For each of the past five years' worth of covering Black Friday bike deals here at Cyclingnews, I've found it odd that turbo trainer deals appear at all.
In the USA and the UK, where most of our audience is based and my attention is focussed, November is the very time of year that cyclists start thinking about transforming their spare bedroom/shed/garage/insert other into an indoor cycling home gym as they collectively try to escape the winter ahead.
Even during the pandemic when indoor cycling exploded in popularity and trainers were rarer than hen's teeth, there were still retailers willing to cut prices.
One such trainer that always gets a discount is the Wahoo Kickr Core, and even though I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone wanting a budget smart trainer, there's a bit of nuance to that recommendation that you ought to know, especially when retailers like Amazon start cutting the price as they've done today.
Here's that deal, if you want to check it out:
And here are the best deals we've found in the Black Friday sales so far...
USA:
UK:
I've spent the same five years ensuring our guide to the best smart trainers remains up to date with the best products and answers the questions that our readers are asking, and in doing so, I've seen the indoor trainer market go through a transformation.
Back in 2019, almost every direct drive smart trainer came without a cassette (the cogs onto which your chain connects in order to drive the flywheel).
Only a very select few of the most expensive models came with one, and your choice was limited to one: the 11-speed Shimano. But in 2022, the extremely well-known indoor cycling app, Zwift, entered the hardware space and launched the Zwift Hub. It was priced at £449 / $499 / €499, massively undercutting the Kickr Core and other entry-level models, and crucially it not only came with a cassette, but it offered a choice. SRAM users were finally catered for, as were Shimano users running older 10-speed groupsets, and those that had made the switch to newer 12-speed.
In the two years since, the market has adjusted massively. The Zwift Hub is no longer sold, Wahoo and Zwift have since teamed up, and the 'Zwift Click & Cog' has launched.
Zwift Cog is a new technology that allows any bike to connect, no matter the groupset being used, and the Click works with it to offer silent virtual shifting in the Zwift game.
"I just want a discount, why does this all matter to me?"
The reason is, the aforementioned Amazon deal doesn't come with a cassette, so unless you have a spare one at home ready to go, you'll need to factor that into your purchase price too. You'll also need a cassette lockring tool too.
And if you own a SRAM groupset, you'll also need to factor in the freehub body, since the Amazon deal comes with a Shimano HG freehub.
So what should I buy?
If you head to Zwift.com, there is currently a discount code available that will bring a Wahoo Kickr Core w/ Cassette or the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One + Play Bundle down to the much-better-value price of $450.00.
The code works in the UK too, bringing it down to £405.00 for those of you on the eastern side of the Atlantic.
Check out our other Cyber Monday deals
