This machine is very robust except, especially compared to my last trainer. I gave it four starts instead of five because there are two things that could be improved. First, I need to use my cell phone with Zwift to act as a bridge to the computer. If I were using an Apple computer this would not be necessary. Kinetic should fix this so that only a PC is required. Second, when the force against the tire gets to great, the tire slips. I have tried tightening the tire but when I am riding and the grade gets 12% or higher, I can't seem to get it tight enough to not slip. Also, when I first start out and start a sprint, it also slips.

My Kinetic Road Machine fluid resistance trainer gave me years of dependable service, so I thought I would upgrade from fluid resistance unit to a digital/electronic set-up that could work with Zwift and provide some new capabilities.

The Zwift experience with this trainer has been great. It gets me so much closer to the feeling of a real ride, and the presence of other riders injects some friendly competition and incentive to work harder. The set-up/pairing of the trainer with Zwift is very straightforward -- I followed the advice of other reviewers and bought an ANT+ dongle w/USB extension cord, and have had a flawless connection 100% of the time. The large flywheel on the trainer results in a smooth and realistic feel to the ups and downs of the terrain. I use the default Zwift settings for sensitivity of resistance to incline, and it works very well for me.

There are some problems, though, which I think Kinetic should address:
1)The Kinetic App documentation does not match the latest version of App. There are settings in the App that don't show up in the documentation and vice-versa. I contacted Kinetic customer support about this and they basically said that the App gets updated too frequently for the documentation to keep up. There are some features/settings in the App for which I'd really like an explanation and can't find one.
2)There is a setting in the app for "position" of the brake/resistance. It doesn't seem to work -- when you increase the position to anything above zero, you get maximum resistance. If this setting worked, it would be possible to manually adjust resistance without Zwift. I think it could also be possible to ride without electrical power.
3)You have to use the App to calibrate the trainer (can't do it in Zwift), so each ride requires opening the App, pairing with the trainer, warm-up, calibrate, un-pairing, start Zwift, pair, choose workout, ride! fairly time-consuming
4)The power connector to the trainer sticks straight out and it's easy to knock it or trip/pull the power cable and break the female receptacle in the unit. I had read about this in one of the other reviews, and tried to be careful but I still managed to break it. I ended-up taking the unit apart, removing the broken power receptacle and then soldering some wires that i then connected to the power cable with an external plug (see photo). I think Kinetic should re-think their power connection strategy on this unit.
5) What is the USB connector for on the resistance unit??? None of the documentation says anything about it!

Most of the above are annoyances, and the broken power connector was my fault. Given the excellent resistance control, inter-operability with Zwift, and overall ride quality, i'm giving 4 out of 5 stars.

A great product from a great long standing US company that now seems to have disappeared and not supporting its products. A Chinese company has bought them up, but are not selling or supporting the products.

I could have purchased any cycling trainer currently on the market, but did not want to spend a lot of money for something whose bells and whistles my skills will never be able to match. I was afraid that the kinetic trainer would be too basic though. In the end I chose it because I have other "non-smart" Kinetic trainers and they are high quality and have served me well.

Bottom line: This ended up being perfect for me. I am not a trained competitive cyclist, I just wanted to be able to use Zwift in a realistic way and this fits that bill. The only drawback is that you are limited to 10% grade. If you Zwift, then you know grades can get much steeper than that. For me though 10% is plenty to give me the workout I want and steeper grades are easily simulated by shifting into a higher gear. One other thing that would be a problem if you are seriously training and are a stats geek. The power is estimated. This works fine for me, but if you really need to be exact, this isn't going to satisfy.

I bought this trainer pre-pandemic (lucky me) as it was more competitively priced than its competition: Wahoo and Cycleops. I initially had issues getting it connected to Zwift accurately via bluetooth but got in contact with their helpful, courteous, and prompt customer service who had me up and running quickly.

Two issues:
- Doesn't accurately give you resistance in Zwift if you connect via Bluetooth. You MUST have a USB:ANT+ dongle to get accurate Zwift riding. Once I had this dongle, per the recommendations of Kinetic customer support, I was up and running perfectly.
- Doesn't support calibration within Zwift. You have to calibrate with the Kinetic mobile app. Not a big deal really though.

I had no issues and was really enjoying the product for the next ~6 months. It is accurate, works every time, has a great "road feel", and is super easy to get my bike on/off of. Some slipping occurs when I'm really punching it but if you're the kind of person to be "punching it" all the time, you should probably just get a direct drive, non-wheel-on trainer. For a wheel on trainer, this product is awesome.

Then 1 week ago I tripped on the cord which broke the plug off the circuit board inside the trainer. I was angry with myself and with the design that was so easily breakable (see picture). Expecting nothing but being hopeful I, again, contact customer service. Within 12 hours I had a response and they, no questions asked, sent out the exact part I needed, tools, and instructions how to fix it - all FREE of charge! It is within the 1 year warranty but this was arguably my fault, not theirs, and they still sent the part with excellent instructions AND tools no problem, no questions asked, nothing. I fixed the trainer in 5 minutes and am back in the saddle now. Just amazing.

Overall this trainer is good for:
- Enthusiast bike riders (perhaps not racers/semi-pros)
- Those looking for a good workout within Zwift or similar software
- Those who can't stand bad customer service because you won't find any of that here!
'