The Tacx Alpine is a $1,100 gradient simulator for your Garmin smart bike trainer

Cycling season may have only just started, but that’s not stopping Garmin from looking ahead to when all the roadies need to take their bikes indoors. On Tuesday, the company announced the Tacx Alpine, an indoor gradient simulator for its family of NEO smart trainers. The accessory can replicate inclines of up to 25 percent and declines of up to -10 percent, with adjustments made either manually through a built-in control panel or automatically when using the device with a compatible apps like Zwift and Garmin’s own Tacx Training software.

In those same apps, the Tacx Alpine also allows for real-time virtual steering adjustments. Naturally, Garmin Connect support is also included for stat tracking and more. In short, the Tacx Alpine is designed for those who want spice up their off-season training since pedaling a road bike on an indoor trainer is about the most boring thing ever.

Garmin says mounting the front of your bike is easy. Inside the box, you’ll find adapters for both quick release skewers (9 x 100), and thru axles (12 x 100, 15 x 100 and 15 x 110), so the Tacx Alpine will work with most modern road bikes. However, trainer compatibility is limited to Garmin’s NEO 2T and Neo 3M models. Those cost $1,400 and $2,000 new respectively, and the accessory itself will set you back $1,100, with Garmin not planning to offer bundles at launch.

That might seem like a lot to pay for an accessory designed to make your indoor rides less monotonous, but it’s broadly comparable with the rest of the industry. Wahoo, for instance, sells its Kickr Climb simulator for $750, but it doesn’t come with a steering feature. Meanwhile, the Elite Rizer, which offers both steering and gradient simulation, costs $1,000. Either way, if you’re looking at one of these, chances are you already spent a pretty penny on a fancy carbon road bike and the thought of dropping another $1,000 on your hobby doesn’t phase you.

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