As a child of the early Nineties and someone who got into a semblance of structured training in their mid-20s, I was fortunate enough to miss the pre-direct drive turbo trainer era. I’ve never had to fit a blue tyre to my back wheel or experience the slip of a wheel-on set-up, and by the time I was ready to throw my leg over my bike inside, I could rely on a first gen Wahoo Kickr Core and the visual distraction of Zwift as I seamlessly clocked up the virtual KMs.
In the intervening years, I’ve gone on to test bigger and better things. Every top-tier direct drive model from the likes of Wahoo and Tacx and a plethora of smart bikes, including the latest Wahoo Kickr Bike Pro, have been heaved up and down a set of stairs into my home office-turned-pain cave.
But throughout these countless hours of sweating and slogging away inside on dark winter nights and even warm summer days, I’ve never truly loved it.
It’s got nothing to do with the immersiveness of a set-up – despite the marketing claims of training platforms, I don’t think indoor riding will ever truly be able to simulate the sensory overload of riding IRL. And that’s not really why I ride indoors – if I wanted to feel the wind in my hair (or rain on my face), I’d layer up and head outside.
No, I saddle up on a static bike because it’s a convenient, accurate and safe way to train; allowing me to turn myself inside out and rely on ERG mode without falling short during an effort or worrying about other road users. Indoor cycling has therefore been a great training tool, and something that has unlocked higher levels of performance when I’ve returned to riding outside. But my conflicting emotions towards it have often been down to comfort (or lack thereof) and the limits this puts on session duration.
After my years of testing, I’ve pinpointed the issue as a lack of natural lateral movement. Just as with the pre-direct drive era, riding on a turbo trainer or smart bike remains a static experience. When spinning at a low intensity, you lack the subtle, incidental micro-movements that come naturally with every pedal stroke outside and your sit bones feel surgically attached to the saddle; when out of it, you feel like you’re fighting against something rigid, trying to bend an immovable object to your will as the handlebars flex under the strain. The fore-aft movement on some models hasn’t solved this either, while Wahoo’s side-to-side solution – axis feet – cause an unbalanced swaying motion.
A new way
Muov recognised this. Rather than sticking with a fixed design, it reinvented the (fly)wheel and the whole indoor cycling experience from the ground up.
The Muov Road Bike is the outcome, and it is a smart bike unlike anything else on the market. Instead of being a glorified turbo trainer with an adjustable frame, Muov has created a training tool that has an ingenious way of tilting from side to side – revolutionising the ride feel and comfort as a result.
The tilting action is twofold. The base unit of the bike is connected to a stand and has up to 12 degrees of lateral movement from side-to-side. The ingenious part comes at the handlebars, which are connected to a separate, rotating fork. Turn the handlebars to the right, and the frame banks to the right, simulating the leaning motion you would employ when rounding a corner on the road. The action is weighted realistically too – you don’t feel like you’re riding a block of jelly that’s only ever moments from tipping over, and you don’t have to strongarm the handlebars to get any motion.
In practice, this means that the frame shifts beneath you at every stage of the ride, whether that’s the subtle, incidental rock to counterbalance a full extension at the lowest point of a pedal stroke or a full-on sway when attacking on a climb or for a virtual town sign. This differs to axis feet or rocker plates, where the whole system – rather than just the bike – sways from side-to-side, and doesn’t ultimately solve the issues of a static set-up.
Premium package
The research and development involved with designing proprietary tech like this doesn’t come cheap. But Muov has left no stone unturned when it comes to crafting the smart bike equivalent of a premium road bike.
Unlike other more industrial designs, just to look at, the Muov is a thing of beauty. The base is planted but sleek and is topped by a removable carbon fibre frame (which comes in three different sizes and can be swapped out in 30 seconds) made by independent British brand Reap. Its paintwork is carried out by the same paintshop that works on McLaren supercars, and Muov is offering free custom designs on its first 75 bikes.
The rest of its componentry has been handpicked to withstand the cut-and-thrust (and sweaty) nature of indoor cycling – Selle Italia’s SG bar tape because of its gelled cushioning and its cutout Novus Boost Evo Superflow for extra pressure relief; a robust Kalloy Uno stem; comfortable custom hoods and tactile, di2-style shifters that are topped with four-button control pads to make navigating training software menus and in-game power-ups a cinch.
It also has other welcome flourishes. The frame has two USB-C ports just behind the head tube allowing you to power a tablet or charge a device while training. The crankarms have seven different lengths – from 150mm to 175mm – enabling you to dial in your fit (or even try out different lengths for size before you invest for your outdoor road bike). It also has much cleaner interfaces than those found on the Wahoo Kickr Bike Pro – the stack and saddle height are adjusted with a hex bolt rather than clunky and ugly levers. Although it doesn’t have the same adjustability, if multiple riders in the same household do want to use the base, Muov sells individual frames separately – they come in three sizes for riders 152cm up to 200cm – which can be simply swapped in and out of the bike base.
All of this is on top of 2,500W max output, 25% max simulated gradient, +/- 1% accuracy, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, adjustable virtual shifting for Shimano and SRAM, and the aforementioned integrated Zwift-compatible controllers. It’s also lighter than any other smart bike (42kg) and has a smaller footprint.
Ride impressions
The ride feel of the Muov compared to any other turbo trainer I’ve tried is like night and day. Getting on the smart bike for the first time, you experience a completely different indoor riding sensation as you experience the frame wobble beneath you. In minutes, you settle into the rhythm of the tilt, as core muscles previously abandoned during static training are engaged to keep you ‘balanced’. The carbon frame also has some flex to it, creating some fore-aft movement to counter sudden surges of power.
I conducted a mixture of ERG-based interval workouts and unstructured free rides on Zwift, and the Muov handled both with ease. At the end of gruelling, 60-minute VO2 Max intervals, it was my start of season fitness, rather than my comfort levels, that had me calling time on my workouts. Free from the shackles of a structured workout, shifting between gears as I tackled Watopia’s gradients felt realistic, and I was surprised at how quickly the time flew by.
The only flaw I could find was the use of the tilting action for steering on Zwift. The virtual training platform’s game has eight designated lanes and it’s possible to hop from one to the other with a turn of the handlebar or lean to the side. While there is no in-game performance benefit like taking a racing line at a corner (yet), it’s a feature that is supposed to increase the immersiveness of indoor cycling. The implementation though currently feels a bit cumbersome – to travel from one side of the road to the other requires you to really fight the handlebars, while I would unintentionally veer all over the road when sprinting. The fault may not fall at Muov’s door, with Zwift’s steering protocol set up for a gaming controller-style D-pad rather than a tilt, but it was a minor blip nonetheless.
Verdict
The Muov entered my pain cave a few months after the departure of the Wahoo Kickr Bike Pro and the contrast in ride feel, finish and experience are outstanding. The former feels like an exciting new way for indoor cycling, while the latter is a rehash of what went before.
At £4,995, it’s not cheap. But the pinnacle of road cycling isn’t. And for those with a superbike reserved for best and in search of the best indoor smart bike money can buy, the independent British challenger has laid down the gauntlet – and the future is tilted.
Specifications
- Weight 93lbs/42kg
- Drivetrain Belt Drive
- Resistance up to 2200W (expected)
- Power Accuracy +/- 1% (expected)
- Wireless Software Updates via the MUOV app
- Connectivity Bluetooth, ANT+
- Device Compatibility iOS, Android, PC (Mac and PC)
- User Height Range 152-200cm
- Max User Weight 240lbs (110kg)
- Power Requirements 100-240V, 50/60 Hz
- Crank Arm Lengths 150-175mm
- Stem length (non-adjustable) - 80/90/100mm
- Handlebar widths (non-adjustable) - 38/40/42cm
- Maximum Simulated Grade 25%
- Frame sizes Small (height 152-165cm); Medium (height 165-185cm); Large/XL (height 185-200cm) Product dimensions L121cm x H55cm x W70cm
- Resistance type Electromagnetic motor
- SRP £4,995
- muov.bike
