I am a French guy in France. If you want a trainer here in France, it is going to be Tacx or Elite. They are sold in most of the bike stores, these are the two brands we live with. (I bought a KK 5 years ago with a huge discount, don't ask me how, they virtually don't exist here).
My point is that everybody knows Tacx, and 'nobody' knows Wahoo. Tacx Neo is found everywhere on pre-order for 1200e, wait for a >10% discount that will come several times a year, and it is even cheaper.
I could buy something like a bkool trainer online without knowing how it is and feels because it is quite cheap (500e) even if brand is unknown, but not something like a kickr (€€)
IMO most of the people who ride trainers are annoyed by the noise they make (babies, wife, neighbors, even for sufferfest videos, TV or music). I have never seen a Tacx Neo, but I guess that when you ride a silent trainer once, you never go back : it is simply less stress for everybody.
Kickr is probably close to perfection but now that silent trainers exist, Kickr has a HUGE problem.
I could be wrong of course.
tgarson wrote:
Huh? Looking at Wahoo's page the KICKR is 1299 euros with a cassette included and has free shipping to most of europe. The Neo is 1399 euros and you still need to buy a cassette. I have no idea what taxes or any other fees you might have to pay to buy the Kickr form the US.
Still with the Neo only being ~150 euros more with cassette I'd still go for that over a Kickr, I think Wahoo is going to have to do something to become more competitive on price in the European market or maybe just sacrifice that market all together.
In the US on the other hand, a $500+ price difference is a pretty big deal and while DCR's first impressions of the Neo are certainly positive, I must have read something completely different than you to take away that it's way better than what else is out there. It's quieter for sure, and to me that's a plus, but for US consumers is it worth $500? Guess time will tell. Speaking of brand recognition, Tacx still has largely the opposite problem in the US. If people know Tacx here, they know it as the funky euro trainer with terrible software and bad customer support. Neither of those may be true anymore, but they still have to overcome that perception.
I have no stake in either company or product for that matter but I don't think we'll see a lot of major changes over this. I don't think Wahoo was ever that popular in Europe and things will probably stay that way, Tacx may gain some traction in the US but there isn't going to be a takeover at that pricepoint.