JetBlack Victory smart trainer review: accurate data and excellent ride feel, outshining the competition for an impressive price

The JetBlack Victory is a new mid-range direct drive smart trainer with an impressive specification and highly competitive price of £399 / $399 / €449.95.

As with many trainers around this price, it has a form factor clearly inspired by the iconic Wahoo Kickr Core.

On paper and in use, though, the Victory outshines the competition with fantastic performance in practically all areas, and undercuts its rivals without any obvious compromises.

The only question is whether you’ll be able to get your hands on one any time soon.

At the time of writing, the Victory is in limited supply and while the brand promises more trainers are coming to markets around the world soon, it may not be possible to get your hands on one immediately.

JetBlack Victory specification

The Victory is, in a sense, an upgraded version of the excellent (but now sadly discontinued) Zwift Hub – which was developed in partnership with JetBlack.

As a mid-range direct drive smart trainer, it’s in competition with the likes of Wahoo’s Kickr Core Zwift One (£449.99 / $499.99 / €499.99), Van Rysel’s D900 (£549.99 / €600) and Elite’s Suito (£499.99 / €549).

At £399 /$399 / €449.95, though, the Victory undercuts many comparable options at RRP.

Despite this, there are no obvious compromises to the Victory’s specification – in fact, its on-paper spec outclasses some trainers costing much more in certain areas.

The JetBlack Victory has a maximum power output of 1,800 watts and can simulate gradients up to 16 per cent – both identical to that of the Kickr Core.

Power accuracy is a claimed +/- 2 per cent. This is par for the course at this price, but, as always, the key is whether it performs as claimed in this area (sadly, not all smart trainers do). We’ll talk more about that later, though.

The flywheel weight is 4.7kg – identical to that of the Zwift Hub. That’s a little lighter than the flywheels found on the Wahoo Kickr Core or Van Rysel D900 – which weigh 5.4kg and 5.2kg respectively – but it’s substantially heavier than the 3.5kg flywheel found on the Elite Suito.

Instead of a cassette, JetBlack has specced a Zwift Cog singlespeed adaptor (specifically the quieter, v2 model).

If you like using Zwift, the most popular indoor cycling app, then this offers compatibility with “almost any 8- to 12-speed bike”, and the bundled Zwift Click shifter enables the use of virtual gear changes in-game.

If you’d rather use a different app, such as TrainingPeaks Virtual, Rouvy, MyWoosh or TrainerRoad, then you’ll need to remove the Zwift Cog and mount a standard bike cassette to the Victory’s HG freehub first – otherwise it will only work properly in ERG mode (as you won’t be able to change gears).

If you want to fit a SRAM AXS cassette, JetBlack says it will release an XDR freehub in “early 2025”, which is expected to cost “around $49”.

To do this, you’ll simply need a cassette lockring tool to disassemble the Zwift Cog.

Where the JetBlack Victory distinguishes itself from the competition is with the inclusion of Wi-Fi connectivity, automatic calibration and a 10Hz Race Mode.

The Wahoo Kickr Core features automatic calibration, but to get all three on an Elite or Wahoo smart trainer, for example, you’d need to step up to flagship models such as the Justo (£999.99 / $1,199.99 / €949.99) or Kickr V6 (£849.99 / $999.99), respectively.

JetBlack Victory availability

As alluded to in the introduction, the only way to purchase a Victory at the time of writing is to pre-order it (or, in the UK, to join a waiting list to find out about when the next round of pre-orders launches).

JetBlack says it has its factory working “at capacity” and is currently in the process of fulfilling pre-orders. It says it “hopes” to get another batch of trainers into the UK for “early 2025”.

It also noted, “we are in this for the long run and need to control quality, from production, to logistics, to support” – which is a commendable attitude, to be fair.

As for the rest of the world, JetBlack says it has already delivered trainers to “the USA, Canada, EU, Korea, Australia and New Zealand”, and is taking pre-orders for further deliveries scheduled to arrive in the new year.

Delivery of Round 3 pre-orders for the US, for example, is currently slated for mid to late January 2025.

JetBlack Victory setup

Much like other smart trainers with this Kickr Core-inspired design, the JetBlack Victory is very easy to set up.

Out of the box, all that’s required is bolting on the front and rear legs with the included 4mm Allen key.

Like with the Zwift Hub, each of the legs is colour-coded – orange at the front, white at the back – making it instantly clear which one goes where.

Once the legs are on, all that’s left to do is plug it in and you can mount your bike to it.

Unlike the Kickr Core, the Victory doesn’t feature folding legs, meaning it takes up a little more room if you’re storing it away fully set up.

It does have a dedicated carrying handle, though, which is great to see, especially at this price. In a nice touch, this handle is wrapped with orange synthetic leather handlebar tape, for added comfort and grip.

The build quality also impresses, with a mix of metal, high-quality plastics and even some carbon fibre.

JetBlack Victory performance

JetBlack Victory connectivity

Once assembled and plugged in, the Victory can connect to smart devices and indoor cycling apps and via WiFi, Bluetooth or ANT+.

To use WiFi, you’ll first need to set this up via JetBlack’s smartphone app (which is available for iOS and Android devices), but this is quick and easy to do.

The JetBlack app can also be used to update the trainer’s firmware and perform spin-down calibrations.

It can also be used to pair a Bluetooth heart rate monitor to the trainer. The Victory can then broadcast data from this alongside power and cadence in a single data stream. This can be useful for devices such as Apple TV, which only allows a limited number of Bluetooth connections at any one time.

As with the Kickr Core Zwift One, since the Victory has automatic calibration, there’s no longer an option to perform manual spin-downs in Zwift.

If you want to perform a manual calibration, you’ll need to disconnect from the Zwift app and boot up the JetBlack one. In my testing, though, the automatic calibration function worked as advertised and regular manual calibrations weren’t required.

The addition of WiFi is a fantastic addition at this price. As with Race Mode over Bluetooth, connecting to Zwift via WiFi doesn’t offer a game-changing experience, but it’s generally considered to offer a stronger, stabler and more responsive connection.

Even Tacx’s flagship Neo 3M trainer – which costs a whopping £1,749.99 / €1,999.99 / $1,999.99 – doesn’t have WiFi capabilities built in. Instead, you’re required to purchase a £129.99 dongle (the Tacx Smart Network Adapter) to enable it.

The Victory also has a USB-C port and can be hardwired to a PC or Mac to prevent connection drops, if desired.

As things stand, this isn’t supported by Zwift or most other indoor cycling apps (which typically rely on Bluetooth, ANT+ or Wi-Fi), but it could be a ‘nice to have’ feature in the future.

As with other ‘Zwift Ready’ trainers (meaning those equipped with a Zwift Cog), the Victory can be used with other indoor cycling apps, but you’ll want to remove the Cog first and install a cassette instead, otherwise it will only work in ERG mode.

This is because the Zwift Click shifter included with the Victory only works in Zwift.

JetBlack Victory ride feel

The JetBlack Victory provides excellent ride feel, very similar to that of the Zwift Hub, and competitive with the likes of the Wahoo Kickr Core and Elite Suito.

Pedalling feels fluid and realistic, with plenty of inertia and the Victory’s responsiveness to in-app gradient changes is quick and smooth.

The addition of Race Mode means your efforts translate to action on screen a touch quicker. 

In an app like Zwift, for example, this means your avatar responds to changes in your power output a little more snappily, which can be useful when racing and reacting to attacks.

As I’ve commented in other smart trainer reviews, Race Mode isn’t a game changer and I’ll happily use a smart trainer without it, but it is a ‘nice to have’ feature – especially if you’re a keen virtual racer (as the name suggests).

Hopefully, JetBlack bringing Race Mode to a trainer at this price will prompt the likes of Wahoo, Elite and Tacx to add it to all of their cheaper direct drive trainers too (preferably via firmware updates, or on new models as they arrive).

The Victory performed well in free ride mode, group rides, races and ERG mode.

Fully assembled and ready to ride, the JetBlack Victory weighs 12.9kg – which is on the lighter side for a direct-drive smart trainer. Wahoo’s Kickr Core Zwift One, in contrast, weighs 18.79kg.

This naturally makes the JetBlack Victory easier to move around when setting it up, which was a boon for me, but it also means it could be more prone to moving around during hard efforts.

This wasn't an issue for someone lightweight like myself (I weigh about 65kg), but it’s something to consider if you’re a heavier and more powerful rider.

ERG mode performance also impressed me, with the Victory smoothly ramping up and down between power levels between intervals.

One small annoyance in this area is that ERG mode power smoothing is activated by default and can’t be turned off.

This displays artificially smoothed power data when using ERG mode, to make it appear as if you’re hitting the target power precisely (when in reality your power output will be more stochastic).

This likely won’t be an issue for the vast majority of riders, but it would be nice to have an option to turn it off for those who prefer to simply get the raw data from their training.

JetBlack Victory noise

When testing the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One recently, I found that while the Zwift Cog reduced the noise from gear changes it was a little louder than a standard bike cassette.

The JetBlack Victory, though, has the new ‘v2’ model of the Zwift Cog, and subjectively at least, it does seem to be quieter, as promised.

The changes here come in two forms: the tooth profiles on the included sprocket have been refined; while the v2 Cog can be adjusted to help finesse the sprocket's position, so it's better centred for your rear derailleur.

In total, there are 10 discrete (and numbered) settings, simply by rotating the rear plate. For my Giant TCR Advanced Pro 2 Disc, position three worked best, though no doubt each bike will have its optimum position.

In terms of numbers, the JetBlack Victory averaged around 65 to 66 decibels when riding along at around 150 watts / 30kph, which is nearly identical to the Kickr Core Zwift One (which had a v1 Zwift Cog).

Where the Victory pulls ahead is at higher power outputs – in fact, noise levels barely rise at all when sprinting.

This makes for a marked improvement compared to the Kickr Core, which pushes over 70 decibels when you start working hard.

Both are louder than the 60dB I measured for the Zwift Hub back in 2022. However, it’s worth noting I tested that trainer in a carpeted room on foam mats, whereas both the Victory and Kickr Core were tested in a room with vinyl flooring, which will have likely affected the results somewhat.

JetBlack Victory power accuracy

In terms of power measurement, Jetblack claims the Victory is accurate to +/- 2 per cent, which is generally as good as it gets at this price point.

On paper, this matches the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One and Van Rysel D900 (although I found the latter over-reported significantly when sprinting). It also betters models such as the Elite Suito and Zwift Hub, which promise +/- 2.5 per cent accuracy.

For the most part, the Victory delivered excellent data accuracy during testing.

In contrast to the Wahoo Kickr Core I recently tested (which averaged on the high side), the Jetblack Victory averaged a little lower than on-bike power meters, such as Favero’s Assioma Duo pedals and a Quarq DFour DUB spider.

This is to be expected, though. A smart trainer is downstream of the pedals/cranks, and even with a waxed chain, there will be some power lost to drivetrain friction, after all.

That aside, it tracked the on-bike power meters well in practically all scenarios.

There have even been notable improvements compared to the Zwift Hub – in particular, power and cadence accuracy on the Victory doesn’t deteriorate at higher flywheel speeds, instead tracking my on-bike power meters well nearly all of the time.

This is especially impressive as even some high-end trainers, such as the Elite Direto XR (£824.99 / $949.99 as tested, though it’s now available for much less) and Elite Justo (£999.99 / $1,199.99 as tested), struggle to measure cadence accurately in all circumstances.

I did see a few instances where the Victory began a ride measuring a bit lower than expected, but this drifted up and stabilised in line with my on-bike power meters within ten minutes or so – perhaps due to the Victory’s auto-calibration feature, or a need for the system to ‘warm up’.

All things considered, though, this level of data accuracy exceeds expectations for a smart trainer at this price.

JetBlack Victory bottom line

All things considered, the JetBlack Victory is a hugely impressive smart trainer for the price.

It offers easy setup, excellent ride feel, accurate data and outdoes the competition on both features and price.

The only issue might be whether you’ll be able to get hold of one this winter.

If you’re prepared to wait, the Victory is a class-leading smart trainer at a fantastic price. On the other hand, if you’re looking to get into indoor cycling right away, you may need to look elsewhere for the time being.