Saris M2 Smart Indoor Bike Trainer

The Saris M2 is a wheel-on trainer. Originally it was the Cyclops Magnus and still shows up as the Magnus on ANT+ and Bluetooth, depending on what you are using. The Saris M2 comes packed well in a sturdy and neat little box. This box very prominently lets everyone know that you have just acquired a brand-spanking new bike trainer from Saris, so your mail/delivery person and your neighbors and friends and spouse and everyone will obviously be green with envy and jealousy over your new cycling purchase. Hopefully, porch thieves will not be. The box consists of two parts, the outer one slides into the inner one and is taped together, making it very secure and stable and protective. The main structure of the A-frame bike trainer is folded and secured in cardboard sleeves inside the inner part of the box and the roller/flywheel/resistance wheel and power pack (unlike non-smart trainers this unit requires power) and skewer are in a bag and secured in their own box inside the folded piping of the trainer structure. There are assembly instructions and a few other things like a one-month free membership to Rouvy. The Saris M2 also comes with a limited lifetime warranty, which is nice (make sure you register). Assembly of the unit is pretty straightforward and easily done with the included tools. One part gave me pause but it was my own issue - thinking I knew how the bolt SHOULD go in when I should have just followed the directions. It took a few minutes of assembly and it was ready to go. The process consists of bolting on the resistance unit and mounting the adjustment lever on the frame, and then the resistance clutch knob with a bolt. Easy for anyone to do. The legs fold out for use and back in for storage. Though I usually leave them folded out a bit so that it doesn't topple over when I store it. The two foot pads on the rear of the A-frame have leveling feet in case the surface you are putting in on leaves something to be desired in the level department, though the folding front legs give it a certain amount of self-leveling ability too. A quick turn of the knobs that make up the ends of the feet lets you increase or decrease it's level a bit. The structure itself is matte black painted metal, the whole thing weighs about 20 pounds or 9 kilos. It feels very substantial and heavy-duty. The rated maximum rider/bike weight is 300 pounds (140 kg). This is a magnetic resistance trainer so there are coils and magnets in a disc on one side, whereas the other side has a flywheel (with a cooling fan inside) with a roller in between. The skewer that comes with the Saris is of a common size and replaces the skewer that is already on the back wheel of your bike, it is easily replaced by unscrewing the existing one and replacing it with this one made especially for this trainer, tightening it. The ends of the skewer fit in perfectly to the nubs on either side of the trainer fork. To lock it in there is a lockdown level that has three positions for various skewer sizes ranging from 120 to 135 mm, and if you need to you can pick up skewers for other sizes from Saris or other companies.. One of the hinges on one of the legs was a bit tight and very hard to pop out so I did have to get my socket set out and loosen it slightly, as the included tool only fit the parts that needed to be assembled. I also sprayed a bit of WD-40 Specialist Dry Lube onto the surfaces that touch each other where the legs hinge in and out. The WD-40 Specialist Dry Lube is great stuff, BTW, great on a good many things where you don't want petroleum-based lubrication and mess. The overall approximate size of the unit is around 21 1/5 inches (55 cm) wide and folds out to about 27 inches (69 cm) or so and folds to around 14 inches with a height being about 20 inches (51 cm). The flywheel itself is around two and a half pounds or 1.2 kilos and has a cooling fan inside it. I guess I am not putting in enough power as I never notice anything on the unit getting anything but barely warm! My other bike trainers had much smaller flywheels and resistance units and they got significantly warm, even hot sometimes. The Saris M2 can be used with most any common bike wheel size including 700, 26", 27", 29", 650b and the trainer info shows that it can take up to a 2-inch wide tire, though there's plenty more room for more width so I am not sure why that is only up to 2" (5 cm). The roller is aluminum and 2" (5 cm), pretty standard. Max wattage is 1500 watts at 20 mph with a 15% inclined simulation. 1500 watts is a lot, and I think someone like me is never going to even come close to approaching this, on the non-smart bike trainers I have lying around here it is pretty easy to surpass their maximum power, at least for a time. Accuracy is + or - 5% but strangely the Amazon page for the M2 shows a +/-2% accuracy. But I believe that all other official ratings are 5% so the 2% is probably a mistake by whoever created the Amazon page. The sound level is supposed to be around 70 decibels at 20 mph (32 kph) but can be pretty loud if you are really putting a lot of power into it and are using just regular tires. There are a plethora of bike trainer tires of all sorts for all sorts of bikes that are going to decrease your overall noise level. But I just use an old tire from the previous season, on mine. Checking the level with a simple decibel meter on my phone seems to correspond to what Saris rates it as, maybe a bit higher. You can also decrease the sound level by using a mat or towel and other things, it really depends somewhat on what surface you have it on in addition to the above factors. Check out the video at the end of this post for a quick demo of the nominal sound level. The M2 uses standard Bluetooth and ANT+ FE-C for connecting to devices, this allows two-way communications so its sensors are read in one direction and in the other direction can control the trainer's resistance. Bluetooth is sometimes better and more stable than ANT+, which is what I have found as well as others. Though Bluetooth seems to only allow one connection but if you have other devices you can also use ANT+ at the same time. Power, cadence and speed sensors are built-in and sent to whatever device you are using. Pairing is standard, quick, easy and no big deal (on phones and tablets you pair it in the app(s) that you are going to use - not with the phone's native Bluetooth pairing). Pair it to the Saris app first for calibration - Android version here and iPhone version here. Though I did have a weird issue with the Saris app at first, and I had to uninstall and re-install it at which point it quickly paired and I was able to jump on and calibrate it. Calibrating just consisted of a quick spooling up to speed and then letting it roll down. Done and over with. It also had a firmware update, which while taking a while was also easy and straightforward. This is also done on the Saris app - as always with any device; don't unplug it or mess with it while it is being updated. Also, note here that you may need Location turned on on your phone or tablet when pairing. Once it is calibrated you can then pair or connect it to other apps on your phone or tablet, to programs on your computer (make sure you have Bluetooth turned on or an ANT+ dongle), or to bike computers or your watch. Pairing or connecting to each device may be different but with all of the devices that I have connected to, it was done quickly and easily. This included my phone, tablet, computer, Garmin Fenix Watch, and Garmin Edge 520 Plus bike computer. The Edge and Fenix can run a number of training sessions that you set up in Garmin Connect, or be used to manually change the resistance of the trainer or keep you running at a particular wattage. The Saris M2 is a basic smart trainer and there is no rocking, no steering, no raising up of the front or back or anything like that, etc - you would have to get external equipment for simulating those options. And it won't simulate cobblestones or stones or brought pavement or anything like that. Some people do make their own rocker stands and such and as I said - there are many external devices you can use with it. I like to put a towel down under the trainer and bike, not only does it provide a little protection and cushioning but frankly you are going to sweat profusely so it is pretty necessary, even with a fan! And it can help dampen some sound. There are lots and lots of bike trainer mats too, that are made especially for bike trainers or you can get a generic fitness mat or a cushioned mat from Lowes or another home improvement store, or any number of things as needed. So to go over the procedure for setting it up - it's pretty easy. Make sure your rear bike tire is pumped up to proper pressure and try to keep this pressure as exact as possible each time you use the trainer for consistency in power output. Just set the trainer down and fold out the legs, position your bike so the skewer ends line up with the nubs on the fork of the trainer and push the lever down and it's locked in. When you assemble the Saris M2 you do have to set the lever position to correspond to the width of your skewer/frame beforehand, which just takes a few seconds of messing with and once it is done you don't need to again. A riser under the front tire (as I said - the Saris M2 does NOT come with a riser but there are tons of them on Amazon. I even made my own out of wood), plug the power pack into the back of the trainer and tighten the pressure knob down. The tension knob is yellow and you just tighten it until it clicks - which sets it to the same resistance each time via an internal clutch. Ideally, you may want to re-calibrate at the beginning of a session and as conditions can change, but I tend to not as I am not quite training so intensively that I need exactly perfect accuracy. You may also be able to calibrate individually in various programs or apps that you are using. Whatever software are using - whether it is an app or a program or the bike computer; I found that it generally works smoothly and easily and with very little trouble. Occasionally you may have a bit of a setup the first time depending on the app or program. There doesn't seem to be much of a warm-up needed for the resistance to be stable, and as for the resistance changes themselves - they are smooth and pretty quick but not so fast as to be unrealistic. It is certainly not real quiet, especially when you are really pumping some watts into it. I have maybe mentioned this often here and I don't want my readers to think that it is overly loud - I would say it's comparable to the other bike trainers I have and only gets a bit louder because it is able to put up a higher resistance/power output. Depending on what you have under it for a mat or towel (I highly recommend one or the other) and whether you have a carpet, and how your house is constructed - it can be a bit loud on the upper end; though I could still hear the TV with a bit of a bump in the volume. Standing up and pounding out as much power as I can in a cardio-swamping hyper-sweat dripping sprint - the trainer is stable and secure underneath the bike; no wobble or instability. Whether you are just spinning, doing intervals, or standing up and pounding out some wattage it is smooth and stable through the whole range. The flywheel is a good size and its inertial felt pretty good for me, like during coasting and such. But I also came from smaller trainers with fairly small flywheels so this larger flywheel makes a lot of difference. The flywheel also has cooling fans inside. This brings me to the other thing I noticed - because of various things like the higher wattage capacity and maybe the flywheel blades and the fact that it is a heavier-duty unit overall - I rarely feel much heat being generated or retained by the M2. Maybe I just don't put that much wattage into it ;) With ANT+ I had a few dropouts on a couple of programs on the computer, but that was solved by switching to Bluetooth and that probably was more a matter of the old ANT+ dongle that I have than any issue with the trainer. The only other thing that caused a slight burp was certain user-created interval workouts in Kinomap - most worked fine but a few increased the resistance too much on my particular trainer, I am guessing this had to do with the people who originally created that particular user-created routine. This is a non-issue for me as Kinomap seems to have started abruptly charging a subscription for sharing to Strava or even downloading workouts, so I have abandoned this app for others, like Wahoo RGT. See below screenshot. There are lots and lots of apps and programs that you can use with the Saris M2 - including but not limited to Wahoo RGT, Zwift (the M2 is Zwift certified), Rouvy, TrainerRoad, Bkool, Fulgaz, MyWhoosh, Kinomap, Golden Cheetah (a super swiss army knife of training, but with a slightly steep learning curve and only for computers), TrainerDay, etc Also, noted earlier but worth mentioning again - you may need Location turned on on your phone or tablet when pairing any of these. Some software allows you to use ERG workouts created with other programs and run them for interval and training workouts, and others like Garmin Connect allow you to create them yourself right in the website or app. So to sum up here and to conclude this review...the Saris M2 Smart Bike Trainer is a great trainer, well-made, works flawlessly and smoothly, and a good way to get a smart trainer for a reasonable price that doesn't break the bank. It's a couple of steps above a non-smart trainer in quality as well as features, comparable in accuracy to more expensive ones, and is quick and easy to set up and be training with little effort or trouble, and lets you use any major VR training or smart training app out there. Great product, buy it!

Given the price point of $199, I have to give it five stars. I bought this as part of a "budget" setup for my garage condo in FL. It's connected to a $150 43" TCL Fire tv via an Apple TV 128GB 4k+ from Best Buy ($150). I run a more expensive setup up north using an Apple tv+, 65" tv and a Wahoo Kickr (wheel off) trainer. I was able to set up my FL condo garage for @ $500. I opted for a Fire TV because I really wanted another Apple TV device to run my FulGaz (subscription) app because the app runs on the Apple device and that clarity, rather than casting, is what I prefer. I could've run FulGaz on my Pixel 6a and casted it to a Google TV, but the Google TV would been almost the same price as the Fire plus Apple and the picture wouldn't be as good. Having said all that, I found the Saris M2 setup to be straightforward. I thought the assembly was rather easy, although the instructions weren't much help. If you're uncertain, I'd suggest a video. I DID struggle with the spring-loaded slider tube of the bolt action assembly. I couldn't get it to close and though I was going to damage my frame. Then, I sprayed a little WD40 on it and it slid with no effort. Make sure you do this. After this, things were a little trickier. I tried to download the Saris app but it said in the Google store that the app could only be used on Google pixel phones older than the 6a. Everyone else must be using Rouvy. I DID get the app to load toy 6a, from a link, but I'm not sure how. Anyway, if you have an older phone laying around, try it. You need the app to calibrate the M2.....so just find a way that works for you. Before you can calibrate, you have to get the right pressure on the wheel. Here's what I did. I pumped up my Continental 700x25c road tires to 120psi. Then, I tightened the trainer knob until the drum in the M2 trainer just "kissed" the tire. After that, I turned the knob exactly 3.25 turns. At that point, the clutch engaged for me (sometimes). Regardless, I always turn it 3.25 turns. I then ran calibration (spindown) on the app many times until I got a consistent result. I wasn't used to spindowns because my wahoo kickr no longer uses them. After everything was calibrated, I turned on FulGaz and connected to the M2 (which goes by its old "Magnus" name). I have now run the trainer @ 10 hours on FulGaz. I've had no slippage on the wheel and I'm not seeing ANY rubber residue yet in the trainer drum. It is a little loud in higher gears 70+dB but that's not been an irritant so far. Most of the time, it is FAR quieter. Frankly, it's pretty amazing to have all this for $500. No, it's not as good as my Wahoo Kickr but, on the other hand, I don't have to keep taking the wheel in and off (I don't have space for a dedicated trainer (I set this all up in <5 minutes and same for breakdown each day). Hope this review helps. I think this is a really good option for people who want an indoor trainer and don't want to break the bank.

I am using this as a resistance unit only—mounting it to my rollers and creating ‘smart rollers’ for doing erg workouts and more immersive rides on Zwift, Rouvy, etc. Given that I am using it in a very unorthodox way it’s really pretty good. Just a couple of things would make it one of the best value possibilities out there. For me, the Saris Utility app could just be tweaked a little to allow me to more easily manipulate the spindown calibration to get accurate power matching with my power meter. An actual power matching feature would be amazing, but I’d never expect Saris to actually do that. Seems like they are barely hanging on. But I’ve been able to get it accurate by trial and error—basically I need to apply a little break to get the spindown time down, and if I’d just been able to directly enter the numbers it would have taken a few minutes to match my powermeter. But since you have to guess…it took a long time. But if you can borrow a powermeter pedal or a friends bike with a powermeter you can use the Saris Utility app and play with your spindown time to get it very close, then just note your setup (just tire pressure in my case) and I get accurate power from it. It has a lot of resistance power. It has a very small flywheel so realism suffers. I will never use the frame, but didn’t look much different from my old Kurt Kinetic. If you know a thing or two about setting your ride up, this can make a great second trainer or spouse trainer, it’s perfectly adequate for that, or for doing crazy stuff like making your own smart rollers.

Update 2: I pulled this trainer out again as the wildfires this summer are to the point where cycling outside is impossible. Honestly, after 20 minutes on this trainer, it just starts to get a smoky smell, and the resistance basically gets so choppy it feels like you are pedaling through slippery mud on even the slightest incline on Zwift. Every time I pull this trainer out, I want to throw it in the dumpster. Saris customer service won't help as it is outside of their return window. Spend a little more money and get a proper trainer that isn't designed by Saris. Poorest customer service out there and I really try to give people a second and third chance. But this product and overall customer experience makes me want to go out of my way to tell people not to purchase anything from Saris. Update 1: I typically, never say this, but Saris customer service is horrendous. After talking with with Johnathon like 8 times they delayed and delayed and eventually would not claim responsibility. After going through the instruction manual with them, we found that 7 of the 8 pages with the diagram for the attachment metal piece (on the clamping side) was pictured backwards. That said, because the one page had the correct illustration, it was technically my fault. The irony is that after sending the photos of the manual, Johnathon agreed with me, but said the “situation is just something I have to deal with.” Besides the diagram, the electronics are shot and the trainer smells like burning electrical after about 45 minutes. Which they claim is “normal.” My recommendation is stay away from Saris and all their products. They aren’t quality and they don’t stand behind their product. Initial Post: I have sat down multiple times to write this review and I am just furious every time I write this, but I am going to keep it brief and short. While doing a sprint training session on MyWoosh the trainer flexed and dropped me out of the trainer sending me flying between 35-40 mph into my trainer table, computer, fan and nearly missing the garage door. Additionally, as it dropped me it rebounded and sent the axle holders slamming into my two week old carbon race frame, smashing up the paint job and the carbon (see pictures). Additionally, the trainer, once I got off my bike to inspect it, smelled like burning electronics and had left heat/smoked residue on the metal resistance wheel. (See picture) To say the least, I literally smashed myself into my table, I caught my computer, knocked over my fan, and nearly crashed into the garage door. I am going to have the carbon looked over and honestly would like to be reimbursed for the repair job or (hopefully not) a whole frame replacement. I followed the instructions and set it up with the correct tire pressure, knob clicks, saris app calibration, etc... only to have massive disaster. Hopefully Saris can help remedy this.

When I ordered this trainer I also ordered a QR skewer kit which had plastic adapters which fit in the frame and wheel to allow using the included QR skewer with a thru axle wheel. The adapter and skewer fit the wheel and bike well but sadly the setup is too wide for the Saris M2. As far as I can tell Saris does not offer an axle for the 142 x 12 1.5 pitch frame and wheel my carbon gravel frame requires. After much angst and research I ordered a Rapidlock Through Axle Kit from an Amazon seller in hopes that it would work. It came today and in fact one of the combinations works perfectly with my axle (photo). I hope this info is helpful to others who are considering the M2 trainer. As far as the trainer itself goes so far so good. Assembly: It took a bit of finagling to get the bolt that holds the resistance unit to the frame lined up to go through the holes. I took on assembly star off for this although it is not a big problem, it just requires a bit of patience and in my case a few blows with a short piece of 2x4 I keep on hand for such problems. The assembled product is as solid and stable as a rock. It appears to be a fine and durable piece of hardware which will probably outlast me. Software: I am using the trainer with the Rouvy app. It is very simple and I had no problems connecting trainer to the app and doing the setup. Riding: It is the work of a few minutes to change the bike's thru axle and put the bike on the trainer and start the software. I started out with the Rouvy @2 mile tutorial ride. I was surprised at how much resistance the trainer had until I noticed that the ride starts with a steep climb. Even on flat terrain the trainer has more resistance than riding on the road but I have quickly gotten used to this. My second ride was/is the first 11 miles of an 18 mile 1% max 85 foot elevation gain route in Korea (I wanted to start easy). For me it is harder to stay motivated on the trainer at least so far. Unlike riding outdoors which requires returning home from any point on a route on the trainer it is easy to stop and either end or pause the ride. I am on a pause and will finish the ride Korea ride after I finish this review. This is not intended to be a review of the app but it appears it will work out well for my purposes. Summary: I considered a popular low end direct drive trainer but opted for the Saris M2. It is 1/2 the price even with the axle adapter and the folding feature is important in my limited space. I am concerned about wearing out my almost new Gatorskin rear tire on the roller. I set up an old rim brake QR wheel and tire in hopes of using it with the QR adapter kit mentioned above. Since this does not work I plan to find a way to convert the old wheel to thru axle or buy an inexpensive thru axle disc wheel to use with the trainer and one of my old tires. Although I have not ridden a direct drive trainer for comparison I think the Saris M2 is a fine and solution for indoor riding.

Giving five stars for now. Just got it up and running and on Rouvy. Assembly was fairly straight forward except the J bolt was kind of a pain but once I figured the long end had to be centered to thread the tension knob on it was easy. The tension knob I’m not sure about as far as the setting goes. I never got a click out of it and the tire was half compressed so I backed it out and will just fine tune it so the tension feels right. Noise level is fairly low but I’m using a trainer tire so that may help.

I wanted a trainer I could use with Zwift and Rouvey. I considered trainers that cost over $1000 but could not appreciate the value without actually trying one. Bike in use with Saris M2: 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour steel frame Ride Stability: Quite good. Cruising while encountering hills on Zwift I have to crank down a bit on the peddles and there is no wobble to the bike or handle bars. For reference, I ride about 200W and hills push me to about 250-275W. If I have to spring hard, I stand up to crank out 900 to 1000 Watts and I notice very little bike wobble. ERG Performance: SARIS recommend calibrating it each time it is used. This takes about 2-3 minutes and I do this every time I use it as it serve to warm up the bearings and my legs before a ride. The SARIS app is easy to use and has not been problematic on my iPhone. ERG works well with Zwift as it simulates and responds to the scenery in life-like fashion. If you are new to ERG trainers you will love this feature. Training Mode: You basically pick one gear to ride and let the training program change the resistance for you. Free Ride: If you are not in a training mode, then you have to shift your gears just like on the open road. Software: I've had this unit for the past 9 months. I believe I've only had to update the software two times. It was very simple and pretty fast. You must go into the SARIS application on your phone to know if you need a software update. Storage: When I'm not riding for a few days, I take my bike off the trainer and fold the M2 up and set it aside. It folds up to a very small footprint. Folding down the arms requires a little force. Opening them up is quite easy. That's all there is to storage and setup after it is assembled. Assembly: Instructions are fairly clear. They get a little tricky with the installation of the compression bolt that holds the bike's rear axel and with the tension screw. But if you read carefully and pay attention to the illustrations, it should take less than 30-45 minutes to set up (that includes a few mistakes and rework steps). Connecting and disconnecting a bicycle is really fast and clean. You don't have to handle a chain, gears and you don't have to take off your rear wheel like some other trainers. You do have to replace the quick-release spindle on your bike with the one SARIS provides. After that, you can put your bike on the training in less than 30 seconds. Or you can take it off in about 10 seconds and hit the real-world road right away. Customer Service: I did manage to get my tension knob completely frozen on the tightening bolt. I ended up having to cut it off with a hack saw. SARIS was kind enough to swiftly send me a new knob and bolt. Communication is via email. I had to send pictures too. No phone service, but it was during COVID too.

This thing is a beast...setting it up was a bit of a pain (fault of the URL versus the equipment). Once you get past the set up issues this is a great buy.

Little bit noisy in high speeds but still acceptable. Installation and setup was also easy. Bluetooth Connection worked smoothly with Garmin watches and bike Apps. Smart functions are working well with my forerunner 255. Stable during rides but little bit heavy to move.

Alles top. Funktioniert mit Zwift top

Muy buena elección, para niveles de entrada

Je cherchais un trainer capable de se connecter à des apps afin d’améliorer mon endurance. Et ma performance. Mission accomplie. Facile d’assemblage. Les instructions sont en français (et d’autres langues).

Para ser de llanta, las características están muy por encima de los de otras marcas. Es muy bueno si se tiene un presupuesto ajustado y le permitirá a ciclistas novatos o incluso intermedios una muy buena experiencia virtual. Se usó con bicis de ruta y MTB (26”) sin problema. Solo recomiendo tener una llanta dedicada ya que este rodillo las castiga mucho. Tiene un error de diseño ya que, con el tiempo, la “L” que se usa para ajustar la unidad de resistencia a la llanta y la zona del marco donde se acopla se van deformando y me preocupa que llegue un momento que esta deformación sea tal que impida el correcto funcionamiento del rodillo. (Tercera foto) Sin embargo, recientemente los rodillos tipo “Direct Drive” han bajado de precio, incluso los he visto muy cercanos al precio de este por lo que si se presenta la oportunidad es mucho mejor ir por el “ Direct Drive” ya que son mucho más silenciosos y con mejores prestaciones.