Wattbike Atom

[Mannginger]

I'm seriously interested in this.

https://wattbike.com/gb/product/atom


It popped up on my FB feed as a friend of mine is "modelling" it in their product video. Anyway from a price perspective it's nearly half of their normal wattbikes and seems to be a great balance of the Wattbike tools but for home use, with the benefit of being able to slot in a phone/pad for Zwift or TrainerRoad for example

Given I'm clearly a massive fair-weather rider and using my Gym membership primarily for PT I'm thinking it'd be a useful addition to my man-cave for wet weekends and winter training.

Any thoughts on one of these V a turbo-trainer (I'd want a second frame rather than using my only bike so would need to bear that in mind from a pricing perspective)?

[Mannginger]

I'm still pretty new to the sport and essentially casual so from my perspective I'm interested for the following reasons:

• I only have 1 bike currently and wouldn't be keen on using that on a turbo-trainer for a couple of reasons (the perceived effort of installing it / removing for a ride out and also increased wear on the bike). That means I'd need to budget a bit more for another frame although I accept I wouldn't be spending as much
• Looks (not really vital but it looks less cluttered than a turbo and frame I think)
• Noise (Maybe) just can't tell yet if it's any quieter I suspect if it is it's only marginal but

That's about it I have to say so then it comes down to mainly subjective reasons as I think the delta will be about £500 compared to a frame / decent turbo-trainer. I'll wait for a couple of reviews before determining if "ooh shiny" is enough to justify that delta!

[Mannginger]

Took the plunge and ordered yesterday. 6-8 week waiting time currently so it looks like they're selling well.

Now I need to work out how to use my steam-link so I can run it from my PC to my TV in my man-cave!

[Mannginger]

Mine arrived yesterday but haven't had the chance to unbox etc due to being out all weekend. Clip pedals and saddle arrive today (I want to use the same saddle as on my bike) so will get it set up tonight.

Bigger box than I thought - 45kgs as well!

[Mannginger]

Bike arrived a couple of weeks ago but I've been away with work for a bit, finished for Christmas yesterday so got it un-boxed and set up this afternoon. Only had a quick dabble so far, spent most of the time sorting the Zwift and apps out so it's not quite fitted right for me yet but so far I'm really pleased.

It's nice and quiet, easy to adjust and everything syncs well. I bought a similar saddle as my bike and SPD-SL pedals in order to try to make it as much like my bike as possible and so far so good.

I've only done about 8-9km on it whilst faffing but overall I'm very pleased and also really impressed with the Zwift app, that's quite cool the way it automatically updates "virtual rides" onto Strava, complete with mapping and the resistance of the bike adjusts for the hills (although I think you need to be in "manual" mode for that on the bike as it got a bit confused in constant rpm mode).

So the delivery delay was longer than expected but let the winter training commence...I've got a lot of weight to lose!

[Mannginger]

Still really enjoying mine. I got used to the small lag on gear changes quite quickly so don't really see it as an issue. I love the instantaneous connection with Zwift and my garmin HR monitor, really easy which is good for a lazy bugger like me!

I can't say if it's worth the outlay V a traditional TT as I've never used one but for me I'm really pleased with it and much prefer it from a looks and ease of access basis

[Mannginger]

I've had to move abroad and left mine in the UK until I get back but other than not using it enough it was working well. I preferred using it with Zwift than just the normal Wattbike software most issues I had were with getting my table and zwift working together properly rather than the Atom which was pretty plug and play