calibration is/was done on a bench by humans (since they fit more easily there). I suspect the logistics of automation machines for a bike are a bit different.
I believe GPLama’s recent Neo2 factory visit video shows the NEO2 calibration process: link to youtube.com
Reading between the lines, it seems like Tacx means that the first units will be shipping to distributors in January, which means that any non-EU deliveries will probably be late Feb or early March.
As a US customer with a pre-order, I expect I’ll see mine early March at this point. Too bad. I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of my trainer back in November (although I’ve been forced to do some work on the rollers which has had a nice benefit).
Still haven’t heard anything from Clever since they said it was on track for early Feb, but it seems pretty clear that’s not going to happen. One of these days we’ll get some good news…..
The mail I got this week from my UK store said delivery moved to early Feb. I would be surprised if production was stopped till end of 2019 – that would kill any lead they had in the market. By then there could be other competitors and the price points would have changed.
Wow. Sure hope that email about stopped production is wrong, but nothing would surprise me at this point. This thing must be harder to make than the space shuttle.
I got the same mail, production stoped until dec, but havent cancelled my order yet. I wish Tacx would give us some news on what’s going on. If it’s true that the’ve stopped production why not say so instead of “next week, end of this month”
Well, that’s depressing. I was really excited about getting this. Can’t understand why nobody is offering a decent Zwift compatible all in one yet when peloton clearly shows there is a market. Atom doesn’t cut it and isn’t available in the US. Hard to believe Tacx can make that crazy advanced treadmill and not this bike. Cars have been developed faster than this. Super bummed.
Is the Atom that bad? Thinking of buying one now and the users (on Atom Facebook groups) seem quite happy with it now after updates. I know it was bad at the beginning but have they not sorted out most of the problems?
I was a part of the atom Facebook groups when I had an atom and I was surprised how positive about it most of the were as I found it very flawed. I wouldn’t recommend buying one if you want to use Zwift.
I’ve never used one myself and have a Tacx on order so I’m biased to assume the Tacx will be better, but a friend of mine has one, used it for Zwift and and says it’s great.
Sounds like someone got some wires crossed in a bad way.
I just checked with the Smart Bike program lead this evening (forwarded him the comments), and there’s no such December delay. Units are all in production now and pending final certification, which they expect in a few weeks. At which point they’ll ship.
I hope it won’t be a few weeks. A guy from Tacx told me last week that I would get the Neobike by the end of january, a few weeks would mean end february :-(
OMG! I’m a little disappointed, a long long long long long wait, delay over delay! It’s great that they’re trying to do the best and to improve the bike, but at this rate the bike will be available on october 2019! LOL! I’m considering to buy another smart bike, and, you know, not a very deep bench, just the Skillbike by Technogym actually…
Has anyone seen any reviews of the Skillbike, by the way? It looks great, but at twice the cost of the Neo Bike Smart (with fewer features?)… would need a pretty stellar review to even consider it.
I might have the chance to try one Skillbike, ’cause a gym near my home have 2 Skillbike, but I’m not sure I could be able to make something similar to a review…
“Everything TechnoGym makes looks everything else look cheap.” ahahaha That’s right! BTW strong build,made to last, especially in a gym with lots and lots users!
From what I’ve gathered on the Zwift forums, there are concerns about connection stability issues with the SKILLBIKE. If you make it to the gym, let us know what you experience.
I was waiting for the Atom in France, still not here… then the tacx, still not here… I tried the Skillbike from Technogym but for all the reasons above not the right thing for me. I ended up going with the Kettler Racer S and I love it.
It is not perfect as Zwift does not control the resistance (but can connect to the bike and gets power / cadence etc). I dont understand why it cant connect the resistance as Rouvy does… Doing the workout sessions or virtual sessions on Rouvy is great, but I would have prefered Zwift. Lacking more workouts in Rouvy. Kinomaps also works and controls the resistance. The bike is beautiful and a fantastic build quality. I am hoping that Zwift / Kettler willl work on better integration. I am continuing to try different software options to see which ones are optimal. But so far sticking with Rouvy for training / workouts and strava for strolling / recovery
The shifting increases and decreases resistance. It is smoother than on a road bike but instantaneous. I use indoor bike for structured workouts mostly and it is fantastic for that. I either let Rouvy handle it for me, or in Zwift will use the shifters to get to where I need to be target wise (or you can use the rotating button for big drops).
The good think with Kettler is they have been doing bikes for ages and you can tell.
I am OK putting up with the limitations from above, as the quality, noise level (inexistant) and robustness are there. Made in Germany and you can tell.
Just noticed that ZyroFisher (the UK distributor for Tacx) has been demoing the Neo Smart Bike at COREbike2019 in Towcester, UK over the last couple of days, so at least it looks like there’s something that works out there (where the fans don’t fall off!). Seems to be a different one to the pre-production units that Tacx has showed off previously as this one has blue shifter buttons from what I could see. Of course this is probably still a hand-built unit rather than a mass-production model, but hopefully it’s a positive indication.
I really hope that’s just supply chain wonkiness (or it’s an estimate for pre-orders that are placed now). I’ve had my pre-order in since October. Once Tacx actually starts shipping, I guess I’ll email Clever and see where I am in line so I can know whether to buy a trainer to tide me over.
It’s been a really frustrating the back and forth around what is going on :(
Steve-did you clarify if December is for Pre-orders made now; ow when Pre-orders first opened up last year? I’m hoping Clever meant for new Pre-orders.
“The BIKE Smart is the item that was delayed until late August. Tacx sent out the update this morning, unfortunately, they experienced a lot of issues with production on the Bike Smart and had to push the arrival date to August.”
Whether that applies to all pre-orders or just new ones, I have no idea :(
As for the August date listed on the CT site for *new* orders, it’s frankly because CT can’t get a straight answer that matches between Tacx and the US distributor. So, until Tacx can confirm and start shipping, they’ve set the new order date as August.
For existing orders, honestly, nobody really knows at a concrete level at this point. I’d just approach it as ‘when it ships, it ships’. I suspect once Tacx ships their first unit (to anyone, anywhere), then the entire picture will become really clear really quick. Just my guess.
As others have said, I wouldn’t believe any date from anyone on anything in any place until units start leaving Tacx. I do however think it’ll probably be a great product, but timelines have never been Tacx’s strong suit. :)
Well, got this from CT today….and drumroll…….we still have no idea when this thing is coming. Appreciate the coupon and the mystery gift, but it sure doesn’t sound like any of us in the States are going to see one of these in February or even March. If delivery to continental customers is late Feb as we heard it might be, then a few weeks for troubleshooting, plus a few weeks for fixes, yeah, late Spring is starting to look like the optimistic take. Oh well, it will come when it comes. Won’t need it as much once it gets warm, but definitely don’t want to lose my spot after all this waiting. At least this isn’t a kickstarter where they have all my money already.
—-
Dear Valued Clever Training Customer,
“When will the NEO Bike be launched?”, this is the most frequently asked question we are getting at the moment. A justified question because Tacx announced last year that the first bikes would be ready in October 2018. Because of last minute improvements and innovation enhancements, Tacx has created a significantly better product, unfortunately resulting in a delayed launch. Tacx always strives to design innovative, best in class products and made the decision to postpone the introduction in order to make sure that the NEO Bike will be the best in the market, setting a new benchmark among indoor bike trainers. We, alongside Tacx, sincerely regret this unforeseen delay because we had hoped that the NEO Bike would have already been spinning in your pain cave! Please know that Tacx is working 24/7 to make this ultimate indoor trainer ready for you as quickly as possible.
So what does this all mean for you and your Neo Bike? Tacx is going to launch this product globally with the first bikes being sold locally in the European market, relatively close to their Netherlands headquarters. This will allow them to have a final test and quickly react to any issues that may arise as it is close to home. The second allocation is destined for the North American market, which will contain your bike. That being said, initial quantities are going to be very limited and the demand is already well into the stratosphere. We highly encourage you to keep your Neo Bike order in place, otherwise you run the risk of getting bumped to the back of the line. Trust us, you don’t want to be at the back of this line. In the meantime, take comfort in knowing you are a Future Neo Bike Owner; an innovator, a trend setter, an early adopter if you will. As things develop, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.
Additionally, as a token of our appreciation for your patience with us and Tacx, we will be sending a surprise package to you, shortly. And last, please take advantage of a one-time offer to take 20% off one eligible item on the wide range of items on our site*.
Please use coupon code: LATEBIKE20 to save 20% off one eligible item on our site and don’t forget to check your mail for a special gift from our team.
Sincerely,
The Clever Training Team
*This offer is not eligible on certain brand exclusions, sale items, Tacx Neo Bike Smart or previous purchases. Code expires at 11:59 EST on February 28, 2019.
Kind Regards,
Clever Training Customer Service Tea
Tacx are really missing a trick here. Time and time again the value of good communication (and the potential damage from lack of it) are shown but most companies never seem to get it.
The development and delays surrounding the bike are a perfect opportunity for Tacx to enagage with their customers via a blog with regular updates of what’s going right and what’s going wrong in the way that many of the better-managed kickstarter projects do. That way you not only show a connection with your customers, but an attachment between them and your product develops, as they feel they’ve been with you on that development journey through good times and bad.
Of course there’s always some info that Tacx might not want to be shouting about, but it’s too easy and lazy to just hide behind a “don’t say anything just to be on the safe side” mentality and not realise that rather than protecting your company from some totally imagined corporate damage, you’re actually doing real damage to yourself by isolating yourself from your frustrated customers.
Of course, communicating warts-and-all always opens you up to the “Tacx can’t even do XXXX right, I’m cancelling my order” posts, but how’s your current “say as little as possible” comms strategy working for you, Tacx?
I think tacx are really losing all credibility. The communication lacks at all fronts. People have paid up-front with some distributors for the Tacx Neokbike to are in the winter season.
Tacx only ‘ communicates’ as a last resort and not to inform buyers and potential buyers. I think tacx should real shame themself for such bad public relations!
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Garmin seems like an odd buyer for Tacx, but I guess there must be a new strategy driving this. Not sure I want a Garmin Neo bike given my experiences with Garmin products, but maybe a capital investment will help get this bike back on track for delivery. Just hope a new owner doesn’t mean a change in strategy away from a product line like this. Tacx should make an announcement about their commitment to delivering and supporting this product since there will be questions.
Had a message left with an update from my UK retailer yesterday, which I’ll take with a pinch of salt as everyone still seems to be getting different stories. They told me delivery is now expected end of February, and will be delivered direct by UK distributor (presumably ZyroFisher). They told me that the item is delivered in 2 x 30kg boxes, but then also said all I’d need to do was install the handlebars and seat post. That’s a seriously heavy set of bars and seat post! :-)
Good news. Can’t wait to hear how it goes once you get. Sounds like you guys will be the guinea pigs and if all works maybe we’ll see some deliveries to the States a month or so after. I’m thinking sometime in April might be the best we can hope for over here.
I got the same message, also from Tredz. Pinch of salt as you say, but the fact that the distributor knows how it will be packaged and need to be assembled gives me the hope that there is some substance behind it.
I’m not getting my hopes too much up as one of the previous “in stock” dates I had from Tredz was 8th January, and they actually rang me that morning to say that they were still expecting delivery later that day and would call me to arrange delivery as soon is was processed by their warehouse, so it looks like they’re almost as much in the dark as we are, even up to the last minute. Fingers crossed though.
As the last official word from Tacx was that they were hoping for end of February for EU, with that only just over a week away I’d have hoped that by now they’d have realised if they weren’t going to be hitting that date and would have had the decency to publish an update. Of course there can always be last minute issues, but at this stage if they are going to get any volume of shipping out by the end of this month, I’d think they must have at least some finished products sitting in boxes and ready to ship by now. If they aren’t at that stage then they really should be letting us know, but I won’t hold my breath.
Hi Ray
I’m in the market for a smart bike trainer and wanted to buy the Tacx neo smart bike but with all those delays … I’m starting to look at the atom.
Which one would you recommand ? Should I wait for the NEO ?
I would use it mainly for Zwift workouts and sometimes for a race
Thanks !
I don’t know. I’ve kinda taken the ‘I’ll check in once every month’ viewpoint for now on it. As of late, they were saying maybe late February, but I haven’t heard anything new there.
I haven’t heard from them yet, but have seen some things on it. I don’t believe they established any ship timeframes yet (and only added the shopping basket in the last few days).
It’s a cool concept, but if we look at why Tacx hasn’t sold Magnum in the US, it’s primarily risk-based right now. And that’s on a platform that is hightly secure against falls with super-fancy sensors to detect the exact instant when you fall and stop the belt. Whereas best I can tell (again, details are slim), the Oreka system is less hardened in that area.
Interesting product. Couldn’t tell from the video. Is it motor driven, or are you just pushing the belt along like a set of rollers, and then they add some resistance?
They claim it’s more secure then the Tacx Magnum, but then again if i was the supplier i would’t call my system dangerous ;)
Would like to see some thorough testing of this system though! If it works it’s a very nice system, personally i think better then a stationary bike setup.
Again – the information here is super limited – so I could be wrong. But I remember seeing somewhere they were seemingly using the cadence/speed sensor on the bike to determine if a bike went askew. From pile up of collection/transmission/realization standpoint, you’re talking a solid 1-3 seconds before that would manifest itself. Which is an eternity when a belt is grinding against your face at 30KPH.
Of course, maybe that’s a language issue there in how they explained that. Either way, that’s vastly different than the Magnum.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m no fan of the Magnum either. And I’d love to see something like this come to fruition, but I’m skeptical without seeing some sort of non-sponsored news outlet cover it hands-on.
I’m happy to test it. What’s the worst that can go wrong? ;)
That said – I haven’t heard from them. I’ll probably reach out when I get back to Amsterdam next week (since I’ve been out of Europe for the last 5 or so weeks), and see what the scoop is. I believe they’re down in Spain.
Now call me a cynical Edge 1030 owner, but now that Garmin is involved we can expect the bike to released very soon. However it will not work properly for the first six months until it has had numerous firmware updates.
I can live with delays, **** happens and I get that, frustrating as it is. What’s really inexcusable is Tacx’s total disinterest in communicating these delays. The most current official communication from them remains their Facebook post which still says they’re hoping to start shipping by the end of February. In the absence of any information from them, I refuse to believe that the latest delay is something they’ve only just found out about. Do they think if they don’t say anything about delays no one will notice? It just reeks of contempt for their customers.
My retailer’s been told by the UK distributor that they’re now expecting two deliveries in March, one mid and one at the end of the month which will be enough to fulfil UK pre-orders. Though I find it a bit odd that I placed one of the first orders with one of only two UK retailers that were taking pre-orders, yet mine isn’t expected till the second batch. Maybe the first batch is destined to by demo units in bike shops and review units.
TACX is a real shitty company when it comes to communicating. They have all sorts of media outlets to communicate they are just not using it… Looks like customers are not important. But then again they sold off to Garmin, so their pockets are filled so why should they……
I only lived in Germany briefly and was never dependent upon the local economy for everything (Thanks Amazon!) I am however curious if there is a different culture of pre-orders and communication that those of us in the US just don’t get. Do the Euro-folk look at us and say “why are they always complaining? They knew the item wasn’t available when they pre-ordered.” Or is there just a different corporate culture that says customer communication isn’t important? I have seen this with several Europe-based Kickstarters as well. Do I just have bad luck, or is this really a culture issue? Interested in what any Europe-based folks or long time residents have to say. I know culture varies widely across a continent, but use the term Europe out of convenience.
After yet another date slip by Tacx with no communication, I broke down and bought a Hammer 2 from Clever.
I’m keeping the Neo Bike pre-order in place, but I’ll simply say as a first time potential customer that I’m incredibly disappointed in the communication from Tacx. There are lots of frustrated customers on various social media platforms that are starving for communication about a product that was expected to ship in October/November for the winter season and suffice it to say that Tacx missed pretty much the entire trainer season in the northern hemisphere. Even a simple update on social media to coincide with the website being updated with a delayed date would be better than what has been happening. Someone put it well that being on the pre-order list for the Neo Bike feels like we have backed a bad Kickstarter
We went today to bike motion in Utrecht (Netherlands).
The Tacx bike was standing there.
I had the oppertunity to test the bike.
It feels great, i was informed that all the bikes are ready for shipment. They just need a clarification for a certain Paper.
Darnit. Just when I’m thinking to give up, you show us that picture of a beautiful machine, and now I can’t wait to get it again. It hurts to think my future trainer is sitting there waiting on some bureaucrat to certify. Just ship the US bikes then. We don’t care about CE.
At the rate we’re going, nor will us Brits by the time this thing ships.
Joking aside, I really hope Tacx get these out to the UK before Brexit (the end of this month) or I can only see that leading to further delays for UK buyers.
On the positive side, it looks like there’s at least one of these in the UK right now as it keeps popping up on Twitter being demoed at different dealers and shows.
For what it’s worth: I just spoke to Rose when canceling the preorder:
Supposedly they got information from Tacx that they hadn’t even started with mass production. (contradicting an earlier post). Whatever it is (CE certification or production issues), Tacx will miss out on a lot of sales because of this delay…
That’s depressing if true. Still, an order in November was pretty late in the game, so I would expect that order to be pretty far down the list. I ordered end of August. May not matter if they aren’t even making them, but we’ve had bad info from distributors before, so would be nice if Tacx would help us with some facts
Today an extra week delay on the site Rosebikes.
The deliverytime is now 9 weeks.
We have week 10. It wil maybe week 19. That’s the second week May 2019!
The only statement TACX made was a message on FACEBOOK 28th JANUARY 2019.
TACX you produce one short message on FACEBOOK in the context of more than 8 mounths delay!
The words: “a few last minute improvements” doesn’t sounds realistic ;-)
Just cancelled my order with UK dealer placed last September. Tacx don’t seem to be on top of this one and I no longer feel confident enough to be an earlier adopter.
Up until now even though I’ve been really frustrated at the whole thing, I’ve known deep down that I’ll bide my time and wait. However, it’s now got to the stage where I’m seriously beginning to look at the alternatives, in particular the Wattbike (especially as they seem to be selling off some ex-demo ones in the UK right now for £1000). And to be clear, it’s *not* the delays which is making me reconsider, it’s what I perceive as Tacx’s utter contempt for us and their lack of transparency that’s making me question whether to hold out. I know there’s a danger of ‘cutting my nose off to spite my face’, but the more I look into the alternatives, the more I realise that they’d meet my requirements and I’m wondering if I’ve not given enough of my money to Tacx already with the Neo I sold to fund this, and the Vortex I then had to buy as a stop-gap. I’ve no doubt that if Tacx had been open about the delays, I wouldn’t even be looking elsewhere, but this is what happens when you treat your customers like ****.
Sorry, it was an advert of Facebook by a third party selling them on behalf of Wattbike (UK only) but I can’t find it any more so I guess they’ve all gone.
I love the Netherlands, but I’m having really bad luck with Dutch companies of late. Made the stupid choice to back IQ2 power meter project on kickstarter, and they are doing as good a job communicating as tacx is on this bike. Same length of delay, many promised then missed shipping dates, no real info on problems, and then total radio silence of late. I fully expect the next update will be a bunch of meaningless excuses with no concrete info. Do these companies share the same PR firm? What gives?
I have ordered the Tacx in early august from clevertraining. After inquiry, they replied the following:
“Unfortunately due to the new merger of Garmin and Tacx we are hearing that this item will not be available to way after the indoor training season has concluded and we may be looking at mid Summer before Tacx actually releases these units to the U.S.”
This means a delay of a year, realistically.
There were some comments on the facebook group over the weekend that things might be looking at bit better. Sounds like they may have the first batch of bikes ready to ship and that the certification could come soon now.
I’m curious though – what do folks want them to do/say at this point?
Folks were upset due to lack of communications. So, they communicated. They gave three specific bits of detail:
1) What’s holding things up (CE)
2) What else is holding things up (accuracy)
3) When they plan to ship
What more can one really ask for? Heck, most companies wouldn’t even tell you #1/#2, and many might just say ‘soon’ for #3.
I get it, it’s annoying they’re like 5 months behind schedule – and that’s 100% worth taking into account for any future Tacx product releases. But it’s really hard to fault them for communicating this time when they finally they do. Else, that seems to send the message to not just Tacx and other companies to not communicate at all.
Again, I’m truly curious what else one thinks Tacx should do at this point. Certainly nobody wants them to ship a product that’s not ready.
I think it’s The fact that they only commumicate weeks AFTER the miss yet again a promissed delivery date. Not doing it one’s not twice but three times.
They know very well that they are not going to make a certain delivery date so whats the trouble of communicating it ? Instead there is complete silence and maybe a month after yet another missed date there is Some vague communication from tacx telling that they missed the delivery date… gee gosh like we didn’t notice……!
#1. Communicate before you miss a window, not after. If you aren’t going to ship by the end of February, send out a post 1 or 2 days before the end of February, not a few days into March.
#2. Given people some tangible information about “why” (they are now doing this, which is great)
#3. Tell people when to expect the next update (i.e. next update by March 27th)
Most of us who have committed many thousands of dollars to this product definitely aren’t trying to suggest that they ship a product that isn’t ready. I think most just would like a minimum bar of communication be met.
(My $0.02, having dealt with delays involving large and vocal groups of people in the past before)
I agree that at this current point in time, Tacx are doing the right thing – they’ve communicated the situation and their current estimates. Some people’s expectation of Tacx to commit to a date are, IMHO, unreasonable (especially with CE certification out of their hands) and these same people will be first to complain if that date is then missed. People need to be realistic and appreciate problems can crop up at the last minute (though it would be really interesting to get an insight into what’s been behind 5 months of delays).
However, I’m right with Harry on this. It’s the fact that when issues have occurred leading to further delays, Tacx have frequently failed to update customers and retailers alike, or have done so much, much later than when they would have realised they weren’t going to hit a date. At one stage my retailer was expecting stock 8th Jan. It wasn’t till late that actual day that they found out they weren’t getting any – Tacx must have known this weeks earlier. Likewise, we had an update on 28th Jan with an estimated shipping date of the end of Feb. I’d suggest that by the middle of Feb Tacx must have realised they weren’t going to hit that, but that stood as apparently the current situation as the end of Feb came and went, right until the most recent update that appeared a few days ago.
So we now have Tacx hoping to start shipping in a ‘couple of weeks’ (they need to be careful using words like ‘couple’, which have an exact as well as approximate meaning). If by the end of next week they’re starting to box up bikes ready to go, then great. However, I’d suggest that their cut-off point for hitting that goal is going to be within the next few days, so that’s when I’d hope they’d update their communication, not leave us guessing (and hoping) for weeks after another missed date.
I get that Tacx isn’t obliged to communicate anything, and their are no doubt worse companies out there, but it’s frustrating when you consider how little effort would be required to make already frustrated customers at least just a little bit happier.
Exacly. It’s not tacx s First product. They know about certification and everything that goes with that. Its not their first product launch !
Its not uncomen that there are delays with new product introductions and ofcourse everyone wants a good product, but it’s not that hard to do Some decent communication to your customers AND your dealers!
And if you are unsure you can deliver, don’t mention a delivery date…. but missing a date by a half year and the indoor season seems a bit idiotic…..
I just find it extraordinary that they don’t know when the product will be available. This is not a start up company with zero experience in production. So I am inclined to think that they know how unacceptably long the delay will be but choose to push it along a month at the time to stop people from looking elsewhere for alternatives. Should have invested the money in the stock market, might have made some money in the last 5 months :-)
Well they never kept their promised delivery so would be a first time ;)
In probably a few weeks after the promised delivery date you’ll see an update on the TACX website / social media that the date has changed to May and this whole circus will start again ;)
In response to DC Rainmaker point regarding what more Tacx could do I think this will be a lessions learnt for Garmin on how not to release a product which I am sure will be a great product. Point 1. ensure your project management has a timeline noting all aspects of production and required approvals. Point 2. Ensure you have a level Project Management understanding which includes risk and proactive actions to ensure delivery per timeline told to customers who pay upfront. Point 3. Marketing which reflects actual delivery. Point 4. Comms to distributers, UK distibuters told to expect units but not the actual number confirmed so sellers cannot update buyers as to who will get a unit and when although paid +4 months ago. Point 5. Repeated delays therefore reduction in the Tacx as brand, damage limitation offer Customers somethig as Wattbike did with the ATOM when they had a minor delay on release of a Sufferfest trial for free. Point 6, note upfront a kick starter project or a realistic delivery date to customers and not a unrealistic date and take money upfront.
Hope this helps and am sure this mirrors points of some of the buyers. Tacx produce nice products but this is not just a issue with Tacx as other companies are selling products to dates which end up being not honored e.g. Wahoo Kickr climb was delayed, Giant Defy Disc Pro release was to be Dec19 however will be Mar19/ Apr19 etc.
Not sure I entirely agree with your Point 3. Tacx have it to their credit that they never promised a delivery date; they quite specifically always just gave estimates (even though many people seem to have taken these as firm commitments). Some would argue that by giving these estimates, Tacx at least set expectations which they were unable to live up to so should never have given them in the first place; but let’s remember that Tacx is a business – they had a new trainer bike that they believed that they were going to be in a position to launch by the start of the trainer season so of course they’re going to want to advertise it as imminent before potential customers have already spent their money on Wattbikes or Pelotons, whilst also addressing all the “when’s it going to be released?” questions. The matter of whether these previous estimated dates were viable or just a means of attracting and hanging on to potential customers is going to be down to personal opinion, but I tend to believe they were given in good faith considering the otherwise limited engagement with customers. YMMV.
It looks like the UK Tacx tour has production versions, because there appears to be a pretty cool red glow coming from the flywheel area and I’m pretty sure the other ones I’ve seen have the blue shifter buttons.
Drool….Damn, I’m pretty sure I’m going to forget all the frustration of the delays when this thing finally arrives. That red glow. Nothing like afterburners on your trainer. I bet that’s worth a 10% bump in FTP just from the cool factor.
Call me easy, but Tacx just found my number, and I’m definitely not canceling my order now. I’m thinking this is going to be worth the wait.
Much as it begrudges me to defend Tacx right now, as far as I am aware they have never promised a delivery date. I can understand their reluctance to give estimated dates knowing that they’ll be wishfully interpreted as firm commitments.
That said, I’m becoming more and cynical over how honest and realistic some of their previous estimates have been.
Latest update from my UK shop (Tredz) is that delivery has slipped to 22 April. I take that to mean “at least another month” – I’ll believe it when I see it. At the moment, it still looks like the best product (almost) on the market so I’ll hold on to my old trainer. Tacx can hope that people do the same as me, however, if someone comes up with an equally good alternative (that’s available outside the UK unlike the Atom) , I think they will find they have dug themselves a hole in terms of good will.
Been to the Letchworth store to see the bike. Had a go on it connected to Zwift and it’s fabulous. Rides so much better than the Wattbike in the short time I used it. Apparently it won’t be out until the end of April and only for pre-orders. Will be about two months for general stock availability. It comes with a towel and sweat guard. So excited now I have experienced it!
Don’t cancel your pre-orders to go with something else. You will regret it. Just hang in there!
Looks like the Virtupro is amping up their activities along with the coming beta launch of their Veloton. I wonder how the virtupro compares with the quality and features of the Tacx bike. Anyone have a chance to ride both?
I’ve tried the bike, and elements of the platform. And of course, I’ve also ridden the Tacx bike.
They are similiar in a lot of ways. The Tacx bike is about connecting to today’s platforms – so ANT+ FE-C, Bluetooth Smart control, etc… integration with Zwift and any other platform you can throw at it.
Whereas the VirtuPro bike is more about connecting to platforms they’ve done integration work on (none of which are ones you likely use today).
The road-feel of the VirtuPro is incredible, mainly due to their math behind the scenes. It’s industry leading. But the remainder of the connectivity story lets it down.
As of today, they don’t really compete for the same dollars (as bizarre as that sounds). They could, if VirtuPro pivots and understands that the bigger market is the 1/3 of a million people using TrainerRoad/Zwift/etc…
Thanks Ray. I’ve had an eye on the virtu pro for a while and have been puzzled why a company with a bike like that in production wouldn’t just integrate with Zwift aka market leader in an instant and reap the rewards. Just re read your article on them and I guess it’s a complicated story as you say. Still, seems like an odd strategy at this point, particularly with the opening left by Tacx’s interminable delays. Same thing with BKOOL. Why on earth would you make a bike that only works with software that hardly anyone will ever use.
As for the extra features like steering and drafting, I’d love to see how that would really work in practice. Seems cool in theory, but I used one of those gym bikes that you could steer and quickly got bored of the feature and turned it off. If you steer into a draft but you pedal too hard, the system is still going to have to pop you out to the side, and if everyone in a pack can steer it will be mayhem. I believe the whole steering thing will be a flop and will be ignored by most users. Just give me a bike with accurate metering, silent performance, responsive shifting, road feel, and forget this steering stuff hokum and graphics that require a super computer to render. I guess that’s why I’m still eagerly waiting on the Tacx.
I have noticed that Wattbike have a new bike out soon. The Atom X. Supposed to cure all the issues of the Atom. Doesn’t say when it’s available though.
Would’ve moved on long ago if there was even one alternative available in the US. Just makes no sense that one certification is holding this up. Must be something more going on.
Snow is lifting in Switzerland, the outdoor season has started… and the local Tacx dealer called and reported being called and given a shipment data for mid-May.
I did not cancel the order as offered for a full reimbursement. I would do so should It not have arrived by the start of the nest indoor season, here in Switzerland – for weenies like me – at the end of October.
By then, I do sincerely hope that Garmin has taken over the helm and started to bring some order in this chaos, production and communication wise.
I don’t believe the certification story. It was always two excuses: waiting for certification and fixing accuracy issues. At the same time. This is CE certification, which is nothing special, unless they have come up with an entirely new technology. Since the neo bike is just a bike around an already certified neo 2 trainer, I don’t think that’s the case. The electronics, while tricky to get right, are not fundamentally different from other certified products. Maybe they are waiting for a reply from the certification institute but forgot to send in the application in the first place?
More likely, it’s an excuse so they don’t have to admit that they came out to the public much too soon. Saying that they ‘never promised a date’ is missing the point: they promised a month. SEVEN TIMES they promised a month and didn’t deliver. If you think saying ‘we expect’ rather than ‘we are certain’ gets them off the hook, well that’s just not compatible with taking pre-orders. When taking an order, they enter a financial transaction. That means the counterparty may expect them to be able to fulfil at the agreed date unless there is something outside their control, that blocks fulfillment. Incomplete development does not qualify as such. An unexpected certification problem would, that’s why it’s so important to have that as an argument. I think they should come out with an honest apology before some retailers decide to sue.
Yeah, I agree something’s odd here – as others have said, this is not something new or unusual when it comes to CE certification, and that’s not a process that Tacx wouldn’t already be familiar with (and in all likelihood will be using an agency anyway). There’s already been a lot of exposure of their demo model touring the UK over the last few weeks (though there’s disappointing little feedback online from anyone who saw or rode it), so it’s clear the design “works” – would have been nice if one of the demo retailers could have stuck a Vector on it and done a accuracy comparison to see if that’s the issue. I know the demo bike(s) would have most likely been handbuilt and there are sometimes issues when scaling up to mass production, but from what I gather Tacx trainers are pretty much handbuilt anyway.
Not sure I entirely take the same view as your second paragraph though – if they, in all good faith, believed they were going to be releasing the bike in a certain month then I think it’s fair to share that belief when people are them hounding you for a date (which is kind of where we’re at now – they share latest planned release dates, people complain when they’re missed – they don’t share planned release dates, people complain about lack of communication). They are a business after all; if at the beginning of the winter when people were looking to buy trainers they’d honestly expected the Neo bike to be released within a few weeks they’d have been stupid not to announce that, so I can understand that if that was their honest expectation, which we’ll probably never know. As for pre-orders, have Tacx ever taken pre-orders? The only pre-orders I’m aware of have been offered by a small number of retailers and that’s a decision made by the retailers, not Tacx. In the wider world, retailers frequently offer pre-orders on products that sometimes haven’t even been officially announced yet.
I just wish Tacx would let us know what’s happening, warts and all. I just don’t think they get that even if they don’t want to communicate dates anymore, they can still tell us what’s happening – and how much their current communication strategy is pi**ing people off.
Fair point, tacx don’t offer pre-orders. Retailers do, so maybe they don’t have much to complain about. There is something fishy about the whole process of delaying through the trainer season though. If the idea is, as you say, to pre-announce your honest belief that you will offer at a certain date, you do that to inform potential customers to hold on to their cash, so they will buy your new product instead of some competitor’s.
So if you find out you can’t live up to your promise, what do you do? Do you honestly inform people that you aren’t ready? Or do you lead them on until end of season, hoping they will not buy any trainer at all, giving you a shot next season?
This thread shows actually that. People complain about their indoor season ruined, people ask DCR should they buy something else or wait. If I were Wahoo, I’d make sure I have the ultimate trainer announced end of summer. Way better than the Neo bike. And cheaper too. No promises, but I expect it to ship early November…
Oh well. Probably time to go out and ride. It’s just, I used to be proud of Tacx.
It’s not there today based on everything I’ve heard. And honestly, their line back confirms it:
“The Veloton will Start to be send out for beta in the next week, after that we connect Tacx.”
There’s no such thing as ‘Connecting to Tacx’ anymore. Either you’re on ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth FTMS or it’s not working. And that’s especially true of Zwift. The old days of Zwift baking special connectivity for various brands are long over. Either trainer companies leverage ANT+ FE-C or Bluetooth FTMS, or they don’t connect to Zwift. Zwift will tell companies that straight up – as will TrainerRoad. And in Zwift’s case, especially for a potential competitor.
Look, I want VirtuPro and Niels to succeed, but they’re approaching this in a way that’s targeting the smallest possible audience. Many of the trainer brands have competing platforms (Tacx with Tacx Desktop Suite, Elite with their thing, CycleOps at one point with Virtual Training, and so on) – but all of them support ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth FTMS first, and then figure out their own platforms as a bonus. Else, people just won’t buy it.
I think you meant “they are approaching this in a way that’s targeting the smallest possible audience”, but I agree, their strategy seems more focused on Veloton than the bike, which is not going to get a lot of their bikes sold. Even with the Tacx delays, I’d rather stick with my current bike and trainer than go to another bike that’s locked into just one platform. That makes no sense at all.
that is pretty locked down but has not stopped people from buying it. So if the product is sound i don’t see any issues with it being locked to one platform.
I agree with this they do show themselves beta testing the bike with Zwift on the virtupro facebook page. When I am asked them they said they are close to shipping with the correct hardware to support connecting to zwift but weren’t quite there yet
Veleton looks good but it still has a lot to prove and before you spend the amount of money you would want to know the bike was going to work with applications like Zwift and trainer road just in case Veleton does not end up working out.
Well, the iphone works with thousands of apps. Not really much of a comparison. No way I would ever buy a bike that only works with a program that is barely out of beta and might not even be around after a year. I love Zwift, but I wouldn’t even buy a trainer that just works with Zwift.
This is my semi-regular post about the regular movement of the expected delivery timelines (at least here in the UK) :-) I’ve now been informed that the wait is until 10 May. I now take that to mean that shortly before then I will hear of a new date, but one day it really will be the actual date! :-)
It is indeed a mess, the whole communication process. I should be able to judge this, having spent 30 years in the business.
Nevertheless, let us be fair in our judgement until they lift the veil of ignorance (ie ever) and share with us what went wrong. This could be a good time of use for Ray (if he ever has some free time). I very much prefer will-fed and taken care of little Rainmakers and a tranquil girl than some Garmin PR spin come calorie-free (in this context content-free) PR-yarn.
@Neil Jones I’m not filled with confidence we’ll get anything positive from our retailers. I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll get a phone call with the latest delay, no doubt a vague statement from Tacx saying something like “the end of June”…..I hope I am wrong :)
My UK supplier just told me they received this from TACX:
“We do not have specific information available at the moment on the delivery dates
Due to some changes in the certification process, we are working on some adjustments, which makes it difficult to announce a specific date.”
Goodness – if it really is just a certification issue, you have to wonder how much of a fail it was initially that they have taken this long (and still counting) to resolve it! Was it fatally electrocuting people!? :-)
I’ve received word that Garmin is moving production to the United States over the coming months. Consequently, some U.S. distributors are cancelling pre-orders and cannot give an estimated date of production aside from end of summer or fall at the earliest.
I’ve canceled my order. I may or may not place it again someday, but my good will toward Tacx has been severely eroded and I have no interest in being a crash test dummy on one of the first models off the assembly line. Of course, even that assumes Garmin doesn’t eventually decide to scrap the project — I don’t think that would entirely surprise anyone at this point.
I mentioned in another forum that this whole thing has had the tenor of an ill-conceived Kickstarter project, and it’s reminded me why I pledged a couple of years ago to get out of the “buying promises” business. The only saving grace is that I’ve had a trainer to use in the meantime; I feel particularly bad for those who’ve missed half a year of training based on Tacx’s tilting at windmills, or those who sold their trainers because they were soon to be replaced by the Smart Bike.
I’ll sort of miss my daily hate-checking for status updates, but only sort of.
“I’ve received word that Garmin is moving production to the United States over the coming months.”
Honestly, that makes little to no sense on numerous levels. Still, I sent it off to the Tacx Bike product manager to debunk/confirm for fun.
But the reasons it doesn’t make sense are numerous. First, production already began for the Tacx bike in the Netherlands. They’re currently stock-piling units for whenever it is they’re ready to ship. Next, Garmin noted they plan to utilize the Netherlands facility (which is currently expanding into new buildings being constructed), for numerous things.
But most importantly – Garmin simply has no manufacturing facilities in the US, except for aviation/marine units, which are made in Kansas/Oregon. And even those are at production facility capacity. Everything else is made in Taiwan in their own factories.
Thanks for following up with Tacx/Garmin. I’m just passing along word from a retailer in the U.S. who canceled all pre-orders on this basis — it certainly isn’t my information. I’m sure Tacx is as tired of the questions as we are about the delays.
Thanks for checking with them, Ray. Still, if certification is not yet secured, it would make little sense for Tacx to stock-pile units, given the uncertainty regarding costly adjustments that might turn out to be necessary to go ahead. If it is secured, then why doesn’t Tacx herald such a positive step, given how little they have had to boast about over the last year?
Ok, they confirmed there’s no truth to that statement of moving production or the timelines.
They also confirmed they continue to build/stockpile units, and are also continuing to wait for certification. Notably – that Garmin is requiring certification for USA, Canada, and EU, prior to shipping any units. As such…we all wait.
Man, the rumor mill is getting thick and gooey on this thing. We’ll need Snopes to get in on the act before long. I guess Tacx has only themselves to blame though since comms have been next to non-existent. I still have hope we’ll see this thing one day.
Isn’t it strange to build and stockpile units that have no certification? What if they get no certification and changes need to be made ? I think this doesn’t compute
For an experienced company, certification is mostly a formality.
Virtually every major company will stockpile units pending certification. In the case of Apple it’s millions of units, in the case of Garmin it could be tens of thousands. And in the case of Tacx it could be hundreds or thousands.
That said, it’s also not unusual for something to go askew in the process, usually from the regulator side of things. I’ve seen it happen to numerous (very experienced) companies. Just a ball out to left field sorta thing.
In this case, it sounds compounded by Tacx having planned to go for one certification, and then Garmin changing directions a bit for more certifications. Still, I agree it’s unusually long even by those standards.
I hope you’re right. CE certification takes between one day and six months, longer is very, very unusual. However, passing the certification isn’t as obvious as getting a stamp, so I’d like evidence of the stockpiling ;) 50% of electronic products fail the EMC test the first time. Not a problem for Apple indeed, but for smaller companies.
….to add insult to injury, the Tacx web page related to the Tacx Neo Bike has now drop and time forecast and now simply left „availability:TBD“ .
I have never seen as so called „established company“ too behave as amateurish in communication as Tacx.
Hopefully at least Garmin finds the courage to talk to customers, some of the having paid up in October 18 when availability was announced for the coming month.
I reached out to Tacx last week via their Facebook page. They responded swiftly, but did not come up with new information. Apparently they are still waiting for certification paperwork from several countries; something they say is not in their hands.
This has been a very frustrating experience so far.
Apparently there is a delay in the information they’ll provide us for explaining the delay. I just want them to be honest. And that they included their waiting customers on their journey to get this out in the market. That would do a lot for me. It doesn’t take much to keep your customers loyal and understanding. Total black out however makes people flee. Seems like the Tacx Smart Bike group is about to be renamed to VirtuPro owners group.
Well…..as expected I’ve just had a call from my retailer……I’ve now been told that the “expected” delivery date for my Neo Bike is 8th July…..how much longer is this going to drag on?
I’d actually be sort of happier if Tacx turned round and said “look guys, we don’t expect to get this to you till the start of the training season”. I’d then buy a Neo to see me though to then as, recovering from injury, most/all of my cycling is going to be in my garage this year (which was my self-justification for the Neo Bike in the first place). Instead I’m getting by with a Vortex as a temporary replacement for the original Neo I sold when I stupidly thought my Neo Bike was literally a day away, and coming from a Neo I’m just not enjoying the Vortex, which I originally thought I’d only be having to live with for a few weeks.
Yes, I’d take a significant financial hit selling another Neo, but hopefully that would be minimised with it being the start of the new trainer season, and it would be a hit I’d probably be willing to take just to make a whole summer of training in the garage more bearable. But with this constant “it’s just a few weeks again” I’m just not informed enough to make that commitment.
Lets face it.. Tacx is a shitty company! Their communication lacks in so many ways its almost unbelievable! Almost hard to image Tacx is even a company…. Looks more like a toolshed hobby project than a company!
You’re right, they are shitty. Just been told my dates gone back to 4th July for an order (paid in full) placed 1st November. If they wanted to really alienate there customers, doing this and failing to communicate anything apart from the complete lie of ‘CE issues’ is the way to go.
OT
Have anyone tried to buy a VirtuPro bike? I’m trying for days, contacting them, but I just receive a lot of information about the bike, but not a price quotation! It’s so annoying! I can’t understand what’s wrong with them.
Search this site and other forums. Lots of discussion of Virtupro. Key issue (at least for me): it doesn’t work with Zwift. They’ve been claiming it will soon but they’ve been claiming that for a long time.
Paul T, yes, you’re right, the VirtuPro bike still doesn’t work with Zwift, but they’ve told me that connection on PC/tablet is only with cable for now and they are working on BLE and ANT+ an upgrade will be possible to make the bike compatible also with Zwift, but when? They don’t know.
Based on the latest communicated delay’s (from my retailer 8th July) I don’t suppose you can get a “straight from the horses mouth” update from the Neo Bike Product Manager on what’s causing the latest delays? I think from your last conversation with Tacx they are stockpiling production units and still awaiting CE declaration, is this still the case or are there new factors causing the delays?
So I e-mailed the product manager your comment, asking for official comment.
He notes that they expect final certifications next week, and also expect to drop-off a final-final bike next week as well here to me. He said Tuesday, though I’ll be out of town Tues-Friday (he doesn’t know that yet, come to think of it). Either way, I’ll let ya know once they either drop it off, or are ready to.
You can look forward to my eventual side-by-side comparison of the Neo Bike, Neo and Vortex :-)
Have to say, getting back on a Neo after 5 months on a Vortex I’d forgotten just how much better the Neo was and in how many ways. So as long as that’s all carried through to the Neo Bike (and then some!) then bring it on…
Yes, same boat here. My NEO Bike is pre-ordered and paid, and just bought a Direto as a stopgap until the NEO Bike is released. So now that I just set up the Direto this morning, the NEO Bike should be released any day now!
Hi Neil, im currently on a Vortex (since about 2yrs) and im looking to upgrade to a neo or neobike. For you what stands out with the upgrade to a neo? I still dont know if its worth the upgrade?
I started to train indoors about 1x/wk in season and 3-4x/wk in Winter.
@Steve – Nice find! Hopefully if Tacx really have been stockpiling then we’re just a matter of days away from shipping to distributors…
@Bartu – I’d recommend finding a bike shop where you can try a Neo, but in my own opinion (based on Zwift and Sufferfest usage):
– It’s soooo much smoother and quieter
– When you start up an incline in Zwift or coast the top of the hill, you feel it in your legs straight away, not a vague change a couple of hundred meters away
– You don’t have to mess around trying to calibrate every ride – zero calibration required on Neo
– ERG mode actually works, and within 1-2 seconds for even big changes. Never got it working on my Vortex, it just seemed to arbitrarily change the resistance every few minutes.
– Power output is accurate – it matches my Vector 3s (allowing for loss in the drivetrain) even from the very start of every ride, no “warming up” period
– When you’re doing a climb, you don’t get the rear tyre constantly slipping and squealing against the drum (or you can increase the Vortex tension but then it won’t calibrate)
– If you start a powerful sprint, it captures it straight away, not only when your back wheel’s finally stopped slipping
– Road feel (riding over cobbles, boards, ice and on dirt tracks etc)
– Freewheeling down hills
– Allows some side-to-side roll so it’s not fixed as rigidly as Vortex.
If you can afford it, I’d say go for it, it’s a massive step up and I don’t imagine anyone’s ever done the same upgrade and thought “well that was a waste of money”. And of course the bike will offer all of this (except maybe the roll) plus more.
Hei neil, thanks so much for this detailed summary, all the negatives you write about the vortex are what i dont about indoor training! So that said, i cant wait for the neo (or neo bike)!! Now i will save some money :)) …
cheers Bartu
“I assume Tacx didn’t get in touch or deliver a final-final version of their NeoBike for testing on Tuesday?”
They did actually, but as noted above somewhere, I was out of town Tues-Fri last week, so we’ve rescheduled for this week. Today (Monday) is a holiday in the Netherlands, but I suspect they’ll stop by tomorrow or so.
Yes, the box, roughly the size of a standard bike box (but a crapton heavier), contains said bike. I’ll likely get it all unboxed tomorrow. Have a bunch of new lights arriving tomorrow that should make my trainer unboxing area a bit less…ominously dark. So was waiting on that.
I don’t know the answer to that. I asked yesterday via e-mail (to the person responsible for that, since the guys that dropped it off deferred to that person). I’ll let ya know when I know.
(Sadly, speaking of delays, DHL delayed my delivery of lights till Monday…sigh. Will see if I can re-position a bunch existing ones so it’s not so dark. In the meantime, attached pic…)
I notice that the box has the official CE stamp on it. I assume certification has been completed and grated before they allow this to be seen in public?
Hi Ray,
When you do your in depth review please could you consider the following?
One of the metrics I like to see is average watts, I ride mostly on Zwift. Av Watts is not part of their display although they have the technology (The provide it on Alpe Du Zwift and I would encourage Zwift to add it, but that’s another discussion)
My plan –
Connect Ant+ to my Garmin computer
Connect Zwift via Bluetooth.
Does that sound feasible?
Thanks
Phil
Are you just checking the website? Or is that in reference to a specific pre-order?
It would not surprise me if the lead time on completely new orders at this point is 18 weeks, given how many pre-orders there are to fulfill globally.
Obviously the fact that Ray has a boxed unit is the most promising news that we’ve had in a while, although he has said he isn’t going to post any first looks until units start shipping to customers.
Seems like we should finally know a real timeline soon.
I just checked the website, so I hope that the delivery time on their website refers to new orders only. I also sent them an email to ask about my specific pre-order.
“Obviously the fact that Ray has a boxed unit is the most promising news that we’ve had in a while, although he has said he isn’t going to post any first looks until units start shipping to customers.”
Did he say that? I missed that info. Have been checking to website every few hours to check if unboxing pictures are online :)
It beggars belief that TACX will not give a shipping date to Ray of all people, when he asked them directly for one. They clearly aren’t bothered with cyclists perception of their products if they treat the premier sports tech reviewer with the same contempt they are showing towards the rest of us who have put their money down (in my case Aug 18!!) and are still in the dark.
“They clearly aren’t bothered with cyclists perception of their products if they treat the premier sports tech reviewer with the same contempt they are showing towards the rest of us who have put their money down (in my case Aug 18!!) and are still in the dark.”
I guess I don’t see it. We can be annoyed with them for constantly pushing back dates or lack of proper communications, but I can’t be annoyed with them for waiting till the product is right. After all, we all know what happens when their owners release products that aren’t ready yet. Or, when Tacx itself has done so in the past (many products).
I completely agree, Ray. It’s just very frustrating and disappointing.
And my FTP has certainly dropped by 50 points, because I couldn’t train properly indoors ;)
I just received another mail from Rose bikes. Apparently, they postponed the delivery time to October themselves since they weren’t able to receive information from Tacx to confirm earlier dates.
Ray, do you have any news? And were you able to take a look inside the box, yet? :)
It certainly would be nice to get a problem-free product when it does eventually ship, but given history (Tacx, Wahoo, etc.) and the novelty of this product, I suspect some number of preorder customers will receive units with problems that are ironed out as time rolls by regardless of the rigor of Tacx’s processes. And the ongoing delays — justified though they may be by a desire to get things right — suggest to me that they’ve had a harder time than expected getting things right, which in turn implies a higher likelihood of defects once things get rolling. The concerning thing for me is that returning a 100-pound bike for service or exchange ain’t easy. That’s why I cancelled my pre-order.
After I see the DCR review and enough others to have confidence that these units are functioning as they should, I may pull the trigger again. I hope the first-wave adopters are thrilled with what they receive; it’s just that I don’t know how much history is on their side.
@Damon It’s surprising and disappointing how little feedback appeared online (by that I mean virtually none, as far as I can see!) following all the events where Tacx were demoing the bike over recent months (e.g. the Tacxperience UK Tour back in May). If there had been problems with the bike then, I would have expected to have heard about them online (maybe not from the dealers hosting the demos, but at least from those customers who tried it) – but then I would have also expected to see positive feedback online otherwise – but there’s nothing. Odd. That said, the bike does seem to have disappeared from their more recent events, though maybe they were just getting fed up of people asking when it was going to be released.
Of course having a problem-free demo unit or two doesn’t necessarily scale to mass production, but now as much out of curiosity as anything else I’d really like to know the inside story on this – not sure we ever will though. My supplier is currently quoting me mid-July for my pre-order, and for the first time since December I’m thinking that this might actually be viable. I won’t be clearing a space in the garage just yet though.
“We do not have specific information available at the moment on the delivery dates.
Due to some changes in the certification process we are working on some adjustments , which makes it difficult to announce a specific date.”
Ray, could you help me to solve my dubts about shifting?
You tried both the Neo Bike and the VirtuPro bike.
Months ago I was allowed to test a Skillbike by Technogym and I was really surprised that when I shifted gears, it was like I was riding a real bike, in particular about sound and sensation of the cainring change, if you know what I mean.
VirtuPro bike is electronic shifting and so you don’t hear the shifting, not the boom boom sound then shifting, but just a click, as you wrote in your review.
And what about Tacx bike?
On the Tax website I read that bike “simulates the vibrations of different road patterns” (VirtuPro does not, right?), “but also your virtual chain jumping into a different gear” (again, VirtuPro does not). So about shifting Tacx is more similar to the Skillbike than to VirtuPro bike?
So why, when I contacted those of VirtuPro, they told me that their bike is the best smart bike and no other even Technogym, ICG, Tacx, Wattbike come close? The best at what?
Hi Ray.
You’ve had a production bike for two weeks now to test, and I wondered if Tacx have said anything about shipping, or are you under an embargo?
When can we expect your detailed review to be published?
I don’t have a shipping date yet (not under embargo, I just don’t have a date). As such, I don’t know when a review might come out. Basically, a review or first rides or what-not post won’t come out till they confirm they’ve shipped out first production units to real customers. And, that the unit I have matches those units (in the event it changes).
Just had the same message….just when you things are looking positive!!
What do you think the chances are that Tacx are now just delaying the launch to Eurobike in September and the beginning of the northern hemisphere trainer/indoor season?
If they are it’s a dangerous game? Other manufactures (Wahoo?) will have been going hell-for-leather to produce a similar, if not better product and would launch it at Eurobike. If so, and no shipping from Tacx before then, I’ll simply cancell my order (August 18).
There’s no reason for them to wait till Eurobike to release. I’m pretty confident they wouldn’t want to do that for a variety of reasons, and instead would want to release the moment their ducks are in a row.
I hope not. It’s just the complete lack of communication that’s so pathetic.
How on earth can you take pre-orders and the delay the product for (almost) a year (luckily I didn’t have to pay upfront)
If the Atom was available in Belgium, I would have bought that a long time ago, but they are equally incompetent as Tacx (having a product a lot of people want and not being able to deliver, is the biggest face palm for a company)
Well, Monday is the day, as far as I am concerned. My dealer insinuated that he got hinted towards 8th July as the starting date for the ducks to finally jump into the pool and paddle direction carnivores.
Sorry, could not resists to completely destroy the picture Ray built up so nicely. Given the lack of communication from Tacx, such language at least is not prohibited for minors…
To be completely honest, I do not expect to have my bike for a few months to come. The only thing I am eagerly expecting is the (as always detailed and profound) review by Ray. At least, then I know whether holding out with fingers crossed was worthwhile. Plus I will not hesitate to get my money back if indeed the product does not fulfil the promise it demonstrated to Ray when he got a chance to play with it almost a year ago to-date.
I think Ray has said he doesn’t intend publishing his review until the bikes are confirmed as shipping to avoid (or at least take into account) any differences between his review bike firmware/hardware and the shipping versions.
As I am not first in line and Tacx themselves have written so far that “supply is limited”, I do believe I would have ample time to drop the order.
Honestly, I do hope that this will not be needed. Otherwise, I would still feel cheated, not because of lost money, but because of the product seemed to be incredibly promising for somebody like me who post-accident is no longer “street-worthy”, at least for the time being.
It’s like the swallows returning to Capistrano — a comforting ritual. Eventually it will come to an end, but I feel like we’ll have lost something that’s brought us together for so long. A tragedy of sorts.
Ray…you were going to give us a re-review of the Wattbike Atom with its latest firmware updates? Would be perfect now, as I am seriously thinking that Tacx may not ever be able to bring the NeoBike to market!!
My dealer’s just advised 15/8 but didn’t state which year for my Oct 18 order….
Joop is right above – bolting a plastic front end onto a Neo2 with shifter switches and a couple of fans isn’t hard and CE certification has to be a lie. Tacx have lost all credability over this and customer goodwill is about to follow – why do they constantly lie and fail to provide the true reason for the delays?
Ray….regarding the “fake news” e-mail you removed yesterday regarding the NeoBike, did you share the content with Tacx and ask for comment before deleting it.
I didn’t see an e-mail, but rather a person claiming to be a Tacx employee saying that it was cancelled. I don’t need to call Tacx to know that’s not true and fake. I talk to them about once per day anyway.
Ray – if you talk to them everyday, could you ask them for a truthful update as to why there has been a delay of a year releasing the smart bike and when the issues will be resolved to allow shipping? Thanks
Because honestly I don’t believe the answers. Not because I think they are lying, but because I think they don’t have a solid grasp on when that date will be themselves. I think they think they’re very close – and I’d agree with that. But whether that’s tomorrow or Monday, it’s always seemingly the weekly question.
It’s been a case of always some new last minute tweak/thing that pops up.
This may be a premature question…but as I have a pre-order I’ll be an innovator/early adopter in marketing speak. Have you had any conversation with Tacx on their plans regarding ironing out hardware issues with the bike….will we have to send it back or will there be a service engineer etc……hopefully these delays to release are mitigating my concerns :)
It’d likely be treated like any other trainer in that respect. Some parts could be sent back easily, whereas others less so.
I do think this time has helped mitigate that though, numerous people have been using these bikes for many many months, and with numerous tweaks along the way.
Should go without saying but, thank you Ray for putting up with us. We know you aren’t a Tacx rep or engineer, but you have been very patient and reasonable when you could have locked this thread. I would be happy if it was the device you rode last year, but it sounds like it is gonna be better. I’ll continue to wait it out and hope it is in the workout room when the cold weather comes.
As far as I know, some retailers have provided estimated delivery dates:
Rose bikes (Germany): mid October
Sigma sports (UK): 30 August
Ray, do you know whether there is any intelligence from Tacx behind these estimated dates? Or are these just wild estimates from the retailers’ perspectives?
Based on experience, I am of course aware that the bikes could be launched later than these dates, but in case these are just wild guesses, could the bikes come earlier?
It’s worth remembering that some of the dates you see people reporting on here and elsewhere will be what they’ve been told for their pre-orders (which will obviously vary depending on when their orders were placed) whereas some will be what they’ve been told for new orders.
Also, different retailers will probably be quoting different dates for new orders depending on how much of a backlog of pre-orders they have to fulfil first.
I’ve kept track of Rose Bikes and they seem to always reset the delivery date out to “14 weeks” every so often. Doesn’t seem to be based on anything real.
Ray – I’m a moderate (but very keen) cyclist but I did manage 10 years as a CEO of a $Xbn corporation. I didn’t always know what problems were going on in the individual parts of the business but when PR issues like this arose the response is very easy. Write an honest explanation of what has gone wrong in terms comprehendible to a simple, non-technical individual. Be humble and honest about your mistakes. Wherever possible give a timetable to fix the problem. Above all, under-promise and over-deliver. Fire any manager you have to explain this to, more than twice!
I now do management consulting. I explain this is greater detail but I charge (obscene) fees for that service. ? Do you think Garmin need my email address ?
I’ve just had a reply from the UK importers of Tacx, who was told today that the first shipment of NeoBikes is due in the UK in September! No information given as to what is causing the continued delay.
I’m concerned now that we won’t ever see this product shipped.
I’ve been looking for a stationary bike to use with Zwift for about a month. Based on reviews and videos the Neo seems like it might be the best. Now I’ve become interested in this story regardless of whether I ever get one. What in the world is going on? I had a career that included electrical engineering project management and I am well aware of how easy it is for a project to go South. But this one seems to have just fallen off the face of the Earth. From the time that a working prototype has been achieved to the point that a reliable product is coming off the assembly line can take much longer than it seems. But Neo wasn’t a brand new company and they had manufacturing experience with similar products. Still I wouldn’t have been too surprised with a 6 month slip in the schedule. Unexpected stuff happens and sometimes people make bad mistakes. But it is hard to imagine what in the world causes a two year schedule slip.
Although, I did work for a company that used non-technical project managers. Maybe something like that has gone on. We had a two year schedule slip and then the product we produced was crap. Boeing seems to have gone down that path with the Max 737 disaster. Nothing like putting a procurement specialist in charge of a massively technical project. What could go wrong with that?
Just to be clear, it was never planned that this would have been available two years ago. They first showed it as a concept bike two years ago, saying they’d say more last summer. It was supposed to start shipping last fall. So we’re talking roughly a 9 month slip.
Any more news from you product manager contact Ray? The rumour mill has started churning again and I’m beginning to think the latest date I have been given of 8th August is possibly in doubt.
I heard back from the official Tacx importer here in the UK, and they have been told that the first shipment will be in the UK in September. Can we believe Tacx, given that the distributer was told by them previously that the first shipment was definitely 18th July!!
I contacted Tacx directly, and suggested that the NeoBike was a dead duck, and that we would never see it, and they assured me that the bike would be out “this year”.
Hoping for some info as well. Between this bike prolonged release and the Virutpro one apparently being very close to supporting Zwift, you have to think there has been a lot of wasted opportunities here.
“Please note; orders placed between July 25th and August 11th 2019 will be processed after August 12th. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Sounds like Tacx is on vacation so I’m guessing we won’t have any news until after that point at the very least.
Ray…you have been riding/testing a “production” NeoBike for some time now and mentioned in a post that Tacx we’re giving you a firmware update to test. Is the bike itself finalised and are Tacx simply fine-tuning their firmware? I have to think they need to start shipping NOW, as other companies are bound to produce their take on smart indoor bikes?
Might be a change of logistics as well. I see garmin.com had te Tacx trainers on their site, and then forwarded the customers to Tacx’ webpage. Now they’ve changed this and they say trainers are arriving 3rd quarter to be bougt directly from garmin.com
Well….cant say I’m surprised ….my retailer has just called. Tacx have contacted them with a new delivery date of 16th September. I’m trying to remain pragmatic with my logic being that I would rather have Tacx iron out any issues in their factory rather than me have a 25/30kg bike in my pain cave that I would have to send back to them.
Ray….did you have the further conversation with the product manager at Tacx which you had planned. I’d be interested to know if he gave any insights into the further delays.
My Clever pre-order status has changed to “awaiting item from manufacturer” so that is good news. It also looks like product codes have popped up on a lot of sites, which seems to indicate that stock might be starting to go out to various places.
Grasping at straws a bit, but it seems like a bit of movement :)
Whatever the underlying causes of the delay, I think one likely effect may be Tacx losing a lot of the market it might otherwise have had. It first released pictures and a description of the Neo Bike in Fall 2017 — two years ago — and has been demo’ing the bikes for the past year. This is essentially giving Wahoo, CycleOps, Elite, and the rest of the gang years of free competitive insight, and we might find at Eurobike that there are suddenly a few competitive offerings that undercut Tacx’s $3100 price tag and include additional features. The Neo Bike was hardly a steal at that price a year ago, and nothing has changed except Tacx supremely botching its roll-out and dismaying its most enthusiastic customers.
Whether or not other companies launch honestly won’t likely impact Tacx. If anything, it might have scared off some companies that have realized just how hard it is.
Either way, I don’t have anything new to share at the moment. Obviously I have a final unit, I continue to ride said final unit in between all the other things I’m testing. Once I’ve got clarity that units have shipped, then I’ll drop my review (within a few days).
Practically speaking, looking at the 31 new products on my list to have posts for in the next 16 days, this isn’t on that list. It might be on day 17, but right now I’m waiting like others for clarity on final release date/time.
I’ve been texting with Tacx customer service asking whether they have an update for us. They couldn’t say much, only that there will be an announcement during Euro bike in two weeks.
Given the bike is being judged at Eurobike for an award, I’m guessing that is when we will finally have concrete details about shipping timelines, as well as a proper review from journalists
Today there was an update of the Tacx Utility App on iOS that says: “Improved error logging for NEO Smart Bike”… looks like things are moving indeed. I have a deposit on the NEO bike at a Dutch dealer since November. Fingers crossed!
Your bike will be available Nov 2018
……..ERROR
Your bike will be available Dec 2018
……..ERROR
Your bike will be available Jan 2019
……..ERROR
Your bike will be available Feb 2019
……..ERROR
……… and so on and so forth :)
Got an e-mail yesterday from the bike shop where I ordered the Tacx, apparentel they finally started producing the thing. By the half of September the bikes should arrive at the distributor, so before end of September they should arrive in the shop. Let’s hope this is true :D
I thought Tacx had said several months ago that these were in production and they were stockpiling them until they were certified so they could send them out? So much has happened over so long though that maybe I’m getting confused.
Great to hear that there is some movement. I guess we will hear more about delivery timelines during Eurobike next week.
Ray, I have a favour to ask. In your review of the Tacx bike that you plan to publish, could you tell us something about the stability during sprints. I am a sprinter and plan to do most of my sprint workouts on the bike. What concerns me a bit is that some spinning bikes I have tried didn’t feel super stable especially at the handlebars when you pull with a lot of power. I hope the Tacx bike will perform better here, but based on the pictures, the handlebar mechanism doesn’t look super sturdy. What do you think?
Zero issues there. The unit is super stable, mainly because of the weight, but also the feet design. The back goes out wider than you’d expect, but also flares backwards slightly. And the front also flares out in a reverse triangle, even more stability.
Thanks, Ray. That is great to hear. How does the handlebar/stem/steerer tube feel when you pull the handlebars during sprints with full power? Is there flex/movement or does it feel rock-solid?
*If* Tacx/Garmin have deliberately held back this release even longer than necessary just so they can start shipping to coincide with Eurobike then they hold their pre-order customers in even more contempt than I realised was possible.
No, they haven’t held back for that. There’s other non-technical/non-product reasons they’ve held back, and will continue holding back. Maybe tomorrow they’ll announce, or maybe Tuesday. Or maybe two weeks from now. I might detail it in a post tomorrow.
I can say with 100% certainty that date is incorrect and used as a placeholder. Garmin does that for most products actually. They put dates out that are beyond when they think they can fulfill all existing backorders.
According to Clever Training (where I pre-ordered the item one year ago), as of today:
“For your TACX bike, it looks like our warehouse was supposed to receive our shipment on 9/1, but that was a. Sunday, and b. unfortunately in the middle of the hurricane hitting Florida! Our warehouse and HQ are both in Tampa, so that shipment may have been delayed by the storm. I am reaching out to our brand managers for more info!”
Heading home now and looking forward to the fun job of cleaning the grime off two bikes from weekend rides so we can Zwift tonight. Shuffling bikes back and forth from the bike room, changing cassettes and adapters on the trainer for my daughter’s bike, and then undoing everything for tomorrow’s commute. This thing can’t come soon enough.
Last piece of the puzzle is the review from Ray before deciding to place an order… Ray, we were only waiting for shipping to start for your review right?
Well…..The kickr bike has set the cat amongst the pigeons….I have a real quandary now….the Kickr bike looks great ……Tacx may have lost a sale due to there late release
Yes, a quandary. Clever says bikes could ship next week. If the main difference is the climb, I’m not sure that’s going to justify the $600 difference to me (vip discount). I always viewed the climb as a gimmick and never felt like I would want it, but I must admit the thing is intriguing. I still prefer the look of the tacx if that matters. The wahoo looks like a botched shop project to me, and the Neo innards have been state of the art for a while. I think I’m talking myself into sticking with the tacx.
I believe there’s an extremely strong chance CT will receive and ship Tacx bikes next week to pre-order folks. The units are in the states already, and just pending release to CT from Garmin. If CT gets the quantities they expect, they’ll be able to cover all existing pre-orders in one shot, with maybe a couple leftover. Maybe.
On the flip-side, if there’s anything that 565 comments on and more than 14 months on this post/thread has taught me, it’s to simply assume the answer will be ‘Nope, not this week’.
Too late Tacx. Just cancelled my CT pre-order. Too many options out there now and I want to see how you come down on the pros/cons after your detailed reviews Ray.
It is wonderful, however, that all these all-in-one bikes are coming out. This segment of virtual indoor was just to inaccessible to many without a simple solution (albeit a +/- $3k solution). I’m hopefully that more smart bikes = more indoor riders = more innovation in the content/platform space and a lot more engaging/fun indoor sport in the future.
Thanks for being the only source of real info on the Tacx bike over 14 months Ray and for actually monitoring the 565 comments long after this post’s shelf life. Monitoring your Eurobike feed hourly!
Same here. I pre-ordered the NEO Bike from Clever Training in April and was really excited to see the press release from Garmin announcing that the bikes would (finally!) be shipping very soon.
But then Wahoo announced the KICKR Bike and now instead of a NEO Bike pre-order, I now have a KICKR Bike pre-order.
Good luck guys. I’m holding out for DCR’s review of the final unit now that it’s shipping. Seems like there is still time to wait to cancel since Clever doesn’t expect to ship until next week or week after. I’m on the fence too, but am not convinced the Wahoo is worth another $600 on top of the already steep tacx, especially since I don’t think I’ll really care one way or another about the climb feature. Take out the climb feature, and I’d probably go with the Tacx any day given that it’s got a neo inside. And the climb thing is one more expensive piece of tech to fail, most likely the day after the warranty runs out.
Mine is going in the garage and not in a Peloton commercial, so while I prefer the aesthetics of the Tacx, aesthetics don’t matter to me in the garage. The climb feature is mostly what tipped the scales, but I also trust Wahoo’s software team more than Tacx and the KICKR Bike seems more “future proficient” (I won’t say “future proof”) than the NEO Bike.
With that said, if the KICKR Bike has not been announced, I would have been waiting with bated breath for my NEO Bike. I’m guessing they will both be awesome.
I have to share space in the pain cave with my wife, and so when not in use, the bike has to be against a wall so she can do her videos. I may be the only person for whom the fact that the TACX doesn’t have to be plugged in is a major feature. Also, I could have a bike before the end of the month.
Cancelled my Tacx now order….I like the climb feature and switched to wahoo. The tilt isn’t a deal breaker but why not have it? It adds to the experience imho. Tacx blew it. I had mine on preorder for over a year!!
Ray, Any chance we could get a heads up on when your full review of the Tacx bike will come out? Getting down to the wire for accepting or cancelling the pre-order and would love to have your perspective. Seems like you’ve had the bike longer than just about anyone.
I expect in the next 10 days it’ll come out. I just want to try the latest firmware, but that’s it.
At this juncture I haven’t seen any show stoppers, but I want to ensure the firmware quirks I saw on the 2T didn’t get backported to the NEO Bike in the last month. The NEO bike leverages the 2T internals (technically it’s actually the other way around).
Thanks for the quick reply Ray. Nice to know the new 2T internals are in there. That more or less seals the deal for me. Can’t justify spending another $600 for the Wahoo when I don’t care about the climb. Looks like I’ll keep my order in place and hope for delivery in the next two weeks.
Finally looking good! I’ll post when I have a tracking number though ;)
Not getting my hopes up until then.
Given how long Ray has had the Tacx and how long its been in testing I hope the reliability will be solid. Given the issues Wahoo has had with the Kickrs recently, I’m in no hurry to go back to Wahoo.
Although I might wait to open the Tacx bike until I read the review, just in case…
First off Ray, thanks for putting your time and effort into this post. It is appreciated by all of us who have been kept in the dark by Tacx over the past year. If it hadn’t been for you I’m sure most folk would have cancelled their preorders by now,
Two questions Ray;
Height range for NeoBike? My wife is 5 foot 3 inches and I’m 6 foot 2 and we both need to use it.
Does the bike have the same hardware/firmware as the just announced Neo 2
ZyroFisher are apparently advising UK retailers to expect delivery 16th September, but as I think this was also the date being given following the last missed ETA, then I’m not sure if it reflects the current situation or is just old data.
Waiting with bated breath to see if Ray’s review or CT’s shipping notice will drop first. Hoping for the former to confirm the decision I made last year. The race is on.
Yeah, although I fully understand Ray’s “don’t publish till it’s shipping” approach, I think on this occasion with shipping apparently imminent (really, really this time!) and a lot of people who’ve pre-ordered now also seeing the alternatives from Wahoo, Wattbike & Stages, it would help some of those people make the judgement whether to cancel their Tacx order before it’s too late, as it’s going to be a very heavy and expensive thing to return once delivered.
Been looking at availability in UK and a few sites are now saying it is available for order and dispatch within 1-2 days. e.g Cycle Republic. Looks like it is actually here!!!! Can’t wait for that review Ray………
I am not really shure about the Godot analogy, as Godot never arrived.
Source Wikipedia: At the end of the play, Vladmir and Estragon are told to expect Godot the next day.
They agree to leave and return the next day, with a stronger piece of rope so they can hang themselves if he fails to arrive, but neither makes any move (quelle surprise!).
I am not advocating to get a rope just in case the bike does not arrive the next day, given the depth and breath of alternatives.
I do second Neil Jones plea to see Ray’s review to make a call on whether the uphold my pre-order or not.
Nevertheless, I assume – as I have seen in other cases – the NDA states “no publication before first customers have access to product”.
Whoever gets the first bike would all of us do a favour if and when he or she posts the shipping notice here.
Thank you, Ray, for keeping us both up-to-date and entertained the last few months. If it were not against your stated policy, Garmin would do well to compensate you for all these past and present efforts.
Fear not, there’s nothing that says I can’t drop a review anytime I want (no embargoes or such here). More just my desire to avoid a scenario where I drop a review tomorrow, and then three months from now we’re still waiting for shipping.
I did ask them today to at least get a final box (the box I have has since changed). :)
Hi Ray,
As an dispassionate observer, I think you should definitely release the review such that the long suffering pre-order Tacx bike clients have an informed choice as to whether they cancel those pre-orders or hold tight but that window of opportunity for them is apparently closing fast.
You are wielding a lot of (knowledge is) power and if your review is of the final product and it’s just about the box (who care’s?) and timing (those pre-order clients really do care!) then that time is now. I think you’ve cut Tacx/Garmin enough slack already. :)
I’m happy to answer all the questions folks have here about it (and have been). My main concern is simply that there have been numerous times over the course of the year that Tacx has told folks (even me), that things should ship ‘immediately’, even by the end of the week in some cases.
While I truly do think this time is different, I’m just hesitant to publish something that simply ends up being about another beta edition.
Fully understood. Your experience with Tacx seems to similar to what we, potential customers, have experienced over the last year.
Sad to hear, but if the rumour mill coming from Eurobike is correct, there were legal (licensing) issues popping up. I was told that that there are plenty bikes ready to be shipped to my country to service clients but my dealer was told “there is one issues left”, whatever that means.
No, I can confirm those rumors were definitely not true. The actual issues for delay were:
1) Certification Part 1: Due to the design, in certain countries the bike ended up having to be re-categorized and re-certified as a ‘spin bike’ rather than a trainer (for safety certifications specifically). This was basically a totally unknown category to Tacx to deal with, and threw them for a long loop due to lack of passing one spin-bike specific requirement that doesn’t apply to Tacx because they don’t have a giant flywheel.
2) Certification Part 2: The Garmin acquisition put in place additional product release requirements, primarily around having all major certifications (CE/CB/FCC/IC/Australia/NZ) in place prior to shipping any initial product.
During this time they did make improvements to software and some minor hardware (might as well if there are easy hit items), but virtually everything was driven by paperwork.
I suspect the term ‘licensing’ was just a bad translation game of telephone.
Indeed, just checked German words through translation software about their use: certification and licensing are often used in similar legal circumstances, ie certification includes verification that all licences are present, where licences can refer to software rights (private contract) as well as compliance with public standards and mandates.
Wonderful, what we learn through the Tacx story, from legalese to Godot…
I cancelled my order with Clever and preordered the Wahoo. The Tacx will be a great bike once it ships, but although not necessary, the climb addition to the Wahoo bike is worth it to me. I use a climb now and it just adds a little to the indoor experience. Both bikes are already so expensive may as well get the additional option. I am a little concerned about the steering (or lack thereof.) I’m not sure I’d use it often, but having the option would be nice…..I know my kids would love it…I’ll be hanging on to my kickr to see how that aspect plays out.
People, like me, are in the market for these bikes because riding outdoors isn’t an option most of the time for a variety of reasons. I’d much prefer to be outdoors!! Also, multiple users. I have a wife and 5 kids that will enjoy the bike. Being able to adjust for each user is going to be wonderful!!
Lastly, thank you Ray for your reviews and posts. Also for replying to the many comments in this thread and others!
Ray, lots of people would love to read the review and be really happy to have the caveat out the firmware. As you can tell we are desperate for your view on this…
Seriously though, for me the question comes down to a few things. All this wahoo kickr stuff got me thinking. If I was going to buy a new direct drive trainer right now, I think I would buy the Neo 2T. Even though it can’t be used with a climb, I think it’s the better trainer overall, and I just have no faith in the kickr line given reliability issues. Climb isn’t enough to make me want to buy a regular kickr, so translated to the smart bike choice, I’m still favoring the Neo over the Kickr. All I need to know is if it rides well, shifts quickly, and is as quiet and high performing as the trainer. The kickr fit app is cool, but once I get the numbers dialed in for me and my family, I can’t see that ever being used again. So I’m mainly interested in any dealbreakers from a functionality or perceived reliability perspective.
Got to be official now. Instagram tacx is saying moment you’ve all been waiting for, it’s now available
Unfortunately for me it’s too late, I’m going to wait and get the wahoo. I’m annoyed that I bought a Neo 2 as a stop gap, intending to sell when bike available and hopefully not lose too much as it’s the current model – then they go and update it so quickly. Tacx customer service is definitely lacking!
Ray,
which smart bike is the quietest? Trying to choose between atom, wahoo and tacx and noise is the most important thing for me since I’m going to have it in the living room quite close to my newborn’s room :)
I have to do a side by side noise comparison on them. To be honest, they’re all pretty darn quiet. If you’re in a separate room, there’s no way you’d hear any of them.
To some degree that’s a little bit of you’re getting what you’re paying for. And that’s not in a bad way towards Wattbike, but just the reality of the situation.
The internals of the Wattbike Atom are a bit less capable of a design than that of the Wahoo/Tacx bike, though frankly most people would never notice unless they rode the higher end ones and pushed them to their limits. And the customization of the Wattbike in terms of gearing and such isn’t quite as flexible as Wahoo/Tacx. Same goes for shifting compared to Wahoo (which leads Tacx in that realm).
My current plan, assuming Tacx actually ships (for realz, trucks going out with bikes onboard, not just e-mails for the second Wednesday in a row), to drop my Tacx review mid-next week, and Wahoo likely a few days later. And then follow that up the following week with a full shoot-out.
Bad news from my dealer in the Netherlands, he just gave me the following info : “I just got an update from Tacx… it will take another 5 weeks before they can deliver the first Neo Bike’s in Europe.”
This does not seem to match information some of you guys received… it may apply to my dealer only.
Today they had two bikes. One for demonstration in the shop. The other one is mine.
The first impression.
1) The bike is over 50 kg and in one package.
2) Tip: don’t ask your girlfriend to help carrying.
3) When the bike was upstairs with a little help from the boy-next-door, I did the installation with my son who is 10 years old. It’a piece of cake.
4) The bike is very solid and stable.
5) Updating with the Tacx utility app works great. No problems.
6) The bike is extremely silent.
7) Shifting is amazing.
8) When the Neo Bike isn’t connect with a app, the Neo Bike screen shows: speed, cadence, watt, gear front and back. When you connect to Zwift only gear front and back is visable.
8) Connecting Zwift with an iPad works excellent.
9) My very short first impression is great.
Thanks for the quick review. The bike looks like it would be rock solid, which is great from a long term reliability standpoint. That’s the thing I wonder the most about for the kickr bike. Seems like the whole bike sits on one pivot. Anything that moves under heavy stress wears; anything that wears eventually needs service and/or repairs. The amount of stress on that pivot must be huge. I’m more sold on the solid four feet on the floor approach of the tacx. Glad to hear the tacx shifts and rides well. Now if only CT would let us know where our bikes are in the US.
Boom! After five months of riding and testing, your full Tacx NEO Bike Smart In-Depth Review is here. I dive into everything from accuracy to road feel, shifting to display aspects. Even lighting. Everything you’d ever want to know: link to dcrainmaker.com
As is usual, I’ll be closing the comments section here on this preview post to new comments, but of course feel free to continue the discussion over on the main review. That should help differentiate between pre-production stuff and the units (finally) shipping.
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The ability to change directions in zwift with the shifters would be awesome. Please Zwift get on this! I would love to have a button I could put on my bike and turn right or left in Zwift. I know you can do this with the companion app but messing with my phone during the ride is not enjoyable.
It looks like my next indoor trainer for me, and maybe another one for my wife.
I do have a question though. Did TacX improve their quality assurance? I have two Neo units, and they both came faulty, out of the factory, generating weird noises (whistling, rattling) from day one. I had both disassembled myself, readjusted and the problems went away, but it suggests TacX does not care to test their units before they leave the factory. Did that change or do the owners of the heavy Neo Bike will have to face the dillema of either shipping them back for repairs or repairing themselves to get them to work as quietly as advertised?
I think they learned a lot of lessons from the early Neo and Flux teething pains. Things seem to be better these days, and it sounds like they’ve put a lot of new focus on QA.
But ultimately only time will tell here.
Ray, further to LRs comment “for me, and maybe another one for my wife”, with all the adjustability, is the positional marking of the seat & bar positions good enough that if two (or more) people were sharing a unit, swapping settings would be easy or would it require 15+minutes and a measuring tape?
On the unit I tested, they hadn’t put the handle on it yet for making adjustment a two-second thing (it had pretty much rolled straight out of the factory next door into the room like minutes before we got there). But the handle will definitely be there, it may already be on the ones at the showfloor here at Eurobike, I’ll look.
The measurement numbering wasn’t on this unit, but I think they said that was coming and just didn’t make the cut for the unit we tried. At least, I don’t think I’m blending two different conversations there. I’ll ask when I swing by just in case.
Thanks Ray.
I need two as we have two houses – my wife works in a different country :-/
Thanks for the reply – fingers crossed for improved QA. This thing is a bit too heavy to just send back if it malfunctions.
I confirmed the final unit will have measurement markings on it. Also, as noted above all adjustment points will have the knobs as well (no need for hex wrenches).
Hopefully they did. I had 3 Neo units that all made crazy noises too. The owner of my LBS thought I was being too picky, so we opened a brand new one up right off the palette and it made that awful knocking noise, you should have seen the look…
Half of Tacx’s QA issue is their crappy attitude. I contacted them directly and they essentially told me “live with it’
I would never buy a $2500 from them unless I had an ironclad guarantee of safisfaction and they could cover any shipping costs.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who got good units, but I know that their failure rates were crazy high. If anyone wants to buy a used one, I have it sitting in my garage… only makes whistling noises…
A feature of the Wattbike Atom which seems clever was that they provided a “wizard” which would walk you through measuring your road bike and then give you the settings on the Atom for seat post height, bar height, stem extension etc. I’d imagine it’s tricky setting up one of these stationary bikes to be an exact fit to a road bike otherwise because your normal points of reference are different (.e.g it’s perhaps a different height off the ground etc.). Are you aware of whether Tacx plan to produce a similar “wizard”?
You just need a diy laser that projects a vertical and horizontal cross. I have all of my bikes set up with mm of each other using that (vertical line through centre of bb), horizontal is then a datum (I have mine going through the bottom of the saddle rails). Can do saddle set back and step length from the vertical, and stem height and saddle from horizontal
It does not matter how high the bike is off the ground. Your bike fit is with reference to the BB. Think stack height and reach.
It does get tedious taking the bikes (two of us here, with 2 Neos in the house) on and off and cleaning all the cassettes. Couple of these would be grail pain cave setup.
Two big points though.
Sprinting – the Neo currently has lateral movement. I love that. Had a Flux for a month and ended up getting a second Neo as it just doesn’t feel as good out of the saddle or sprinting on. That will get lost with this I’m sure, though there is a major advantage in that you’re no longer afraid to trash your carbon frame. I’m always quite conservative when sprinting and it really is just a fear of going all out and something going snap around the seat stays. Will be interesting to see reviewers put down some proper sprints and see their opinion on it.
And… the adjustability. Missus’ cranks are 165mm, so I know this can’t replicate that unfortunately. More importantly though, both our bikes are aggressive aero bikes so would really need to see this being able to get us into those same positions for winter when we’re on the trainer 90% + of the time. If not, then it’s no dice. Mimicking position is pretty important for us so looking forward to seeing just how thorough they’ve been when designing this.
Damn you @Jay… I was happily reading through this thinking “nice, but as I’ve already got a Neo I couldn’t justify this” and now you’ve given me two good reasons – the hassle of bike on/bike off (particularly as I’m thru-axle) and worrying about the load on my carbon stays, especially out of the seat.
Whilst I’ll totally admit that the first is laziness, in those periods when the weather seems to flip on a daily (or even hourly) basis, it’s still the difference between ‘I can’t be bothered to stick my bike on the trainer just for today when it’s going to be off again tomorrow’ or sweating away for another hour in the garage when there’s actually a short nice break in the weather outside.
Jay –
The slight later movement (side-to-side) of the Neo is a real Patellar tendon saver for me. Seems like you think it will be missing on the Smart Bike— I hope not. That feature seemed to be a differentiator for Neo vs the rigid locked in Wahoo products.
According to GP Lama there was no noticeable sway, unfortunately.
I wonder if it is now also missing from the new NEO 2?
Thanks Ray, nice overview you’ve put here. Please info, can this tablet holder be removed (for Zwifters who use big tv’s in front of them, tablet would only come in the way?)
Wife was looking at Peloton, perhaps this would be the better buy. Looks enticing, especially since we could then chose various platforms to ride on/with :)
Does an app exist for group spin classes for smart trainers? Peloton is a dumb trainer (solid built spin bike…no smart other than web connection). I suppose you could get a group together and agree on a workout…cycle team, etc..
Hi Ray, any update on the Tacx NEO Smart Trainer? No updates last year, same this year?
Hey, what a about a power meter like the atom? Seems a big differentiator for me no?
Any chance Tacx could consider bringing virtual shifting to the normal neo maybe via the tacx app and/or some bluetooth buttons? it would be nice to “virtual shift” in Zwift etc. with the neo without having to worry about the physical shifters / derailleurs etc. on the “trainer bike”
Ray – do you have a link where Tacx is taking pre-orders? I couldn’t find anything on their website. (As you can tell i’m excited about this and was hoping you would be posting on this! Thanks!)
Ditto. How would one get on a pre order?
I just emailed Tacx to ask about pre-orders and within 2 minutes got a reply saying they don’t yet have a release date and were not taking pre-orders at this time. The speed at which they responded makes me think I’m not the first to ask!
No link yet. CT is hoping to have the assets to create listings in the next couple days (for both US and UK/Europe).
I guess wahoo isn’t interested in this space? Something sub 2k would be a big hit for me.
I feel like us Americans get the smart bike shaft
What’s about the maintenance of the drivetrain ? Is there a chain? a belt?
Finally! A suitable replacement for a 10 year old Cycleops PT300 Indoor Bike (powertap ant+ hub), which was a dumb trainer, but still felt great to ride (and I actually preferred it after trying a Kickr Snap for a month or so).
Have held off buying a wheel off smart trainer since seeing this unit last year. Hopefully I can convince my wife that it’s time to upgrade.
can you remove the cranks for replace it with powercranks?
I don’t believe so.
I’ve been wondering about turning my current bike + Tacx NEO into something similar. For me the biggest gain with the Smart Bike is that it’s readily adjustable for different users, so people of different builds can share the same device. That can be replicated for the seat post by at worst using different seat posts per user and using a QR seat clamp, but I’m not sure how to replicate the handlebar adjustability. Do you have any ideas how that can be achieved?
I think once you put the quick release hands on there and the centimeter markings it should be quick and easy.
I don’t know if you could swap out the entire seatpost as an accessory. I can ask though, that’d be an interesting one – especially if partners have different saddle preferences.
Yes please definitely ask about swapping out the seatpost.
Not sure if you understood my original question though: I’m not sure I want to purchase the Smart Bike since I already have a NEO. It’d be great if I could replicate the adjustability of the Smart Bike by swapping out a few parts of the current road bike that’s attached to the NEO. Do you know of a way to replicate the ease of adjusting the saddle position and handlebar position on a normal bike?
I got a email a couple of weeks ago from Swedish distribitor of The Wattbike. They now ship Atoms to costumers in Sweden. It’s the first country besides Uk that can get them from a local distribitor.
In the email it also was some words of the Atom is going to have a new version that is more focused on gyms etc.
How about adjustability for short riders?
Did TacX mention adjustability (seat and handlebar position) limits for short (or very tall) riders? I know many 155 – 160 cm short riders out there. Crank lenght 170 mm minimum will not promise too much. My opinion is 165 mm crank lenght should be possible.
I quess they have decided design specs for max/min rider size anyway.
Looks like one of the rocking animals at a kids park. Kind of llama-like, actually. Shane must love it.
Ray, great write up! I would also like to know if 165mm Crank lengths will be in the future as typical shimano crank lengths go from 165 -> 175mm.
Also my wife is 5 feet tall so it would be awesome if we can both use it.
My wife is 5′ tall too, and it would be fantastic if we could ditch both of our current trainers and simply share this one smart bike. My biggest concern would be the seat height. Has Tax stated anything about the minimum inseam or minimum rider height?
Hi.
Do you know what the maximum user height will be for this bike?
Thanks in advance.
What does it weigh?
How can you move it? (Any little wheels?)
I don’t have the exact weight, but it has little wheels on the back (you can see it in the video when I move it on the rollers).
Do you think you can ask Tacx whether they can come up with some sort of trade-in program for those of use who already own the Neo? I’d love to buy this, but I have to worry about whether I can successfully sell the Neo…
I came here to make a comment re: crank length choice, but it looks like it’s already the most common comment. I will echo what others have said and add a little.
I think 170mm at the short end is too long, especially with the move to shorter cranks, particularly in triathlon and TT. And then of course there are shorter riders, who even on their road bikes ride something shorter than 170mm.
I am 6’0″ and ride 175mm road and 165mm on the TT bike. I would like to see the ability to not only go to 165mm, but even shorter, say 150mm. This would allow the Tacx Smart Bike to function as a bike fit tool. Want to see what 150mm cranks feel like? No problem! Just change crank length, adjust seat position and go. Then observe changes in feel and measure power.
This level of adjustability would be easy to implement (fit bikes do this already) but would compromise aesthetics. And aesthetics matter for a product like this. Well, not to me, I would take the functionality, but for a large segment of consumers, they would prefer the sleeker look of the minimally adjustable crank.
Are the crank arms easily removeable/replaceable or are they more or less integrated into the bike? If the former, I would be first in line to buy if Tacx or a third party offered a more adjustable crank option.
how to i buy one??? Where??
curt.shaw@natura-global.com
Pre-orders should open very shortly.
Looking forward to it !!!
I was not able to get a Atom (shame on them). But maybe for the best – except for $$$
Finally a properly silent ergo/trainer. Some of us are living in apartments in Germany etc you know; almost impossible to use a trainer without constant complaints. And that is the reason for popularity of Kettler units despite their medieval software and limited features.
I hope this one has an accurate powermeter (not stupid calculations, a pm with strain gauges), ergo mode with pre-created workouts (cannot articulate how important this is), local ride recording (I would like the unit record the trainings in a local fit, tcx etc file) and a good service center. No zwift, apps etc required but welcome. I do not want to scramble for a phone, tablet etc every time I do a session. Controlling from a pc is also acceptible and a good alternative.
Ey Ray. Could you ask tacx is It would be possible to implement the simulation of oval plates such as the Q-Ring QX2 Rotor.
Ray, what did you mean by this, “In addition to shifting there’s braking, you can pull the brake levers to brake the bike. This has two purposes down the road. The first is to stop the bike mid-ride, but the second could be to replicate/simulate directional turning. So the idea that you could potentially brake one side or the other to turn the bike.”
While brake levers are L/R, brakes themselves are F/R, squeezing one brake lever doesn’t turn you on a real bike; does it do such on this one?
What it really needs is some programmable buttons somewhere that can activate different zwift (or alternative) view modes, or other zwift commands like a gaming keyboard/mouse have.
I especially want a button to “summon wife for water refill or plug in the fan”
In you in-depth review (and an update to the storm review) it would be nice to have a part focused on the noise of the bike. As it was referred, in many countries, living in a flat, having a bike creating a lot of noise is a big no-no. In your reviews it would be a nice improvement to have the amount of dB created at, let’s say, 100 rpm (for comparison across bikes).
Watching for the window to open to preorder. Thanks for all you do! Your reviews are great.
Does it have leveling feet? I think that’s one of the biggest things missing from the NEO
I think they’ve found a good niche to fill here. Spin bikes lack road bike feel. What I would like to see is this with a front end that raises with incline like the Wahoo Kickr Climb.
To me, the biggest selling point to a smart trainer is that I can finally keep my bikes in the garage and out of the house. No more black stains on the walls and doors from bumping my tires against them!
@ Jared, if you watch the video closely you can see leveling feet on the front. Or at least some knobs that look suspiciously like them. Also hitting F5 for a chance to preorder on CT. Wife is convinced!
Fear not – I’ll drop a comment with the links here as soon as there’s a listing available on CT (so if subscribed to comments, you’ll get notified immediately).
That said, I’m a bit concerned with some of the pricing updates/details I’m hearing post-Eurobike…
This would be an insta buy for me as a time trialist as it means I can save 10-12 hours of wear and tear on my time trial bike when training indoors if they can provide satellite gear shifters that you could add to tribar extensions so I could change gears without getting out of position.
I will definitely be following this product with interest and with a high interest in purchasing.
Just as a quick update – Tacx has confirmed final USD pricing for the bike…and it’s gone up a bit.
It’ll come in at $3,199. EU pricing remains the same at 2,599EUR.
Personally, I think this is too high. Given most US buyers will still have to pay local sales tax (another 5-9% likely), that puts the total price upwards in the $3,500 price bucket.
That’s about 50-70% higher than the Wattbike Atom, if of course Wattbike ever got around to shipping their units in the US.
Woof. That’s steep. That’s about US$1,000 more than I paid for my Neo, a used carbon 105 bike off ebay, cassette, install tools and sales tax. People will pay for convenience though and this type of product is aimed at the “Peleton” crowd. I have two non-cyclist friends that would love to start zwifting but the complexity barrier of buying all the right parts (trainer, bike, etc) and putting it together (for non-cyclists) is too steep. $1,000 is a big margin though, especially since a Peleton Bike is only $2,200 with california sales tax (despite its clear inferiority in terms of control-ability). US$2,500+tax seems a lot more competitive. Hope Tacx doesn’t shoot themselves in the foot and lessen the success of this important product avenue with such pricing.
As I wrote some days ago, Wattbike Atom now ships go Sweden. The price is 2111 Euro.
So a Tacx neo smartbike is not that far away on europeian pricing. What I have read about the two I would put my money on the tacx.
Fair point. For 500 euro/dollars more I’ll take the Tacx any day.
If Tacx gave me the MSRP of my Neo in trade in value towards the smart bike I think I’d go for it.
I checked with Tacx and nope, no trade in. I think it’s a silly long term move, as I don’t see how most people’s flywheel and circuity will accumulate enough wear as to make them unrecyclable.
Ack! I was all-in for $2500. $3200 has me in the “wait for the 2nd gen/a price drop” category and that’s without sales tax (Oregon). I suppose it’s another season on the G1 Kickr.
Mike, Ray already dropped the preorder info on this thread. With 10% off and free shipping, order comes out to $2880 fully delivered. May be worth a relook if you were considering at $2500!
Yep, slightly more compelling, but still a touch more than I’m willing to drop without serious thought.
Great pre-review, I think I’ll want to buy one of these!!
I can’t find any mention of the bike on the Tacx website, do you have a link?
Ray…from your brief test ride does the Neo Bike feel the same as a regular bike on a Tacx Neo in terms of inertia?
As opposed to a spin bike which doesn’t feel like riding on a road at all.
Felt the same to me (and my brief test ride).
Ray, how does it compare to the Wattbike Atom? Does it have the “spiral of death” where resistance gets ultra hard if you stop pedaling? and overall which you you buy? Thanks!
I didn’t run into the spiral of death, but I also wouldn’t say I had a ton of time to get myself into that situation either.
At this point, the Tacx bike is coming in substantially higher than the Atom, and the Wattbike folks sound like they’re getting fairly close to some major firmware updates too. So might be worth a revisit there.
Wow… this is pretty far outside of my affordable price range, unfortunately, but it looks (and sounds!) amazing… here’s to hoping my gym will get them at some point. Great video, Ray, finally subscribed to the channel :)
Hi Ray,
Tacx have announced the Tacx Flux 2 as well as this Tacx Neo Bike Smart but they have nothing announced about a new Tacx Neo trainer on the 2018 Eurobike – Do you still expect a new version of the T2800 Tacx Neo Smart direct drive trainer in the near future or is it ‘safe’ to buy the current T2800 model? As they use the current Tacx Neo model in this Tacx Neo Bike Smart I assume that we can be pretty confident in the support (software updates…) of the T2800 model.
Great write up as always many thanks. I’m just wondering if you know the best way I can get my hands on a unit as soon as possible after reslsease. I live in the UK.
I’ve just sold my wattbike atom after being left disappointed by its failings. This looks like it ticks all the boxes the atom failed to.
For me it just depends whether I can get one in time for the winter.
A few people have asked about the crank lengths namely sizes outside of 170-175mm which come as standard.
I use 165mm cranks to alleviate pain from a hip impingement so I would need that option if I was to purchase the Neo bike.
I imagine many others will have reasons for needing cranks either bigger or smaller than 170 – 175.
Could you maybe ask Tacx if the cranks can be replaced or if they are considering it as an after market add-on?
Is the girl excited about this? I am with her- hate moving my bike on and off the trainer…..
I asked, and she responded with: “Is it pink?”
Serious.
OK- my first thought is “wow DC Rainmaker responded to me.” Second- I read somewhere that The Girl wants a Peloton Bike and I think I would like one also- but I don’t like the proprietary stuff– so I have been waiting for a good substitution. Is this that bike? I am sure a pink saddle and bar tape could be installed…..
Hi Ray,
i wonder if You could please repair the tags You have created for the articles about the Tacx neo smart bike, actually there are 2 articles which have different ideas for tags, so in case I want to find them – i google them.
The tags actually look like this:
tag/tacx-neo-smart-bike
tag/tacx-smart-bike
tag/tacx-neo-bike-smart
Regards
Switch486
Thanks, I’ve now made both articles have the same Tacx-focused tags.
The reason there’s actually two sets of tags:
Tacx Neo Smart Bike
and
Tacx Neo Bike Smart
Is my way of correcting for a weirdly worded name. The official name is ‘Tacx Neo Bike Smart’, whereas in English, nobody would say that – we’d say ‘Tacx Neo Smart Bike’, because the word ‘Smart’ will always go in front of whatever we’re describing as smart (smart home, smartphone, smart etc…).
The number of times I’ve had to correct myself writing or verbally…
FYI – the word order is also non-sensible in Dutch, should you wonder.
Does the unit simulate climbs?
It changes the resistance like most trainers, but it doesn’t go up and down physically like a Wahoo CLIMB would.
Hi Ray
When I Google ‘TACX Neo Smart Bike’ the only recent posts I see are this page and yours and Shane’s YouTube videos.
Nothing on the TACX website.
Any idea what’s going on?
You mention the first units will be sold out so there will be a wait at launch. Any idea how to actually buy/pre-order? I’ve googled this and can’t find it anywhere except your reviews
Thanks
Yeah, in short Tacx has been super-slow at getting ‘official listing information’ to retailers. Basically, the exact wording and pricing so that retailers can properly list it. Said wording has to be standardized, else things like features can get muddled when one retailer might got and say something that’s incorrect.
Normally, manufs have this ready on Day 0…but apparently some things were in flux here (no pun intended).
The split second that I hear it’s listed, I’ll definitely post here!
Here’s the email I got from TACX this week when I inquired about pre order and release date:
Thank you for your message and great to hear that you’re interested.
It is not possible to pre order the NEO Bike Smart.
We hope to release the trainer end October or beginning Q4.
Kind Regards
Tacx Support
Q-Factor is standard road-bike q-factor.
Do you know how much millimeters? (145mm , 150mm)?
Thanks DC, great review.
Knowing what you know today, which bike trainer set up would you recommend?
Wahoo’s latest Kickr with climber, stand etc or the Taxi Neo Smart Bike?
Cheers, Justin
Please notify me if/as the pre-order becomes available.
Thanks!
Hey Folks-
Many of you have been asking for purchase links via CT for the Tacx Neo Smart Bike…and finally, those are here (for the US anyway, UK/EU links should follow very shortly).
Here’s the US link: link to clevertraining.com
The final Tacx retail price (as decided by Tacx is $3,199USD). There is no fee for shipping to you fwiw, which is somewhat notable in the indoor bike realm (most times it’s $250USD, such as Peloton).
The official ship date for this is currently listed as ‘late November’, which is a bit of a blend of Tacx’s timelines, plus Clever Training being the usual very conservative with manufacturers dates and padding things a bit more.
Note that you as DCR Readers can still use the DCR Reader 10% off coupon code, DCR10BTF to get 10% off. As noted, you’d already get free shipping on this item…this just makes it faster free shipping. Plus, you support the site and all the usual goodness.
Enjoy!
Paypal isn’t currently a payment option for some reason. I’ve sent an inquiry. Large ticket item like this, it’d be nice to get interest free payments to spread it out. Very annoying that it’s not an option. If you have any inside pull would you mind asking if it’s intentional? Trying to get my preorder in as early as possible in hopes I’ll have it as soon as possible.
Thanks again for all you do!!
Kris
You have a link for us Europeans too? :-)
Kris: I just shot a note over asking. They do have Affirm payment plans available, but it doesn’t appear to be interest-free on this item. Sometimes it is/was, but I’m not sure how it’s decided.
TL: Yup, Europe links coming shortly (I hope). They’re still waiting on Tacx on the EU/UK side.
Thanks Ray.
Ray when you review the Smart Bike, please do devote a section to maintainability, e.g. how many parts do we have to take out and grease? Are there any actual gears/chain to replace? One of the biggest reasons I want this is because I don’t want to go through the hassle of maintaining my turbo-attached bike, and if it’s as simple as the current Tacx Neo setup of greasing the flywheel every half a year or so that’d be great.
Yup, definitely will cover.
Ray,
Please PLEASE test tri-bar extensions for your full review.
I am a TT’er and would be purchasing this so that I can stop using my TT bike indoor and reducing wear and tear on it.
I am concerned how TT bars would fit on this and whether TT bars would run into problems hitting or obstructing the display panel.
If the bars themselves wont obstruct the display, would your hands, when training in the TT position simply obstruct the display and how will Tacx accomdate TT’ers/Triathletes who train in the TT position??
Hi Ray, do you have a date for publication of an in depth review?
Thanks!
Not likely till November for the in-depth review. I’d want to be on a production or nearly production unit, which sounds like October as of last week.
The bike looks great, and is the biggest contender for an upgrade of my Pain cave. I had a Neo previously (with no problems at all) and wonder how the material and production quality feels with the bike. There is nothing that would be more off putting than spending all the cash on this bike for it’s awesome technical (and mechanical) features just to experience it to be creaking in it’s plastic panels and that it feels put together with parts that just ALMOST perfectly fit if you understand what I mean. Can you say a little about your experience around build- and material quality ?
– Steinar
I think the build and material quality were great. Same as the Tacx Neo. Obviously, it’s not designed to be a gym bike with 10-15hrs of usage per day, it’s designed as a home bike. So it doesn’t need metal paneling, which they don’t have to save on shipping/etc…
Hi there. Sorry if this has already been asked but any update on the uk release?
Production is currently slated to begin at the end of October. So I suspect we’re talking November availability.
Thanks for the response Ray. I’ll keep checking back here for updates as I’d really like to get a unit in time for the worst weather.
Meanwhile any news on availability ? Thx
Still November, but I’ll see them later today here at Interbike.
Here is hoping for a revised price point.
Question: The Tacx Neo allows a bit or rear wheel sway (side to side) this is important to me vs the dead rigid feel of some bikes locked into trainers. My knees actually feel less stress with a little give vs a rigid mount. I assume that is missing in this Neo Bike Smart?
Great review.
Do you have any information on the footprint / dimensions?
— cheers
v
Hi
Does the TACX bike provide any form of pedal stroke analysis?
I loved my Wattbike but not enough to go for the Atom over this, would be good if this provided feedback on pedalling efficiency
The product description on Sigma Sports says there is pedal stroke analysis
Just noticed that this is up for ore order on sigma sports for UK delivery now. Be lucky to get it by Christmas though by the looks of it
link to sigmasports.com?
That listing computes to a lower MSRP in USD than what we have seen. Sure would be nice.
Yeah, but they won’t ship it to the US, and honestly, if you had any problems you’d be hosed on that since the US distributor wouldn’t help you get it resolved.
Meant it would be nice if they had taken your advice and adjusted the price point between the date CT listed and the date Sigma listed it. I wouldn’t try to purchase from a UK based vendor for the reasons you mentioned. Unfortunately the push in delivery date means that the purchase on the card will go through at same time as other holiday stuff.
Bummer….looks like the delivery is pushed out to December on clevertraining.
“Pre-Order : Expected Early December”
I was hoping to get it before Winter hits :(
thinking if UK (read Europe) deliveries are estimating xmas eve then even early December estimate for USA might be optimistic
EU deliveries are expected late November, but often times what Tacx (and Elite) does is they actually take the first week’s worth of production and sticks it on a boat, and then starts Euro production. This way the US shipment gets on its way a bit sooner.
Still, I agree, I don’t foresee a scenario whereby US folks get Tacx bikes before Christmas, unless Tacx decides to air-ship them. Which, perhaps they might (I’ve voiced my opinion clearly that they should, at least for pre-orders prior to Christmas). It’d cost them, yes, but it’s actually not as bad as shipping a Wattbike, due to the unique design of the Tacx Bike. In theory the box will actually be thinner than the Neo (but slightly longer. Kinda like a Ikea bookshelf.
Hi
No hdmi output? I got use to my 4k 40″ tv.
Only works with an Ipad?
I’m not sure what content would go over that HDMI port?
There’s no native app on the unit itself. Rather, you use whatever apps you have. It can hold any tablet you want. The iPad was merely what we had that day. It has standard USB ports, so you can use anything that supports that for power.
Sure would be great if they would air ship for pre-orders. I’m dying to get this in the cave. Free shipping and the 10% off helped get this within range, plus I’m selling the bike I have on my current trainer, as well as selling the trainer, so won’t be too big a hit on the wallet. In return I’m expecting a much more versatile tool that everyone in my family can use with no more hauling bikes on and off the trainer. Can’t wait for this to arrive.
Now, one of the biggest questions that is rounding my mind at the moment.
TACX SMART BIKE
VS
Wahoo Core+Climb+basic bike with an easy saddle height clamp
Like the simplicity of the smart bike BUT wahoo core + climb looks + cheap ish bike like a more versatile combo for about the same price?
Exactly. For the price (at least in USD), I can have a trainer unit that’s just as good and a decent spare bike (that’s my current setup). This price might work for folks who buy things like Wahoo fans, but the rest of us? Not so much.
For me this will be a godsend. I’m so sick of changing bikes and cassettes every time someone else in the house wants to zwift. This isn’t all that much more than some other high end gym bikes but you get so much more. I can’t wait.
I preordered it through Clever, I hope we hear some dates soon. I was hoping Nov but Dec is ok too. For now I have a kickr but I’d like my bike back so I don’t have to switch it in and out if I want to ride downtown…
I did a preorder when first available. Had to cancel that credit card due to fraud and have a new one now. What should I do to make sure the preorder goes through correctly?
Hi ray
Are the gears and drive chain real or virtual, if it’s virtual do you get the option of chainring sizes I.e. 53/44. 52/36 and compact 50/34
I did note in a vidio the cassette can be 12 speed or 14 speed os are the cassette sizes optional
Cheers ivor
Hi ray
Will the neo bike give power readings from individual Feet
Cheers ivor
It’s worth paying the price difference between this and wattbike atom
Yes. I have had and sold the wattbike. Even if you don’t by the tacx bike I’d highly recommend you avoid the atom. It just comes up short in some key areas.
Hey all, just stopping back with some news. I noticed today tacx finally put up a product page on their site with some interesting details throughout: link to tacx.com
I would pre order the Smart bike today if I could confirm that the small amount of left/right sway that the Neo is known for is still present in this bike. My patellar tendon really appreciates a little give in the pedaling motion vs the locked down feeling of the Wahoo.
1. DC Rainmaker did not mention it in his initial video
2. no mention of it in the Tacx product page.
If anybody knows if this motion is still present – please let me know ! Thanks !
I honestly don’t remember well enough (it was almost 4 months ago now), whether there was any noticble motion or not.
Plus, there have been a variety of internal changes since then anyways. I can ask though, and hopefully I’ll be able to confirm soon enough (sometime November) on a test unit.
My general suggestion would be to pre-order now (since you can always cancel later if it doesn’t meet your needs – my review will release at/before shipping, or at worst I’ll have a unit by that point to answer question on). I suspect availability will only get tougher as they get closer. Which isn’t so much a push to order, but just setting realistic expectations.
Thanks for the update DC Rainmaker. I will preorder and hope that there is more info on this feature before my unit is on the way.
Or you could just put some foam or rubber pads under each foot. That would probably give enough motion for you
Not a bad idea if it worked. Dont need much lateral movement — but 100% rigid trainers have a way a waking up injuries from years ago.
Thanks
Ray,
Have you seen a Skillbike in person? It looks very promising as well, but not sure what it costs. Technogym Skillbike looks like it will compete in the same arena with all the connectivity. I’m not sure if they are currently shipping or not.
Almost 5000€, bit much a think :-)
link to technogym.com
Ouch….Yes, that’s way too much to even consider…..
After watching GPLama’s review of their ‘smart’ trainer, I can’t see this ending well.
I’ve seen in person the Skillbike and I got a chance to try it. My personal impression was very very good! Execellent build quality and the thing that very impressed me is the shifting gears, ’cause seemed to me to ride a real bike on the road!
The stem doesn’t look adjustable which seems a little short sighted.
Hi Thomas,
I believe the stem is definitely adjustable.
Hi Ray,
Hope the nudge between your legs turned out to be benign.
With such a substantial investment in mind, I was wondering what are your thoughts on the future of the transmission protocols that are currently the industries’ standard, and hence drive the Neo Bike Smart’s communication with online platforms? I know it’s hard to predict, but would you think they are still relevant in 10 years?
(If for the purposes of discussion we use ANT+ FE-C, since that standard is more advanced than FTMS at present…)
Right now the standard is lagging a bit to keep up with the convergence of what is basically the control aspects of FE-C with the gear-shifting monitoring aspects of the Gear Shifting profile. There needs to be some extra pages in FE-C to cover that.
At present companies are just doing it privately via private pages on FE-C and FTMS, but that’s clunky. And to be fair, everyone knows it. It’s a matter of figuring out how to find that middle-ground.
I think 10-years out out for almost any protocol is tough, but if we look back 10 years we’d see ANT+ power is still here (and more powerful than ever before), and it was here 10 years ago. HR profile is older than that, as is speed/cadence.
Thanks!
I’ll take this as a “don’t worry about it you’ll probably still be able to Zwift with your neo bike smart 10 years from now” ;)
Definitely no issues there. After all, Zwift is still supporting the CompuTrainer, a product released well over a decade ago (depending on which version), and that was stopped being sold 1-2 years ago.
The numbers of CompuTrainers out there is trivial in comparison to even just one product line of FE-C or FTMS trainers. To put it in perspective, Wahoo will ship more KICKR CORE units in two months than CompuTrainer ever made in their entire history.
Can one do standing-start efforts on this trainer?
Background: I currently have a Tacx Neo and if I try standing starts (I’m a track cyclist), i.e. from 0 cadence, max power to ~130 cadence in a few seconds, the trainer gives out, almost like a breaker popping to protect itself. It goes to zero resistance and I have to stop pedaling to reset. I’m sure this effort is no where near the 2k watts or so it’s supposedly capable of, though I suspect this is for a higher cadence than the beginning of a standing start. Perhaps it comes down to the torque rating. I can do these efforts if I ramp it up slowly, say over 10-15 seconds, but that kind of defeats the purpose. The Internets, FWIW, also suggest mixed results on these kinds of efforts for Neo and Kickr.
Uh oh. Just got an email from CleverTraining saying shipping delayed until January!
Not surprised – bike industry just cant seem to get timing figured out. I ordered a high end Mountain bike and delivery has been postponed to December… not the best time to deliver a warm weather product.
And for home trainers… I can see where this is heading, November became December and now its January. Feb or March is next….
I truly think this is going to be an awesome product … but looks like Fall 2019 is making more sense now.
Yeah. Do note that US vs EU/UK shipping will vary by roughly 3-4 weeks. Last I heard (last night), they were on track to have a final prod unit to me the last week of November (or, last few days of November more specifically).
While it takes only about 20ish minutes to get to my place from Tacx, it takes about 3-4 weeks on the open ocean to get from Tacx to ‘Merica. So if the first production units roll off the line Nov 30th, then the soonest US shipments would arrive would basically be Jan 1st.
Typically what Tacx does is take all shipments from the first week and send them via container to the US. Then the secondish week becomes EU/UK shipments. This gets the US ones on the way.
If things change, I’ll drop notes here.
I’m really on the fence here. This product would be ideal for my situation. But any delays beyond January delivery and it makes sense to wait until Fall – next year. Sales would have been brisk if this product would have been available in September/October. I am a little worried about taking the first ones off the assembly line. I have retailers that sell Tacx nearby – but they dont know about this bike yet. So I would be ordering from Clever Training – I hope post sale support can be figured out should these early units have issues.
Yep, got the same email. Bummed, but not surprised. Will just have to put up with switching bikes for another month. If the delay means a better qc’d product, that’s ok with me.
HI Ray – Still on for this week to get your final prod unit of the Neo Bike Smart?
I haven’t heard. I’ll ask tomorrow morning.
Thanks Ray – really looking forward to your update once you have time with the Prod unit…
Hey Ray, you might have more connections with TACX than I do. I hear from distributor that there have been some “problems” in quality, and production is halted at the moment!
They’re behind, but production can’t be halted if it didn’t begin. :)
The current plan has them doing their first production run tomorrow or Friday.
Still no news ….??
Harry
They were aiming to have their first product units completed last Friday, but that has slipped slightly. As of last night they were still working on them.
I suspect we’re realistically a couple weeks away before we see any production units go to consumers, as I suspect we’ll see the first production units get some more detailed testing once off the line.
It’s disappointing that Clever Training EU is still not taking preorders.
I stopped waiting and ordered it at an official Tacx shop here in Belgium, with 10% discount.
which shop might that be then? :)
Triper4mance in Pulderbos:
link to triper4mance.be
They had a preorder of 20 units with Tacx, more then half are already sold :-)
12Gobiking in Holland has them too, no discount on the website but you should get 10% in store as well.
Hello,
Any news from Tacx ..?
Harry
We are tacx retailers and as far as we know, until mid-late december units wont arrive to retailers, so I doubt that you will get it before that in any retailers
Pre-ordered fr Sigma in the UK was meant to ship before Xmas, emailed them to comfirm all was still good, told they were in regular contact with Tacx and no changes noted. Few hours later email from Sigma stating delay and no new date could be confirmed. Becomimg a typical issue with companies, Kicker climb as an example.
Is the fly wheel mechanism same as the Tacx neo and therefore likely to have issues with noise?
Does the unit have motorized adjustable seat/handlebar positions? What I’m getting at is the ability to save positions, so if I swap from TT to Road, I choose so in a menu, it puts everything back, and viola, instant bike transformation and no tools required (other than some fine tuning if the saddle angle is different, mine is for example). That’d almost get me to jump on this bandwagon. Also, does the unit have full ability to get your TT position right in terms of height/length? Can’t tell if the aero bars would get in the way of the tablet holder and all of that.
forget about the motorized adjustable seat/handlebar, you will need to do it by hand!
Correct, no motorized aspects.
Your TT position will depend on whether your bars would fit to match on this unit. There’s some concern from some people about the console being too wide for some bar setups.
Get a guru fit bike and attach a computrainer resistance unit to control resistance. :-p
I’m still waiting on a reply to this thread Tweet from @Guyver1_: link to twitter.com
@tacx @TacxSupport @dcrainmakerblog @gplama any update on this? It went very quiet..
speficially regarding TT extensions and arms/hands completely obscuring the out front display.
Ray – how do you feel about the “future profess” of the Neo smart bike? There’s so much innovation in the smart trainer space at the moment that the idea of getting locked in to a certain level of technology doesn’t make sense to me. Firmware/software updates will only go so far. Also, if this goes wrong – imagine how difficult it’s going to be getting it back to Tacx.
I meant “future proofness” – damn autocorrect!
It is based on the neo 2 so should get everything it can get.
Seems like the main tech this doesn’t have is climb like functionality. Even Nordictrack has that now link to nordictrack.com (though guessing not zwift compatible and lots of other shortcomings as its more a spin bike to compete with peleton)
Hi Ray, I cant get any info on the minimum saddle height. Getting it for my wife but not sure whether it can fit her!
Also Ray,
Is there a manual resistance level mode for this bike?
Hi Ray,
I see on your recent DCR Pain Cave tour you are in receipt of the Neo Bike. Is this a pre-production or 1st product run unit? I have one on pre-order in the UK and now doubt its going to be a Christmas let alone an early Christmas present to myself and guess I’m looking at sometime in Jan 2019 unless you have more insight from Tacx?
Cheers
Gareth
Pre-prod unit unfortunately.
Thanks Ray,
Any indication from Tacx when the production units will ship? I heard a comment from Shane Miller saying they were almost ready whilst he was visiting you.
cheers
Gareth
No idea at this point.
When he was here, that was the plan, they were going to try and get units to us while he was here. But things slipped, and then slipped again, and at this point it’s the holidays – so unsure of when things will hit.
When will we see a head to head test between Atom and Neo Smart bike :)?
Once I’ve got a final Neo bike I’ll hit up the Wattbike folks to get another loaner Atom.
I received these dimensions from Tacx in case anyone else is interested in figuring out fit for multiple family members. Looks like a pretty good size range.
Unfortunately I’m hearing late January delivery at the earliest now. I’m starting to wonder whether to cancel my pre-order and just wait til Fall if it slips any further.
My general rule in life when it comes to pre-orders and whether to cancel is to always wait till the very last second to cancel. In most cases it doesn’t cost ya anything to hold your spot in line, and ya never know whether you (or perhaps someone else you know) might want it.
I apply this to all sorts of things – cameras, drones, watches, etc…
Agree completely. I still want it but I’ll use it less during the warm months, so if delivery drags on til Spring I may just wait until Fall. Then again, the vip discount on the preorder will be hard to give up. Just wish they’d hurry up and get these things out the door. A little concerning that it keeps gettting delayed.
BTW, the attachment with dimensions doesn’t seem to be showing. Will try again here. They should put the diagram on their website.
I just had to cancel my pre-order, I am out of town for 3 months starting Feb 1st with nobody to accept the heavy package… oh well, ill read reviews and grab it when i get home.
Yes – I could no longer wait… gave up and went with a Wahoo kicker + climb (using Rouvy). Has been a very nice experience so far.
Can I ask where you guys are based and where you are hearing that it could be a few more weeks wait? I have one in order in the uk and the shop is telling me early jan. I’m hanging on to blind optimism at the moment!
I’m in the US. I imagine you’ll see yours before any of us stateside.
Right now most of Tacx is out on holiday till after the New Year. Thus, the Neo Bike lines won’t be spinning back up again till likely the 3rd or 4th, and that’s still in a goal to produce the first production unit.
They’ve been trying for about a month or so now to get ones off the line that meet their quality standards. Each week they make a go at it, and then end up tweaking things (which, to be fair, is good for consumers that they aren’t pushing out unacceptable units to consumers, even if frustrating to us).
So, the earliest a unit would realistically come off the line is the week of Jan 7th. Those first ones would then be allocated likely to Tacx folks/media/etc for more detailed testing/etc. Then, Tacx usually allocates the first full week of production to the US market, since it then takes 3-5 weeks to get them across the pond via ship. The second week tends to be Euro distribution (so now we’re mid-late January). I don’t know how the UK falls within that and whether it’s part of the EU distro or another pile the next week.
Anyway, I don’t think we’ll see any units hitting any consumers in Europe until mid-late January – and that’s assuming folks come back from vacation and things work perfectly the first time.
Yup, just got the note from Clever that we’re looking at early February now. Not surprised given Ray’s info on the production challenges. Still holding on with my pre-order and hoping this doesn’t slip again, but certainly won’t be surprised if it does. As long as they are making product improvements I guess it’s a good thing. Riding the Direto is not so bad, but I really am looking forward to getting my bikes out of the house when this comes.
and complete silence from tacx….
That’s not true. My LBS called them yesterday and apparently they started production, first shipment is next week.
They can only mak about 500 units a week (the Neo2 is at 1500 a week) so it will take a while to catch-up.
I ordered mine in november so I should get mine before end of januari.
Hello,
Ok then you heard more then me. Only thing i heard was that they were still planning to run production week 2 of januari, but they planned to start production several times before
Harry
Ah ok thanks. Well hopefully we all get our hands on one soon!
I have one of these on order from my LBS. So may get one in late Jan or Feb I guess. My aim is to be able to do precise interval sessions to get a bit stronger ready for the summer. No need for endurance as I’ll ride outside for this.
I know I can subscribe to one of the on-line services but I think I’d just like to use it without having to subscribe to anything.
So! How straigtforward is it to use for simple interval sessions. Can I record them, put them on Starva, do I need to use a GPS or would an iPhone or iPad be enough to log a ride? Do I need to plan an interval session beforehand somehow or can I just ride and alter the resitance on the fly as I ride?
Not having used a smart-trainer before I don’t really know how to do this. I guess it’s all possible, but a simple ‘how to guide’ would be nice :-) Is there one anywhere?
Thanks.
Hi, I’m holding an order pending your in depth review DC. Any view as to when we might see this? Ta, love your work!
Nothing new. I sent over a note on Friday asking what the scoop was, but haven’t heard back yet.
Looking forward to any updates you can provide with your contacts at Tacx :)
UK Retailers are moving their availability dates back to end Feb/early March. It’s becoming a bit of a disaster! It just makes me more wary to avoid a pre-prder as there is bound to be an issue somewhere. Tacx needs to come out with some kind of statement about their delays.
I just heard from Clever training that delivery to US is still on for early Feb. This is for an early pre-order, so the UK retailers you mention might be for new orders only.
I suspect at this point that Tacx hasn’t updated the US distributors, which in turn haven’t updated CT (or even Tacx updating CT).
Short of Tacx dropping off a unit tomorrow to me (a mere 15-20 mins away), and also having had an entire shipping container already on the docks to the US, early Feb won’t happen. I’ll check with them again tomorrow (I shot them a note last week too), and see where things stand.
On the bright side, at least they aren’t shipping broken units.
Sigh. You’re probably right. I’m just hoping to get the thing before Spring when my indoor time will go down significantly. If only they could use the world shifting time warp portal from CVRCade to get it here. Agree that it’s better than shifting bad units, but jeez, they were talking deliveries last Fall. Somebody got way out in front of production on this one. Must have required some major redesign or substantial issues with manufacturing or third party supply at any kind of scale.
Hi Ray,
Any news back from Tacx?
Update from the Netherlands.
The Tacx Neo Smart Bike T8000 is ready for shipping but there is a delay. The delay is caused by a CE certification issue.
link to youtu.be
As soon as the CE certification is fulfilled the Tacx Neo Smart Bike will be on his way
@Garett Cooper you are right.
Europe has CE.
US has FCC.
It’s not my cup of tea.
I can imagine that if the FCC certification is done, shipping to the US must be possible.
But the question is why is the CE certification still a problem.
Hmm, I think there might be some confusion on the delay. I talked with Tacx on Friday, specifically the product lead and the CEO, and the reason for the delay is currently:
“Working on test equipment to automate the calibration process.”
As you may know, Tacx has a highly automated factory (all in the Netherlands). They do all their own robotics/automation work in-house as well. That’s a huge advantage over their competitors once things are up to speed, but it also means the work falls on them to get that up and running (versus an outsource factory).
I haven’t heard anything about certifications from them. They didn’t have a specific date for when they’d be ready to ship unfortunately.
On Facebook they said this month (in Europe)
So next week would be the latest possible :-)
Also, I just checked with Tacx on the approvals bit. They confirmed that’s also part of it, so it’s more than just the one item.
‘to automate the calibration process’
I’m not sure but I thougt that de Tacx Neo 2 is part of the hardware of the Tacx Neo Smart Bike. It’s more or less the same unit. Right?
What is the difference between calibration protocol of the Tacx Neo 2 vs the Tacx Neo Smart Bike.
Without asking, I would suspect that it’s mostly due to the physical aspects of it. The NEO2 calibration is/was done on a bench by humans (since they fit more easily there). I suspect the logistics of automation machines for a bike are a bit different.
I believe GPLama’s recent Neo2 factory visit video shows the NEO2 calibration process: link to youtube.com
And now it is almost feb 2019…….
Reading between the lines, it seems like Tacx means that the first units will be shipping to distributors in January, which means that any non-EU deliveries will probably be late Feb or early March.
As a US customer with a pre-order, I expect I’ll see mine early March at this point. Too bad. I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of my trainer back in November (although I’ve been forced to do some work on the rollers which has had a nice benefit).
Does that mean all deliveries are delayed or just those to EU countries? CE seems to be required for EU sales, not sales to US.
Wat about wear parts like bottom bracket etc. Are they proprietary?
Still haven’t heard anything from Clever since they said it was on track for early Feb, but it seems pretty clear that’s not going to happen. One of these days we’ll get some good news…..
Production stopped and no delivery before December 2019, was the unpleasant surprise mail (January 23) I got from the shop I ordered from.
The mail I got this week from my UK store said delivery moved to early Feb. I would be surprised if production was stopped till end of 2019 – that would kill any lead they had in the market. By then there could be other competitors and the price points would have changed.
Wow. Sure hope that email about stopped production is wrong, but nothing would surprise me at this point. This thing must be harder to make than the space shuttle.
I got the same mail, production stoped until dec, but havent cancelled my order yet. I wish Tacx would give us some news on what’s going on. If it’s true that the’ve stopped production why not say so instead of “next week, end of this month”
Well, that’s depressing. I was really excited about getting this. Can’t understand why nobody is offering a decent Zwift compatible all in one yet when peloton clearly shows there is a market. Atom doesn’t cut it and isn’t available in the US. Hard to believe Tacx can make that crazy advanced treadmill and not this bike. Cars have been developed faster than this. Super bummed.
Is the Atom that bad? Thinking of buying one now and the users (on Atom Facebook groups) seem quite happy with it now after updates. I know it was bad at the beginning but have they not sorted out most of the problems?
I was a part of the atom Facebook groups when I had an atom and I was surprised how positive about it most of the were as I found it very flawed. I wouldn’t recommend buying one if you want to use Zwift.
I’ve never used one myself and have a Tacx on order so I’m biased to assume the Tacx will be better, but a friend of mine has one, used it for Zwift and and says it’s great.
Sounds like someone got some wires crossed in a bad way.
I just checked with the Smart Bike program lead this evening (forwarded him the comments), and there’s no such December delay. Units are all in production now and pending final certification, which they expect in a few weeks. At which point they’ll ship.
Phew!!! That’s more positive ?
I hope it won’t be a few weeks. A guy from Tacx told me last week that I would get the Neobike by the end of january, a few weeks would mean end february :-(
Typically speaking ‘a few’ means 1-3, often just 1-2. The end of Feb is 4-5 weeks away.
I can pretty confidently say there’s zero chance you’re getting it by this Thursday, the end of January.
Thanks Ray.
Wish Tacx would be as communicative as you are, would save on a lot of frustrations.
I’ll just be patient then (next week is recovery week, so not that bad :-) )
Well, that’s a relief. Thanks Ray. December delay just made no sense. I’ll take even late Feb over that.
Ask your friend if you can have a test ride on his atom. Then you can form a first hand opinion on whether the shifting and feel is ‘great’.
The Netherlands expect delivery data in week 7 (2019?)
Monday 11 th – 17 th February.
A delay is possible … … the opposite is a mission inpossoble.
Game on!
Lets hope so….! Communication from tacx is realy shitty….!
Update from Tacx on Facebook
link to facebook.com
So they “aim” for the end of February for the first one and then limited availability? How limited? 10 a week? All back orders in March?
Ordered 3 months ago and Tacx still not really giving any clue as to whether it’s March, April or even later
OMG! I’m a little disappointed, a long long long long long wait, delay over delay! It’s great that they’re trying to do the best and to improve the bike, but at this rate the bike will be available on october 2019! LOL! I’m considering to buy another smart bike, and, you know, not a very deep bench, just the Skillbike by Technogym actually…
Wow, the skillbike makes the Tacx look positively cheap. Think I’ll keep waiting.
Everything TechnoGym makes looks everything else look cheap.
Then, once you’re doing looking at prices, head over and check out Lama’s review of their disaster of a trainer: link to youtube.com
Has anyone seen any reviews of the Skillbike, by the way? It looks great, but at twice the cost of the Neo Bike Smart (with fewer features?)… would need a pretty stellar review to even consider it.
I might have the chance to try one Skillbike, ’cause a gym near my home have 2 Skillbike, but I’m not sure I could be able to make something similar to a review…
“Everything TechnoGym makes looks everything else look cheap.” ahahaha That’s right! BTW strong build,made to last, especially in a gym with lots and lots users!
From what I’ve gathered on the Zwift forums, there are concerns about connection stability issues with the SKILLBIKE. If you make it to the gym, let us know what you experience.
I had the chance to try a skillbike:
– adjustments of the seat like a spin bike ( medium-big chunks up and down, no fine tunning).
– it did not gave me a “roadbike alike feel”
– built in screen is great.
– i might be wrong but you cannot “extract” the workouts, they stay in the technogym cloud.
– it felt to me a product targeted to group exercise device rather than a “indoor trainer device”.
Thanks, Javier! Good to know. I also got the impression that this is a niche product targeted toward spin classes.
I was waiting for the Atom in France, still not here… then the tacx, still not here… I tried the Skillbike from Technogym but for all the reasons above not the right thing for me. I ended up going with the Kettler Racer S and I love it.
It is not perfect as Zwift does not control the resistance (but can connect to the bike and gets power / cadence etc). I dont understand why it cant connect the resistance as Rouvy does… Doing the workout sessions or virtual sessions on Rouvy is great, but I would have prefered Zwift. Lacking more workouts in Rouvy. Kinomaps also works and controls the resistance. The bike is beautiful and a fantastic build quality. I am hoping that Zwift / Kettler willl work on better integration. I am continuing to try different software options to see which ones are optimal. But so far sticking with Rouvy for training / workouts and strava for strolling / recovery
Thank you for your feedback, Julien, I didn’t know the Kettler bike, it seems a fully-fledged alternative!
Ecuse me, Julien, what about the shifting gears, does it seem riding a real bike on the road?
The shifting increases and decreases resistance. It is smoother than on a road bike but instantaneous. I use indoor bike for structured workouts mostly and it is fantastic for that. I either let Rouvy handle it for me, or in Zwift will use the shifters to get to where I need to be target wise (or you can use the rotating button for big drops).
The good think with Kettler is they have been doing bikes for ages and you can tell.
I am OK putting up with the limitations from above, as the quality, noise level (inexistant) and robustness are there. Made in Germany and you can tell.
Thanks for your feedback, Julien
Just noticed that ZyroFisher (the UK distributor for Tacx) has been demoing the Neo Smart Bike at COREbike2019 in Towcester, UK over the last couple of days, so at least it looks like there’s something that works out there (where the fans don’t fall off!). Seems to be a different one to the pre-production units that Tacx has showed off previously as this one has blue shifter buttons from what I could see. Of course this is probably still a hand-built unit rather than a mass-production model, but hopefully it’s a positive indication.
I wonder if Cycleops will get back into the market.
Clevertraining.com has updated pre-order date, now is late August… -_-
I really hope that’s just supply chain wonkiness (or it’s an estimate for pre-orders that are placed now). I’ve had my pre-order in since October. Once Tacx actually starts shipping, I guess I’ll email Clever and see where I am in line so I can know whether to buy a trainer to tide me over.
It’s been a really frustrating the back and forth around what is going on :(
Yes, really frustrating… :-(
I emailed Clever and end of August is the date they got from Tacx for pre-orders.
Sigh.
I guess I have to find something to get that I can sell in the fall.
So frustrating.
Steve-did you clarify if December is for Pre-orders made now; ow when Pre-orders first opened up last year? I’m hoping Clever meant for new Pre-orders.
Here is what they sent me:
“The BIKE Smart is the item that was delayed until late August. Tacx sent out the update this morning, unfortunately, they experienced a lot of issues with production on the Bike Smart and had to push the arrival date to August.”
Whether that applies to all pre-orders or just new ones, I have no idea :(
As for the August date listed on the CT site for *new* orders, it’s frankly because CT can’t get a straight answer that matches between Tacx and the US distributor. So, until Tacx can confirm and start shipping, they’ve set the new order date as August.
For existing orders, honestly, nobody really knows at a concrete level at this point. I’d just approach it as ‘when it ships, it ships’. I suspect once Tacx ships their first unit (to anyone, anywhere), then the entire picture will become really clear really quick. Just my guess.
As others have said, I wouldn’t believe any date from anyone on anything in any place until units start leaving Tacx. I do however think it’ll probably be a great product, but timelines have never been Tacx’s strong suit. :)
Yesterday (30th Januari) my retailer called with great news.
They will deliver the Tacx Neo Bike end February 2019.
First see then believe, but I can not suppress a smile.
What country are you in Joop?
My retailer called Tacx and said end of Dec, then end of Jan, now end of Feb…..
Too scared to call him again!
It’s not like i paid in full 3 months ago…..hang on, I PAID 3 MONTHS AGO…?
@Paul
Netherlands
Mike—you had to pay when you ordered? Clever only charges when it ships.
Sorry, but I don’t believe ’em anymore…
Well, got this from CT today….and drumroll…….we still have no idea when this thing is coming. Appreciate the coupon and the mystery gift, but it sure doesn’t sound like any of us in the States are going to see one of these in February or even March. If delivery to continental customers is late Feb as we heard it might be, then a few weeks for troubleshooting, plus a few weeks for fixes, yeah, late Spring is starting to look like the optimistic take. Oh well, it will come when it comes. Won’t need it as much once it gets warm, but definitely don’t want to lose my spot after all this waiting. At least this isn’t a kickstarter where they have all my money already.
—-
Dear Valued Clever Training Customer,
“When will the NEO Bike be launched?”, this is the most frequently asked question we are getting at the moment. A justified question because Tacx announced last year that the first bikes would be ready in October 2018. Because of last minute improvements and innovation enhancements, Tacx has created a significantly better product, unfortunately resulting in a delayed launch. Tacx always strives to design innovative, best in class products and made the decision to postpone the introduction in order to make sure that the NEO Bike will be the best in the market, setting a new benchmark among indoor bike trainers. We, alongside Tacx, sincerely regret this unforeseen delay because we had hoped that the NEO Bike would have already been spinning in your pain cave! Please know that Tacx is working 24/7 to make this ultimate indoor trainer ready for you as quickly as possible.
So what does this all mean for you and your Neo Bike? Tacx is going to launch this product globally with the first bikes being sold locally in the European market, relatively close to their Netherlands headquarters. This will allow them to have a final test and quickly react to any issues that may arise as it is close to home. The second allocation is destined for the North American market, which will contain your bike. That being said, initial quantities are going to be very limited and the demand is already well into the stratosphere. We highly encourage you to keep your Neo Bike order in place, otherwise you run the risk of getting bumped to the back of the line. Trust us, you don’t want to be at the back of this line. In the meantime, take comfort in knowing you are a Future Neo Bike Owner; an innovator, a trend setter, an early adopter if you will. As things develop, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.
Additionally, as a token of our appreciation for your patience with us and Tacx, we will be sending a surprise package to you, shortly. And last, please take advantage of a one-time offer to take 20% off one eligible item on the wide range of items on our site*.
Please use coupon code: LATEBIKE20 to save 20% off one eligible item on our site and don’t forget to check your mail for a special gift from our team.
Sincerely,
The Clever Training Team
*This offer is not eligible on certain brand exclusions, sale items, Tacx Neo Bike Smart or previous purchases. Code expires at 11:59 EST on February 28, 2019.
Kind Regards,
Clever Training Customer Service Tea
“Improvements and innovation enhancements” Do tell.
Tacx are really missing a trick here. Time and time again the value of good communication (and the potential damage from lack of it) are shown but most companies never seem to get it.
The development and delays surrounding the bike are a perfect opportunity for Tacx to enagage with their customers via a blog with regular updates of what’s going right and what’s going wrong in the way that many of the better-managed kickstarter projects do. That way you not only show a connection with your customers, but an attachment between them and your product develops, as they feel they’ve been with you on that development journey through good times and bad.
Of course there’s always some info that Tacx might not want to be shouting about, but it’s too easy and lazy to just hide behind a “don’t say anything just to be on the safe side” mentality and not realise that rather than protecting your company from some totally imagined corporate damage, you’re actually doing real damage to yourself by isolating yourself from your frustrated customers.
Of course, communicating warts-and-all always opens you up to the “Tacx can’t even do XXXX right, I’m cancelling my order” posts, but how’s your current “say as little as possible” comms strategy working for you, Tacx?
I think tacx are really losing all credibility. The communication lacks at all fronts. People have paid up-front with some distributors for the Tacx Neokbike to are in the winter season.
Tacx only ‘ communicates’ as a last resort and not to inform buyers and potential buyers. I think tacx should real shame themself for such bad public relations!
Looks like this explains part of the delay
Getting acquired is always distracting
link to newsroom.garmin.com
Wow. Didn’t see that coming. Garmin seems like an odd buyer for Tacx, but I guess there must be a new strategy driving this. Not sure I want a Garmin Neo bike given my experiences with Garmin products, but maybe a capital investment will help get this bike back on track for delivery. Just hope a new owner doesn’t mean a change in strategy away from a product line like this. Tacx should make an announcement about their commitment to delivering and supporting this product since there will be questions.
Had a message left with an update from my UK retailer yesterday, which I’ll take with a pinch of salt as everyone still seems to be getting different stories. They told me delivery is now expected end of February, and will be delivered direct by UK distributor (presumably ZyroFisher). They told me that the item is delivered in 2 x 30kg boxes, but then also said all I’d need to do was install the handlebars and seat post. That’s a seriously heavy set of bars and seat post! :-)
Had the same message Neil…..was it Treadz out of interest?
It is, yes. Have to say they’ve been excellent at keeping me updated based on the limited info anyone seems to have.
Excellent news, thank you for sharing.
Good news. Can’t wait to hear how it goes once you get. Sounds like you guys will be the guinea pigs and if all works maybe we’ll see some deliveries to the States a month or so after. I’m thinking sometime in April might be the best we can hope for over here.
I got the same message, also from Tredz. Pinch of salt as you say, but the fact that the distributor knows how it will be packaged and need to be assembled gives me the hope that there is some substance behind it.
I’m not getting my hopes too much up as one of the previous “in stock” dates I had from Tredz was 8th January, and they actually rang me that morning to say that they were still expecting delivery later that day and would call me to arrange delivery as soon is was processed by their warehouse, so it looks like they’re almost as much in the dark as we are, even up to the last minute. Fingers crossed though.
Any news form the UK retailers?
Today I had a call with a retailer in the Netherlands. They expected also end February.
But till now no white smoke emanates from the special chimney placed atop the Sistine TACX Chapel ;-).
As the last official word from Tacx was that they were hoping for end of February for EU, with that only just over a week away I’d have hoped that by now they’d have realised if they weren’t going to be hitting that date and would have had the decency to publish an update. Of course there can always be last minute issues, but at this stage if they are going to get any volume of shipping out by the end of this month, I’d think they must have at least some finished products sitting in boxes and ready to ship by now. If they aren’t at that stage then they really should be letting us know, but I won’t hold my breath.
Hi Ray
I’m in the market for a smart bike trainer and wanted to buy the Tacx neo smart bike but with all those delays … I’m starting to look at the atom.
Which one would you recommand ? Should I wait for the NEO ?
I would use it mainly for Zwift workouts and sometimes for a race
Thanks !
Personally, unless you need it today, I’d probably wait a few weeks longer and see what happens.
Just my two cents.
Thanks for the answer. Any update on when we’ll get the neo ? (I’m in France)
I don’t know. I’ve kinda taken the ‘I’ll check in once every month’ viewpoint for now on it. As of late, they were saying maybe late February, but I haven’t heard anything new there.
Im tired of waiting
Now looking at this
https://www.orekatraining.com
Same as Taxc Magnum only more affordable!
DC Rainmaker perhaps a test is possible ? Do you already know them ?
Harry
I haven’t heard from them yet, but have seen some things on it. I don’t believe they established any ship timeframes yet (and only added the shopping basket in the last few days).
It’s a cool concept, but if we look at why Tacx hasn’t sold Magnum in the US, it’s primarily risk-based right now. And that’s on a platform that is hightly secure against falls with super-fancy sensors to detect the exact instant when you fall and stop the belt. Whereas best I can tell (again, details are slim), the Oreka system is less hardened in that area.
Interesting product. Couldn’t tell from the video. Is it motor driven, or are you just pushing the belt along like a set of rollers, and then they add some resistance?
There are multiple videos. They claim it’s a safe system, but would like to see a good testing of this product!
Personaly i think this resembles the road riding experience the most. Better then a stationary trainer
They claim it’s more secure then the Tacx Magnum, but then again if i was the supplier i would’t call my system dangerous ;)
Would like to see some thorough testing of this system though! If it works it’s a very nice system, personally i think better then a stationary bike setup.
Harry
Yeah, seems like an odd claim.
Again – the information here is super limited – so I could be wrong. But I remember seeing somewhere they were seemingly using the cadence/speed sensor on the bike to determine if a bike went askew. From pile up of collection/transmission/realization standpoint, you’re talking a solid 1-3 seconds before that would manifest itself. Which is an eternity when a belt is grinding against your face at 30KPH.
Of course, maybe that’s a language issue there in how they explained that. Either way, that’s vastly different than the Magnum.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m no fan of the Magnum either. And I’d love to see something like this come to fruition, but I’m skeptical without seeing some sort of non-sponsored news outlet cover it hands-on.
Would like to see you test it how it functions and how safe it is ;)
So if you are willing to test it ;))
Harry
I’m happy to test it. What’s the worst that can go wrong? ;)
That said – I haven’t heard from them. I’ll probably reach out when I get back to Amsterdam next week (since I’ve been out of Europe for the last 5 or so weeks), and see what the scoop is. I believe they’re down in Spain.
Just send them an email to check if they are at Bike Motion in 2 weeks. Would be nice if they are there.
Yes they are based in Spain
Harry
hi ray! would you be able to get some clarification from tacx relatively soon???
Thanks sir!
Now call me a cynical Edge 1030 owner, but now that Garmin is involved we can expect the bike to released very soon. However it will not work properly for the first six months until it has had numerous firmware updates.
Just been told April delivery for a UK order placed 1st November…
Who you buying it through Mike?
Primera Sports
It’s a farce – I’ve had it with Tacx. Going Atom !
The roller coaster ride continues……just had a call from my supplier changing my delivery date from next week to the end of March :(
Ditto :-(
I can live with delays, **** happens and I get that, frustrating as it is. What’s really inexcusable is Tacx’s total disinterest in communicating these delays. The most current official communication from them remains their Facebook post which still says they’re hoping to start shipping by the end of February. In the absence of any information from them, I refuse to believe that the latest delay is something they’ve only just found out about. Do they think if they don’t say anything about delays no one will notice? It just reeks of contempt for their customers.
My retailer’s been told by the UK distributor that they’re now expecting two deliveries in March, one mid and one at the end of the month which will be enough to fulfil UK pre-orders. Though I find it a bit odd that I placed one of the first orders with one of only two UK retailers that were taking pre-orders, yet mine isn’t expected till the second batch. Maybe the first batch is destined to by demo units in bike shops and review units.
TACX is a real shitty company when it comes to communicating. They have all sorts of media outlets to communicate they are just not using it… Looks like customers are not important. But then again they sold off to Garmin, so their pockets are filled so why should they……
Harry
I cancelled a month ago, tired of companies with no communication. Happily riding my Atom since three weeks :).
Can’t blame you guys for baling. Wish we had a choice in the US. I’m assuming we’re not going to see this sucker until well into April or later.
I only lived in Germany briefly and was never dependent upon the local economy for everything (Thanks Amazon!) I am however curious if there is a different culture of pre-orders and communication that those of us in the US just don’t get. Do the Euro-folk look at us and say “why are they always complaining? They knew the item wasn’t available when they pre-ordered.” Or is there just a different corporate culture that says customer communication isn’t important? I have seen this with several Europe-based Kickstarters as well. Do I just have bad luck, or is this really a culture issue? Interested in what any Europe-based folks or long time residents have to say. I know culture varies widely across a continent, but use the term Europe out of convenience.
Hobe, I live in Italy and this behavior it’s unacceptable, completely unprofessional!
TACX website update:
Expected availability
Europe: March (limited availability)
Rest of the world: April (limited availability)
No comment!!! -.-
Notice there is not even any mention of the Garmin Aquisition on the TACX blog. They havent updated it since the 5th.
To be fair, it’s highlighted on their homepage.
We are almost finished with the rainy season in SoCal so the ship date might as well be November of next year at this point.
I wish they would just put us all out of our misery and say “yeah sorry guys it will be ready next winter”
Yes, definitely!
I respect the culture of TACX: “We aim” instead of We blame”.
“In July 2018 we aim to ship in October 2018”.
Then there was a period (7 mounths) of silence.
It was a period of rumors and speculations.
January 28th 2019 an official statement on Facebook:
A couple of reasons why the delivery was delayed and…
“We aim to ship end February”
We all know that February will be March or later.
The big question is: “Why Tacx has only one offical statement for this onforeseen delay?”
It seems that that the problem is so big that TACX can not predict when the solution is found?
After yet another date slip by Tacx with no communication, I broke down and bought a Hammer 2 from Clever.
I’m keeping the Neo Bike pre-order in place, but I’ll simply say as a first time potential customer that I’m incredibly disappointed in the communication from Tacx. There are lots of frustrated customers on various social media platforms that are starving for communication about a product that was expected to ship in October/November for the winter season and suffice it to say that Tacx missed pretty much the entire trainer season in the northern hemisphere. Even a simple update on social media to coincide with the website being updated with a delayed date would be better than what has been happening. Someone put it well that being on the pre-order list for the Neo Bike feels like we have backed a bad Kickstarter
We went today to bike motion in Utrecht (Netherlands).
The Tacx bike was standing there.
I had the oppertunity to test the bike.
It feels great, i was informed that all the bikes are ready for shipment. They just need a clarification for a certain Paper.
The mentioned paper will be the CE certification.
My question is why is this in the pasted 6 mounts still a problem.
What is the bottle neck?
Darnit. Just when I’m thinking to give up, you show us that picture of a beautiful machine, and now I can’t wait to get it again. It hurts to think my future trainer is sitting there waiting on some bureaucrat to certify. Just ship the US bikes then. We don’t care about CE.
At the rate we’re going, nor will us Brits by the time this thing ships.
Joking aside, I really hope Tacx get these out to the UK before Brexit (the end of this month) or I can only see that leading to further delays for UK buyers.
On the positive side, it looks like there’s at least one of these in the UK right now as it keeps popping up on Twitter being demoed at different dealers and shows.
I just got an email from Rose Bike (larger Bike shop in Germany).
Delivery has been pushed out by 8 weeks.
I preordered in November.
Won’t need an indoor bike when it’s nice outside. Will cancel my preorder and try again next season… shame
For what it’s worth: I just spoke to Rose when canceling the preorder:
Supposedly they got information from Tacx that they hadn’t even started with mass production. (contradicting an earlier post). Whatever it is (CE certification or production issues), Tacx will miss out on a lot of sales because of this delay…
That’s depressing if true. Still, an order in November was pretty late in the game, so I would expect that order to be pretty far down the list. I ordered end of August. May not matter if they aren’t even making them, but we’ve had bad info from distributors before, so would be nice if Tacx would help us with some facts
Today an extra week delay on the site Rosebikes.
The deliverytime is now 9 weeks.
We have week 10. It wil maybe week 19. That’s the second week May 2019!
The only statement TACX made was a message on FACEBOOK 28th JANUARY 2019.
TACX you produce one short message on FACEBOOK in the context of more than 8 mounths delay!
The words: “a few last minute improvements” doesn’t sounds realistic ;-)
What is the real problem/issue?
Just cancelled my order with UK dealer placed last September. Tacx don’t seem to be on top of this one and I no longer feel confident enough to be an earlier adopter.
Up until now even though I’ve been really frustrated at the whole thing, I’ve known deep down that I’ll bide my time and wait. However, it’s now got to the stage where I’m seriously beginning to look at the alternatives, in particular the Wattbike (especially as they seem to be selling off some ex-demo ones in the UK right now for £1000). And to be clear, it’s *not* the delays which is making me reconsider, it’s what I perceive as Tacx’s utter contempt for us and their lack of transparency that’s making me question whether to hold out. I know there’s a danger of ‘cutting my nose off to spite my face’, but the more I look into the alternatives, the more I realise that they’d meet my requirements and I’m wondering if I’ve not given enough of my money to Tacx already with the Neo I sold to fund this, and the Vortex I then had to buy as a stop-gap. I’ve no doubt that if Tacx had been open about the delays, I wouldn’t even be looking elsewhere, but this is what happens when you treat your customers like ****.
…and to add, even Limits did a better job than this.
@Neil Jones – a link or more info re £1,000 demos .. where to get please?
Sorry, it was an advert of Facebook by a third party selling them on behalf of Wattbike (UK only) but I can’t find it any more so I guess they’ve all gone.
I love the Netherlands, but I’m having really bad luck with Dutch companies of late. Made the stupid choice to back IQ2 power meter project on kickstarter, and they are doing as good a job communicating as tacx is on this bike. Same length of delay, many promised then missed shipping dates, no real info on problems, and then total radio silence of late. I fully expect the next update will be a bunch of meaningless excuses with no concrete info. Do these companies share the same PR firm? What gives?
I have ordered the Tacx in early august from clevertraining. After inquiry, they replied the following:
“Unfortunately due to the new merger of Garmin and Tacx we are hearing that this item will not be available to way after the indoor training season has concluded and we may be looking at mid Summer before Tacx actually releases these units to the U.S.”
This means a delay of a year, realistically.
There were some comments on the facebook group over the weekend that things might be looking at bit better. Sounds like they may have the first batch of bikes ready to ship and that the certification could come soon now.
@Neil Jones – a link or more info re £1,000 demos .. where to her please?
Does anyone know what a couple of weeks mean in the Netherlands ??
And the soap continues. Can’t imagine anyone is taking tacx seriously by now. Also tacx doesn’t take customers seriously…..
I’m curious though – what do folks want them to do/say at this point?
Folks were upset due to lack of communications. So, they communicated. They gave three specific bits of detail:
1) What’s holding things up (CE)
2) What else is holding things up (accuracy)
3) When they plan to ship
What more can one really ask for? Heck, most companies wouldn’t even tell you #1/#2, and many might just say ‘soon’ for #3.
I get it, it’s annoying they’re like 5 months behind schedule – and that’s 100% worth taking into account for any future Tacx product releases. But it’s really hard to fault them for communicating this time when they finally they do. Else, that seems to send the message to not just Tacx and other companies to not communicate at all.
Again, I’m truly curious what else one thinks Tacx should do at this point. Certainly nobody wants them to ship a product that’s not ready.
I think it’s The fact that they only commumicate weeks AFTER the miss yet again a promissed delivery date. Not doing it one’s not twice but three times.
They know very well that they are not going to make a certain delivery date so whats the trouble of communicating it ? Instead there is complete silence and maybe a month after yet another missed date there is Some vague communication from tacx telling that they missed the delivery date… gee gosh like we didn’t notice……!
Very simple guidelines for managing delays:
#1. Communicate before you miss a window, not after. If you aren’t going to ship by the end of February, send out a post 1 or 2 days before the end of February, not a few days into March.
#2. Given people some tangible information about “why” (they are now doing this, which is great)
#3. Tell people when to expect the next update (i.e. next update by March 27th)
Most of us who have committed many thousands of dollars to this product definitely aren’t trying to suggest that they ship a product that isn’t ready. I think most just would like a minimum bar of communication be met.
(My $0.02, having dealt with delays involving large and vocal groups of people in the past before)
I agree that at this current point in time, Tacx are doing the right thing – they’ve communicated the situation and their current estimates. Some people’s expectation of Tacx to commit to a date are, IMHO, unreasonable (especially with CE certification out of their hands) and these same people will be first to complain if that date is then missed. People need to be realistic and appreciate problems can crop up at the last minute (though it would be really interesting to get an insight into what’s been behind 5 months of delays).
However, I’m right with Harry on this. It’s the fact that when issues have occurred leading to further delays, Tacx have frequently failed to update customers and retailers alike, or have done so much, much later than when they would have realised they weren’t going to hit a date. At one stage my retailer was expecting stock 8th Jan. It wasn’t till late that actual day that they found out they weren’t getting any – Tacx must have known this weeks earlier. Likewise, we had an update on 28th Jan with an estimated shipping date of the end of Feb. I’d suggest that by the middle of Feb Tacx must have realised they weren’t going to hit that, but that stood as apparently the current situation as the end of Feb came and went, right until the most recent update that appeared a few days ago.
So we now have Tacx hoping to start shipping in a ‘couple of weeks’ (they need to be careful using words like ‘couple’, which have an exact as well as approximate meaning). If by the end of next week they’re starting to box up bikes ready to go, then great. However, I’d suggest that their cut-off point for hitting that goal is going to be within the next few days, so that’s when I’d hope they’d update their communication, not leave us guessing (and hoping) for weeks after another missed date.
I get that Tacx isn’t obliged to communicate anything, and their are no doubt worse companies out there, but it’s frustrating when you consider how little effort would be required to make already frustrated customers at least just a little bit happier.
Exacly. It’s not tacx s First product. They know about certification and everything that goes with that. Its not their first product launch !
Its not uncomen that there are delays with new product introductions and ofcourse everyone wants a good product, but it’s not that hard to do Some decent communication to your customers AND your dealers!
And if you are unsure you can deliver, don’t mention a delivery date…. but missing a date by a half year and the indoor season seems a bit idiotic…..
Harry
I just find it extraordinary that they don’t know when the product will be available. This is not a start up company with zero experience in production. So I am inclined to think that they know how unacceptably long the delay will be but choose to push it along a month at the time to stop people from looking elsewhere for alternatives. Should have invested the money in the stock market, might have made some money in the last 5 months :-)
Facebook today:
Oh man, I want it and I want it now :)
Does anyone have any news. March is almost over.
Well they never kept their promised delivery so would be a first time ;)
In probably a few weeks after the promised delivery date you’ll see an update on the TACX website / social media that the date has changed to May and this whole circus will start again ;)
Harry
Thanks Harry, unfortunately, I guess you’re right … Fingers crossed that we get our bikes before the winter season ;)
In response to DC Rainmaker point regarding what more Tacx could do I think this will be a lessions learnt for Garmin on how not to release a product which I am sure will be a great product. Point 1. ensure your project management has a timeline noting all aspects of production and required approvals. Point 2. Ensure you have a level Project Management understanding which includes risk and proactive actions to ensure delivery per timeline told to customers who pay upfront. Point 3. Marketing which reflects actual delivery. Point 4. Comms to distributers, UK distibuters told to expect units but not the actual number confirmed so sellers cannot update buyers as to who will get a unit and when although paid +4 months ago. Point 5. Repeated delays therefore reduction in the Tacx as brand, damage limitation offer Customers somethig as Wattbike did with the ATOM when they had a minor delay on release of a Sufferfest trial for free. Point 6, note upfront a kick starter project or a realistic delivery date to customers and not a unrealistic date and take money upfront.
Hope this helps and am sure this mirrors points of some of the buyers. Tacx produce nice products but this is not just a issue with Tacx as other companies are selling products to dates which end up being not honored e.g. Wahoo Kickr climb was delayed, Giant Defy Disc Pro release was to be Dec19 however will be Mar19/ Apr19 etc.
Not sure I entirely agree with your Point 3. Tacx have it to their credit that they never promised a delivery date; they quite specifically always just gave estimates (even though many people seem to have taken these as firm commitments). Some would argue that by giving these estimates, Tacx at least set expectations which they were unable to live up to so should never have given them in the first place; but let’s remember that Tacx is a business – they had a new trainer bike that they believed that they were going to be in a position to launch by the start of the trainer season so of course they’re going to want to advertise it as imminent before potential customers have already spent their money on Wattbikes or Pelotons, whilst also addressing all the “when’s it going to be released?” questions. The matter of whether these previous estimated dates were viable or just a means of attracting and hanging on to potential customers is going to be down to personal opinion, but I tend to believe they were given in good faith considering the otherwise limited engagement with customers. YMMV.
It looks like the UK Tacx tour has production versions, because there appears to be a pretty cool red glow coming from the flywheel area and I’m pretty sure the other ones I’ve seen have the blue shifter buttons.
link to twitter.com
Here is hoping that when these units finally land, they are the real deal.
Drool….Damn, I’m pretty sure I’m going to forget all the frustration of the delays when this thing finally arrives. That red glow. Nothing like afterburners on your trainer. I bet that’s worth a 10% bump in FTP just from the cool factor.
Call me easy, but Tacx just found my number, and I’m definitely not canceling my order now. I’m thinking this is going to be worth the wait.
Sorry Steve,
The red glow has nothing to do with the new version.
LED light – changes colour in response to your power. High is red, low is blue.
Cool, good to know. Still looks neat :)
TACX website update:
Expected availability
Europe: April (limited availability)
Rest of the world: May (limited availability)
This is all just a mockery!
Harry guessed right!
unbelievable!
now glad I went Atom.
Wahhaaaaa its almost getting comical. I can’t imagine anyone taking Tacx seriously anymore! Unbelievable!
Shitty company! The only thing that is changed is that they now communicate before their promised delivery date
Much as it begrudges me to defend Tacx right now, as far as I am aware they have never promised a delivery date. I can understand their reluctance to give estimated dates knowing that they’ll be wishfully interpreted as firm commitments.
That said, I’m becoming more and cynical over how honest and realistic some of their previous estimates have been.
Latest update from my UK shop (Tredz) is that delivery has slipped to 22 April. I take that to mean “at least another month” – I’ll believe it when I see it. At the moment, it still looks like the best product (almost) on the market so I’ll hold on to my old trainer. Tacx can hope that people do the same as me, however, if someone comes up with an equally good alternative (that’s available outside the UK unlike the Atom) , I think they will find they have dug themselves a hole in terms of good will.
Just got a phone call from the retailler where I ordered my Neobike.
No delivery this month and probably not for next month neither :-(
They haven’t built any bike, they’ll start after the certification is there.
First batch will be for the Benelux (lucky me since I’m in Belgium), rest of Europe will be next.
Luckily my retailer communicates better then Tacx (not that hard tho)
Been to the Letchworth store to see the bike. Had a go on it connected to Zwift and it’s fabulous. Rides so much better than the Wattbike in the short time I used it. Apparently it won’t be out until the end of April and only for pre-orders. Will be about two months for general stock availability. It comes with a towel and sweat guard. So excited now I have experienced it!
Don’t cancel your pre-orders to go with something else. You will regret it. Just hang in there!
Happy to hear that the end product is good. Fingers crossed that the reliability is good also.
I’ve kept my pre-order and have been on the H2 in the meantime until the NeoBike shows up stateside.
Just had to google that and seen the Tacx tour, think I might have to pop along to the Bagshot store this Saturday myself and give it a test
Looks like the Virtupro is amping up their activities along with the coming beta launch of their Veloton. I wonder how the virtupro compares with the quality and features of the Tacx bike. Anyone have a chance to ride both?
It’s tricky.
VirtuPro is basically two pieces:
A) The Bike – including things like the aero/drafting side.
B) The platform
Previous ride: link to dcrainmaker.com
I’ve tried the bike, and elements of the platform. And of course, I’ve also ridden the Tacx bike.
They are similiar in a lot of ways. The Tacx bike is about connecting to today’s platforms – so ANT+ FE-C, Bluetooth Smart control, etc… integration with Zwift and any other platform you can throw at it.
Whereas the VirtuPro bike is more about connecting to platforms they’ve done integration work on (none of which are ones you likely use today).
The road-feel of the VirtuPro is incredible, mainly due to their math behind the scenes. It’s industry leading. But the remainder of the connectivity story lets it down.
As of today, they don’t really compete for the same dollars (as bizarre as that sounds). They could, if VirtuPro pivots and understands that the bigger market is the 1/3 of a million people using TrainerRoad/Zwift/etc…
Thanks Ray. I’ve had an eye on the virtu pro for a while and have been puzzled why a company with a bike like that in production wouldn’t just integrate with Zwift aka market leader in an instant and reap the rewards. Just re read your article on them and I guess it’s a complicated story as you say. Still, seems like an odd strategy at this point, particularly with the opening left by Tacx’s interminable delays. Same thing with BKOOL. Why on earth would you make a bike that only works with software that hardly anyone will ever use.
As for the extra features like steering and drafting, I’d love to see how that would really work in practice. Seems cool in theory, but I used one of those gym bikes that you could steer and quickly got bored of the feature and turned it off. If you steer into a draft but you pedal too hard, the system is still going to have to pop you out to the side, and if everyone in a pack can steer it will be mayhem. I believe the whole steering thing will be a flop and will be ignored by most users. Just give me a bike with accurate metering, silent performance, responsive shifting, road feel, and forget this steering stuff hokum and graphics that require a super computer to render. I guess that’s why I’m still eagerly waiting on the Tacx.
I have noticed that Wattbike have a new bike out soon. The Atom X. Supposed to cure all the issues of the Atom. Doesn’t say when it’s available though.
That bike is aimed at the commercial market, and won’t be sold to individual consumers.
Tacx bike shipment on the website has been updated to “TBD.” So we’ve got that going for us. Which is nice.
They should just drop the “e” from Neo
Would’ve moved on long ago if there was even one alternative available in the US. Just makes no sense that one certification is holding this up. Must be something more going on.
Been advised 22/5 for my uk order placed in October. Seems quite precise but extremely unlikely…
Good Day
Snow is lifting in Switzerland, the outdoor season has started… and the local Tacx dealer called and reported being called and given a shipment data for mid-May.
I did not cancel the order as offered for a full reimbursement. I would do so should It not have arrived by the start of the nest indoor season, here in Switzerland – for weenies like me – at the end of October.
By then, I do sincerely hope that Garmin has taken over the helm and started to bring some order in this chaos, production and communication wise.
I don’t believe the certification story. It was always two excuses: waiting for certification and fixing accuracy issues. At the same time. This is CE certification, which is nothing special, unless they have come up with an entirely new technology. Since the neo bike is just a bike around an already certified neo 2 trainer, I don’t think that’s the case. The electronics, while tricky to get right, are not fundamentally different from other certified products. Maybe they are waiting for a reply from the certification institute but forgot to send in the application in the first place?
More likely, it’s an excuse so they don’t have to admit that they came out to the public much too soon. Saying that they ‘never promised a date’ is missing the point: they promised a month. SEVEN TIMES they promised a month and didn’t deliver. If you think saying ‘we expect’ rather than ‘we are certain’ gets them off the hook, well that’s just not compatible with taking pre-orders. When taking an order, they enter a financial transaction. That means the counterparty may expect them to be able to fulfil at the agreed date unless there is something outside their control, that blocks fulfillment. Incomplete development does not qualify as such. An unexpected certification problem would, that’s why it’s so important to have that as an argument. I think they should come out with an honest apology before some retailers decide to sue.
Yeah, I agree something’s odd here – as others have said, this is not something new or unusual when it comes to CE certification, and that’s not a process that Tacx wouldn’t already be familiar with (and in all likelihood will be using an agency anyway). There’s already been a lot of exposure of their demo model touring the UK over the last few weeks (though there’s disappointing little feedback online from anyone who saw or rode it), so it’s clear the design “works” – would have been nice if one of the demo retailers could have stuck a Vector on it and done a accuracy comparison to see if that’s the issue. I know the demo bike(s) would have most likely been handbuilt and there are sometimes issues when scaling up to mass production, but from what I gather Tacx trainers are pretty much handbuilt anyway.
Not sure I entirely take the same view as your second paragraph though – if they, in all good faith, believed they were going to be releasing the bike in a certain month then I think it’s fair to share that belief when people are them hounding you for a date (which is kind of where we’re at now – they share latest planned release dates, people complain when they’re missed – they don’t share planned release dates, people complain about lack of communication). They are a business after all; if at the beginning of the winter when people were looking to buy trainers they’d honestly expected the Neo bike to be released within a few weeks they’d have been stupid not to announce that, so I can understand that if that was their honest expectation, which we’ll probably never know. As for pre-orders, have Tacx ever taken pre-orders? The only pre-orders I’m aware of have been offered by a small number of retailers and that’s a decision made by the retailers, not Tacx. In the wider world, retailers frequently offer pre-orders on products that sometimes haven’t even been officially announced yet.
I just wish Tacx would let us know what’s happening, warts and all. I just don’t think they get that even if they don’t want to communicate dates anymore, they can still tell us what’s happening – and how much their current communication strategy is pi**ing people off.
Neil
Fair point, tacx don’t offer pre-orders. Retailers do, so maybe they don’t have much to complain about. There is something fishy about the whole process of delaying through the trainer season though. If the idea is, as you say, to pre-announce your honest belief that you will offer at a certain date, you do that to inform potential customers to hold on to their cash, so they will buy your new product instead of some competitor’s.
So if you find out you can’t live up to your promise, what do you do? Do you honestly inform people that you aren’t ready? Or do you lead them on until end of season, hoping they will not buy any trainer at all, giving you a shot next season?
This thread shows actually that. People complain about their indoor season ruined, people ask DCR should they buy something else or wait. If I were Wahoo, I’d make sure I have the ultimate trainer announced end of summer. Way better than the Neo bike. And cheaper too. No promises, but I expect it to ship early November…
Oh well. Probably time to go out and ride. It’s just, I used to be proud of Tacx.
22/5, ok, but did they specify a year? This is Tacx, don’t take anything for granted. Not that precise after all…
Yup, mine is on order. I’m OK as long as it gets released by September/October, but after that and it will be on to other options.
Switching to Virtupro
The only challenge there is that it doesn’t work with any trainer apps except the unreleased Veloton. There’s no ANT+ or BLE on it.
are you sure ? This is what i got from VirtuPRO
Hallo Harry
VirtuPro is compatible with Veloton and Zwift yes.
The Veloton will Start to be send out for beta in the next week, after that we connect Tacx.
Med venlig hilsen / Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards
Niels Kristian Andersen
CEO
Virtureal Development GmbH
Skandinavian Damm 9
24983 Handewitt
Germany
Mob. +45 28 22 39 90
Mail: nka@virtuprocycling.com
I imagine Virtupro is going to get a call from a certain company’s lawyers when they see this product name. Maybe not the smartest move…
link to virtuprocycling.com
RE: Zwift
It’s not there today based on everything I’ve heard. And honestly, their line back confirms it:
“The Veloton will Start to be send out for beta in the next week, after that we connect Tacx.”
There’s no such thing as ‘Connecting to Tacx’ anymore. Either you’re on ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth FTMS or it’s not working. And that’s especially true of Zwift. The old days of Zwift baking special connectivity for various brands are long over. Either trainer companies leverage ANT+ FE-C or Bluetooth FTMS, or they don’t connect to Zwift. Zwift will tell companies that straight up – as will TrainerRoad. And in Zwift’s case, especially for a potential competitor.
Look, I want VirtuPro and Niels to succeed, but they’re approaching this in a way that’s targeting the smallest possible audience. Many of the trainer brands have competing platforms (Tacx with Tacx Desktop Suite, Elite with their thing, CycleOps at one point with Virtual Training, and so on) – but all of them support ANT+ FE-C and Bluetooth FTMS first, and then figure out their own platforms as a bonus. Else, people just won’t buy it.
I think you meant “they are approaching this in a way that’s targeting the smallest possible audience”, but I agree, their strategy seems more focused on Veloton than the bike, which is not going to get a lot of their bikes sold. Even with the Tacx delays, I’d rather stick with my current bike and trainer than go to another bike that’s locked into just one platform. That makes no sense at all.
Oops, yeah, exactly.
not a iPhone user by any chance are we? :-)
that is pretty locked down but has not stopped people from buying it. So if the product is sound i don’t see any issues with it being locked to one platform.
I agree with this they do show themselves beta testing the bike with Zwift on the virtupro facebook page. When I am asked them they said they are close to shipping with the correct hardware to support connecting to zwift but weren’t quite there yet
Veleton looks good but it still has a lot to prove and before you spend the amount of money you would want to know the bike was going to work with applications like Zwift and trainer road just in case Veleton does not end up working out.
Well, the iphone works with thousands of apps. Not really much of a comparison. No way I would ever buy a bike that only works with a program that is barely out of beta and might not even be around after a year. I love Zwift, but I wouldn’t even buy a trainer that just works with Zwift.
Exactly – how well do you think the iPhone would fare if it didn’t have Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, GMail etc?
I had a word with Veloton Facebook Account, about VirtuPro bike compatibility with Zwift and here the answer they gave me:
“Later there Will come an upgrade Electronics board that let the bike work with Zwift.”
But no mention of time.
This is my semi-regular post about the regular movement of the expected delivery timelines (at least here in the UK) :-) I’ve now been informed that the wait is until 10 May. I now take that to mean that shortly before then I will hear of a new date, but one day it really will be the actual date! :-)
tacx wil just send another message that it is delayed… Almost 2 years after announcement….. probably a record
Harry
It is indeed a mess, the whole communication process. I should be able to judge this, having spent 30 years in the business.
Nevertheless, let us be fair in our judgement until they lift the veil of ignorance (ie ever) and share with us what went wrong. This could be a good time of use for Ray (if he ever has some free time). I very much prefer will-fed and taken care of little Rainmakers and a tranquil girl than some Garmin PR spin come calorie-free (in this context content-free) PR-yarn.
My retailer, Tredz has just informed me that delivery has moved from 10th May to “the end of may”…..I shan’t be holding my breath!!
Wahaaaaaa this is getting ridiculous
Harry
Hey @Gareth Cooper, with a week to go, what day do you reckon we’ll get our next apologetic phone call from Tredz on?
@Neil Jones I’m not filled with confidence we’ll get anything positive from our retailers. I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll get a phone call with the latest delay, no doubt a vague statement from Tacx saying something like “the end of June”…..I hope I am wrong :)
My UK supplier just told me they received this from TACX:
“We do not have specific information available at the moment on the delivery dates
Due to some changes in the certification process, we are working on some adjustments, which makes it difficult to announce a specific date.”
Shambolic!
Goodness – if it really is just a certification issue, you have to wonder how much of a fail it was initially that they have taken this long (and still counting) to resolve it! Was it fatally electrocuting people!? :-)
I’ve received word that Garmin is moving production to the United States over the coming months. Consequently, some U.S. distributors are cancelling pre-orders and cannot give an estimated date of production aside from end of summer or fall at the earliest.
I’ve canceled my order. I may or may not place it again someday, but my good will toward Tacx has been severely eroded and I have no interest in being a crash test dummy on one of the first models off the assembly line. Of course, even that assumes Garmin doesn’t eventually decide to scrap the project — I don’t think that would entirely surprise anyone at this point.
I mentioned in another forum that this whole thing has had the tenor of an ill-conceived Kickstarter project, and it’s reminded me why I pledged a couple of years ago to get out of the “buying promises” business. The only saving grace is that I’ve had a trainer to use in the meantime; I feel particularly bad for those who’ve missed half a year of training based on Tacx’s tilting at windmills, or those who sold their trainers because they were soon to be replaced by the Smart Bike.
I’ll sort of miss my daily hate-checking for status updates, but only sort of.
“I’ve received word that Garmin is moving production to the United States over the coming months.”
Honestly, that makes little to no sense on numerous levels. Still, I sent it off to the Tacx Bike product manager to debunk/confirm for fun.
But the reasons it doesn’t make sense are numerous. First, production already began for the Tacx bike in the Netherlands. They’re currently stock-piling units for whenever it is they’re ready to ship. Next, Garmin noted they plan to utilize the Netherlands facility (which is currently expanding into new buildings being constructed), for numerous things.
But most importantly – Garmin simply has no manufacturing facilities in the US, except for aviation/marine units, which are made in Kansas/Oregon. And even those are at production facility capacity. Everything else is made in Taiwan in their own factories.
Thanks for following up with Tacx/Garmin. I’m just passing along word from a retailer in the U.S. who canceled all pre-orders on this basis — it certainly isn’t my information. I’m sure Tacx is as tired of the questions as we are about the delays.
Roseversand.de delivery time in week 19 is EIGHT WEEKS.
Conclusion: thirst delivery in Europe is in week 27, JULY 2019!
No words, only emotions.
Thanks for checking with them, Ray. Still, if certification is not yet secured, it would make little sense for Tacx to stock-pile units, given the uncertainty regarding costly adjustments that might turn out to be necessary to go ahead. If it is secured, then why doesn’t Tacx herald such a positive step, given how little they have had to boast about over the last year?
Ok, they confirmed there’s no truth to that statement of moving production or the timelines.
They also confirmed they continue to build/stockpile units, and are also continuing to wait for certification. Notably – that Garmin is requiring certification for USA, Canada, and EU, prior to shipping any units. As such…we all wait.
Man, the rumor mill is getting thick and gooey on this thing. We’ll need Snopes to get in on the act before long. I guess Tacx has only themselves to blame though since comms have been next to non-existent. I still have hope we’ll see this thing one day.
Isn’t it strange to build and stockpile units that have no certification? What if they get no certification and changes need to be made ? I think this doesn’t compute
Harry
For an experienced company, certification is mostly a formality.
Virtually every major company will stockpile units pending certification. In the case of Apple it’s millions of units, in the case of Garmin it could be tens of thousands. And in the case of Tacx it could be hundreds or thousands.
But if it is only a formality why does it take so long? Date’s keep getting pushed back, can’t imagine this is normal for an experienced company!
Harry
True, it is definitely unusual.
That said, it’s also not unusual for something to go askew in the process, usually from the regulator side of things. I’ve seen it happen to numerous (very experienced) companies. Just a ball out to left field sorta thing.
In this case, it sounds compounded by Tacx having planned to go for one certification, and then Garmin changing directions a bit for more certifications. Still, I agree it’s unusually long even by those standards.
I hope you’re right. CE certification takes between one day and six months, longer is very, very unusual. However, passing the certification isn’t as obvious as getting a stamp, so I’d like evidence of the stockpiling ;) 50% of electronic products fail the EMC test the first time. Not a problem for Apple indeed, but for smaller companies.
What happened to the rest of the responses here?
Sorry, page didn’t load, everything there now.
Judging by their Facebook post, Tacx have now dropped the Smart Bike from the Tacxperience UK Tour.
It’s at the Boardman Performance Centre today so if anyone’s there, ask someone from Tacx WTF is going on.
….to add insult to injury, the Tacx web page related to the Tacx Neo Bike has now drop and time forecast and now simply left „availability:TBD“ .
I have never seen as so called „established company“ too behave as amateurish in communication as Tacx.
Hopefully at least Garmin finds the courage to talk to customers, some of the having paid up in October 18 when availability was announced for the coming month.
I reached out to Tacx last week via their Facebook page. They responded swiftly, but did not come up with new information. Apparently they are still waiting for certification paperwork from several countries; something they say is not in their hands.
This has been a very frustrating experience so far.
Apparently there is a delay in the information they’ll provide us for explaining the delay. I just want them to be honest. And that they included their waiting customers on their journey to get this out in the market. That would do a lot for me. It doesn’t take much to keep your customers loyal and understanding. Total black out however makes people flee. Seems like the Tacx Smart Bike group is about to be renamed to VirtuPro owners group.
Well…..as expected I’ve just had a call from my retailer……I’ve now been told that the “expected” delivery date for my Neo Bike is 8th July…..how much longer is this going to drag on?
For some people, perhaps only until (if) Ray gives the Wattbike Atom his Zwift stamp of approval ;-)
I’d actually be sort of happier if Tacx turned round and said “look guys, we don’t expect to get this to you till the start of the training season”. I’d then buy a Neo to see me though to then as, recovering from injury, most/all of my cycling is going to be in my garage this year (which was my self-justification for the Neo Bike in the first place). Instead I’m getting by with a Vortex as a temporary replacement for the original Neo I sold when I stupidly thought my Neo Bike was literally a day away, and coming from a Neo I’m just not enjoying the Vortex, which I originally thought I’d only be having to live with for a few weeks.
Yes, I’d take a significant financial hit selling another Neo, but hopefully that would be minimised with it being the start of the new trainer season, and it would be a hit I’d probably be willing to take just to make a whole summer of training in the garage more bearable. But with this constant “it’s just a few weeks again” I’m just not informed enough to make that commitment.
Lets face it.. Tacx is a shitty company! Their communication lacks in so many ways its almost unbelievable! Almost hard to image Tacx is even a company…. Looks more like a toolshed hobby project than a company!
You’re right, they are shitty. Just been told my dates gone back to 4th July for an order (paid in full) placed 1st November. If they wanted to really alienate there customers, doing this and failing to communicate anything apart from the complete lie of ‘CE issues’ is the way to go.
OT
Have anyone tried to buy a VirtuPro bike? I’m trying for days, contacting them, but I just receive a lot of information about the bike, but not a price quotation! It’s so annoying! I can’t understand what’s wrong with them.
Hi Paul, have you tried service@virtupro.dk?
I have been in contact with Niels on nka@virtupro.dk
There is a FB “VirtuPro Users Group” with a number of members having ordered and received their bikes.
Search this site and other forums. Lots of discussion of Virtupro. Key issue (at least for me): it doesn’t work with Zwift. They’ve been claiming it will soon but they’ve been claiming that for a long time.
Hi Tolga and thanks! Ok, I’ve talken with Niels, perfect! I can buy the byke directly from them.
Paul T, yes, you’re right, the VirtuPro bike still doesn’t work with Zwift, but they’ve told me that connection on PC/tablet is only with cable for now and they are working on BLE and ANT+ an upgrade will be possible to make the bike compatible also with Zwift, but when? They don’t know.
@ Ray Maker
Hi Ray,
Based on the latest communicated delay’s (from my retailer 8th July) I don’t suppose you can get a “straight from the horses mouth” update from the Neo Bike Product Manager on what’s causing the latest delays? I think from your last conversation with Tacx they are stockpiling production units and still awaiting CE declaration, is this still the case or are there new factors causing the delays?
thanks
Gareth
So I e-mailed the product manager your comment, asking for official comment.
He notes that they expect final certifications next week, and also expect to drop-off a final-final bike next week as well here to me. He said Tuesday, though I’ll be out of town Tues-Friday (he doesn’t know that yet, come to think of it). Either way, I’ll let ya know once they either drop it off, or are ready to.
I can almost guarantee the bike will be shipped really soon as I just caved in and pulled the trigger on a standard Neo on eBay to see me through.
Thanks Ray for the fast update……sounds quite positive fingers crossed :)
Sods law Neil!!
You can look forward to my eventual side-by-side comparison of the Neo Bike, Neo and Vortex :-)
Have to say, getting back on a Neo after 5 months on a Vortex I’d forgotten just how much better the Neo was and in how many ways. So as long as that’s all carried through to the Neo Bike (and then some!) then bring it on…
Figures. Just spent my Neo money on a new gravel bike for the summer. So much for the kids vacation!
Yes, same boat here. My NEO Bike is pre-ordered and paid, and just bought a Direto as a stopgap until the NEO Bike is released. So now that I just set up the Direto this morning, the NEO Bike should be released any day now!
Thanks, Ray! Sounds promising!
Hi Neil, im currently on a Vortex (since about 2yrs) and im looking to upgrade to a neo or neobike. For you what stands out with the upgrade to a neo? I still dont know if its worth the upgrade?
I started to train indoors about 1x/wk in season and 3-4x/wk in Winter.
Cheers Bartu
Looks like the FCC approval is done: link to apps.fcc.gov
@Steve – Nice find! Hopefully if Tacx really have been stockpiling then we’re just a matter of days away from shipping to distributors…
@Bartu – I’d recommend finding a bike shop where you can try a Neo, but in my own opinion (based on Zwift and Sufferfest usage):
– It’s soooo much smoother and quieter
– When you start up an incline in Zwift or coast the top of the hill, you feel it in your legs straight away, not a vague change a couple of hundred meters away
– You don’t have to mess around trying to calibrate every ride – zero calibration required on Neo
– ERG mode actually works, and within 1-2 seconds for even big changes. Never got it working on my Vortex, it just seemed to arbitrarily change the resistance every few minutes.
– Power output is accurate – it matches my Vector 3s (allowing for loss in the drivetrain) even from the very start of every ride, no “warming up” period
– When you’re doing a climb, you don’t get the rear tyre constantly slipping and squealing against the drum (or you can increase the Vortex tension but then it won’t calibrate)
– If you start a powerful sprint, it captures it straight away, not only when your back wheel’s finally stopped slipping
– Road feel (riding over cobbles, boards, ice and on dirt tracks etc)
– Freewheeling down hills
– Allows some side-to-side roll so it’s not fixed as rigidly as Vortex.
If you can afford it, I’d say go for it, it’s a massive step up and I don’t imagine anyone’s ever done the same upgrade and thought “well that was a waste of money”. And of course the bike will offer all of this (except maybe the roll) plus more.
Is that an application or an approval?
It seems like an approval since it has the actual frequency test photos.
Thanks, Steve! Great find!
Ray
I assume Tacx didn’t get in touch or deliver a final-final version of their NeoBike for testing on Tuesday?
That would be a first…………… Chances are about 0 they did.
Hei neil, thanks so much for this detailed summary, all the negatives you write about the vortex are what i dont about indoor training! So that said, i cant wait for the neo (or neo bike)!! Now i will save some money :)) …
cheers Bartu
“I assume Tacx didn’t get in touch or deliver a final-final version of their NeoBike for testing on Tuesday?”
They did actually, but as noted above somewhere, I was out of town Tues-Fri last week, so we’ve rescheduled for this week. Today (Monday) is a holiday in the Netherlands, but I suspect they’ll stop by tomorrow or so.
Please keep us updated Ray – don’t leave us having to wait for news till you publish your review!
I’m super psyched … Ray, any news? I am so much looking forward to this bike and start training properly again.
Yes, they dropped a boxed unit this afternoon. Still getting clarification on exact shipping date.
Wait, what? Is there anything actually in the box?
itshappening.gif
Yes, the box, roughly the size of a standard bike box (but a crapton heavier), contains said bike. I’ll likely get it all unboxed tomorrow. Have a bunch of new lights arriving tomorrow that should make my trainer unboxing area a bit less…ominously dark. So was waiting on that.
Ray, this is good news, very good news.
But when I’m really honest, there is only one thing I want to know.
When starts TACX to deliver the NEO BIKE?
I don’t know the answer to that. I asked yesterday via e-mail (to the person responsible for that, since the guys that dropped it off deferred to that person). I’ll let ya know when I know.
(Sadly, speaking of delays, DHL delayed my delivery of lights till Monday…sigh. Will see if I can re-position a bunch existing ones so it’s not so dark. In the meantime, attached pic…)
Has Neo Bike delivered. Leaves it in box for a couple of days <== no one in the world apart from Ray :-)
Is this the most anticipated unboxing you have ever done lol :)
Jessuschrise Ray. Open the box!!! This rivals cracking the door on King Tut’s tomb and you’re waiting for lights?!?
We are a ravenous bunch starved for information. Throw us a bone here. Maybe just tear one corner off and show us a hint of metal….
OPEN THE BOX!!!
Thanks for the updates Ray, take your time and thanks for checking in on this year old post at this point!
Cool box!!! ?
I notice that the box has the official CE stamp on it. I assume certification has been completed and grated before they allow this to be seen in public?
Hi Ray,
When you do your in depth review please could you consider the following?
One of the metrics I like to see is average watts, I ride mostly on Zwift. Av Watts is not part of their display although they have the technology (The provide it on Alpe Du Zwift and I would encourage Zwift to add it, but that’s another discussion)
My plan –
Connect Ant+ to my Garmin computer
Connect Zwift via Bluetooth.
Does that sound feasible?
Thanks
Phil
Yup, you can do that. No issues there.
Update on Roseversand.de: Delivery time is 17 weeks(!) from now.
I hope this is fake news …
Are you just checking the website? Or is that in reference to a specific pre-order?
It would not surprise me if the lead time on completely new orders at this point is 18 weeks, given how many pre-orders there are to fulfill globally.
Obviously the fact that Ray has a boxed unit is the most promising news that we’ve had in a while, although he has said he isn’t going to post any first looks until units start shipping to customers.
Seems like we should finally know a real timeline soon.
I just checked the website, so I hope that the delivery time on their website refers to new orders only. I also sent them an email to ask about my specific pre-order.
“Obviously the fact that Ray has a boxed unit is the most promising news that we’ve had in a while, although he has said he isn’t going to post any first looks until units start shipping to customers.”
Did he say that? I missed that info. Have been checking to website every few hours to check if unboxing pictures are online :)
It beggars belief that TACX will not give a shipping date to Ray of all people, when he asked them directly for one. They clearly aren’t bothered with cyclists perception of their products if they treat the premier sports tech reviewer with the same contempt they are showing towards the rest of us who have put their money down (in my case Aug 18!!) and are still in the dark.
I just received a response from Rose bikes in Germany: they will not receive any Tacx bikes before October 2019! This sucks!!
“They clearly aren’t bothered with cyclists perception of their products if they treat the premier sports tech reviewer with the same contempt they are showing towards the rest of us who have put their money down (in my case Aug 18!!) and are still in the dark.”
I guess I don’t see it. We can be annoyed with them for constantly pushing back dates or lack of proper communications, but I can’t be annoyed with them for waiting till the product is right. After all, we all know what happens when their owners release products that aren’t ready yet. Or, when Tacx itself has done so in the past (many products).
I completely agree, Ray. It’s just very frustrating and disappointing.
And my FTP has certainly dropped by 50 points, because I couldn’t train properly indoors ;)
I just received another mail from Rose bikes. Apparently, they postponed the delivery time to October themselves since they weren’t able to receive information from Tacx to confirm earlier dates.
Ray, do you have any news? And were you able to take a look inside the box, yet? :)
It certainly would be nice to get a problem-free product when it does eventually ship, but given history (Tacx, Wahoo, etc.) and the novelty of this product, I suspect some number of preorder customers will receive units with problems that are ironed out as time rolls by regardless of the rigor of Tacx’s processes. And the ongoing delays — justified though they may be by a desire to get things right — suggest to me that they’ve had a harder time than expected getting things right, which in turn implies a higher likelihood of defects once things get rolling. The concerning thing for me is that returning a 100-pound bike for service or exchange ain’t easy. That’s why I cancelled my pre-order.
After I see the DCR review and enough others to have confidence that these units are functioning as they should, I may pull the trigger again. I hope the first-wave adopters are thrilled with what they receive; it’s just that I don’t know how much history is on their side.
“Ray, do you have any news? And were you able to take a look inside the box, yet? :)”
I don’t have anything in terms of dates/etc. I’ll let ya know when I do. In the meantime, yeah, I opened the box and gave it a whirl.
@Damon It’s surprising and disappointing how little feedback appeared online (by that I mean virtually none, as far as I can see!) following all the events where Tacx were demoing the bike over recent months (e.g. the Tacxperience UK Tour back in May). If there had been problems with the bike then, I would have expected to have heard about them online (maybe not from the dealers hosting the demos, but at least from those customers who tried it) – but then I would have also expected to see positive feedback online otherwise – but there’s nothing. Odd. That said, the bike does seem to have disappeared from their more recent events, though maybe they were just getting fed up of people asking when it was going to be released.
Of course having a problem-free demo unit or two doesn’t necessarily scale to mass production, but now as much out of curiosity as anything else I’d really like to know the inside story on this – not sure we ever will though. My supplier is currently quoting me mid-July for my pre-order, and for the first time since December I’m thinking that this might actually be viable. I won’t be clearing a space in the garage just yet though.
Rey, any differences to the “whirl” on this version compared to the original you related above?
Of course I meant Ray. Can’t spell without my first coffee!
Yeah, more or less identical to what I wrote a year ago when I first rode it.
The buttons are a bit more clicky now (in a good way), but still not shift-lever clicky like a real bike. The everything else is honestly the same.
Team Jumbo-Visma has 4 of them: link to twitter.com
Ray, a clicky like VirtuPro one? The shifting sensation is the same? So not the “boom boom” sound then shifting, but just a click?
I wrote to Tacx, here their answer:
“We do not have specific information available at the moment on the delivery dates.
Due to some changes in the certification process we are working on some adjustments , which makes it difficult to announce a specific date.”
I think the frequency test photos are material that they need to submit for certification. So it seems like an application to me.
Ray, could you help me to solve my dubts about shifting?
You tried both the Neo Bike and the VirtuPro bike.
Months ago I was allowed to test a Skillbike by Technogym and I was really surprised that when I shifted gears, it was like I was riding a real bike, in particular about sound and sensation of the cainring change, if you know what I mean.
VirtuPro bike is electronic shifting and so you don’t hear the shifting, not the boom boom sound then shifting, but just a click, as you wrote in your review.
And what about Tacx bike?
On the Tax website I read that bike “simulates the vibrations of different road patterns” (VirtuPro does not, right?), “but also your virtual chain jumping into a different gear” (again, VirtuPro does not). So about shifting Tacx is more similar to the Skillbike than to VirtuPro bike?
So why, when I contacted those of VirtuPro, they told me that their bike is the best smart bike and no other even Technogym, ICG, Tacx, Wattbike come close? The best at what?
Thanks, Ray! :-)
Don’t worry about the lights Ray… we are all desperate for your review ?…
Thanks Ray.
Almost July and still no news … My high hopes are getting low!
Hi Ray.
You’ve had a production bike for two weeks now to test, and I wondered if Tacx have said anything about shipping, or are you under an embargo?
When can we expect your detailed review to be published?
Eric
I don’t have a shipping date yet (not under embargo, I just don’t have a date). As such, I don’t know when a review might come out. Basically, a review or first rides or what-not post won’t come out till they confirm they’ve shipped out first production units to real customers. And, that the unit I have matches those units (in the event it changes).
Sorry, wish I had something!
Latest update from Tredz for my early pre-order… 5th August #rolleyes
Just had the same message….just when you things are looking positive!!
What do you think the chances are that Tacx are now just delaying the launch to Eurobike in September and the beginning of the northern hemisphere trainer/indoor season?
If they are it’s a dangerous game? Other manufactures (Wahoo?) will have been going hell-for-leather to produce a similar, if not better product and would launch it at Eurobike. If so, and no shipping from Tacx before then, I’ll simply cancell my order (August 18).
There’s no reason for them to wait till Eurobike to release. I’m pretty confident they wouldn’t want to do that for a variety of reasons, and instead would want to release the moment their ducks are in a row.
I hope not. It’s just the complete lack of communication that’s so pathetic.
How on earth can you take pre-orders and the delay the product for (almost) a year (luckily I didn’t have to pay upfront)
If the Atom was available in Belgium, I would have bought that a long time ago, but they are equally incompetent as Tacx (having a product a lot of people want and not being able to deliver, is the biggest face palm for a company)
Tacx have never taken customer pre-orders for the bike as far as I am aware, and they have no control over retailers doing so.
Good Day
Ducks in row! Love it.
Well, Monday is the day, as far as I am concerned. My dealer insinuated that he got hinted towards 8th July as the starting date for the ducks to finally jump into the pool and paddle direction carnivores.
Sorry, could not resists to completely destroy the picture Ray built up so nicely. Given the lack of communication from Tacx, such language at least is not prohibited for minors…
To be completely honest, I do not expect to have my bike for a few months to come. The only thing I am eagerly expecting is the (as always detailed and profound) review by Ray. At least, then I know whether holding out with fingers crossed was worthwhile. Plus I will not hesitate to get my money back if indeed the product does not fulfil the promise it demonstrated to Ray when he got a chance to play with it almost a year ago to-date.
I think Ray has said he doesn’t intend publishing his review until the bikes are confirmed as shipping to avoid (or at least take into account) any differences between his review bike firmware/hardware and the shipping versions.
Indeed, Ray has stated this.
As I am not first in line and Tacx themselves have written so far that “supply is limited”, I do believe I would have ample time to drop the order.
Honestly, I do hope that this will not be needed. Otherwise, I would still feel cheated, not because of lost money, but because of the product seemed to be incredibly promising for somebody like me who post-accident is no longer “street-worthy”, at least for the time being.
I’m looking forward to Ray’s review also. It’ll be the third annual installment in the Tacx Neo bike saga.
September 2017: link to dcrainmaker.com.
July 2018 (this time with “final specs”): link to dcrainmaker.com
It’s like the swallows returning to Capistrano — a comforting ritual. Eventually it will come to an end, but I feel like we’ll have lost something that’s brought us together for so long. A tragedy of sorts.
Read, any new hints from your dealer?
I‘m curious as well! Please keep us updated if you have any news from your dealer :)
Nada, Zilch, nema nischta, nothing, nichts, rien
Or, in the (business?) language of Tacx: helemaal niets
no comment
This hope and disappointment rollercoaster is getting stale :/
I really hope Tacx is doing all they can, but sure doesn’t feel like it!
Ray…you were going to give us a re-review of the Wattbike Atom with its latest firmware updates? Would be perfect now, as I am seriously thinking that Tacx may not ever be able to bring the NeoBike to market!!
After a year the CE certification issue is unbelievable.
After all, the heart of the Neo Bike is the Neo2. So the certification should not be rocket science.
Has the delay his cause in a PATENT issue?
Ray what is your opinion?
My dealer’s just advised 15/8 but didn’t state which year for my Oct 18 order….
Joop is right above – bolting a plastic front end onto a Neo2 with shifter switches and a couple of fans isn’t hard and CE certification has to be a lie. Tacx have lost all credability over this and customer goodwill is about to follow – why do they constantly lie and fail to provide the true reason for the delays?
Ray….regarding the “fake news” e-mail you removed yesterday regarding the NeoBike, did you share the content with Tacx and ask for comment before deleting it.
Eric
I didn’t see an e-mail, but rather a person claiming to be a Tacx employee saying that it was cancelled. I don’t need to call Tacx to know that’s not true and fake. I talk to them about once per day anyway.
There’s no patent issue.
Ray – if you talk to them everyday, could you ask them for a truthful update as to why there has been a delay of a year releasing the smart bike and when the issues will be resolved to allow shipping? Thanks
Because honestly I don’t believe the answers. Not because I think they are lying, but because I think they don’t have a solid grasp on when that date will be themselves. I think they think they’re very close – and I’d agree with that. But whether that’s tomorrow or Monday, it’s always seemingly the weekly question.
It’s been a case of always some new last minute tweak/thing that pops up.
Hi Ray,
This may be a premature question…but as I have a pre-order I’ll be an innovator/early adopter in marketing speak. Have you had any conversation with Tacx on their plans regarding ironing out hardware issues with the bike….will we have to send it back or will there be a service engineer etc……hopefully these delays to release are mitigating my concerns :)
It’d likely be treated like any other trainer in that respect. Some parts could be sent back easily, whereas others less so.
I do think this time has helped mitigate that though, numerous people have been using these bikes for many many months, and with numerous tweaks along the way.
Should go without saying but, thank you Ray for putting up with us. We know you aren’t a Tacx rep or engineer, but you have been very patient and reasonable when you could have locked this thread. I would be happy if it was the device you rode last year, but it sounds like it is gonna be better. I’ll continue to wait it out and hope it is in the workout room when the cold weather comes.
As far as I know, some retailers have provided estimated delivery dates:
Rose bikes (Germany): mid October
Sigma sports (UK): 30 August
Ray, do you know whether there is any intelligence from Tacx behind these estimated dates? Or are these just wild estimates from the retailers’ perspectives?
Based on experience, I am of course aware that the bikes could be launched later than these dates, but in case these are just wild guesses, could the bikes come earlier?
Thanks :)
It’s worth remembering that some of the dates you see people reporting on here and elsewhere will be what they’ve been told for their pre-orders (which will obviously vary depending on when their orders were placed) whereas some will be what they’ve been told for new orders.
Also, different retailers will probably be quoting different dates for new orders depending on how much of a backlog of pre-orders they have to fulfil first.
I’ve kept track of Rose Bikes and they seem to always reset the delivery date out to “14 weeks” every so often. Doesn’t seem to be based on anything real.
Ray – I’m a moderate (but very keen) cyclist but I did manage 10 years as a CEO of a $Xbn corporation. I didn’t always know what problems were going on in the individual parts of the business but when PR issues like this arose the response is very easy. Write an honest explanation of what has gone wrong in terms comprehendible to a simple, non-technical individual. Be humble and honest about your mistakes. Wherever possible give a timetable to fix the problem. Above all, under-promise and over-deliver. Fire any manager you have to explain this to, more than twice!
I now do management consulting. I explain this is greater detail but I charge (obscene) fees for that service. ? Do you think Garmin need my email address ?
I’ve just had a reply from the UK importers of Tacx, who was told today that the first shipment of NeoBikes is due in the UK in September! No information given as to what is causing the continued delay.
I’m concerned now that we won’t ever see this product shipped.
I’ve been looking for a stationary bike to use with Zwift for about a month. Based on reviews and videos the Neo seems like it might be the best. Now I’ve become interested in this story regardless of whether I ever get one. What in the world is going on? I had a career that included electrical engineering project management and I am well aware of how easy it is for a project to go South. But this one seems to have just fallen off the face of the Earth. From the time that a working prototype has been achieved to the point that a reliable product is coming off the assembly line can take much longer than it seems. But Neo wasn’t a brand new company and they had manufacturing experience with similar products. Still I wouldn’t have been too surprised with a 6 month slip in the schedule. Unexpected stuff happens and sometimes people make bad mistakes. But it is hard to imagine what in the world causes a two year schedule slip.
Although, I did work for a company that used non-technical project managers. Maybe something like that has gone on. We had a two year schedule slip and then the product we produced was crap. Boeing seems to have gone down that path with the Max 737 disaster. Nothing like putting a procurement specialist in charge of a massively technical project. What could go wrong with that?
Just to be clear, it was never planned that this would have been available two years ago. They first showed it as a concept bike two years ago, saying they’d say more last summer. It was supposed to start shipping last fall. So we’re talking roughly a 9 month slip.
Not ideal, but also not two years.
Yes, Ray is right! It will only be two years when we’re still waiting for our NEO Bikes in fall 2020.
Any more news from you product manager contact Ray? The rumour mill has started churning again and I’m beginning to think the latest date I have been given of 8th August is possibly in doubt.
Cheers
Gareth
I heard back from the official Tacx importer here in the UK, and they have been told that the first shipment will be in the UK in September. Can we believe Tacx, given that the distributer was told by them previously that the first shipment was definitely 18th July!!
I contacted Tacx directly, and suggested that the NeoBike was a dead duck, and that we would never see it, and they assured me that the bike would be out “this year”.
I’ll be touching base with them in the morning, as they had mentioned a firmware update for the bike they wanted me on.
There are lots of rumors out there around the bike. I’m going to go with 75% of them being incorrect…
Hi Ray,
Any news from your contact today with Tacx? I think we are desperate for a truthful update.
Thanks!
Hoping for some info as well. Between this bike prolonged release and the Virutpro one apparently being very close to supporting Zwift, you have to think there has been a lot of wasted opportunities here.
“Please note; orders placed between July 25th and August 11th 2019 will be processed after August 12th. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Sounds like Tacx is on vacation so I’m guessing we won’t have any news until after that point at the very least.
Yes it will be released somewhere In who knows when
TACX is a master in NOT communicating , so nobody knows. And if they communicate something they don’t deliver on it. So probably somewhere in 202x
Harry
Ray…you have been riding/testing a “production” NeoBike for some time now and mentioned in a post that Tacx we’re giving you a firmware update to test. Is the bike itself finalised and are Tacx simply fine-tuning their firmware? I have to think they need to start shipping NOW, as other companies are bound to produce their take on smart indoor bikes?
Purely minor firmware tweaks at this point.
Might be a change of logistics as well. I see garmin.com had te Tacx trainers on their site, and then forwarded the customers to Tacx’ webpage. Now they’ve changed this and they say trainers are arriving 3rd quarter to be bougt directly from garmin.com
TACX website update:
Now the BUY button is enabled and you can choose the plug, but not to buy the bike actually.
Well….cant say I’m surprised ….my retailer has just called. Tacx have contacted them with a new delivery date of 16th September. I’m trying to remain pragmatic with my logic being that I would rather have Tacx iron out any issues in their factory rather than me have a 25/30kg bike in my pain cave that I would have to send back to them.
Ray….did you have the further conversation with the product manager at Tacx which you had planned. I’d be interested to know if he gave any insights into the further delays.
cheers
Gareth
My Clever pre-order status has changed to “awaiting item from manufacturer” so that is good news. It also looks like product codes have popped up on a lot of sites, which seems to indicate that stock might be starting to go out to various places.
Grasping at straws a bit, but it seems like a bit of movement :)
Any news Ray.
Im refreshing you site/blog a few times a day at the moment.
Whatever the underlying causes of the delay, I think one likely effect may be Tacx losing a lot of the market it might otherwise have had. It first released pictures and a description of the Neo Bike in Fall 2017 — two years ago — and has been demo’ing the bikes for the past year. This is essentially giving Wahoo, CycleOps, Elite, and the rest of the gang years of free competitive insight, and we might find at Eurobike that there are suddenly a few competitive offerings that undercut Tacx’s $3100 price tag and include additional features. The Neo Bike was hardly a steal at that price a year ago, and nothing has changed except Tacx supremely botching its roll-out and dismaying its most enthusiastic customers.
Whether or not other companies launch honestly won’t likely impact Tacx. If anything, it might have scared off some companies that have realized just how hard it is.
Either way, I don’t have anything new to share at the moment. Obviously I have a final unit, I continue to ride said final unit in between all the other things I’m testing. Once I’ve got clarity that units have shipped, then I’ll drop my review (within a few days).
Practically speaking, looking at the 31 new products on my list to have posts for in the next 16 days, this isn’t on that list. It might be on day 17, but right now I’m waiting like others for clarity on final release date/time.
Hi all,
I’ve been texting with Tacx customer service asking whether they have an update for us. They couldn’t say much, only that there will be an announcement during Euro bike in two weeks.
Given the bike is being judged at Eurobike for an award, I’m guessing that is when we will finally have concrete details about shipping timelines, as well as a proper review from journalists
Is that in the Wired Magazine 2019 Vaporware Awards?
link to twitter.com
Today there was an update of the Tacx Utility App on iOS that says: “Improved error logging for NEO Smart Bike”… looks like things are moving indeed. I have a deposit on the NEO bike at a Dutch dealer since November. Fingers crossed!
Your bike will be available Nov 2018
……..ERROR
Your bike will be available Dec 2018
……..ERROR
Your bike will be available Jan 2019
……..ERROR
Your bike will be available Feb 2019
……..ERROR
……… and so on and so forth :)
The winter is coming so I’m going to get some indoor bike.
Is there anything except atom and neo?
And is it released yet?
VirtuPro Elite bike.
Got an e-mail yesterday from the bike shop where I ordered the Tacx, apparentel they finally started producing the thing. By the half of September the bikes should arrive at the distributor, so before end of September they should arrive in the shop. Let’s hope this is true :D
I thought Tacx had said several months ago that these were in production and they were stockpiling them until they were certified so they could send them out? So much has happened over so long though that maybe I’m getting confused.
Great to hear that there is some movement. I guess we will hear more about delivery timelines during Eurobike next week.
Ray, I have a favour to ask. In your review of the Tacx bike that you plan to publish, could you tell us something about the stability during sprints. I am a sprinter and plan to do most of my sprint workouts on the bike. What concerns me a bit is that some spinning bikes I have tried didn’t feel super stable especially at the handlebars when you pull with a lot of power. I hope the Tacx bike will perform better here, but based on the pictures, the handlebar mechanism doesn’t look super sturdy. What do you think?
Thanks very much!!
Zero issues there. The unit is super stable, mainly because of the weight, but also the feet design. The back goes out wider than you’d expect, but also flares backwards slightly. And the front also flares out in a reverse triangle, even more stability.
Thanks, Ray. That is great to hear. How does the handlebar/stem/steerer tube feel when you pull the handlebars during sprints with full power? Is there flex/movement or does it feel rock-solid?
Thanks again :)
Ray…can you confirm that the “innards” of the Tacx t8000 will be the brand new Neo 2T and not the Neo 2?
Eric
“Shippingdate will be announced during the Eurobike in Friederichshaven Germany (2019, September 3-7th)”.
That learns a phonecall (monday, september 2th, 4:00 PM) with TACX Wassenaar the Netherlands.
I’m a believer!
link to lulop.com
link to youtube.com
*If* Tacx/Garmin have deliberately held back this release even longer than necessary just so they can start shipping to coincide with Eurobike then they hold their pre-order customers in even more contempt than I realised was possible.
No, they haven’t held back for that. There’s other non-technical/non-product reasons they’ve held back, and will continue holding back. Maybe tomorrow they’ll announce, or maybe Tuesday. Or maybe two weeks from now. I might detail it in a post tomorrow.
Delivery Q1 2020 according to Garmin’s site.
I can say with 100% certainty that date is incorrect and used as a placeholder. Garmin does that for most products actually. They put dates out that are beyond when they think they can fulfill all existing backorders.
According to Clever Training (where I pre-ordered the item one year ago), as of today:
“For your TACX bike, it looks like our warehouse was supposed to receive our shipment on 9/1, but that was a. Sunday, and b. unfortunately in the middle of the hurricane hitting Florida! Our warehouse and HQ are both in Tampa, so that shipment may have been delayed by the storm. I am reaching out to our brand managers for more info!”
Hi Ray, as always thanks for all the updates. I don’t know if this has been asked already but… Is the hardware / motor neo 2 or neo 2T?
Heading home now and looking forward to the fun job of cleaning the grime off two bikes from weekend rides so we can Zwift tonight. Shuffling bikes back and forth from the bike room, changing cassettes and adapters on the trainer for my daughter’s bike, and then undoing everything for tomorrow’s commute. This thing can’t come soon enough.
link to newsroom.garmin.com
Last piece of the puzzle is the review from Ray before deciding to place an order… Ray, we were only waiting for shipping to start for your review right?
Hoping that review comes soon now that we have a few new choices in the market. Need to figure out whether to keep my order or not.
Well…..The kickr bike has set the cat amongst the pigeons….I have a real quandary now….the Kickr bike looks great ……Tacx may have lost a sale due to there late release
Yes, a quandary. Clever says bikes could ship next week. If the main difference is the climb, I’m not sure that’s going to justify the $600 difference to me (vip discount). I always viewed the climb as a gimmick and never felt like I would want it, but I must admit the thing is intriguing. I still prefer the look of the tacx if that matters. The wahoo looks like a botched shop project to me, and the Neo innards have been state of the art for a while. I think I’m talking myself into sticking with the tacx.
I believe there’s an extremely strong chance CT will receive and ship Tacx bikes next week to pre-order folks. The units are in the states already, and just pending release to CT from Garmin. If CT gets the quantities they expect, they’ll be able to cover all existing pre-orders in one shot, with maybe a couple leftover. Maybe.
On the flip-side, if there’s anything that 565 comments on and more than 14 months on this post/thread has taught me, it’s to simply assume the answer will be ‘Nope, not this week’.
Too late Tacx. Just cancelled my CT pre-order. Too many options out there now and I want to see how you come down on the pros/cons after your detailed reviews Ray.
It is wonderful, however, that all these all-in-one bikes are coming out. This segment of virtual indoor was just to inaccessible to many without a simple solution (albeit a +/- $3k solution). I’m hopefully that more smart bikes = more indoor riders = more innovation in the content/platform space and a lot more engaging/fun indoor sport in the future.
Thanks for being the only source of real info on the Tacx bike over 14 months Ray and for actually monitoring the 565 comments long after this post’s shelf life. Monitoring your Eurobike feed hourly!
Same here. I pre-ordered the NEO Bike from Clever Training in April and was really excited to see the press release from Garmin announcing that the bikes would (finally!) be shipping very soon.
But then Wahoo announced the KICKR Bike and now instead of a NEO Bike pre-order, I now have a KICKR Bike pre-order.
Good luck guys. I’m holding out for DCR’s review of the final unit now that it’s shipping. Seems like there is still time to wait to cancel since Clever doesn’t expect to ship until next week or week after. I’m on the fence too, but am not convinced the Wahoo is worth another $600 on top of the already steep tacx, especially since I don’t think I’ll really care one way or another about the climb feature. Take out the climb feature, and I’d probably go with the Tacx any day given that it’s got a neo inside. And the climb thing is one more expensive piece of tech to fail, most likely the day after the warranty runs out.
In my opinion KICKR Bike is more beautiful than the TACX Neo bike as well.
Mine is going in the garage and not in a Peloton commercial, so while I prefer the aesthetics of the Tacx, aesthetics don’t matter to me in the garage. The climb feature is mostly what tipped the scales, but I also trust Wahoo’s software team more than Tacx and the KICKR Bike seems more “future proficient” (I won’t say “future proof”) than the NEO Bike.
With that said, if the KICKR Bike has not been announced, I would have been waiting with bated breath for my NEO Bike. I’m guessing they will both be awesome.
I have to share space in the pain cave with my wife, and so when not in use, the bike has to be against a wall so she can do her videos. I may be the only person for whom the fact that the TACX doesn’t have to be plugged in is a major feature. Also, I could have a bike before the end of the month.
Cancelled my Tacx now order….I like the climb feature and switched to wahoo. The tilt isn’t a deal breaker but why not have it? It adds to the experience imho. Tacx blew it. I had mine on preorder for over a year!!
Ray, Any chance we could get a heads up on when your full review of the Tacx bike will come out? Getting down to the wire for accepting or cancelling the pre-order and would love to have your perspective. Seems like you’ve had the bike longer than just about anyone.
I expect in the next 10 days it’ll come out. I just want to try the latest firmware, but that’s it.
At this juncture I haven’t seen any show stoppers, but I want to ensure the firmware quirks I saw on the 2T didn’t get backported to the NEO Bike in the last month. The NEO bike leverages the 2T internals (technically it’s actually the other way around).
Thanks for the quick reply Ray. Nice to know the new 2T internals are in there. That more or less seals the deal for me. Can’t justify spending another $600 for the Wahoo when I don’t care about the climb. Looks like I’ll keep my order in place and hope for delivery in the next two weeks.
Finally looking good! I’ll post when I have a tracking number though ;)
Not getting my hopes up until then.
Given how long Ray has had the Tacx and how long its been in testing I hope the reliability will be solid. Given the issues Wahoo has had with the Kickrs recently, I’m in no hurry to go back to Wahoo.
Although I might wait to open the Tacx bike until I read the review, just in case…
First off Ray, thanks for putting your time and effort into this post. It is appreciated by all of us who have been kept in the dark by Tacx over the past year. If it hadn’t been for you I’m sure most folk would have cancelled their preorders by now,
Two questions Ray;
Height range for NeoBike? My wife is 5 foot 3 inches and I’m 6 foot 2 and we both need to use it.
Does the bike have the same hardware/firmware as the just announced Neo 2
Eric
I can confirm the upper end of that can use it (I’m 6’2″). I don’t think The Girl has used it (who is 5’2″). I thought I saw 5’0″ somewhere though.
If you look above in post #190 you’ll find the bike’s measurements and adjustable range as supplied by Tacx.
ZyroFisher are apparently advising UK retailers to expect delivery 16th September, but as I think this was also the date being given following the last missed ETA, then I’m not sure if it reflects the current situation or is just old data.
Waiting with bated breath to see if Ray’s review or CT’s shipping notice will drop first. Hoping for the former to confirm the decision I made last year. The race is on.
Yeah, although I fully understand Ray’s “don’t publish till it’s shipping” approach, I think on this occasion with shipping apparently imminent (really, really this time!) and a lot of people who’ve pre-ordered now also seeing the alternatives from Wahoo, Wattbike & Stages, it would help some of those people make the judgement whether to cancel their Tacx order before it’s too late, as it’s going to be a very heavy and expensive thing to return once delivered.
A week after announcement of shipping…and I’m still waiting on it to actually ship. Just one unit…anywhere.
(sigh)
Been looking at availability in UK and a few sites are now saying it is available for order and dispatch within 1-2 days. e.g Cycle Republic. Looks like it is actually here!!!! Can’t wait for that review Ray………
Yet to hear a peep from Clever here in the States. I’m going to name my bike Godot when it arrives.
I am not really shure about the Godot analogy, as Godot never arrived.
Source Wikipedia: At the end of the play, Vladmir and Estragon are told to expect Godot the next day.
They agree to leave and return the next day, with a stronger piece of rope so they can hang themselves if he fails to arrive, but neither makes any move (quelle surprise!).
I am not advocating to get a rope just in case the bike does not arrive the next day, given the depth and breath of alternatives.
I do second Neil Jones plea to see Ray’s review to make a call on whether the uphold my pre-order or not.
Nevertheless, I assume – as I have seen in other cases – the NDA states “no publication before first customers have access to product”.
Whoever gets the first bike would all of us do a favour if and when he or she posts the shipping notice here.
Thank you, Ray, for keeping us both up-to-date and entertained the last few months. If it were not against your stated policy, Garmin would do well to compensate you for all these past and present efforts.
Fear not, there’s nothing that says I can’t drop a review anytime I want (no embargoes or such here). More just my desire to avoid a scenario where I drop a review tomorrow, and then three months from now we’re still waiting for shipping.
I did ask them today to at least get a final box (the box I have has since changed). :)
Hi Ray,
As an dispassionate observer, I think you should definitely release the review such that the long suffering pre-order Tacx bike clients have an informed choice as to whether they cancel those pre-orders or hold tight but that window of opportunity for them is apparently closing fast.
You are wielding a lot of (knowledge is) power and if your review is of the final product and it’s just about the box (who care’s?) and timing (those pre-order clients really do care!) then that time is now. I think you’ve cut Tacx/Garmin enough slack already. :)
I’m happy to answer all the questions folks have here about it (and have been). My main concern is simply that there have been numerous times over the course of the year that Tacx has told folks (even me), that things should ship ‘immediately’, even by the end of the week in some cases.
While I truly do think this time is different, I’m just hesitant to publish something that simply ends up being about another beta edition.
Fully understood. Your experience with Tacx seems to similar to what we, potential customers, have experienced over the last year.
Sad to hear, but if the rumour mill coming from Eurobike is correct, there were legal (licensing) issues popping up. I was told that that there are plenty bikes ready to be shipped to my country to service clients but my dealer was told “there is one issues left”, whatever that means.
No, I can confirm those rumors were definitely not true. The actual issues for delay were:
1) Certification Part 1: Due to the design, in certain countries the bike ended up having to be re-categorized and re-certified as a ‘spin bike’ rather than a trainer (for safety certifications specifically). This was basically a totally unknown category to Tacx to deal with, and threw them for a long loop due to lack of passing one spin-bike specific requirement that doesn’t apply to Tacx because they don’t have a giant flywheel.
2) Certification Part 2: The Garmin acquisition put in place additional product release requirements, primarily around having all major certifications (CE/CB/FCC/IC/Australia/NZ) in place prior to shipping any initial product.
During this time they did make improvements to software and some minor hardware (might as well if there are easy hit items), but virtually everything was driven by paperwork.
I suspect the term ‘licensing’ was just a bad translation game of telephone.
Hi Ray
Indeed, just checked German words through translation software about their use: certification and licensing are often used in similar legal circumstances, ie certification includes verification that all licences are present, where licences can refer to software rights (private contract) as well as compliance with public standards and mandates.
Wonderful, what we learn through the Tacx story, from legalese to Godot…
I cancelled my order with Clever and preordered the Wahoo. The Tacx will be a great bike once it ships, but although not necessary, the climb addition to the Wahoo bike is worth it to me. I use a climb now and it just adds a little to the indoor experience. Both bikes are already so expensive may as well get the additional option. I am a little concerned about the steering (or lack thereof.) I’m not sure I’d use it often, but having the option would be nice…..I know my kids would love it…I’ll be hanging on to my kickr to see how that aspect plays out.
People, like me, are in the market for these bikes because riding outdoors isn’t an option most of the time for a variety of reasons. I’d much prefer to be outdoors!! Also, multiple users. I have a wife and 5 kids that will enjoy the bike. Being able to adjust for each user is going to be wonderful!!
Lastly, thank you Ray for your reviews and posts. Also for replying to the many comments in this thread and others!
Thanks for the support Kris – hopefully on the re-order you remembered to use CT to still grab the 10% back in points! ;)
No worries! I got the points coming! :-)
Droppin’ like flies!
Ray, lots of people would love to read the review and be really happy to have the caveat out the firmware. As you can tell we are desperate for your view on this…
It seems that any reference to the Tacx neo smart bike has been removed from all UK online retailers now – not a great sign.
OTOH, this is new on Tacx’s website: link to tacx.com
“Expected availability — Limited available in Europe and North America from now.”
I suppose limited could mean “there’s one, and Ray has it.” But it is a change.
And Tacx just send out a mailing announcing the availability too
Just arrived in my inbox here in UK
Yeah, they actually sent one out last week too. Different e-mail lists I suppose.
Got this email from Tacx as well… but I am still waiting for feedback from my dealer about my pre-ordered unit.
Ray — Blink twice if the review is positive.
Seriously though, for me the question comes down to a few things. All this wahoo kickr stuff got me thinking. If I was going to buy a new direct drive trainer right now, I think I would buy the Neo 2T. Even though it can’t be used with a climb, I think it’s the better trainer overall, and I just have no faith in the kickr line given reliability issues. Climb isn’t enough to make me want to buy a regular kickr, so translated to the smart bike choice, I’m still favoring the Neo over the Kickr. All I need to know is if it rides well, shifts quickly, and is as quiet and high performing as the trainer. The kickr fit app is cool, but once I get the numbers dialed in for me and my family, I can’t see that ever being used again. So I’m mainly interested in any dealbreakers from a functionality or perceived reliability perspective.
Netherlands, Mantel says next week
link to twitter.com
Review please ?
Got to be official now. Instagram tacx is saying moment you’ve all been waiting for, it’s now available
Unfortunately for me it’s too late, I’m going to wait and get the wahoo. I’m annoyed that I bought a Neo 2 as a stop gap, intending to sell when bike available and hopefully not lose too much as it’s the current model – then they go and update it so quickly. Tacx customer service is definitely lacking!
Ray,
which smart bike is the quietest? Trying to choose between atom, wahoo and tacx and noise is the most important thing for me since I’m going to have it in the living room quite close to my newborn’s room :)
I have to do a side by side noise comparison on them. To be honest, they’re all pretty darn quiet. If you’re in a separate room, there’s no way you’d hear any of them.
Do you have a view on the Wattbike Arom X vs the Wahoo or Tacx??
To some degree that’s a little bit of you’re getting what you’re paying for. And that’s not in a bad way towards Wattbike, but just the reality of the situation.
The internals of the Wattbike Atom are a bit less capable of a design than that of the Wahoo/Tacx bike, though frankly most people would never notice unless they rode the higher end ones and pushed them to their limits. And the customization of the Wattbike in terms of gearing and such isn’t quite as flexible as Wahoo/Tacx. Same goes for shifting compared to Wahoo (which leads Tacx in that realm).
My current plan, assuming Tacx actually ships (for realz, trucks going out with bikes onboard, not just e-mails for the second Wednesday in a row), to drop my Tacx review mid-next week, and Wahoo likely a few days later. And then follow that up the following week with a full shoot-out.
Oh! Is Wahoo shipping that quickly?
Bad news from my dealer in the Netherlands, he just gave me the following info : “I just got an update from Tacx… it will take another 5 weeks before they can deliver the first Neo Bike’s in Europe.”
This does not seem to match information some of you guys received… it may apply to my dealer only.
I have a lot better news.
Tomorrow I can say: ‘We got him!’
I’m also from the Netherlands.
It’s a strange world (…)
Hi Joop, in which area of the Netherlands is your dealer located ?
Ray,
There he is!
Even better if there is an actual bike inside!
Time for that review!
Congrats!
Heh Joop – post a review and take Rays job – he’s lost his edge anyway!
mf22433,
Van Herwerden, Voorburg the Netherlands.
I preordered the Neo bike in 2018.
Today they had two bikes. One for demonstration in the shop. The other one is mine.
The first impression.
1) The bike is over 50 kg and in one package.
2) Tip: don’t ask your girlfriend to help carrying.
3) When the bike was upstairs with a little help from the boy-next-door, I did the installation with my son who is 10 years old. It’a piece of cake.
4) The bike is very solid and stable.
5) Updating with the Tacx utility app works great. No problems.
6) The bike is extremely silent.
7) Shifting is amazing.
8) When the Neo Bike isn’t connect with a app, the Neo Bike screen shows: speed, cadence, watt, gear front and back. When you connect to Zwift only gear front and back is visable.
8) Connecting Zwift with an iPad works excellent.
9) My very short first impression is great.
Cool, I know Van Herwerden, actually they are not too far from Tacx themselves, Nice shop :-)
Thanks for the quick review. The bike looks like it would be rock solid, which is great from a long term reliability standpoint. That’s the thing I wonder the most about for the kickr bike. Seems like the whole bike sits on one pivot. Anything that moves under heavy stress wears; anything that wears eventually needs service and/or repairs. The amount of stress on that pivot must be huge. I’m more sold on the solid four feet on the floor approach of the tacx. Glad to hear the tacx shifts and rides well. Now if only CT would let us know where our bikes are in the US.
@joop
What are the dimensions of the box?
I have to place it at the third floor.
@Niels,
117 cm x 77 cm x 26 cm
Maybe you can open the box downstairs, and assemble the bike on the third floor.
Bedankt Joop, dat is wat geruststellender.
Boom! After five months of riding and testing, your full Tacx NEO Bike Smart In-Depth Review is here. I dive into everything from accuracy to road feel, shifting to display aspects. Even lighting. Everything you’d ever want to know: link to dcrainmaker.com
As is usual, I’ll be closing the comments section here on this preview post to new comments, but of course feel free to continue the discussion over on the main review. That should help differentiate between pre-production stuff and the units (finally) shipping.