The quietest measured readings are 58 to 59 dB, from BikeRadar’s test of the KICKR CORE 2 at 150 W, and under 60 dB for the Van Rysel D100; the Saris H3 Plus claims 59 dB at 20 mph and Tacx claims 57.8 dB for the NEO 2T. Nobody used a single test point, though, and two reviewers say the bike’s own drivetrain masks the trainer. Treat a 2 to 3 dB gap between trainers as within the spread of the data, and look at the loud end instead: the NEO 3M above 70 dB at 600 W and the ROLLR just under 75 dB above 45 km/h.
Every reading we found
Only figures a named reviewer or manufacturer states are listed. BikeRadar’s tester uses an iPhone placed one metre from the trainer, parallel to the drivetrain side of the bike; other reviewers’ phone placement is not stated. Test points differ, which is why this is a table and not a ranking.
| Trainer | Source | Test point | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| KICKR CORE 2 | BikeRadar, Oct 2025 | 150 W; sprints | 58-59 dB; 62-63 dB |
| KICKR (2022) | BikeRadar, Nov 2022 | 30 km/h; sprints | about 61 dB; just over 65 dB |
| Saris H3 Plus | Saris, maker’s claim | 20 mph | 59 dB |
| Saris H3 (predecessor) | BikeRadar, Nov 2019 | 20 mph | about 61 dB |
| Tacx NEO 2T | BikeRadar, Oct 2019 | not recorded | about 61 dB |
| Tacx NEO 2T | Tacx’s figure, quoted by Zwift Insider, Oct 2022 | not recorded; Zwift Insider did not measure it | 57.8 dB, maker’s claim |
| Elite Rivo | BikeRadar, Nov 2025 | 150 W; sprints | 60-62 dB; 65-66 dB |
| Elite Rivo | road.cc, Jan 2026 | not recorded | about 62 dB, drivetrain louder |
| Tacx NEO 3M | BikeRadar, Feb 2025 | 150 W with the movement locked out; 600 W | 63-65 dB; over 70 dB |
| JetBlack Victory | BikeRadar, Nov 2024 | 150 W (about 30 km/h); sprints | 65-66 dB; “barely rise” |
| JetBlack Victory | DC Rainmaker, Nov 2024 | ride noise, no figure | trainer noise “essentially non-existent” in his video; he says loudness is set by gearing and how clean the bike is |
| KICKR ROLLR (roller) | BikeRadar, May 2022 | about 30 km/h; sprints above 45 km/h | 63-65 dB; just under 75 dB |
| KICKR CORE (Zwift One), Zwift Hub, Van Rysel D100 | Quoted inside BikeRadar’s Victory and NEO 3M reviews | CORE: hard efforts; Hub: 2022, carpeted room; D100: 150 W | CORE over 70 dB; Hub 60 dB; D100 under 60 dB |
No published figure found for the Elite Justo 2, Avanti and Tuo, the Wahoo KICKR BIKE models, Wattbike Atom or Zwift Ride. For the bikes, PezCycling News said the SHIFT’s belt drive was quieter than a trainer the reviewer had used before, and road.cc called the Stages SB20’s belt drive very quiet, but neither gave decibels.
What the numbers say and don’t say
- The readings overlap. Most trainers land between about 58 and 66 dB at moderate effort. The one like-for-like pair is BikeRadar at 150 W: the CORE 2 at 58-59 dB, the Rivo at 60-62, the NEO 3M at 63-65 and the Victory at 65-66, with the Van Rysel D100 under 60. That 6 to 8 dB spread from the CORE 2 to the Victory is the comparison we would lean on, with one caveat below.
- Effort matters more than model, with one exception. Every trainer with two readings gets louder as power rises, except the Victory, which BikeRadar says barely rises when sprinting: the CORE 2 by about 4 dB in sprints, the KICKR (2022) by about 4 dB, the Rivo by about 4 to 5 dB, the NEO 3M by more than 5 dB at 600 W. A quiet figure at 150 W does not predict sprint noise, and the Victory’s louder 150 W figure comes with a flat sprint figure.
- The drivetrain is a noise source too. road.cc found the Rivo’s drivetrain louder than the trainer, and DC Rainmaker heard almost nothing over his own bike on the Victory. A dry chain or worn cassette can outweigh a 2 to 3 dB trainer difference.
- Claims and measurements use different points. Saris states 59 dB at 20 mph for the H3 Plus, and BikeRadar measured about 61 dB at the same speed on the older H3. That is a 2 dB difference between a claim and a measurement of a different model, so it proves nothing about either.
- Decibels are logarithmic. A 10 dB rise is generally heard as about twice as loud, so a 2 dB gap is small and a jump from the low 60s to over 70 dB is not.
Where noise reaches your neighbours
Airborne noise is one path. A trainer also sends vibration into the floor, and none of the readings above measure that. A mat helps with vibration and sweat. Chain and cassette causes are in the maintenance and noise checklist, and the fan comparison notes that none of the four fans’ makers publish decibel figures on the pages we read.
What to do with this
- Shortlist by price and fit first, using the best smart trainers table; the noise readings will not separate trainers that close.
- If you ride upstairs or share a wall, prefer a trainer whose 150 W reading is at or below about 62 dB, keep sprints short, and treat the floor as the real problem.
- Do not buy on a maker’s claim alone: Saris states its speed (20 mph) but Tacx’s 57.8 dB comes without a stated test point in Zwift Insider’s quote of it.
How this page was researched
Compiled 29 September 2026 from the trainer database and the reviewers’ pages listed under Sources; SmartBikeWiki runs no tests and takes no readings. Figures are as the reviewer or maker reported them, paraphrased. BikeRadar supplied most of the decibel readings, so the table shows one publisher’s method more than a spread of methods, and its readings span 2019 to 2025.