Indoor training is a South African must – not just in our challenging winters (to be fair, we have it easy compared to the Northern Hemisphere, but it is still hard work to get outdoors in our winters), but also keeping us off the road and safe from motorists, muggers and other external forces seemingly intent on stopping us getting fit. Tacx has the answer…

And it isn’t just the safety and comfort that indoor training offers; it is, simply, a better way to get fast and strong. Periodisation is the buzzword in modern training – the so-called 80-20 rule, where 80 percent of your efforts should be in Zone 2 (slow and chatty), which allows you to be rested enough to do the other 20 percent efficiently in Zones 5 and above. Those uber power and heart-rate zones aren’t conducive to heavily-trafficked roads at the times we generally have to train, or anywhere where you need to concentrate on the numbers on your handlebars more than your surrounds. The pain cave/garage/garden shed is where the real numbers can be hit reliably and repeatedly, without risking life and limb.

Tacx has been a market leader in the indoor market for decades, first with rollers, then ‘dumb’ trainers, and finally with a range of smart trainers used by many of the teams in the Tour de France. The pinnacle of the smart trainer range is the pair of living-room chic training bikes you see here, which offer all the metrics you would expect from a smart trainer, and mare, but without you needing to ruin a perfectly good bike by sweating all over it. Your Neo Bike will always be ready, set up perfectly for you, without having to juggle cassettes, connectivity, towels and protectors, so you can concentrate on what’s important: your workout.

There are two models in the Neo Bike range, both sharing much of the same technology, but with the Plus model boasting improved improved levers for getting the right bike fit –  the more ergonomic hoods and can mimic Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo shifting patterns, a big plus when you are bleeding from the eyeballs and might not have the capacity to learn a new system – and more crank-length options, ranging from 165mm to 175mm, where the standard model starts at 170mm.

Both machines offer up to 25% gradient tilt, 1% power accuracy, auto-zeroing and come with a tablet holder and cooling fans, with the Plus offering a higher level of adjustability, for those Merckxish about their bike position, and a marginally wider Q-factor of 148mm, vs 147mm.

Tacx Neo Bike Smart Trainer – R57 199

Tacx NEO Bike Plus Trainer – R87 999

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