In the world of cycling new bike day is sacred. There’s no better feeling of finally getting that new bike home, dialed in, and ready to ride for the very first time. In eRacing, we still enjoy new bike day, but as we’re sure many new-to-eRacing cyclists found out in the last year as indoor training exploded, new trainer day is now just as revered. 

For new riders coming into the STPC team, this day comes near-immediately after joining. In 2021, we brought on four riders who had never ridden the Saris H3, and two had never even ridden a direct drive trainer! If you’re reading this and have never ridden on a direct drive smart trainer — upgrading from wheel-on to direct drive is the equivalent of going from an old school flip phone from 2005 to a smart phone in 2021. The technology in indoor training has advanced such a great amount in the last decade, and where we’re at now easily fools the legs into believing that you’re actually climbing up Alpe d’Huez or Mont Ventoux in your basement.

Two of the riders we brought on in 2021, are Annabella Stoll-Dansereau and Tyler West. Annabella had never ridden a direct drive trainer before, and Tyler had ridden another direct drive trainer, but was eager to swap over the the H3. We thought it would useful to pick the brains of the riders as they went through unboxing, setting up, and taking their new trainers for their first spin on the virtual tarmac!

Annabella Stoll-Dansereau

Annabella embarked on her Freshman year at the University of BC just as the global pandemic hit — like many cyclists, she was forced onto the virtual roads in order to scratch her competitive itch as the sport ground to a halt outdoors. “Before I became part of Saris + The Pros Closet I was racing in the Zwift Racing League’s weekly community smashfests.” Hungry for something to occupy her free time and challenge her competitively, Annabella quickly found her place in the virtual peloton while locked down at home with her family.

“I was spending more time on Zwift than all my friends yet was on the worst trainer imaginable. Everyone seemed to have moved to smart trainers but I was still stuck in the stone age with a wheel-on trainer.” The type of trainer which measures absolutely nothing — just applying resistance against the rubber of your tire, and keeps you from falling over. “In 2020, I got a new disc brake bike with a proprietary thru-axle, so my dad and I had to build a janky pretend quick release that we would stick through my current thru axle in order for my wheel-on trainer to clamp properly. But the key word was ‘janky’. Our DIY project worked but the bike was super unstable (liked to wiggle back and forth) and sprinting was out of the question. I didn't truly realize how bad my setup was until I was sent a new Saris H3, the contrast was shocking.”

The upgrade from “dumb” to “smart” trainer unlocks an entirely new immersion with games like Zwift. “I instantly could spend double the amount of time in the saddle before getting bored, and my sprint numbers skyrocketed to levels that I have only been able to mimic on the road before.” With a much, much higher power curve than a wheel-on, non-smart trainer, the H3 allows you to really only be limited by your legs! “I immediately noticed how riding was just so smooth and silent — I can finally hear my music without absolutely cranking the volume!”

As Annabella continues to train for racing on the road, in addition to the grueling Zwift Racing League Pro/Am, she knows she can hammer out her prescribed workouts typically reserved for the road on the trainer: “The H3 is so sturdy. When my coach prescribes standing start sprints, I have absolutely no fear and know it can handle all the torque and power I will put out. I’m free to focus on the efforts at hand and riding hard instead of questioning whether my equipment will hold up.”

“I am one-hundred percent converted and would never be able to go back to a basic wheel-on trainer.”

Tyler West

Tyler West, or Westy as the team refers to him, is a packaging engineer from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin — a stone’s throw from Saris HQ in Madison. Immediately after opening his door to see the H3 on his porch, he was taken aback by. . .the box! The packaging engineer in him couldn’t resist: “Let's start with a review of the packaging. The corrugated box held up well in shipping, and inside there is zero single-use foam, which is environmentally friendly!”

After quick disassembly of that environmentally-friendly box, Westy learned the first positive of the Saris H3: “Setting up the trainer extremely easy following the instruction manual, which has all the detail to ensure you get set up correctly according to your bike’s specifications.” Having just gone through his own new bike day after purchasing a Cervelo R5, getting everything set up correctly to ensure no damage was done to the frame was very important.

Fully ready to embrace the maiden voyage on new trainer day, Westy loaded up his computer and got to riding. “During my first ride, I quickly noticed how smooth and consistent the larger flywheel is compared to my old trainer. The way the flywheel carries momentum on simulated gradients is really nice!” Since he lives in an apartment complex, with neighbors above, below and to his sides, he also immediately noticed — or rather, didn’t notice — something about the H3: noise. “The H3 trainer is extremely quiet while riding. For the last two years I had been fighting a loud creaking noise with my old trainer, which affected the streaming I love to do on Twitch. The creaking became so unbearable I started losing motivation to stream because the noise was affecting my viewers experience! Needless to say, the H3 fully eliminated the creaking noise, and I am back to streaming often.”

As a lighter rider who favors the virtual mountains on Zwift, you can find Westy on stream, dancing on the pedals out of the saddle. “The H3 is extremely comfortable out of the saddle during hard segments or efforts — the weight of the flywheel offers an incredibly constant force to press against on steep gradients.” As he climbs mountains like the Alpe du Zwift or Epic KOM, Westy never sits down, attributing the ability to maintain this form to the H3’s stability.

While the trainer is sturdy and smooth out of the saddle, Westy pays incredible attention to power accuracy of his power meter and smart trainer. “One of the most important factors for eRacing is power accuracy. In the few rides I’ve done, the H3 has already proven to be accurate when compared to my Powertap P1 pedals, and the spin down to calibrate the trainer is so simple.” With Westy’s previous smart trainer, he dealt with accuracy issues where the trainer needed to be reset to factory settings — against the manufacturers’ advice — to get the trainer to read accurately again. “I found I was watching the trainer’s output compared with my power meter like a hawk to ensure the numbers weren’t creeping out of acceptable power differences.” It’s safe to say since upgrading to the H3, Westy had not had to watch the trainer’s output nearly as closely!

Are you looking to experience “New Trainer Day”? Leave us a comment below and we’ll answer any questions you could have!