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Is the Wahoo Kickr Core still the best budget indoor smart trainer? The best budget smart trainers now have loads of the tech you would expect to find on the best indoor trainers but for around half the price. Here's our round up of the best budget indoor trainers that we've tested including the Elite Rivo, Wahoo KICKR SNAP, Wahoo KICKR CORE 2, Elite Muo and Van Rysel D100.
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Tax, Wahoo, Elite or someone else entirely. There's definitely plenty of options out there
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when it comes to indoor trainers but the good news is that in 2026 you can enjoy your favourite
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indoor training software for a lot less than you might think. Not only is there excellent
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indoor training software available for free but indoor smart trainers have come on so far in the
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last few years that I now don't think it's worth spending more than most brands lowest tier option
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of trainers. But which one should you choose? Well, we've tested them all and here's our top picks
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If you want to indoor train on a budget, then this is for you. The Van Riesel D100. It was
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released earlier this year and has an RRP of £230, €250 or $299. And it's more than capable
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of getting you moving in the virtual world. For example, on the software that we've been using
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to test these trainers, MyWoosh. The stats might not be the highest
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For example, this one has a maximum resistance of 600 watts and can simulate climbs of up to 6%
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But it does get you a direct drive trainer for a lot less than just about anything else out there
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What that means is that compared to a wheel-on trainer, you're not going to wear out your tire
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It's relatively quiet. it's easy to put a through axle or quick release bike on it and it has a good ride feel. The power
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accuracy is well it's around five percent which is some way off the other trainers that we're
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going to see in a minute but for people just starting their indoor training eras and especially lighter riders this should be more than enough to dip your toe into workouts free rides and even a bit of amateur
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racing. Taking things up a notch though is this the Elite Revo. You may have recently seen the
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video where I challenged my mum to set this exact indoor trainer up something it's fair to say she
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has struggled with in the past. The main benefit of this one over let's say the best overall trainer
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that we're going to see in a minute is it's surprisingly small compact and light. It also
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has a handle which means it's far easier to carry around or tidy away than just about every other
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indoor trainer that I've used. Even my mum could pick this one up and carry it around the house which
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she can't do with most turbo trainers. The setup was as simple as it gets. Again it's a direct drive
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or wheel off trainer so you get all the benefits of that and the specs should be more than enough
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for the majority of riders. A power accuracy of plus or minus two and a half percent will be
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sufficient for anyone that isn't racing professionally and most importantly that stayed accurate even when the unit heated up on long rides. Something that can't be said for lots
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of the other budget indoor trainers that we've tested. It's also got wi-fi connectivity something
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that used to be reserved for much more expensive trainers so it will automatically download and
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install firmware updates. What else? Oh yeah the price. So this one is £449, €499 and $499
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Before we get to our best overall indoor trainers we like to say thank you to this video sponsor My Woosh My Woosh offers a huge number of worlds where you can enjoy racing pro workouts
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and social community rides, including our favourite with the Cycling Weekly team
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We might be a bit biased though. What's more, it's free. Not just a free trial, like actually
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free free. No in-app purchases, you get it all of it. The workout plans, all the worlds
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customize your avatar and everything you need to help you get back to fitness for the summer
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If you want to check it out then there's a link down in the description below
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With a max power of 1500 watts and a 12% simulated incline, the Kickr Snap boasts direct drive like
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numbers from a wheel on trainer. Personally I would be looking to buy a wheel off or direct
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drive trainer but I realize that they're not for everyone and if you do want the ease of loading
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up your bike without the hassle of taking a wheel off then the one that I would go for is the Wahoo
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Kicker Snap. It's simple to set up, worked seamlessly with our indoor training software during the
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review period and bikes come on and off it in a flash. It can usually be found for under 300 quid
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although it has now been discontinued by Wahoo. We thought we'd still include it as it is still
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available from quite a lot of stores but if you can't find it then my next pick would be the Elite
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Tua Taking the overall crown though my favourite indoor trainer is the Wahoo Kicker Core 2 It does everything that I want an indoor trainer to do and that why you certainly won find me
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spending anything more. The design is tried and tested, it's a really stable platform even if you
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want to do sprints, it's got more than enough resistance up to 1800 watts and it can simulate
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16% inclines and with a 5.4 kilo flywheel you get some really good ride feel as well
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This second generation unit also gets wi-fi for additional peace of mind whilst racing
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and speaking of which it's got a race mode which bumps up how often it kind of sends data to your
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software to make it ultra reactive so your your virtual self will do exactly what real you is
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doing. Wahoo's also made a lot of effort to make this super simple setup and I'm really not sure
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what more you could ask from an indoor trainer. Maybe it could wobble around a bit or it could
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have a handle actually. That is one thing it is missing. Other than that it does literally
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everything that the top trainers do but for half the price. Speaking of which this one will set
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you back £499, £549 and €549 and that happens to be a fair bit cheaper than what it costs when
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the first kicker core hit the shelves. So there you go actual proof that you get more for your
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money when it comes to indoor training now than you did a few years ago. We're always excited to
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try out new indoor trainers. I've got the Psyc Plus T3 and T4 on my list to try in 2026. Let us
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know any others that you'd like us to review or that you think we've missed in the comments below
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and we'll see you next time
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