Almost exactly two years after announcing the Wattbike Atom, the hard to get indoor smart bike is finally going to be available to purchase in the US. The company has made significant tweaks to the bike in the last two years, largely to software – but changes that fundamentally have changed the way the bike feels and acts, and now brings it very much in-line with expectations for what an indoor smart trainer translated into a single bike solution should be like.
But first, let’s talk details on this whole availability thing. See, up till now, when you tried to order the Wattbike Atom from the US, you’d get this page. Which, actually, is the case for countless countries around the globe – even much of continental Europe. About the only places you were good to go was the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, and…South Africa and Australia. Outside of that, you got this sad panda pic:
Yes, oddly Australia and South Africa were in there. I mean, nothing against either location – we’ve spent our past two winters in those two countries. But out of all the places I would have expected them to expand to, they wouldn’t be top of the pile from a sales standpoint. In any case, that’s neither here nor there.
The Details:
Starting next month (October, for those calendar-challenged), you’ll be able to order the Wattbike Atom within the US. Ordering will be direct from Wattbike themselves, just as it is within the UK and other regions today. The price is a bit flexible still, but they’re targeting approximately $2,500USD. That may fluctuate depending on whether or not delivery is included, and that’s the piece they’re still finalizing in the coming weeks with various delivery services.
To begin with, they’re specifically launching in the NY tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut). However, this isn’t so much a hard-stop ordering limitation, but rather a soft-block to ensure that one understands if outside this region that support of any parts might be delayed. Within the tri-state region they’re aiming for 3-4 days for any replacement parts. Additionally, outside the tri-state region they’ll be working with different delivery carriers, so final delivery price may fluctuate.
Now I will point out that there’s a pretty big shift in price from the current UK pricing, which is 1,599GBP, or equal to $1,933 at current exchange rates (inclusive of VAT). That’s roughly a $500-$600 increase in price, and does make it less compelling than the relative ‘bargain’ pricing found in the UK specifically. There’s something to be said about having an indoor bike priced below Peloton’s offering.
However, as I’ve alluded to in various posts and podcasts, Wattbike has finally released this summer their updated firmware which significantly improves the feel of the Atom with respect to shifting. They’ve simplified the shifting paradigm, and it’s had a significant effect on things. Atop that, since I originally tested way back nearly two years ago they’ve now got Zwift gear indicators on-screen, again, making it more clear which gearing you’re in.
I’ll be finally dropping my updated review or something on that in the next week or two, so stay tuned for that!
The Competition:
Ahh yes, you wanted it – a complete chart of competitive specs. After all, this is the Eurobike of the indoor smart bike, and there’s no better place to highlight all these specs than the DCR Comparison Database and Charts. So I’ve slated up all the big competitors into the chart below. This chart will automatically update over the course of the day as new offerings are announced:
| Function/Feature | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 |
|---|
| Copyright DC Rainmaker - Updated November 23rd, 2023 @ 2:27 pm New Window |
| Price for trainer | $2899 | $2,599 | $3,199 | $3,499 |
| Trainer Type | Indoor Bike | Indoor Bike | Indoor Bike | Indoor Bike |
| Available today (for sale) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Availability regions | Global | UK/South Africa/Australia/Scandinavia/USA | Global | Limited Initially |
| Wired or Wireless data transmission/control | Wireless | Wireless | Wireless | Wireless |
| Power cord required | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Flywheel weight | 50lbs | 9.28KG/20.4lbs | Simulated/Virtual 125KG | 13bs/5.9kgs |
Resistance | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Can electronically control resistance (i.e. 200w) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Includes motor to drive speed (simulate downhill) | No (but kinda) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Maximum wattage capability | 3,000w | 2,000w | 2,200w @ 40KPH | 2,200w @ 40KPH |
| Maximum simulated hill incline | | 25% | 25% | 20% (and -15% downhill) |
Features | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Ability to update unit firmware | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Measures/Estimates Left/Right Power | Yes (actually measured independently) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Can directionally steer trainer (left/right) | Yes (with compatible apps) | No | YES (WITH COMPATIBLE APPS) | Yes (with compatible apps) |
| Can simulate road patterns/shaking (i.e. cobblestones) | No | No | Yes | No |
Motion | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Whole-bike physical gradient simulation | No | No | No | Yes |
| Can rock/tilt side to side (significantly) | No | No | No | No |
Accuracy | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Includes temperature compensation | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| Support rolldown procedure (for wheel based) | Cross-references power meter data | No | N/A | N/A |
| Supported accuracy level | +/- 1.5% | +/- 2% | +/- 1% | +/- 1% |
Trainer Control | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Allows 3rd party trainer control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supports ANT+ FE-C (Trainer Control Standard) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supports Bluetooth Smart FTMS (Trainer Control Standard) | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Data Broadcast | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Transmits power via ANT+ | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes (added Sept 30th, 2020) |
| Transmits power via Bluetooth Smart | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supports Multiple Concurrent Bluetooth connections | | | No, just one | Yes, 3 Concurrent |
| Transmits cadence data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Indoor Bike Features | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Shifting type | Buttons | Buttons | Button Based | Normal bike levers |
| Can customize shifting (Shimano/SRAM/Campagnolo) | Yes (not yet SRAM) | No | In future update | Yes (Shimano/SRAM/Campagnolo) |
| Can customize gearing | Yes | Mininimal | Yes | Yes (both cassette and chainrings) |
| Supported Crank Lengths | 165/170/172.5/175mm | 170mm | 170/172.5/175mm | 165/167.5/170/172.5/175mm |
| Display | No | No | Yes | Small display near top-tube |
| USB Ports | Two Ports (Fast Charging) | No | 2 USB Ports (2AMP) | 1 USB port |
Purchase | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Amazon | | | Link | |
| Backcountry.com | Link | | | Link |
| Competitive Cyclist | Link | | Link | Link |
| REI | | | | Link |
| Other | | | | Link |
DCRainmaker | Stages Bike (SB20) | Wattbike Atom V1 | Tacx NEO Bike Smart | Wahoo KICKR Bike V1 | | Review Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
Oh, and before you ask why I haven’t included some products into the above – here’s the quick and dirty answers:
Peloton Bike: It’s not a ‘smart’ bike in the sense of the above, it doesn’t allow you to set a specific power level (it does tell you the current power level). Rumors are Peloton is working on such a bike, but nothing today.
SRM Bike: This was also announced today, with full smart integration. I’ve got a chat with them in a few hours. Stay tuned!
True Kinetix Bike: This will likely be in the above chart by the end of the week. They’re planning on shipping me a test unit in the next week or two, and I’ll be meeting with them this afternoon. I just want to get a clear understanding of timelines and capabilities (specifically the ANT+/BLE bits) before I add them above).
VirtuPro: It could also get escalated into the above chart, I’ve talked about it in the past. But I need clarity on when they’ll (actually) ship it with ANT+/BLE support, and realistic timelines to that. Else, it’s a proprietary solution that doesn’t really fit what the tables are designed for (the rest of the bikes here are compatible with all industry protocols).
Again, I’m more than happy to add products into the database. In general, my rule of thumb is I want hands-on time (or butts-on in this case), and I want some realistic level of clarity on delivery timeframes.
Wrap-Up:
This is a good move for the company, especially since they offer a tried and tested product that’s already in thousands of homes. As is always the case with new indoor trainers and bikes, there’s something to be said for something that’s already been proven (even if it does have competitive shortcomings).
Pricing wise, as you can see above – it’ll be a battle between them and Stages. At the $2,500 price-point Stages at $2,600-$2,800 offers a slightly more compelling product in terms of things like shifting, brakes, and steering (eventually). As well as some of the minor things like USB ports. But on the flip side, Wattbike will start shipping in a month, whereas Stages is sometime early next year – assuming no delays.
Of course, there is the reality that Wattbike could have owned this market for the last 1-2 years in the US, with no competitive pressure at all. Now they’re up against a slate of well-known competitors – albeit all of them more expensive than them. If they can play their cards right they could capture the market for people that don’t want to wait for one of today’s new entrants to actually start shipping. Hopefully they can do just that.
With that – thanks for reading!
Australia and South Africa are very natural choices if you want to do some carefully observed incremental rollout thing without wasting time idling until the next northern hemisphere trainer season. Same thing with UK and Scandinavia: apparently they were looking for small but trainer-intensive markets for gaining experience before ramping up numbers.
Potentially yes, but from a pure business standpoint of order potential – the cost of setting up all those different countries would be less than the US, which has a massively greater number of potential users.
Either way, glad to see them in the US now!
The business case for an incremental rollout is to avoid sending out early production runs to a massively greater number of users. If you run into issues that only occur after months of usage, it’s much cheaper to e.g. send replacements to all your customers in South Africa than to do the same in North America. Similar logic applies to the cost of vocal forum complaints.
The US premium price appears to reflect the 25% China tarrif, assuming that most/all of the product parts originate from the PRC.
Believe that we are seeing the same thing with price points for the Stages & Tacx bikes.
“Believe that we are seeing the same thing with price points for the Stages & Tacx bikes.”
Tacx trainers are made in the Netherlands. Ray will be happy to tell you the details.
The Tacx bikes are built in the Netherlands. While I’m not sure on all the parts, I know from past discussions that the vast majority of Tacx parts come from within 10-15KM of the factory south of Amsterdam.
Stages bikes are made in Taiwan, not China.
As for the business case for incremental rollout – that’s fine, but using South Africa is a super poor example for complexity. There are few countries on earth that are as notoriously difficult to deal with from a commercial customs and importing standpoint as South Africa. It’s far cheaper and faster to send products from EU to North America.
Two plus years? Wattbike is toast with this strategy. Every single serious rider I know that wanted indoor adjustable trainers didn’t want to wait. They all went with fixed rear wheel trainers. Compound that with serious competition of recently announced fully adjustable trainers from Wahoo and Stages and Wattbike is facing a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. Maybe they faced technical issues? who knows… I’m just not sure what they offer now?
“Wattbike is toast with this strategy” – I don’t think you know much about WB. The Pro/Trainer models are hugely popular in gyms & used by many for bike fit/athlete testing. At least in the UK that is. They aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I have no idea the size of the company from a revenue perspective, although you could find out from Companies House. But from my dealings with them since I got my Atom 18 months ago they are great. There are a number of groups on FB & the vast majority of the discussion among owners is hugely popular. WB themselves regularly seek our feedback on ways they can improve.
They simply weren’t ready to roll our internationally 2 years ago and that is ok. It’s a great product & competition drives the market.
Yes–I agree. WB is very popular in the UK.. They done well there and maybe that’s enough. 60+M folks… I was particularly ranting in regards to the remaining 7+ billions folks who couldn’t get a WB (especially an ATOM)… now they face extremely stiff competition from numerous products and companies…I just felt they could have had a big 1st mover advantage by releasing the products to a wider market two years ago. Competition does indeed drive the market, now WB has it in bulk. Let’s see how it unfolds. Peace ;-)
Any words when the Wattbike Atom will be available in other countries in Europe?
Wattbike had a distributor in the US:
link to wattbike.com
Woodway was their distributor:
link to woodway.com
It wasn’t convenient to buy, sure, but they had a distributor on paper.
Correct, but the ATOM was never available to that distributor. This post is purely about the ATOM.
DC, called their USA distributed (Woodway) this morning and was told, ”unfortunately, availability and shipping maybe1Q next year”. It appears they continue to miss the boat in taking a competitive advantage…
They’re not leveraging Woodway here. Woodway is talking about the Atom X, for commercial usage.
Hopefully they get their support network set up properly. Here in Australia it has been a nightmare. I have had my original Wattbike Pro for 5-6 years maybe more and in that time I think there has been about 6 different suppliers as agreements run out, someone else takes it on and then relinquishes it etc
Always waiting for parts and/or a tech, not to mention the price to upgrade from an A model monitor to a B model was getting close to a Kickr base model in price.
Having said all that I would not part with mine as I prefer to not put my road bike on a trainer and all the climb angle stuff does nothing for me, although that new Kickr bike, if it came in a lower spec ( and price ) without the climb etc, could be a suitable replacement if needed.
UK Atom owner here. Very happy one too. The firmware updates have been really solid and it works great with TrainerRoad (my ‘app’ of choice).
Only negative I’ve had was the initial setup – for days I thought I’d received a dud unit only to discover that the firmware it comes with is only capable of reading from a Bluetooth v4 phone (I have a recent v5 iPhone) so I had to ask a friend for an older iPhone, install the Wattbike app on it, upgrade the firmware and this brought Bluetooth v5 functionality to the Atom and so I could interact with it using my phone/AppleTV.
I couldn’t see anything on their website about this. It was only a kind support staff member who tweeted me back to let me know. I just found it incredible that such an expensive device would leave a warehouse without the firmware installed that allowed it to connect to the majority of new phones.
Meh, I have a Wattbike Pro here in the USA and while the bike is nice I have been largely unimpressed with Wattbike as a company, particularly support and software. From a hardware standpoint the Pro is great and the only thing I would change is to have a backlit display. The app (on android) is garbage, or more specifically needs someone to maintain it. The Wattbikers1k challenge is still in there and the leaderboard never updates because “Unfortunately the leaderboard is no longer active therefore results will not show. I do apologise for any inconvenience this may cause”. When doing a workout the notifications are often out of sync. Why doesnt the app update the time on the PM? Why doesnt the app update the firmware on the PM, or at least tell me to? When contacting support I am regularly (as in every time) bounced around, told to contact someone else, or all out forgotten. It seems as if there is Wattbike UK, and if you live outside UK you are getting redirected to someone else for everything which is confusing (Woodway, maybe, depends on what I need). When I bought this thing from Woodway my regional rep sucked, but that doesn’t seem to be the case elsewhere. The Woodway hardware support is great (although what does that say that I have had to contact them twice in the first year I’ve had it, once resulting in a house call to tear it down and replace parts). Personally, if I was buying new I would buy something else. Just my two cents.
Ray, when do you expect your updated review of the Atom to be out?
So, according to wattbike’s website, US availability will open on November 1st – another entire month away. I have been patiently waiting for this to arrive in the US but am have 2 big concerns now: (1) it costs $600 more than it did in the UK and (2) this is basically a 3 year old model.
While it still appears to be the cheapest trainer option, why do I feel like (1) and (2) above making buying this a bad decision? Should I be waiting on the other models?
Hello Ray,
Wattbike is expected to introduce the new Wattbike AtomX at FIBO 2020.
It is already shown on the page link to wattbike.com and has all the necessary interfaces (THIRD PARTY CONNECTIVITY: ANT +, FE-C, Bluetooth, FTMS). And apparently, the AtomX should also be offered in Germany. The price should, however, move to 5000 €.
Greeting Horst
Fabulous data. Thanks.
I have been waiting patiently for the Atom to be available in the US. However, in that wait I have waned in interest and am looking hard at alternatives. Add the $600 US premium for the bike and the bloom is falling off the rose. I may still end up here but 24 months ago, 18 months ago, even 12 months ago, I would have bought one without a moments hesitation.
So I have been in extensive contact with the German distributor and Wattbike itself and it seems that the Atom is not coming to Germany anytime soon. They apparently will focus on the Atom X (but as someone else mentioned, it is going to be a lot more expensive).
Wattbike is also not willing to directly ship the Atom from the UK to Germany. They would send it to any address in the UK, where I would need to take care of the forwarding to Germany. However they explicitly warned me that taking the Atom out of the country would void the warranty.
In my opinion this is a huge mistake, I know a lot of people who thought about getting the Atom but will now move to Tacx/Wahoo instead. They are losing the advantage here, they built via being the first ones on the market.
Florian I think you are correct. That is one of many questionable distribution decisions.
In my world of finance, the first mover advantage in a new financial product, properly nurtured and fully capitalized, will typically find that first mover still owning 60%+ of the market after 10 years. I understand this is a different animal but I think Watt Bike is going to look back on this market in five years and wonder what might have been.
Wife wants to use Atom as a trainer but kids want a spinner for Peleton classes.
Can the Atom fo double duty as both if I pay for the Peleton and zwift apps?
thanks
ray.. after reading your review on the wattbike and subscribed to your channel when you compared wattbike, tacx, and wahoo.. i still prefer the wattbike. when you sprinted on the bikes, wattbike seems to me to be the most table and where your body moved more naturally. with wahoo.. looked like you were about to break that thing. lol
anyway.. just when i was going to pull the trigger, i emailed wattbike as i noticed on their website.. they only listed warranty for EU areas. but im in Cali.. so i wanted to know what warranty is available. disappointed to find out they have 2yrs warranty but only for NYC only. so ppl outside of NY is screwed… :(
**************************************************************************
Hi Rui
Thanks for contacting Wattbike.
For the US our full 2 year warranty is valid for New York state only. Customers outside of NY will be entitled to a parts only warranty whereby shipping / engineer visit will be chargeable (pricing dependant on location.)
I hope this helps and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Kind regards
Alice
Customer Service
Customer Support | Wattbike Ltd
I too am in Calif. This is the proverbial nail in the coffin. I am taking Wattbike off my list of options.
To be fair, that’s actually identical to what Tacx/Wahoo/Stages are doing. They just send you parts, or, it has to be returned (of which, that part of Wattbike is a bit unclear).
What Wattbike is doing here, albeit rather unclearly, is on-site fixes. That’s something that nobody else does in the US, but is common for them elsewhere – primarily the UK. Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth it for them. As they themselves noted, the number of things that break or go wrong in a Wattbike Atom is increda-small, especially after 2+ years of shipping already. Whereas the number of things that go wrong in a Tacx or Wahoo bike are…umm…not ideal right now.
Hi Ray, When will your updated Atom review be posted, I am considering one but can’t find any reviews that have the latest firmware updates, they all tend to be over a year old.
+1 to this.. love to get an update on where the atom’s at now compared the to competition