New Garmin Tacx Alpine adjusts your bike’s gradient for realistic indoor training

Garmin and Tacx have released the Alpine, a gradient simulator that raises or lowers the front of your bike while training indoors.

Speaking to BikeRadar at Eurobike, Tacx’s Menno van Beelen says: “Instead of having a static, horizontal feeling, you actually go up and down. It goes up to 25 per cent and to minus 10 per cent, where you actually have to go into the bars and keep on pedalling, just like you actually would do.”

The Alpine is a challenger to the Wahoo Kickr Climb, first released in 2017, which also adjusts the gradient of your bike. But Garmin and Tacx’s device has several extra features.

Unlike the Kickr Climb, the Alpine has a 'dynamic fork mount' that replicates steering.

It also has a built-in motion base to match the Tacx Neo Motion Plates, which can be used with its Neo 2T and 3M smart trainers. 

When used with the Motion Plates, Garmin and Tacx say you’ll “experience more natural, smooth and responsive movements”. 

“A lot of people like that feature because it will take away the saddle pain a bit, especially on longer rides,” says van Beelen. 

This contributes to the Alpine’s overall value. Van Beelen says: “The advantage of having the Alpine is that you will get the outdoor experience on the indoor workout.”

While the Alpine will match the gradient of your indoor training route, you can disable this feature via two buttons on the top of the device. The buttons enable you to set your own desired gradient, say 5 per cent, for specific training. 

Garmin and Tacx say the Alpine integrates with the Tacx Training app “to complete training plan workouts, participate in virtual GroupRides, take part in training rides with WorldTour pros and experience immersive videos from some of the most beautiful routes and locations around the world”.

You can also view performance and training effectiveness data, and more, through the Garmin Connect app after a ride. 

The Alpine is available now and has an RRP of £929.99.