Pinnacle Trainer

[Cary Polachek]

At five hundred quid, the Pinnacle HC Turbo Home Trainer is cheap for a direct-drive unit. On the whole it's a great unit that works seamlessly with various training apps, and its self-calibration delivers reliable figures for the majority of the ride. Storage could be an issue for some, though, as it doesn't fold.

With the advent of apps like Zwift and TrainerRoad, indoor training isn't just restricted to the winter months these days. If you want to achieve as realistic a ride as you can but don't have a huge budget, the HC is a worthy contender.

Initial setup is easy, as you just bolt the bits together, adjust the unit to match your bike's wheel size, and fit a cassette of your choice. The unit's freehub is designed for Shimano cassettes, and others that work on that splined system.

Zwift is my app of choice, and I had no issues with my account finding the HC in the setup process, either via Bluetooth or the ANT+ dongle attached to my PC. Each time it connected quickly, and I had no issues with any form of dropout while training.

So, onto the riding. Thanks to its weight (15kg) the Pinnacle feels planted even under quite hard efforts, although I don't feel the feet are spaced quite far enough apart for any out of the saddle shenanigans.

The bike I was using indoors was equipped with an FSA Powerbox Alloy crank-based power meter, connected to my Garmin head unit. Comparing the on-screen data in Zwift with that on my Garmin, the overall power outputs were similar. The HC read about 2-3% higher than the FSA, but consistently so. The cadence for both units were near identical too.

As i was only for a few seconds at a time it didn't really affect things like my average Wattage for the entire session, and was more an irritation than anything else. That said, if I didn't have the FSA recording at the same time, I wouldn't have noticed from the saddle, if I'm honest. For general riding or training it really isn't an issue.

As for noise, it's not the quietest unit around, but neither is it excessively loud. I'd train in the kitchen with a turbo mat on a tiled floor, and the family could still watch TV in the next room at the usual volume.

Despite its little foibles in tracking power super-accurately, the HC is a great entry-level trainer for those of us who want some basic training sessions, or like to ride and race on things like Zwift without investing a fortune.

"Bringing the outdoor ride indoors, the Pinnacle HC provides the ideal amount of inertia for a realistic experience, minus the weather of course. At the beating heart of the trainer, the flywheel has been developed to match the resistance unit to bring real-life bike sensations indoors. It also comes equipped with an integrated cadence sensor to help keep you up to speed."

"Easy to set up, ANT+ and Bluetooth allow the trainer to communicate and connect to your preferred devices and applications. Create your own indoor world using a smartphone (IOS/Android), computer (Windows/MAC OS), GPS or FEC-enabled devices to connect to your favourite training platform. The Pinnacle HC connects to popular training software including ZWIFT, TrainerRoad, Rouvy, Kinomap, PerfPRO and TACX films (for TTS).

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

Life indoors: an exciting two-wheel world is waiting and the adventure starts with the new Pinnacle Turbo Trainer HC. Where does the HC come from? Well, in the cycling world it relates to 'Hors Categorie' and is a French term used to describe the toughest climbs.

Bringing the outdoor ride indoors, the Pinnacle HC provides the ideal amount of inertia for a realistic experience, minus the weather of course. At the beating heart of the trainer, the flywheel has been developed to match the resistance unit to bring real-life bike sensations indoors. It also comes equipped with an integrated cadence sensor to help keep you up to speed.

From first time indoor riders to seasoned roadies, the Pinnacle HC is the ideal trainer for any household. Easy to set up, ANT+ and Bluetooth allow the trainer to communicate and connect to your preferred devices and applications. Create your own indoor world using a smartphone (IOS/Android), computer (Windows/MAC OS), GPS or FEC-enabled devices to connect to your favourite training platform. The Pinnacle HC connects to popular training software including ZWIFT, TrainerRoad, Rouvy, Kinomap, PerfPRO and TACX films (for TTS).

Weighing in at 15kg (5.7kg fly wheel), it's a smart trainer that's light enough to transport and move around your home. It's also a trainer that keeps noise to a minimum measuring just 52Db (at 19mph), producing a sound similar in intensity to an electrical fan and a whopping max. simulated incline of 20% (@70kg).

'A high-performing own-brand smart trainer at an impressively low price. Barely audible noise output, smooth resistance matches the onscreen incline changes and seamlessly easy set-up makes this a solid option for those looking to enter the smart trainer market for indoor cycle training.' - T3

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MyWHoosh is completely free, albeit specs to run app on various devices are quite high, while WahooRGT allows free users to ride two courses; limited ERG workouts and join any events iirc. IndieVelo is in free beta I think, but yet to try it. Plus Zwift gives 25Km per calendar month to anyone not subbed.

Mine has arrived today, any suggestions for biggest bang for buck app?
Looking to use TrainerDay to communicate at least a ramptest workout. I have a Garmin that can transmit my daily workouts from a training plan, but planning special workouts on my Garmin pushing Erg mode seems above me?

I have issues calibrating my trainer (different type- ETC ThinkRider) with trainer road. Looked into it and spoke to trainer road and it comes down to the trainer being unsupported. I just calibrate through the ETC app and works fine.

Hi. When you say app, do you mean the app zwift itself or the pinnacle trainer? I have just set it up and ran it With the firmware are you talking about the pinnacle trainer firmware or zwift. I have hooked mine up to mywoosh but the wattage looks a lot lower than it used to when I last used a trainer with zwift. I guess I could try it with zwift also and see what the watt readings are?

I then tried indievelo and it worked really well. The gradients felt very realistic and I had to go through nearly every gear at some point on the base camp training loop ride. Power was reading better though maybe rim underpowered currently haha.

I can see on the pinnacle firmware there is the two versions as discussed and as I have just read on a post sometimes the software dictates that also depending on which program you are using with this trainer.

Had mine a year, using it with Zwift. Has developed an issue with the freehub, so if not pedalling the heavy flywheel means its trying to turn the cranks. Experience lots of chainsuck (?) now. Also, if you cinch the axle nut enough to remove any play from the cassette, it seems to bind, so contributes to the crank turning issue. Freehub easy enough to remove, was absolutely coated with thick grease. Pawls dont seems to spring back though. Cleaned and replaced with light oil but not really any better.

Never has a cross trainer offered such incredible diversity and variety. High intensity workouts require unique tools to achieve optimal results while performance athletes of all levels seek power and endurance to maximize their potential when it counts. Everyone is looking to improve balance, stability and functional acuity and now they can have it all with Pinnacle.

Pinnacle is the in-house brand of UK cycling retailer Evans Cycles. The long-established manufacturer of Pinnacle bikes has now moved into producing kit and accessories, with the HC smart turbo trainer one of the newer additions, poised to take on the likes of Wahoo, Tacx and others in the forever expanding indoor cycling market.

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