Want "your most realistic" indoor ride yet? The Tacx Neo Motion Plates bring multidirectional movement to the Neo smart trainer

Garmin has launched additional Motion Plates that snap on to the bottom of Tacx Neo trainers for a more realistic indoor ride. To complement the left-to-right movement already included in Neo trainers, the new Motion Plates provide forward and backward movement that, according to Garmin, delivers “more realistic multidirectional movement that truly feels like an outdoor ride”.

> Review: Tacx Neo 2T Smart trainer

“Cyclists are always looking for ways to make indoor training more productive and enjoyable,” says Garmin. “By adding multidirectional movement to the Tacx Neo smart trainers, the Tacx Neo Motion Plates make for one of the most dynamic and natural indoor riding experiences yet.”

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Designed to allow cyclists to adopt a natural riding position for a more effective training session, the plates provide a range of motion of 50mm to the Tacx Neo, Tacx Neo 2 and Tacx Neo 2T smart trainers.

Garmin reassures that this add-on also won’t impact the compact footprint of the smart trainer. It just adds 25mm in height and comes with a front wheel support for tyres up to 28mm to cater for this. 

The Motion Plates are small in size and follow the shape of the Tacx Neo trainer - you won’t need to adapt your current turbo room setup if you attach these plates. 

The plates magnetically attach to the underside of any compatible Tacx Neo smart trainer. Garmin says this installation is very quick and easy, “just snap them on.”

Garmin also claims it maintains the nearly silent performance that Dave found when he reviewed the Neo 2T for us.

The Tacx Neo Motion Plates have an RRP of £259.99. Built specifically for the Tacx Neo smart trainers, it does seem to be a convenient and compact solution, that's less expensive than similar solutions that purport to make your indoor training experience more realistic. Even LifeLine's budget Rocker Plate costs a touch more at £299.99, and it requires more space than a normal turbo setup. Other rocker plates can cost anything up to £1,000, and also take up a fair bit of extra room. 

It’ll be interesting to see how it feels switching from riding in the saddle to out, and also how the plates compare across steady efforts and all-out sprints. We’ll be getting some plates in for review to find out how they really perform, so keep a look out for that… 

The Tacx Neo Motion Plates are available now at www.garmin.com