BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Evans Cycles has announced its first venture into the smart trainer market, as the high street retailer unveils its own-brand Pinnacle turbo.
The Pinnacle HC Turbo Home Trainer is the latest offering in the ever-growing indoor cycling market, aiming to offer a competitive spec at a more affordable price than some trainers currently available.
Evans, which is owned by Sports Direct parent company Frasers Group, currently stocks turbo trainers from the biggest brands in indoor cycling, most notably Wahoo, Elite and Tacx, but has added its own model, which retails at £599.99.
The Pinnacle HC Turbo Home Trainer gets its name from the French term Hors Categorie, used to describe the toughest mountain climbs.Â
With a flywheel resistance system, the Pinnacle lets customers reach powers of up to 2,500 watts with a maximum incline of 20%.
The trainer is also compatible with SRAM or Shimano cassettes and has an integrated cadence sensor.Â
As with other smart trainers, the Pinnacle is ANT+ and Bluetooth capable and pairs with the most popular training apps, including Zwift, Wahoo SYSTM, TrainerRoad, and Rouvy.Â
With its 15kg weight the Pinnacle is fairly portable and also aims to keep noise to a minimum, putting out 52 decibels at 19mph, according to Evans.Â
The turbo is available immediately both online and in Evans stores, alongside other options like the Wahoo Kickr Core (£699.99), the Tacx NEO 2T (£1,199.99) and the Elite Direto XR-T OTS (£829.99).Â
Indoor cycling continues to grow in popularity worldwide, in part thanks to innovations made by virtual training platform Zwift, which has been at the forefront of the competitive indoor racing scene.
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Earlier this month, Muoverti unveiled a pre-production model of its new ultra-realistic TiltBike at the Rouleur Live show in London.Â
The TiltBike aims to simulate real-world cycling including cornering, steering, and braking. Â
