It’s been almost precisely two years since Saris imploded under debt, and then was acquired under receivership by C+A Global. In the lead-up to that, and what followed, virtually all of the smart trainer-related engineering and design talent left the company. Since then, the handful of people left mostly sent out a steady stream of marketing messages trying to get you to buy their aging trainers at various discounted prices.
New Pricing Plans:
Despite their best attempts, Saris still sits on a large inventory of COVID-era Saris H3 Plus trainers, along with a few other less capable models. It was this massive glut of inventory they ordered during COVID that ultimately caused Saris to go into receivership.
The Saris H3 of course, was introduced all the way back in 2019, and the H3 Plus was a very minor freehub tweak to add 12-speed compatibility. In fact, it was originally called the Saris H4 upon announcement, and then somehow, in the shuffle that fall, they re-termed it the Saris H3 Plus.
Either way, said trainer is now on sale. Along with everything else. In talking to Saris, this isn’t a ‘end is near’ type of sale, but rather one more aligned to ‘the start of rebirth’. More on that in a second. Here are all the new price points, which will be available direct from Saris as of today, as well as from retailers:
• H3 Plus – $399.99
• H3 Direct Drive – $349.99
• M2 Smart Indoor Trainer – $299.99
• Fluid 2 Smart Equipped – $249.99
• Fluid 2 Indoor Trainer – $199.99
• Mag+ Indoor Trainer – $129.99
• Mag Indoor Trainer- $99.99
For context, the Saris H3 initially launched around $999, and then over time floated downwards to the $500-$700ish realm, depending on how badly Saris wanted to get rid of inventory in any given month. There were deals with and without cassettes over time, but at the moment, the H3 Plus does not ship with a cassette.
At $399, it’s reasonably competitive in terms of price, but technology is a trickier thing to compare. On one hand, indoor trainers haven’t really changed much since 2019 for most users. After all, the popular Wahoo KICKR CORE came out in 2018, and it’s the basis of the combined Wahoo/Zwift offering, as well as the Zwift Ride. That trainer launched at effectively the same price ballpark as Saris ($899), though, is now down to $499 (with cassette or Zwift cog). Thus, once a consumer adds a cassette + tools to a Saris H3 Plus, it’s basically the same price as the KICKR CORE.
The strength of the Saris Hammer series has always been the ERG mode performance, and until the (far more expensive) Tacx NEO 3M, was pretty much the king of structured workouts in terms of responsiveness and feel in those workouts. For regular riding around Zwift/etc, it was fine, but nothing particularly special compared to other units.
While this pricing makes things at least somewhat competitive, it’s also kinda hard to justify why most should pick the H3 Plus over a KICKR CORE which includes a cassette. Or, the new JetBlack Victory, which I’m almost done with my testing on. But again, at least it’s back to a viable pricing realm.
Going Forward:
(Both of the images in this post via Saris)
All of which then brings up the question of: Why now?
Most in the industry had kinda written off Saris from a smart trainer standpoint, especially after letting go of all their smart trainer engineers/designers. After all, Saris had always been a bit behind the rest of the industry, even before 2019, and now without engineers, it was a ship drifting without power.
However, Darren Snyder, Saris’s new Directory of Product Development, is aiming to change that.
I had a call with him last night, where he outlined the beginnings of a rebirth for Saris. He came over to Saris from a decade of product design at Trek, which is just up the street from Saris, though he previously worked at Saris as well before that – back in the Saris’s heyday.
He acknowledged that the company is essentially starting over when it comes to hiring that talent back, and has even gone and got at least one of the previous lead engineers from the days when Saris was engineering impressive PowerTap and CycleOps products (I’ll let them announce exact names, but I’ve known him more than a decade – and bringing him back is certainly a good step forward).
The next step though is actually making new products themselves. Darren also outlined those plans for the next roughly two years. I won’t get into all the details here, but the first step is a slight tweak for something existing, likely next spring. I do think that move will help get Saris back in the conversation, both from a consumer and retailer standpoint.
But that’s not a brand-new trainer. Instead, that won’t likely happen till mid-2026 (for the 2026/2027 indoor trainer season). That’s essentially two years from now, in a competitive landscape that’s…well…already very competitive. They need to design not just to be completive with the JetBlack Victorys of today, but realistically, a JetBlack Victory 2 or KICKR CORE 2 (or whatever they call the versions in a few years). That’s tough to do with a full engineering team already in place, let alone with a new skeleton engineering crew. But ultimately, that’s what C+A hired Darren to do, and he says he’s got the support and resources from C+A to do so.
The press release did include one quote from him, which I’ll include here:
“At Saris, we’re dedicated to enhancing the indoor cycling experience and view this category as a vital part of our future. Our recent price adjustments reflect our commitment to accessibility without compromising on quality. We’re actively investing in new and innovative solutions that will elevate the performance and enjoyment of riders everywhere,” said Darren Snyder, Director of Product Development.
Ultimately, despite how crowded the indoor trainer space is with options, competition in this space is never a bad thing – especially if it introduces new ideas (and not just lower pricing). We’ll have to see over time how this shakes out.
With that – thanks for reading!
FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!
Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.
Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon
Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.
Am I the only one running 12 speed on the regular H3? It seems to be completely functional for me.
I’m doing the same.
I’m running a 12 spd cassette on the original Hammer. No problems whatsoever.
Two people in my triathlon club also say they put a 12-speed cassette on the regular H3 and it works fine. If 12 speed works on an 11 sped free hub, why the H3 Plus? And why would JetBlack need 11-speed and 12-speed versions? Ray, when you are done with Amazon Prime Day updates we need an answer to this mystery.
I can chip in here with some first-hand info on the H3/12spd issue. In theory it should be fine. In practice it’s far from fine… :/
Deep dive and pictures here: link to trainerroad.com
Thanks!
Welp, I’m still slaving away on the Hammer (forerunner of H3) I got in 2016. Still works great and is still really loud. A couple of years ago I contacted Saris about buying parts to upgrade my Hammer to H3 quietness and they quoted something close to $500, which was just $200 under they were selling a new H3 for at the time. They have been great at supply parts for both my Hammer (new belt) and Infinity platform. I’ll guess I’ll just keep my earbuds in and turned up for the foreseeable future.
Ordered an H3 yesterday ($350) after my Wahoo Kickr crapped the bed after a couple of years of minimal use. That wasn’t a great buy for $1200. I have been waiting on Wahoo to help me out for over a week now. Never buying another Wahoo product again.
I have been using an H3 for probably 4 or 5 years now and I still like it a lot. I know I paid a lot more than the current price for it.
That said, I would love to see them get back into the power measuring business. I have lots of Power Tap wheels and pedals and they work great. I was so disappointed when then sold out to Quarg who then proceeded to crap all over us.
You really think a KICKR Core is somehow superior to a Saris H3 Plus and the H3 Plus needs to undercut it in price to be competivie? Including a cassette can’t possibly THAT big of a selling point. And I’m sure you know the problem with including a cassette. You have no idea if people are on 10, 11, 12, or maybe even 13 speed.
Definitely, it’s superior in the things people actually care about (which isn’t max gradient or max wattage, as the CORE is more than enough for almost every rider).
Instead, it’s got the main things the H3/Plus doesn’t:
1) Totally silent
2) Multi-channel Bluetooth
3) Support for Zwift Cog / Virtual Shifting
4) Support for KICKR CLIMB
Plus a few other probably minor things I’m forgetting. In the case of Wahoo including a cassette, you choose which cassette type you want on their page (10/11/12 speed).
I hope Saris comes back from the dead essentially. Speaking of Wahoo they have been mighty quiet, when are they going to drop some new stuff? After the interview with Chip it’s been silence.
The Wahoo smart treadmill seemed like an incredibly high risk product for them. Big development and support costs and competing in a crowded market.
On the other hand their excellent line of ELEMNT computers is starting to look a bit dated and crying for an update.
I really want Wahoo to succeed. I spoke to Chip once at EuroBike and he oozes passion for the company and its mission. Glad he is back in control.
Ray,
Totally unrelated, but I think you can drop The Pro’s Closet add from your page. They are done.
Hoping Saris starts by releasing a firmware update with Zwift virtual shifting for existing H3 units. With the price change, that would get the H3 back into the conversation for many. In fact, as an engineer located in Madison WI with embedded software experience, I’ve thought about reaching out to Saris about working on this for them.
Agreed! I live in Wisconsin as well and sold my Wahoo Kickr years ago to get the H3, primarily because I wanted to support a Wisconsin company. While my H3 works as it’s supposed to, no support for the Zwift Cog seems like a non-starter for any modern trainer these days.
Have they given any information about ongoing support for existing units, especially outside the US? I’m in the UK and as far as I can see I’m reliant on 3rd parties for spares, and any form of manufacturer support is non existent (unless I’ve missed something)
I’m located in Italy and I’ve always recevied quick and effective support from Saris customer service.
When I started to experienced loud squeaking noise they sent me a service kit which was probably connected to the belt arrangment of something like that.
This week I informed them that I experienced a super strange case of the plastic carter warpening (which they recognized as a possible problem connected with high ambient humidity) and they sent me a replacement carter free of charge. It took some time to reach here from US but it eventaully reached my home free of charge again, and I just need to assemble it in place of the warpened one.
In my opinion a H3 at 350$ is a super deal.
Happy to know that others are running 12s without any issue.
Typo:
Director(y) of Product Management.
I still have my H3 purchased during the early stages of confinement (COVID). It refuses to die. Except for the power supply. Tried to contact SARIS at least a dozen times about their disintegrating power supply connector and they ignored me. REI came through with a completely new unit. Bought a power supply from Amazon to replace the original. I still have some P1 pedals that I need to regrease.
I do not care about all the virtual shifting junk from Zwift so I think the H3 is still viable at that price but their biggest issue, in my mind, is not the hardware.
This was the most relevant comment for me
“Or, the new JetBlack Victory, which I’m almost done with my testing on”
*Waits, patiently refreshing the home page*
I was sad to read this – I bought an early H3 that is now slowly dying (some of the radios stop broadcasting after ~70 minutes). I’d put money down on the JetBlack Victory – I wanted to support this great American company (like I supported Kinetic, Wahoo, Powertap etc) but there was no innovation. The features of the JetBlack were just top notch for the price. I will miss that massive flywheel though – the road feel for a trainer was just superb.
DC do you know anything about the new Wahoo kick v7 ? When is it supposed to appear?
Well, now that Wahoo has dropped prices, and Saris did the same, I’m wondering if Elite and especially Garmin are gonna follow as well and also gonna drop prices. Soon to find out ?
My H3 freehub seems kind of sluggish. The chain wants to keep moving when I stop pedaling. Is there a way to service it?
For me, what needs fixing on the H3 is it overheating at high resistance. I had an original Hammer, it was loud but kept chugging up any grade, until I killed it by not sufficiently shielding it from moisture during rides. Got a H3 to replace it, much quieter but overheats during any extended climb. Got an Elite Direto instead; it doesn’t hold a candle to the H3 in terms of ride feel, but at least can hold resistance. I’d switch back to the H3 in a heartbeat if they could just fix that issue.
I had the problem while grinding at low RPM….say 250 watts/40-50 cadence-rpm/100 kg/100% trainer difficulty…. while going up the Radio Tower climb. My thought was to keep RPM up to get the internal fan blowing more. Lowered trainer difficulty to 50-60% and have not had the problem since.
Thanks for the tips. My vanity dictates that I stay at 100%, even though I’m not fast, and I typically gravitate to 70-75 rpm cadence when climbing. Further motivation to drop some weight I guess!
I was part of the design team for the hardware and firmware. The system is monitoring the internal temps to ensure nothing gets too hot. It will throttle back resistance to reduce temperatures, which means you need to shift up to a higher speed to reach the same wattage. So nothing bad it happening, just a limitation of the system.
If you can reposition one of the fans you use to cool yourself to hit the plastic side of the trainer that will provide a massive boost to the cooling of the flywheel inside the trainer. It can, depending on ambient temps, mean it never needs to go into that protection mode.
Thank you, I will try that. I have used a fan pointed at the trainer before, but this will motivate me to experiment more with how to angle it.
Oh, and I will say that the original Hammer was way more tolerant of heat, I could hardly ever get it to dial the resistance back. Maybe that’s the price you pay for quieter operation.
I bought a Saris H3 in 2022 and it’s been problem free ever since. Paid twice the current price but it was worth it. I wish they would support virtual shifting.
I hope Saris can rebuild company successfully!
Still happily running my factory reconditioned H3 (best value purchase at the time) and I can’t kill it, it just chugs away. I would love H3 compatibility with the Zwift Cog/Bike. I have no idea whether a reconstituted Saris trainer team would be up for such a challenge, but I can dream. I have no desire to purchase another trainer anytime soon.