Indoor training tech is almost as old as the bicycle itself, with rollers being used as early as the turn of the 20th century.
Things have moved on quite a bit in the intervening 125 years, with the industry exploding in popularity in the last decade thanks to the rise of direct-drive turbo trainers and virtual-training programs.
But among all the revolutionary releases and incremental improvements, there have been some eye-catching inventions that were downright strange.
From a niche set of digital rollers to a turbo trainer so loud it was basically unusable, here are the weirdest indoor training tech releases of all time.
Bike treadmills – Oreka O2 and Tacx Magnum
Treadmills have been around in one form or another since Roman times, and before they became a staple of gyms and pain caves were once forms of punishment in Victorian prisons – which some would argue hasn’t changed.
The rolling-road nature of their design should, in theory, be a shoo-in for bikes, but in reality, things don’t quite stack up – as evidenced by Tacx’s 2017 release, the Magnum.
Essentially a slightly larger treadmill that could be used by a cyclist or runner, it simulated gradients of 20 per cent, and had a smart design that would modify resistance to prevent you shooting off the front during a sprint (or crashing off the back if you pulled the brakes suddenly).
Its cost – £8,500! – limited it to the plushest of home setups, while its footprint was substantially larger than any smart bike.
Tacx wasn’t the only manufacturer to attempt to crack the bike treadmill – Oreka’s O2 from 2020 was roughly half the price but almost twice as odd, requiring you to lock the back of your frame to the device with a bungee-cord based contraption.
Elite's Arion Digital Smart B+ rollers
Rollers were once the default indoor training tool, but have become something of a purist’s pursuit since the advent of direct-drive smart trainers.
They have their pros – no need to remove a rear wheel, a realistic ride feel, compact enough to use for a pre-race warm up – but their lack of resistance has traditionally been their downfall.
A number of manufacturers have tried to rectify this – see Wahoo’s Kickr Rollr – but Elite’s Arion Digital Smart B+ is the stranger of the two.
A roller with adjustable smart resistance, they are limited to 400 watts of resistance and are laughably inaccurate during testing, meaning they’ve remained a niche pick ever since.
- Read more: Rollers, static bike, turbo or smart trainer? Which indoor cycling solution is best for you?
LeMond Revolution
Greg LeMond was something of a tech pioneer during his cycling career, and America’s first Tour de France winner was an early adopter of aero bars, clipless pedals and power meters.
His search for marginal gains didn’t end when he hung up his carbon fibre race bike either, as seen in the shape of the LeMond Revolution.
One of the first direct-drive turbo trainers on the market, it pre-dated the first-generation Wahoo Kickr by two years, and is still a popular choice in the track world because it can be adapted to run fixed-gear.
So why aren’t we all training on LeMond Revolutions, 15 years since it made its debut?
The trainer uses a fan rather than electromagnets to control resistance, and it is incredibly loud – making training in a shared house almost impossible.
Wahoo Kickr Climb
Not all strange indoor training tech is bad, as Wahoo’s Kickr Climb proves.
While the original indoor cycling disruptor has released some duds over the years – who remembers the Kickr Steer? – its gradient-simulating front fork mount can improve the turbo-training experience.
As the virtual climbs ramp up, so does the front of your bike, forcing you out of the saddle and a stationary, static position, engaging your calves as you inch your way up the ascent. At £530, it’s an eye-popping outlay, but is a worthy accessory if money is no object.
- Read more: Wahoo Kickr Climb first ride review
Elite Fuoripista
A glass-and-wooden creation, frame-mounted virtual shifters, a €14,000 price tag…
When it comes to weird indoor training tech, Elite’s Fuoripista takes the top spot by a country mile.
The collaboration with high-end Italian design studio Adriano Design was unveiled at Eurobike 2018 and certainly turned heads with its eye-catching construction, but it wasn’t just a concept piece – the snazzy smart bike could be used to whizz round Watopia.
For the money, you’d expect better power-meter accuracy than +/- 2.5%, though…
