Garmin Tacx Alpine In-Depth Review: Worth the price?

Here's everything you need to know about the Tacx Alpine! In a move that’s many years in the making, Tacx has finally announced their answer to the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB, the Tacx Alpine. As one might expect, the Tacx Alpine takes the general concept of a gradient simulator, and elevates it beyond that both Wahoo & Elite have done in recent years. It’s unquestionably the most full featured product, and as such, it’s one of the more expensive products. Of course, the question is whether or not it’s worth it. The general gist of any gradient simulator is that it causes the front of your bike to go up and down according to the ascents and descents in your indoor training app. As with previous units, this isn’t tied to any specific app, and works with all apps (since it leverages the smart trainer as a middleman). However, the Tacx Alpine also supports turning left and right (like the Elite Rizer). But it takes it one more step beyond Elite, which is that it supports full front/back movement with their rolling track design. While Wahoo can wobble front/back, this is notably different (more on that in a moment). The Tacx Alpine simulator is in the same general ballpark as its competitors, except in almost every case it just barely edge one or both of their competitors. Be it a higher max gradient (25%), or steering with forward/back movement, or max rider weight. It feels like Garmin went through pretty much every spec line item and said “let’s just beat them a little bit…all the time.” Apparently, that mentality also extended to price. Here’s the key metrics: – Maximum Incline: 25% – Maximum Decline: -10% – Steering: Yes – Forward/Back Movement: Yes – Manual Control: Yes (on unit buttons) – Lockout mode: Yes (for forward/back movement, not steering) – Supported Axle Types – Supported Trainers: Tacx NEO 2T, Tacx NEO 3M – Max Rider Weight: 264lbs/120kg – Firmware Updatable: Yes – Price: $1,099/1099EUR/£929 The main difference in terms of manual control is that the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB has a corded handlebar attachment you can use to manually go up/down, whereas Garmin/Tacx has it on the top of the pole. While I’m sure someone uses that corded Wahoo attachment controller, I never bother to hook it up, and most people I know don’t bother either (since the app is controlling it). #GarminTacxAlpine #TacxAlpine