Cycplus R200 Smart Trainer

The Cycplus R200 Smart Trainer is a compact, fuss-free and very effective self-powered device that fits as well in the home as it does in the car park for pre-race warm-ups. It weighs far less than most ‘wheel off’ options and yet is very stable – performance in every aspect, in fact, is really impressive.

Unpacking the R200 trainer is a slick affair, and it’s easy to assemble with simple directions. Note it comes with a Shimano HG freehub as standard, so if you run SRAM XDR you’ll need to swap it. You’ll also need your own cassette. Note that Capagnolo and Shimano’s Micro Spline cassette standards aren’t supported.

The R200 has very large and convenient carry handle, and as it only weighs 13.5kgs it’s a lot easier to move than many. It’s certainly easier than doing a goblet squat just to move my 22kg Tacx Neo Flux 2.

The box includes an accessory pouch of adaptors and cabling for either QR or bolt-through axles, plus cassette spacers to tune out indexing and alignment issues without disturbing your mech’s existing adjustment. You also get a pad spacer to stop you pumping the pistons out while the disc is absent.

The R200 comes with a two-month subscription to Rouvy, which is pretty straightforward to set up in its own right. If you’re unaware of Rouvy, it is an augmented-reality virtual trainer where you ride through real landscapes (by way of video recordings) along famous coastal roads, iconic climbs and maybe even somewhere out there your office commute. It comes with plenty of pre-loaded routes, and a suite of training plans and workouts for all kinds of riders.

The R200 is also compatible with Zwift, TrainerRoad, Kinomap and FulGaz, plus the usual slew of bike computers.

If training is the focus then you’re going to enjoy the ease of use, ride feel and range of control that is available with the R200, while the responsiveness for online racing makes a particularly rapid data transfer – Cycplus doesn’t claim any particular speeds – absolutely plausible.

If you’re not into serious data, the Cycplus App is a much more utilitarian solution, and has an interface which connects directly to the trainer. It puts a stripped-down data readout at the bottom of your phone screen, showing cadence, speed, distance and power. The power reading really reminds me of the balance control in the Tony Hawks Pro Skater games, as it’s a neat horseshoe-like gauge with a sweet spot in the middle, and its down to you to keep it there.

The app also lets you customise training plans, rides and workouts fairly simply, by placing graphic blocks along a timeline. Overall the app is a simple no-fuss solution that I really enjoyed using, although on the downside it would not pick up or connect to my Wahoo TrackR heart rate monitor.

Cycplus claims -+1% accuracy for power measurements all the way up to a 2,200 Watt max, which is A LOT, while the R200 can simulate gradients of up to 18%, which I can confirm.

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To test the accuracy claim, I paired a set of Favero Assioma Pro RS power pedals to a Wahoo Roam V3, then the trainer to Zwift through my laptop, and took on two different rides. I rode one with ERG engaged and the other without.

With each of the workouts I used a three-second power average, and glancing between each display there was very little lag between the two. For the duration of the 45 minute Monster Mash workout in Zwift, the fluctuations were minimal. The accuracy wavered between 1-2% for the most part, which is extremely good for a trainer at this price. The reliability of both graphs supports the claimed accuracy too.

For gearshifts you get a convenient little Bluetooth controller which straps to your bars. Its two big plus and minus buttons initiate simulated shifts, instantaneously adjusting resistance. It works very well, and the levels of resistance can be adjusted in custom intervals.

This trainer is considerably lighter than the majority, so I was also surprised to see how much it aggro could take. It really didn’t budge, even when heaving the pedals for a hard-fought five seconds of 1,000W. Likewise, with sustained efforts above 4-500 Watts, the trainer didn’t feel unbalanced or unstable.

This all down to the large H-shaped stand, which is not only extremely stable but easy to work with if you store multiple bikes in one spot. Their wheels will fit neatly between the legs, which isn’t the case with the V-shaped stands of some other designs. Those typically don’t really conform to any space in a normal home either.

Need fresh air instead? The R200 can power itself for most functions so it can work outside, and you absolutely wouldn’t notice a power cut while you were sat down churning out the Watts. It’s just as responsive without external power, and once you’re turning the pedals it transmits just fine whether through ANT+ or Bluetooth.

With the exception of the legs’ plastic endcaps, which I stamped off during some disembarkation mishaps, this unit is very well built. Even the adaptors are neat, strong and free of any play. In fact, I’ll be using this trainer as a preference from here on in – it gets the job done really well.

I didn’t find this overly loud while putting down a reasonable effort in a hard enough gear – on the large front ring and the middle of cassette, say. With higher resistance and a lower gear the drone of the flywheel does increase significantly, however, though it’s not a deep drone like some. I couldn’t hear it while wearing headphones. Closed doors block a lot of it, too, and (hopefully) the same is true of floors.

Value

There aren’t too many viable smart options at £400, let alone under it – at the time of writing, the R200’s seemingly exchange-rate linked price was £368.74. For a bit more you can get the £499.99 Elite Rivo, which is also a solid and convenient unit, and supports resistance mode when not using mains. It scored a reasonable 7/10, so given that it’s more expensive than the Cycplus and doesn’t work as well, it’s hard to recommend. If weight is paramount, however, it’s lighter still at 10kg.

And then there’s the £399 JetBlack Victory Smart Trainer with Zwift Cog and Click. The Victory offers more connectivity options, with WiFi and even USB-C, the latter of which seems to give faster transfers – ideal if you’re committed to online racing. The main difference though is the Zwift Cog, which means you don’t have to also buy a specific cassette. Our reviewer Dave gave it the perfect 10/10, saying: “Not often I give a product a 10 (my second in 17 years?) but this really is a great trainer full stop, let alone for the bargain price. It’s an exceptional buy. If you can get your hands on one.”

Okay, I haven’t been reviewing quite as long, but I feel lucky to be throwing out a 10/10 in my first 12 months. Given that this Cycplus unit is actually easily available, I think it really has become the leader in its field.

Overall

This is a really incredible, compact trainer that totally blows away the competition with its accuracy, reliability and its budget price. You could even do a Z2 session in a field for eight hours and there would be nothing stopping you apart from the cows and the rain. And maybe a baffled-looking farmer with a shotgun…