Spanish trainer maker, Oreka, has announced its latest direct-drive smart trainer, the Oreka O5, which it claims lets you move around on your bike as you would outdoors, for a more realistic ride feel.
The Oreka O5 uses a patented balance system, which Oreka calls Ergodynamic. This allows you to sprint and ride out of the saddle as you train, lowering the risk of injury inherent in training in a single seated position.
A damper system allows the bike to rock from side to side as you ride, while two hefty side legs ensure stability.
The Oreka O5 doesn’t need a power source either; resistance comes from a mix of permanent magnets and electromagnets and is automatically adjusted, so it’s hands-free once you start riding. The power generated by riding is also used to power up the trainer’s comms to apps and regulate the resistance level.
Since there’s no external power source, you can transport the Oreka O5 to use for warm-ups before races. It weighs 30kg, but comes with detachable trolley wheels at the rear, while the side legs fold together to form a handle to make moving it around easier.
It also folds up, making transport and storage easier.
You can hook the trainer up to bikes with 130mm, 135mm, 142 x 12mm or 148 x 12mm axles and it ships with all of the necessary adaptors.
In-built training functionality includes the Autowatt function, regulating resistance to let you ride a simulated route either at fixed speed or fixed power output.
When used in fixed power mode, the trainer’s software estimates your power output and adjusts resistance to keep it constant regardless of the speed and cadence you are using.
Maximum resistance at 40kph is 2,000 watts and you can simulate gradients of up to 25 per cent. There’s ANT+ and Bluetooth connectivity to bike computers, smartphones and tablets and you can hook up a heart rate monitor too.
As you’d expect, there’s a companion app. This is free and available for both Android and iOS. The app gives you stats as you train including power output and cadence, and controls the resistance level and lets you update the trainer’s firmware. You can also use it with Zwift and other training apps.
Oreka has yet to announce prices for the new trainer, but says to expect it to be competitive with other high-end direct-drive trainers such as the Wahoo Kickr, Tacx Neo and Elite Drivo. Launch date is also still to be confirmed.
Oreka O2 cycling treadmill
Oreka is based in the Spanish Basque country and already has the O2 trainer in its line-up. It is essentially a treadmill with a band that you attach to your rear axle to keep the bike in place and stop you shooting off the front. There’s a sturdy sidebar you can hang onto to help you keep your balance.
At 90kg and 2 metres long, the Oreka O2 rather lacks the portability of the new O5, although it shares some of the other tech such as the Autowatt functionality, while the band linkage to the bike also means that you can move around as you ride, as with the O5.
