HOCOM Magnetic 8 Bike Trainer Review Summary
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
If you are after a bike trainer, that is sub £50 and can hold up to 120kg, then this is a great purchase. But you may need to run this outside, or in an area not surrounded by people.
Summary
HOCOM look to be releasing a whole bunch of turbo trainers, across the market. With an 8 & 5 resistance variable, as well as a fly wheel style trainer.
All of them sitting in the sub £50 category, they have targeted the starter market for their range.
This particular HCOM Indoor Bike is the 8 level resistance variant, which offers an easy 4 foot foldable design, with handlebar controls.
For the price, you will find around 5 or 6 similar magnetic ride bike trainers, which means these trainers have to stick out. Either with high quality designs, unique features or top quality products.
The HOCOM 8, as we will be calling it does at least have the 120kg weight limit, which is higher than other products within this price range.
Product Details
- Compatible with bikes 26" - 29" / 650- 700c wheels
- You can use this with pretty much any bike (Road & Mountain bikes should fit)
- Up to 120 KG weight limit
Product Features
- 8 Speed Gear Handle Bar Attachment
- Magnetic Roller
- 4 Level Feed Pads allow for different riding heights and styles
The Good
The HOCOM Magnetic Level 8, is an ok, low cost bike trainer. The ride is pretty stable, with a large number of resistance levels, making this perfectly fine for beginners or advanced users.
If you are a little heavier than say a normal rider (such as us), then this is a great place to start. Holding up to 120kg in total weight, very few trainers at this price range offer that weight limit.
Some do note that they find it quiet, though we would say it's not the quietest (something like the Yaheetech is quieter in our opinion).
The Bad
The lack of quick release mounts does make taking the bike on/off a little annoying. You will also find that a lot of quick release pins on bikes won't fit with these mounts, meaning you will need to convert these back to standard spindle pins.
For around a little bit more, you can get a UNISKY that does include quick release handles (which for the money in worth it, personally)
As with a lot of mag rides, this doesn't feel that realistic, and the resistance can at times feel really sticky.
Who Is The HOCOM 8 Turbo Trainer For?
- Starter cyclists, or those wanting to look at cycling all year around, without spending £££'s on more realistic rides
- Anyone who needs a cheaper turbo trainer, who maybe don't need that more realistic fluid rides.
HOCOM 8 Resistance Turbo Trainer Conclusion
You will find a lot of turbo trainers around this price range, such as the Unisky, PedalPro or Yaheetech. As such it can be difficult to really find huge differences in them, especially as the look and feel of them are so similar.
As such we get into the nittygritty detail of these trainers, such as if they come with quick release handles, or how much the resistance controllers stick.
It can make doing an article such as this HCOM Magnetic 8 Bike Trainer Review quite difficult.
Considering the HOCOM range is so new, we would wait a little longer until more of these products have been purchased to start finding out what the mast market have to say about it.