Trainer Para Gears Of War V,1.3.
Berry Spitsberg
A) The Wahoo KICKR is relatively normal from a loudness standpoint. The LeMond trainer is 100db. Not so quiet.
B) The Wahoo KICKR weighs 46 pounds and eat kittens for breakfast. The LeMond trainer weighs a fraction of that.
C) The Wahoo KICKR has a sorta-mostly-realistic road feel. The LeMond Revolution has a very realistic road feel.
A) Both trainers use a cassette to attach your bike to them.
B) Both trainers have three legs
C) Both trainers have a big round thing on them.
D) Uhh..both trainers attach bikes to them? Umm, end of list.
The KICKR has four user accessible control modes. Each one of these modes controls the trainer in slightly different ways. All of these modes are found when you enabled the KICKR control page, and are just sub-sections of that page.
Note that the application supports user profile settings such as setting up heart rate zones, power zones, weight, and audio cues as well. You can see some of the zones information in my various screenshots above.
Noise levels across trainers are a funny duck. There are many aspects that impact noise, from cassettes to trainer tires to room flooring (i.e. wood vs carpet), to trainer mats and so on. The most important non-environmental factor across trainers is actually speed. Not wattage. I can keep the wattage at a set amount, and simply vary my speed (via gearing or cadence) to change the volume
The Wahoo KICKR can receive over the air firmware updates via Bluetooth Smart. When a new firmware update is available, the Wahoo App will notify you of the update, and then redirect you over to the Wahoo Utility app, which performs the actual update:
I find the process usually takes a few minutes to complete. So I often just leave it sitting on the flywheel to update. I figure that gives it the best connectivity to the communications pod a few inches away.
Bluetooth Smart integration requires the use of a Bluetooth 4.0 device. Which means you have have an iPhone 4s or newer, or a 3rd generation iPad or newer. Additionally, at this stage the only Bluetooth Smart device support for these device profiles is on the Apple platform.
January 2016 Update: In 2015 many companies adopted the ANT+ FE-C standard for control of trainers from apps such as Zwift, TrainerRoad, and Kinomap (among many others). At this time, Wahoo is currently beta testing this for the KICKR & KICKR SNAP, which can be accessed via the beta firmware option (see the end of the Firmware Updates section above to access it.)
This app can be used to quickly and easy create and execute workouts with predefined interval times. Additionally, you can control the KICKR in a standard ERG mode as well (meaning, just control wattage on the fly). The first step is pairing to the KICKR trainer, which takes about one button press:
Last but not least, two items of note. First is that you can define and display TSS/NP/IF information within the app, and that you can pair to other ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart sensors. The app is interestingly enough the only app today to support the Wahoo RFLKT.
Next up is Golden Cheetah. Golden Cheetah is an opensource software suite primarily focused on cycling that has historically had its roots in the analytics side. A while back they added a training mode which enabled you to connect to and control some trainers (as well as get virtual power from other trainers with known power curves).
Here you can see me about 12 seconds into this effort. My wattage and current stat information is displayed against the current leader, in real-time. Additionally, it has a small dot showing where he and I are.
For an unreleased app that was thrown together at the last minute before Eurobike, the functionality is incredibly cool and pretty engrossing. Hopefully Wahoo and Strava can work through any of the remaining items and get it published up to the App Store. Awesome stuff.
As a platform without 3rd party software, the KICKR is still reasonably strong. Yes, it does lack the massive software suites like that of the Tacx TTS suite. But it also lacks that software price tag of that suite. I believe the ability for you to ride your trainer with any app you want is far stronger than being locked into a given platform (note that Tacx also now allows 3rd party control too).
Lastly, the KICKR does face competition from the TACX NEO trainer as a high-end unit. The main differences between those two are around sound (the KICKR is far louder), as well as some control pieces using ANT+ FE-C (the KICKR currently has that in beta, NEO is released/production). Check out my larger trainer recommendations guide though, for how to decide which trainer might be right for you.
I use Apple TV for Zwift the vast majority of the time, but also just for watching YouTube/Netflix/etc on the trainer. The Apple TV remote sucks though. This $8 case fixes that, it's a silicone strap that makes it easy to grab, but also has a strap to easily place on the edge of your handlebars. Boom! Note: Not compatible with 2021 Apple TV Edition.
Here's the thing, some people like front wheel blocks, some don't. I'm one of the ones that do. I like my front wheel to stay put and not aimlessly wiggle around. For $8, this solves that problem. Note some trainers do come with them. Also note, I use a riser block with *every* trainer.
I've got three of these $12 fans floating around the DCR Cave, and I frequently use them on rides. They work just fine. Sure, they're not as powerful as a Wahoo Headwind, but I could literally buy 20 of them for the same price.
This desk is both a knock-off of the original KICKR Desk, but yet also better than it. First, it's got wheel locks (so the darn thing stays put), and second, it has two water bottle holders (also useful for putting other things like remotes). I've been using it as my main trainer desk for a long time now and love it. Cheaper is better apparently. Note: Branding varies by country, exact same desk.
This is by far the best value in trainer desks, at only $59, but with most of the features of the higher end features. It's got multi-tier tablet slots, water bottle holders, non-stick surface, adjustable height and more. I'm loving it!
One of the most popular trainer fans out there, rivaling the Wahoo Headwind fan in strength but at a fraction of the price. It doesn't have smartphone/ANT+/Bluetooth integration, but it does have secondary outlets. I've been using it, and a similiar European version lately with great success (exact EU variant I use is automatically linked at left).
Thanks. That is what I planned to do but no video has shown that this needed to be done. before I do it I just wanted to make sure I have not missed anything obvious that I have missed in the videos. it obviously been overtightened when it was assembled.
In addition, the power reading is more than 30% off (higher) compared to my Stages power meter. The discrepancy between the two is neither absolute (ie, always 50watts more) nor linear in relative terms (ie, always 30% higher), yet the percentage deviation depends on the wattage produced. This means that translating the watts of the Kickr to the road (with my Stages) is next to impossible without some non-linear mathematical function. Anyone experienced similar issues?
I had leg balance tested and the difference between my left/right leg was negligible (1%), I think even the most uneven pedaling cyclist will not attain a 30% difference between both legs :) that would be really huge.
Anyone have any issue with cadence. The Sensors show that they are set up properly but it will not display on the wahoo fitness app. The cadence sensor is a garmin and I do have the ant key. Any thoughts
I purchased mine locally from a shop called Champion Cycle for 1195 here is a link link to cbss.ca, you can also find it online here at a place in Toronto, heard good things about this place too. link to labicicletta.com
I live in Lethbridge Alberta and I purchased from link to athleti.ca they are based in Quebec but I had mine within four days of ordering. The service was great and last I saw they still had stock. I would contact them as they were reliable, efficient and fast.
Massive drama with my KICKR tonight, mid HIIT and the belt snapped!!!
Anyone else had this happen?I have emailed support but does anyone know if there is a part number and if these belts are of a standard type that can be bought over the counter somewhere here in the UK!!
I would like to try out Kinomaps and its says it is for iphone or ipad only which sucks as I wanted to use it on my macbook pro to output to my tv. I have a mini garmin ant+ stick. can i use this dongle from apple to use my ant+ stick with my ipad?
link to store.apple.com
Is anyone having problems using Wahoo KickR with Bkool ? I am very disappointed with Bkool as I use Wahoo kickR but I am unable to get my rides on the leagues. My rides are appearing in my online Bkool account and my privacy settings are very public so I do not understand what the problem is. I have tried contacting the league administrators and asking them to validate but they do not reply or respond. I am coming to the conclusion that Bkool is discriminating against users of other trainers as almost all the users of Bkool are using Bkool trainers. Either that or the so called open API is probably not really so open.
So, to me as a prospective buyer, this is a promising development. This single issue is my only reservation about this trainer and now it appears that a viable solution is nearly ready for wide release.
Just a note that out of respect to Wahoo I have removed the links on my blog post. Also a note to Wahoo that my post originated from Slowtwitch and Transitions forum. I did not get the beta from a Wahoo technician. It is my hope that this beta will be released soon as I know there are many of us that need the power data to be correct for training. Based on comparison between the Kickr and the Quarq was 14 watts off. I put in a 14 watt offset to my FTP in TrainerRoad trying to align power targets correctly and used the data recorded from the Quarq to the Garmin Edge as my data upload since it is correct. This is important for us that want our data and training to be targeted correctly. Thanks
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