Indoor cycling has never been better. Turbo trainers have reached a stage where accurate, direct-drive models are available at an accessible price point, while there is a wealth of indoor training apps to suit every interest, level of experience and budget.
But in an industry focused on continuous improvement, things appear to have reached their peak.
New hardware releases have marginal differences from the models they replace. Smart bikes have yet to lead to a ‘Peloton’ moment for indoor cycling, while novel (and weird) innovations such as bike treadmills have come and gone without troubling the mainstream.
On the software side, each program receives regular updates such as new worlds and routes to explore, or training plans to follow, but there hasn’t been a seismic shift in the overall experience since Zwift was launched a decade ago. In-game steering is limited to changing lanes and requires the use of a D-pad.
That’s not to say there haven’t been recent improvements. Zwift’s Cog and Click controllers have removed the need for a cassette, making shifting virtual, and reducing noise and drivetrain wear in the process, while the shift to WiFi connectivity is a lot smoother and more reliable than ANT+ and Bluetooth.
But will indoor riding ever witness revolutionary moments again, such as increased immersiveness through the adoption of virtual reality or a more realistic ride feel via greater planes of movement?
Or have we reached turbo training’s final form, with brands now focused on maximising their profits by widening the pool of potential riders?
The rise of AI
Rouvy believes AI will revolutionise training plans. Rouvy
“The current status and the quality of turbo trainers is quite impressive,” says Rouvy’s CEO, Petr Samek.
“Recent years have been characterised by a series of incremental, significant improvements, like side-to-side and forward-back movement, connectivity, noise reduction, and increased power accuracy.
“Top-end trainers have been great for a long time, but the technology has become more affordable too.”
He admits there’s still a place for improvement in terms of smart bikes, which he says could be a bit more user-friendly and affordable. But he believes that the truly transformative changes will be driven by software. “Innovation is far from over – we’ve simply reached a static viewpoint, with even more exciting terrain ahead.”
Rouvy’s Route Builder enables riders to combine action camera footage with a GPX trace to turn real-world rides into virtual routes. Rouvy
Samek points to indoor training apps such as Rouvy being a way for riders to supplement and get fit for outdoor riding year-round. “I don’t believe in the indoor cycling world without outdoor motivation. We have to find a value for cyclists, triathletes and athletes to help them to be better outdoor,” he adds.
Samek suggests Rouvy’s focus on real-world footage and simulating gradient-correct courses enables greater immersion and preparation for outdoors, while he envisions a future where users will enable you to merge the two experiences.
“You will be able to connect with your friends and maybe some top cyclists through a hybrid model – maybe we will be able to connect outdoor and indoor in real time.”
The Rouvy Route Builder is a first step in this journey – enabling users to create their own virtual routes using a GPX file and GoPro footage.
Samek adds that Rouvy’s role as an indoor-training tool goes beyond recreating real-world environments. He predicts the rise of AI will enable a more personalised, adaptive training plan as well, making the software an essential for 12 months of the year, rather than being something you turn to during the dark, winter months.
Overtaking outdoor riding
MyWhoosh believes indoor riding could even overtake cycling outside. MyWhoosh
Samek isn’t alone in thinking that hardware has neared its full potential for most users.
“The equipment out there is fantastic,” says MyWhoosh’s director of esports and game operations, Matt Smithson. “I’m sure there’s some great little features and functions that will come in over time, but there’s a very solid and robust piece of equipment now.”
Smithson concedes that there are improvements to be made, specifically in the eSports hardware space, with concerns centred around accuracy and tamper-proofing.
He predicts features such as live weight and aerodynamic or body positioning sensors could dictate speed in the future, but there isn’t currently the demand to justify the investment required.
MyWhoosh says its testing has found Elite makes the most accurate smart trainers on the market. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
“We’ve gone through a process with Elite for the 2025 UCI eSports World Championships, and [verified] they’re the most accurate trainers in the world. But to get them to that point takes work,” Smithson says.
“We can’t expect the manufacturers to jump on board with this if the riders are not jumping on board as well – it’s a two-way street. [Elite] can’t do that for everyday racing at home.”
For the general user – not competitive racers – Smithson sees software driving innovation. And it’s a space where he sees indoor cycling overtaking outdoor cycling in the not-too-distant future.
“We have to adapt, and we have to come up with new ways to engage,” he says. “Outdoor cycling is getting more and more difficult by the day in most places in the world – there are more accidents, there are more cars on the road.
“We all have limited time [compared] to what we maybe had 20 years ago. As a whole, I think the industry is only going to get bigger from here, through there… being no choice. It may be 10 years away, but I believe all racing under probably a Continental level or a big fondo on a weekend will be online.”
A fitness frontier
MyWhoosh’s Matt Smithson feels the indoor-cycling market could learn much from the likes of Peloton. Peloton
But Smithson suggests the biggest trend we’re going to see is a renewed focus on an audience who aren’t traditionally cyclists.
“At the moment, the majority of people use these platforms to support their outdoor cycling – I would say less than 10 per cent of people are just indoor cyclists. I think for the numbers to grow – and I know that other platforms are focusing very heavily on this – we need to maybe crack that fitness community.”
“There is a rush to the bottom,” adds Chris Staunton, Muov Bikes’ VP of engineering. “How do you get more people on turbo trainers?”
The new Van Rysel D500 is one of a growing number of entry-level smart trainers clamouring for attention in the mid-range of the market. Van Rysel
The evidence of this is already clear. The entry-level direct-drive turbo trainer market has never been more competitive, with Van Rysel’s D500 the latest addition to undercut an overflowing market, while Zwift’s move away from elite-level eSports to refocus on its community highlights its shift back towards building an accessible platform for all (traditional cyclists or not).
“I don’t believe that we work in the cycling industry. We work in the entertainment industry, and the more that we can entertain the user, the better take-up we’re going to have of indoor cycling, virtual cycling, eSports – however you want to shape that,” says Smithson.
He believes that attracting these new users will require a change – from recreating the real world as seen on Rouvy and to an extent Zwift, to one of gamification.
“I think at some point we’ll end up with some form of Mario Kart-style events or community rides or things like that. The people that entertain the best are probably going to get the core of the community in the future, and I think that there is a real aspect of not bringing outdoor cycling indoors – it gives you a training benefit, it’s a good novelty, but I don’t think it’s going to engage in the longer term.”
Virtual (not a) reality
The likes of Zwift were experimenting with virtual reality as far back as 2016, but nobody we spoke to felt VR was a realistic avenue for the future of indoor riding. Joe Branston / Our Media
Regardless of what indoor cycling looks like on-screen in the coming years, no one BikeRadar spoke to thought virtual or augmented reality was going to be a solution in the immediate future.
“I think VR is going to be always difficult if you’re using it from a goggle perspective – it’s just horrible to try it at the moment. We’re not ready for it yet,” says Smithson, before adding that he could envision a future where “it comes into some sort of Oakleys that reflect something”.
Staunton says that while, in theory, virtual reality is an answer to increased immersion, the experience “isn’t very pleasant,” beyond issues of overheating.
“The thing about riding a bike, indoors or outdoors, is that the landscape stays at a position. When you put [AR glasses] on, and you tilt your head, the landscape tilts with you.”
He adds that even if this issue is fixed, there are problems with motion sickness, highlighting how people take anti-sickness tablets when racing in F1 simulator rigs complete with VR headsets, which isn’t an ideal solution every time you want to train or race.
A rocky future
OmniRocker and other brands believe adding a degree of motion is the key to improving the indoor riding experience. Omnirocker
For Martin Cooper, founder of OmniRocker, the focus on VR and software, to an extent, is “missing the point”.
“The issue isn’t lack of visual immersion – it’s the lack of physical realism. You can have perfect visuals, but if your bike’s rigid, your brain still knows it’s not real.”
This is a feeling that many will have experienced when indoor cycling. It can often be a very static undertaking, with only the most expensive turbo trainers including any form of side-to-side or fore-aft movement.
“The indoor cycling industry has kind of optimised itself into a corner,” says Cooper. “For years, innovation has focused on things like power accuracy and better virtual graphics – all worthwhile, but ultimately incremental.
“The real issue is that we perfected the digital side while neglecting the physical one. When your bike is bolted to a rigid trainer, it doesn’t matter how precise your power numbers are or how immersive the visuals look – your body knows it’s stuck. No amount of virtual realism changes that.
“Outdoor cycling involves constant micro-adjustments – lean, fore-aft shifts, subtle yaw. Static trainers eliminate all that, forcing the body into repetitive, unnatural patterns that can cause discomfort or even injury.
“We don’t need trainers that measure power to half a per cent more accuracy or virtual worlds with slightly better graphics. We need trainers that feel like riding a bike – not straddling a brick wall.”
Saris produces similar products to OmniRocker. Saris
OmniRocker is just one of a number of manufacturers that claim to have created a solution – rocker plates. An accessory that sits beneath a bike and turbo trainer, it introduces planes of movement into the equation and promises a more realistic ride feel. Saris’ MP1 Nfinity plate offers a similar experience.
“In practice, around 14 degrees of side-to-side movement – plus fore-aft motion – can turn a 45-minute ‘get it done’ session into a comfortable two- or three-hour ride. That’s not a marginal gain, it’s transformational,” says Cooper.
“The fact that thousands of riders are building DIY motion solutions – from rubber mats to 3D-printed feet – says it all. When people are literally hacking comfort into their setups, that’s not innovation cooling off; that’s innovation being ignored.
“The brands that tackle that head-on will lead the next decade. The ones that don’t will be left refining the same old formula.”
An alternative solution
The next-generation Wahoo Kickr Bike looks as though it will integrate a greater degree of movement. Wahoo
Recently published patents reveal Wahoo is listening.
The American manufacturer might have just released the latest iteration of its top-end smart bike – the £3,500 Wahoo Kickr Bike Pro – but drawings of an as-yet-unreleased smart bike include a rocking base, with the documents admitting it is a novel idea worthy of a patent because existing models “do not adequately simulate a realistic rider feel on the exercise bike”.
But Staunton suggests that it’s nothing more than “an inbuilt rocker plate”.
“That patent has very low development costs – what they’re doing is leveraging all their current hardware because [Wahoo has] to make a return on investment.”
Muov takes a different approach to engineering in movement. Muov
His company’s solution – the Muov – provides an alternative direction.
A smart bike that tilts from side-to-side at the frame’s connection with the base, rather than beneath it, enables a rider to lean, steer and balance as they would on a real-life bike.
This provides subtle lateral movement with every pedal stroke and the micro-adjustments that come with it.
The Muov isn’t the first bike on the market to do this – Bowflex’s now-discontinued Velocore from 2020 offered a spin-bike inspired design – but the £4,995 machine looks as though it could shake up the high-end smart bike space, where experience is prioritised over cost.
“I thought we’d reached peak turbo trainer about 12 years ago,” says Muov’s founder, Alex Caccia. “I was wrong because it was the point at which Zwift and others were emerging, and that created an additional flurry of interest. But from a fundamental level, things haven’t changed very much since, if you’re looking at the relationship between the hardware and software.”
He suggests that rather than attempting to retrofit an existing solution to the software offering, Muov started as a blank slate and attempted to answer the question of how things could be done differently.
“If you’re going to make a physical and interactive thing work together, you have to do whatever you can to [prevent the user suspending] disbelief in the process,” he says.
“Making something that feels like actually being on a bike is important.”
Caccia says climbing accessories for indoor trainers don’t significantly enhance the indoor riding experience. Stan Portus / Our Media
Muov focused on the side-to-side tilt rather than gradient simulation, with Staunton believing the latter doesn’t necessarily drive cycling performance. “Even though it should inherently improve interactivity, it makes it feel a bit like a rollercoaster.”
Staunton says lateral movement unlocked additional physiological, training and comfort benefits that you get from a non-static set-up, while Muov’s tilt and steering mechanism added immersiveness.
Accuracy wasn’t overlooked in the pursuit of immersiveness, either. “For all of the aesthetic pleasure, there has to be a really strong utility out of the process,” says Caccia. “It’s got to allow you to train for a long time but users want accuracy because improving performance is all about the margins – 98 per cent or 99 per cent wasn’t good enough.”
While this attention to detail and innovation isn’t cheap, Muov is a sign of where indoor cycling could head in the future if the industry focused on its core users – cyclists.
“We’re trying to answer a different question,” concludes Caccia. “If you’re saying, ‘let’s give the existing experience to everyone for the cheapest possible price’, why wouldn’t you race to the bottom?
“But if we were saying, how do we deliver the best possible experience in a way that people are going to value – even though it’s more expensive than anything out there – it’s actually consistent with the kind of experience [cyclists] want.
“If you’re passionate about cycling – you’ve got a beautiful bike, you do sportives, you get pleasure out of it – why wouldn’t you also want to get a similar level of enjoyment out of your indoor training?”