Elite Rivo SmarttrainerMaking indoor cycling easy and handy

Robert Kühnen

 · 16.12.2025

Elite Rivo Smarttrainer: making indoor cycling easy and handyPhoto: Robert Kühnen
Smarttrainer test: Lightweight & affordable - that's the Elite Rivo

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The Elite Rivo smart trainer is good for endurance training, inexpensive and exceptionally light and handy. In our test, we clarify for whom indoor training with the Rivo is best suited.

Topics in this article

The Rivo is a back-friendly trainer. The 10.7 kilogrammes feel very manageable when carrying and setting up compared to the heavier devices in the test. If the trainer is to be moved back and forth a lot, this could be a solid argument in favour of the Rivo.

The folding mechanism is not very smooth, but it works. Despite its low mass, the ride feel of the small Italian is good and the brakes can be applied with a lot of force when required. The control is a little slow; too slow, for example, to reproduce intervals such as 30/30 seconds in ergometer mode at more than 300 watts.

At high power levels, the deviation from the target wattage value is also slightly higher than with the more expensive devices, with around five per cent too little power being displayed. The Rivo also does not measure the power, but calculates it from the state of the brake.

The Elite Rivo is mobile

However, the set-up is sufficient for typical endurance training, especially if there is a power meter on the bike anyway to measure the power output accurately. Despite the high internal gear ratio of the small flywheel mass, the trainer works quietly by means of a belt. The sound of the chain dominates during operation.

Without mains power, the trainer works as a speed-dependent brake with a previously selected resistance value. This also enables the small device to be used for warm-ups before races and suits its good mobility. The fact that the lightweight trainer also has a carrying handle rounds off this application.

In terms of connectivity, Elite offers ANT+ and Bluetooth as well as WLAN. The trainer is supplied without a cassette. Twelve months' use of the My-E-Training app is included.



The most important information about the Elite Rivo

This is the Elite RivoPhoto: Robert KühnenThis is the Elite Rivo
  • Price: 499 Euro >> available here
  • Maximum braking power: Not specified
  • Simulatable gradient: 18 per cent
  • Accuracy class (manufacturer's specification): plus/minus 2.5 per cent
  • Measured accuracy: +plus/minus 2.5 per cent
  • Weight: 10.7 kg
  • Floor space: 53 x 70 cm
  • Volume (27/40/66 km/h): 58/65/73 dBA

Strengths and weaknesses of the Elite Rivo

Strengths

  • Light and handy
  • Quiet

Weaknesses

  • not very accurate (no real measurement)
  • Slow control
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