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I'm thinking of getting this trainer and I have a few questions.

I want a "cheap as possible" bike that I can dedicate to the indoor trainer. Would picking up an old used 8-speed Sora equipped Cannondale R400 be a good choice? It has an 8-speed cassette, which I've heard can be used on the Direto with 2x 1mm spacers.

Can the Directo somehow be used without Zwift? I plan to subscribe to Zwift for the winter months, but I'd like to be able to use the Direto in some meaningful way without a subscription/pay based service.

The Elite Direto can be used without Zwift. Mine came with a 1 month free membership of Zwift and a 1 year membership for Elite E-training.
The setup instructions state the Direto is compatible with 9, 10, and 11 speed cassettes. I am running it with an old bike set up for 8 speed (shifters are compatible with friction shifting) I have fitted a 9 speed cassette using the 2 spacers provided with Direto. This works OK. 8-speed and 9-speed cassettes are the same width so 8 speed should fit on the Direto with the spacers provided.
Regards
Chris