Yes. The Saris MP1 is Worth Buying (AND YOU CAN AFFORD IT!)

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Riding inside sucks. I hate it. And honestly, nothing really makes it any better for me - not even the almighty Zwift. But, with a global shift INSIDE and a new day job colliding in 2020 I found myself spending more and more time on the H3 that Saris sent me. And when this - the MP1 Nfinity platform - arrived, I was veeerrrry skeptical. But after a few months and a lot of thought - I think it’s a worthy investment. Stick around and I’ll tell ya why.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been able to ride my trainer for more than 60 minutes - I call it my own personal hour record - because one of two things inevitably happens: 1. I just get bored, even with companions like FulGaz, Zwift, or Netflix and (2) I get uncomfortable. I get hot spots on my feet, there’s sweat-soaked friction on the saddle, and the relatively static arm/hand position usually leads to mild numbness in my palms because I simply can’t move around like I can when I’m outside.

And like any rocker panel, the MP1 solves that - whether I’m spinning in zone 2 or pushing it into the red, the platform creates just enough back and forth oscillation to provide a close simulation to riding outside when seated. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now things are a little weird when you stand up because the platform leans against the direction you want to shove the bars but that’s a tough design problem to solve...but...maybe they could slice the future versions in half and allow the front to move independently? Who knows. Crazier things have happened. Overall, it’s enough of a mirror of outdoor riding to keep me pretty comfortable for 90-120 minutes. So, functionally - I’d say mission accomplished.

But now let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the price. Just about every reviewer has said it’s too expensive - and I KIND OF agree. Retail is like twelve hundred and shipping can be ANOTHER hundred. And that’s too much - 800-900 would be a home run. But here’s the thing - 2020 and probably 2021 are basically cancelled, so...you’ve got the money for it. Seriously - add up the cost of say...driving to just three races.

Let’s say it’s 400 miles round trip - so like a tank of gas for sixty bucks, and I’m gonna throw in a $150 hotel stay. Entry fees are another fifty on top of that. so...$260. Meals for two days are another fifty and let’s say you consume $25 worth of nutrition products like gels and bars. That brings us to $335, but let’s round down to $300. Times three races, that’s 900 and times the whole calendar of racing - you could be up over 3000 for the year or very conservatively at two thousand. And let’s not even go down the path of replacing gear you crash in a crit.

And if you live in a place like Chicago, New York, Minnesota, or anywhere that winter weather basically shuts down outdoor cycling for 3-4 months - I don’t see any reason why you WOULDN’T get this whole system - the H3 and the MP1 - if you’ve managed to hold on to your race budget and not blow it on doordash.

So, in my opinion, and it took me a while to get here - I think that once you get past the sticker shock and really think it through, there’s actually a LOT of good reasons to think about picking up an MP1.