In case you missed it, Stages is back. After being acquired by Giant following their bankruptcy, the determined cycling electronics brand resurfaced at Eurobike 2025 with some new power meter fitments. But according to those that work for the brand, the return of Stages might have been even bigger news for fans of their original smart bike, the SB20. Introduced at the front of the smart bike movement in 2019, the SB20 had a strong following which was good. You had to be strong to move the 140lb smart bike any substantial distance. While Stages hasnt sold any SB20s since Giant acquired the brand, they have been selling products and supporting existing bikes with warranty service, etc. But you also had to believe that if Stages was going to survive, theyd eventually have another smart bike in space. The company itself is run by the exact super user products like this are made for. Stages has even run three different Zwift Racing League teams out of their HQ. If you asked those super users to draw up their ideal smart bike, it would probably look just like the new Stages SB200. Delivery When it was time to go back to the drawing board for a new smart bike, one of the biggest targets was portability and ship-ability. As mentioned, the SB20 was 140lbs out of the box, which meant that delivering it to customers required freight shipments with a truck that had a lift gate and a coordinated delivery, especially if you were trying to get it into a basement, or up multiple flights of stairs. Perhaps youve noticed, but shipping prices arent getting any cheaper, so the ability for the SB200 to be shipped like a regular bike through UPS is a big win for everyone. Dont get me wrong, its still a heavy box at around 100lbs, but its far more manageable than the SB20. After UPS delivered it to my driveway, I procrastinated moving it to the basement until it was too late to have anyone else help me move it. Using the entire experience of my 30 minutes as a trained professional mover, I grabbed my hump strap, looped it around the box, and carried all 2/3rds of my body weight down to the basement. I certainly wouldnt recommend that for anyone, but it is doable. Note that its best to unbox it in the same room you plan to have the bike in (rather than unboxing it to move it in pieces), more on that below in the Build.Its worth pointing out that even though the box showed up looking extremely rough with a number of big holes and two of the four box clips broken or missing, everything inside was perfect. The box is a masterclass is foam-free cardboard package engineering, which youll discover yourself duringThe BuildOnce you remove the (hopefully) four box clips, the outer shell of the box lifts straight up revealing the main frame of the bike on a cardboard pedestal surrounded by smaller, individually numbered cardboard boxes. Those boxes also have numerous QR codes to scan that will bring up the assembly video. If youre not into videos, there is an instruction sheet inside as well. Remove all of those numbered boxes and youre left with the frame sitting on its own cardboard work stand. This is why its best to unbox the bike in the room you want to use it. The box serves as the assembly platform for the bike to make the process of installing the rear support and other pieces much easier. You could decant the box elsewhere, and reassemble this setup if you had to, but it will definitely be easier if you dont have to. All of the tools needed for assembly are included with four Allen wrenches, and an open end wrench. Following the instructional video, it was mostly very easy to assemble. Pro Tip: Ignore the instruction to install the plastic stem cover when it says to. Theres a very good chance youll want to adjust the handlebar angle after the initial build, and the cover will snap into place and stay there until youve dialed in your fit. Fitting the SB200SB200 in smallest vs. largest configuration The stock SB200 is said to fit riders from 410 all the way up to 610. Adjustments are easily made to the saddle height, stack, and reach with a single 8mm Allen key that has a magnetic dock on the drive side chain stay (no more knobs or levers). The bike has a fixed 73 seat tube angle, but a fore/aft seat mast will be available as an accessory to dial in different effective seat tube angles. The stock bike also includes a 40cm compact handlebar with flared drops, which drops a bit from the previous 42cm used on the SB200. If you want to run something different, the bike uses a standard 31.8mm stem and the wires are run external from the bar under the bar tape, so you can run any 31.8mm bar youd like. Also, that wire to the shifters means theres no battery to worry about recharging or replacing. Just turn the bike on and youre ready to go. Every time. Crank length is also adjustable through a new steel washer system on steel crank arms. The cranks have a 153mm q-factor and can be adjusted to 165, 170, 172.5, and 175mm. While a bit fiddly to install, the obvious benefit here is that steel is far less likely to strip out than an aluminum crank with multiple holes. And if you did somehow manage to strip it, the actual threaded portion is easily replaceable. There are a number of smart touches like that on this bike that are aimed at keeping the SB200 running a decade or more down the road. The SB200 also uses a standard saddle rail clamp, so you can run any saddle youd like though the stock saddle is actually surprisingly good. As is the handlebar tape. It was specifically chosen for something that would remain durable and grippy after countless sweaty hours in front of your preferred virtual training program. Overall DesignStages says that they put a lot of effort into the overall design of the bike to make it appear at home in any environment. That could be as a showpiece in a high end office building, or in the corner of your unfinished basement pain cave. To that end, its their first ever bike thats not a shade of grey, but a shade of off-white called Milk Tea with blue graphics. The curved front end gives it the look of a complete bike, but its important to point out that its quite a bit shorter than a full size bike on a trainer with the front wheel attached. It also seems shorter at the back than many trainers, which left me surprised by how much more space I had when I set it up to replace a bike on a direct drive trainer. Length:Min: 127cm (49.9in)Max: 137.3cm (54.0in)+10cm(3.9in) with tablet holderWidth: 80.4cm (31.6in)Height:Min: 97.9 cm (38.5in )Max: 117.2cm (46.1in): +14.8 cm (5.8in) with tablet holderRock a BitThe original SB20 was solid as a rock. The SB200 softens things up a bit. Following a similar trend for other trainers, the outrigger includes contact pads that allow for 2 of movement from center to each side. This is meant to relieve pressure over longer periods and provide comfort through natural movement. Those that want less movement can swap to the included grey pads which are stiffer. Or even swap to the Rigid Ride accessory a forked front stabilizer that makes the SB200 as rigid as the original SB20. Far Easier to Move AroundThe SB200 is designed so that you can easily move it by picking it up from the front wheel. Lift it high enough, and the two wheels on the stabilizer will contact the floor and you can wheel it around. We wish the wheels were larger diameter to work better over workout mats, etc., but its still pretty easy to move. Still the Leader in Inertia?One of the things that made the SB20 feel so good was also the thing that made it so heavy. That 50lb flywheel resulted in inertia that made the ride feel more lifelike. But considering the SB200 is now just 71lbs total, it certainly couldnt have a 50lb flywheel. To compensate, Stages came up with a new two stage belt drive system with a 25:1 gear ratio which results in even more inertia than the previous bike. I was curious about this difference in weight vs. speed for the fly wheel, so I asked Stages to go into further detail. According to principal engineer on the project, Eric Golesh, the weight is much lighter than SB20 flywheel, but it spins 5x faster, which is what gives it the inertia and the nice outdoor feel. The inertial increase from the SB20 to the SB200 is roughly 4.5x greater. This is achieved with a dual stage drive as opposed to a single stage drive.What about accuracy? Stages claims the SB200 has a power accuracy of +/-1%, and it automatically zero resets when coasting. You can also find an optional spindown test in the app just make sure to keep your feet on the pedals when coasting since the belt drive has enough momentum to push the cranks forward and upset the test if you take your feet off. The SB200 also has a max wattage capacity of 2500W, with precise electromagnetic brake can deliver 400W at 40 RPM and 1,500+W at 120 RPM to make climbing feel like climbing and sprinting feel like sprinting. And to ensure the SB200 can go the distance, lab testing subjected the drive system to 1000 hours at 325W/90 RPM. Someone do the math what level Zwifter would that make you?Enclosed Belt Drives for the WinOther than the cranks, the drive system is now completely enclosed which is a big plus for anyone with kids or pets. Shortly before I received the SB200, our new-ish puppy who has a very white head crawled under my bike on the trainer (not while I was riding it) and got a very black grease stain on her head. That can not happen on the SB200. It also highlights a major benefit of the SB200 its meant to be completely maintenance free. It does not require lubrication, and since there are only belts, it is whisper quiet. Except for the freewheel. That is loud. Much louder than the entire bike at 1000 watts!I was curious what it looked like inside the covers, so I pulled them off to have a look. Its easy enough to do, just remove some rubber plugs and a few Allen bolts. Fun fact, there is a Gates belt drive on the drive side, and a Hutchinson belt on the non-drive side! Both belts have tension adjusters that look fairly easy to adjust, but considering Stages claims this to be maintenance-free, you shouldnt ever have to touch them. New Shifters Deliver Nearly Any Button ConfigurationAnother big upgrade to the SB200 is found at the shifters. Now fitted with a more Shimano-style shifter with two buttons on each shifter paddle, the inside of the hood has more buttons too, now with 5 on each side. Stock presets mirror a Shimano 212 drivetrain, a SRAM 112 drivetrain, and the Dream Drive which is Stages own ideal of the perfect shifter setup with a ratio of 0.5:1 to 7.0:1 with 30 steps. Thats the equivalent of a 70t chainring with a 10-140T cassette! You can also set up your own custom drivetrain/shifter configuration with five customizable profiles so you could set it up for different bikes in your stable. The buttons on the inside of the hoods are also independently programmable. There are also preset configurations for the Stages App, Zwift, TPVirtual, and Mywhoosh.And those brake levers? Those actually work. Thanks to an electromagnetic brake, the brake levers will slow you down in-game, and also slow the flywheel which comes in handy if youre doing training that requires quick changes in power levels. Built In Display ScreenDo you ever want to just jump on the trainer and ride, without worrying about logging in, updates, connecting a bunch of sensors, etc.? Thanks to the integrated display on the SB200 that is entirely possible. The display is simple, but it provides more than 10 metrics plus errors and warnings and gives auditory shift indicators. Built In Screen Holders & Charging PortsStages points out that in virtual cycling, a phone or tablet is basically required. Because of that, the SB200 includes both a phone holder, tablet holder, and even cycling computer mounts right out of the box. The mounts are also designed in a way that wont allow sweat to pool. In fact, sweat management is something that was taken seriously across the entire bike with internal wiring through the frame, and important bits hidden from the corrosive liquid. The removable tablet holder sits at the top and offers a thumb screw to cinch down on your precious device. Most tablets will only be able to be mounted in landscape. The phone holder on the other hand use spring loaded arms which allow the phone to be mounted in landscape or portrait. Smaller phones will likely not be held tightly, but probably wont go anywhere. I have an iPhone 17 Pro and in a case, the arms dont really grab tightly when in portrait orientation. So anything smaller likely wont even touch the arms. If you want to run a cycling computer, you can remove the rubber plug from the stem and install the included Garmin or Wahoo mounts. On the bottom of the phone mount, youll find two USB-C charging ports to keep those devices juiced up while youre riding. One Bottle Cage, More AvailableThe SB200 includes a single bottle cage, which will be enough to many riders. Those who need more, can pick up the Feed Zone accessory which adds two bottles to the front of the bike. The included cage is more of a bottle tray it doesnt clamp down very tightly on the bottle, but its more than enough to keep it in place during hard efforts. Connectivity to All WorldsStages bills the SB200 as the bike for every world, so it has to be connected to every world. To that end, it supports almost every connection protocol with the exception of ANT+. That includes Bluetooth LE at 4hz, high speed Wifi at 10hz, and FTMS for heart rate. That speed difference between Wifi and Bluetooth is why Stages recommends using Wifi first for your connections. Bluetooth should only be a last resort. New Stages AppBuilding on that idea of being able to just jump on and go for a virtual ride, Stages also wanted to make sure that you didnt have to pay for a subscription just to use your smart bike. To that end they developed a completely new app for both iOS and Android that is backwards compatible with the SB20, and has restored functionality for capturing and analyzing rides that was lost when Specialized bought Todays Plan. The app not only allows you to run programmed workouts right from the device, but it also serves as a hub to control and customize the bike, monitor performance, and diagnose and repair any issues. If the bike does throw an error code, it will show up on the integrated display, but it will also appear in the app along with a link to a page on how to fix it. Pricing & AccessoriesStill with me? If so, youre probably wondering about the price. Its not cheap at $2,399 USD/2199/ 2399, but its also not the most expensive. This is definitely a trainer for the dedicated cyclist, but at the same time, details like the integrated display make it more likely that anyone in your household thats not a dedicated cyclist will be more likely to use it. As mentioned, the SB200 will have three main accessories available: the Feed Zone dual bottle holder, the Rigid Ride front stabilizer (both pictured above), and a fore/aft Tri/MTB seat mast (not pictured). Pricing and availability is TBA. More to come.