Jet Black Volt Smart Trainer Review

[Bopper]

Good evening everyone,

There is some interest in an in-depth review of the Smart Trainer that I just picked up this weekend as a loaner from Wheels on Peel. So here goes... first a little info. I have been riding on trainers and rollers for close to 16 years now, the first being a Tacx Mag trainer. This trainer lasted me 10 years until I gave it to a friend so she could start training for an ironman... which she hasn't attempted yet. While I had that trainer, I also purchased a set of rollers to use as well.... this really helped with creating a smooth pedaling stroke. I still have the rollers, but rarely use them. I upgraded my trainer about 5 years ago to the Cyclops Fluid 2 Pro Series trainer. This was close to top of the line trainer at the time, and really does work amazingly well. However, like most wheel on trainers, it can be a little loud. Now that I'm training inside the house (instead of in the garage - which has vehicles parked in it), my family is a little annoyed due to the noise. So, when I saw the Jet Black Volt at Wheels on Peel Saturday afternoon, I thought I'd ask Ted if he'd tested it out yet. He said he had just set it up and hadn't had a chance to try it yet, but that he'd seen one in action and it was quieter than the Staxx trainers that he used to sell in the store. That's saying something, because those trainers are very quiet due to the tire not actually rubbing a roller drum. Ted then told me to go ahead and take it for the weekend and give it a try... and of course I took him up on the offer.

This  brings us to the unit itself:

Jet Black Volt 52

Jet Black Cycling is a newcomer to the North American market, but is an Australian company that has been offering Cycling products since 2005 (I recommend you read the company bio page in the link). So, it's not a fly-by-nighter. The trainer is their offering into the smart trainer world... and what an entrance. They slipped in without much fan-fare that I could see... or hear - but then that's the point here. You literally cannot hear it. The trainer comes with an 11 tooth cog and is ready to use right out of the box(after assembly). Plug it in, mount the bike, connect to your favourite training platform and you're off to the races. They do have a proprietary app they recommend you download and use to do the initial spin down, but I found it worked just fine to do the spin down on Zwift. As I'm new to smart trainers, it took me a while to figure out the protocols, but once everything was up and running, it worked seamlessly and quietly. The most noise is the chain and the vibration from the floor. A concrete floor would be dead silent, but I'm on a main floor - so it's not perfectly quiet. It is, however, 50% quieter than the fluid wheel-on trainer (20 dcb as compared to 40+). The family ALL made a point to tell me how much quieter it is after my 90 minute ride this morning. That's saying something!

What you will receive in the box:

1. One very solidly built trainer (16.5 kg - rated for riders up to 120 kg). You will need to assemble it though (I got lucky as Wheels on Peel had already assembled this one... it looks very simple and I would not worry about assembly.)
2. An 11 speed cassette
3. All the adapters to attach many different bicycles... 130/135 Quick Release, 12x142 Thru Axle, 148mm (some thru axle configs, single speed and recumbents may not work). Tire sizes are not an issue - but any bike wheel size is adaptable... it's not an issue because the wheel comes off the bike and all you need is a riser of the appropriate height to keep the bike level.
   
4. Power Supply to the trainer,
5. Wheel Skewer,
6. Wrench for assembly (this is a quality wrench - not a cheap thin piece of metal)
7. Spacer for mounting a 9 or 10 speed cassette

The trainer broadcasts immediately in ANT+ FEC and Bluetooth FTMS. It connects immediately and automatically to all major training software Apps. Has wireless software and firmware updates. The accuracy is +/- 2.5 % with a maximum 1800 watts and 16% grade simulated. This is more than most normal riders will ever need. If you enjoy riding above 16% grades, then you should spend the extra $1000 on a TACX or KICKR. Personally, I can't see this ever being an issue for me... being a larger rider, anything over 10% is truly heartbreaking and leg sapping.

Ok, now down to the ride feel. After the initial set-up period of frustration... I finally got it running properly. You notice every change in gradient on the road... from the tiniest incline that doesn't register on screen to the big changes... they all occur almost instantaneously. If you know they are coming, you can even give power on the downhill and have it carry over to the uphill.. .just like real life. Before I set-up the new trainer I got on the old trainer and rode it with a Noise Meter App running on my phone. I did a 15-20 minute ride with 2 builds... riding from 50% of FTP all the way up to a 900 watt sprint. The meter read a 40+ db level for both those sprints. The average noise for this trainer was over 25 db. I did this on Zwift and tried to watch the gradient and push hard on the rises and ease up on the downhills... trying to simulate real riding. 

After I got the new trainer set-up I rode the same course and did a similar ride... spinning up to a sprint once and just riding the course in simulation mode. The noise meter read a maximum of 25 db and an average of 15 db. As you can see, this is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter... although I think it would be even quieter on a concrete floor as you're not getting the drum effect of the hollow floor beneath the bike that I'm getting.

The feeling is absolutely like riding on the road... you work on the inclines and recover on the downhills. With the old fluid trainer, you had to push at least 10-20% harder than smart trainers on the inclines in order to stay even remotely close to groups. Your speed would also decrease a great deal more when not pedaling... and any changes in your power would take a few seconds to register. Riding into a sprint or uphill's required that you start pedaling hard 50m earlier to have it register at the right time - when you were actually on the hill or starting a sprint. With the smart trainer, it's reading it much sooner and responding immediately... making the ride feel much more realistic.

The Jet Black Volt doesn't have the road feel vibration feature of the more expensive models. It doesn't have the flashing lights like the TACX NEO, or the folding legs like the KICKR... but what it does have is silence... utter and complete silence. I expected to hear some hum from the unit while I was spinning it by hand, but there is nothing... .it's eerily silent. You turn the flywheel and there is no sound... and it's smooth as silk. It's unbelievable quality... considering the retail price at the website is $1200 (at Wheels on Peel and McPhail's it is $1100). This is truly amazing to get a complete unit WITH the cassette and ALL the adaptors to set-up 80% of bicycles, at that price point. If you're in the market, I cannot recommend this trainer enough. Ted was utterly cruel giving it to me to try out... because once you ride this thing, you will NEVER give it back.

Christmas came early this year!!

Kev