- What's up, this is Tariq here
from SMARTBikeTrainers.com.
So, it's been two years
since Wahoo announced the KICKR Smart Bike.
I have been using this bike on and off
for the past year and a half or so,
and I am going to give you my thoughts,
what I like, what I do not like,
what changed since I reviewed the bike.
And should you wait for the next version,
or is this bike still worth getting?
The KICKR Bike is meant for cyclists and triathletes
who want to replicate the real road bike indoors,
with smart functionality
such as connectivity to third-party cycling apps,
ERG mode, and gradient simulation.
Let's talk about (Instagram username whooshes)
what changed first.
Wahoo released a bunch of firmware updates
since the release,
as part of enhancement, bug fixes.
But the main release was the addition of steering,
and it is supported by Zwift. (Instagram username whooshes)
To steer, all you need to do
is pair the Wahoo KICKR as a steering device
in the pairing menu in Zwift.
The two buttons inside the handlebar
act as your steering wheel.
If you press on the left button, your avatar will turn left.
If you press on the right button,
you guessed it, your avatar will go right.
The next update was the support for Bluetooth FTMS.
Something you probably didn't notice or cared much for,
but worth noting here,
because Wahoo has been running its own Bluetooth protocols.
And these Bluetooth protocols
are basically what allow the bike and cycling apps
to interact with each other
and give you all the different features
such as ERG mode, slope mode, et cetera.
So by supporting Bluetooth FTMS,
app developers' job became much easier
because they only need to write one code
to support all different bikes and trainers
rather than a separate code for Wahoo,
and another one for other trainers.
Other than that, everything else is the same.
And speaking of things that are the same,
I'm still going to ask you ("Subscribe" image whooshes)
to do me a quick favor and hit that "like" button below.
It helps the video and the channel quite a bit.
And I truly appreciate it. ("Subscribe" image whooshes)
And another thing that did not change
since the release of this bike
is the price.
The KICKR smart bike retails for 3,500 US dollars,
which puts it at the higher end
of smart bike trainers in the market.
The KICKR bike has one main feature
that sets it apart from everyone else.
And that is the climb,
which is basically tilting the whole bike
to simulate gradient changes,
not just by providing resistance changes
to simulate inclines,
but physically raising and lowering the bike
to simulate changes in gradients.
Ascent up to 20% and descent as steep as minus 15%.
And that number can change slightly based on your bike fit.
Wahoo also designed the KICKR bike
to look and feel like a real road bike
rather than a stationary bike that you see at gyms,
or even other smart bikes,
like the Tacx NEO bike, for example.
There are advantages and disadvantages to that.
So there is no tray for example,
to hold a tablet or your phone,
or a display screen to show metrics
such as power, speed, or anything like that.
The only display you'll see is right below the top tube.
And it shows you
your gearing combination and bike tilt angle,
also other things such as connection status.
And there is a button on the side
to lock and unlock the tilting feature.
And that's about it.
Right below that you will see two USB ports
for charging your phone or tablet.
The flywheel on this bike is 13 pounds, per specs,
and also is powered by a motor to give it more power
and better overall road feel, particularly on descents.
Okay, let's talk about bike geometry and fitting.
The bike has different adjustment points
to fit riders that are anywhere
between 5 feet to 6 foot and 4 inches tall,
and has a 250 pounds maximum rider's weight.
The KICKR bike has a six-point fitting adjustment.
Standover height, saddle height, setback,
reach, stack height, and crank length.
A quick release lever
makes it easy to make adjustments to the bike.
And that brings us to the fitting.
Wahoo went a step further with fitting,
by giving you the option
to enter your measurements into the app
and telling you exactly the adjustment you need to make
to replicate your bike fitting.
So if you have a professional bike fitting done
using some of the fitting tools out there,
all you need to do is enter your measurement in the app
and it will give you all the adjustment points
you need to make.
What if you don't have a professional fitting done?
No problem. Wahoo thought of that too.
You can take a picture of your bike,
place a few pins, and measure between the hubs,
or you can just use
your height, inseam and position on the bike,
and the app will give you all the adjustments
that you need to make.
The bike also has virtual shifting,
and you can customize the shifters
to match the shifters on your own road bike,
or try out different type of shifters.
All gearing can also be done and customized
in the app as well.
You can also change the braking
to match braking on your bike.
So if you want to put
the front brake on the right and the back brake on the left,
you can do that.
Not that it matters,
because there is no physical brake on this bike,
but apparently in some countries
do braking differently than the way it's done in the US,
which somehow I did not know.
The brake stops the flywheel,
but there is no support for them in any app,
but they are there in case an app
decides to take advantage of them in the future.
Also, I imagine it's there for safety reasons as well,
in case you suddenly need to stop the flywheel.
You can also create different profiles and save them.
So if someone else in your household
used your bike and changed the fit,
you can easily go back to the app
and pull out your measurement.
So overall, I think Wahoo has done a tremendous job
with all the in-app customization available,
and they are all well executed,
easy to follow, and explained well.
The shifters on the bike look like traditional shifters
that you'll find on road bike,
and work just like in real road bikes.
Very smooth and quick.
You should feel a little feedback
as you shift through gears.
The bike comes with a saddle, and the saddle is adjustable.
If you do not like the saddle,
you can remove it altogether and use your own.
The buttons on the left handlebar
control the climb functionality,
and pressing them will tilt the bike up and down.
The bike has a really good road feel.
Very smooth, the pedal stroke is smooth
and did not feel glitchy at all.
You'll find it to be much smoother
than your real bike on a direct drive trainer,
and that's because of all the
integrated gearing and shifting,
and the lack of drive train.
Also, the bike does have a little side-to-side tilting,
so it's not totally rigid like other indoor bikes.
And you might also feel a little fore-aft movement.
Personally, I'm not a fan of that movement,
but it is normal and necessary tolerance
for the climb tilting feature available on this bike.
So the bike measure power,
and I put a lot of miles on this bike.
The power measurement has always been good
and very close to my power meters.
It's just good.
You'll see a little discrepancy here and there,
particularly on recovery sets
where the KICKR reads a few watts lower than my pedal,
but overall, it was just really good.
And by the way,
this bike does not require calibration.
I will link to my original posts
if you want to look at the data,
but I'm not going to bore you here
with all that information,
other than it's pretty good.
In ERG mode the bike is smooth
and responds to interval changes pretty quickly,
and generally within a watt or two
in either direction from my target interval.
I constantly saw three to four seconds ramp-up
to target power.
If I keep my cadence consistent,
if you have quick short sprint intervals,
you should be able to quickly ramp up to power
by increasing your cadence.
The bike also measure cadence, and it was spot on,
and nothing really to talk about here.
(bike emits a hollow hum)
As for noise, the bike has a unique sound to it,
but overall it's pretty quiet.
Okay, the KICKR bike
is a really solid and advanced smart bike
that is full of features
and will make riding indoors a lot more enjoyable.
It is accurate, does not require calibration,
and it is not loud.
The Wahoo Fitness app is so well done
and makes it easy to replicate your bike fit,
create different profiles with different shifting.
The traditional bike design,
the tilting to simulate gradient changes,
make it feel like a real bike.
However, I get that Wahoo wanted
to make it look and feel like a road bike,
but it's a stationary bike,
and you can get away with having
different things on a stationary bike
that you just can't take on the road with you,
like a tray, for example, to hold your phone,
or a tablet holder. (Instagram username whooshes)
Also a display to show some metrics
if you don't want to use a third-party app.
Also, it would be nice
to be able to switch between different modes,
or at least slope and ERG mode,
and set target watts (Instagram username whooshes)
if you want use a bike as a standalone bike,
without connecting to a third party app, for example.
You can pair a Wahoo ELEMNT bike computer
and use it to control your bike.
Actually, I did a full video on that,
which I will link to in the description below.
The other thing I love about this bike
is it has multi-Bluetooth support.
So you can use it with multiple apps at the same time,
something other bikes and trainers do not support.
So two years later,
should you wait for the next version, or get this bike?
I would say if you need a trainer
and looking to get a stationary smart bike,
go for it.
This is a solid bike.
Even if Wahoo comes out tomorrow with a new bike,
I guarantee you that it won't be that drastic of an upgrade
that you will feel bad getting this bike.
So if you have $3,000 burning a hole in your pocket,
I mean $3,500,
go for it.
You will love it, and it will serve you for many years.
Okay, hopefully I covered everything here.
If you have any question or comment,
or if you have the KICKR bike,
I would love to hear your thoughts and experience.
Let's chat in the comment.
If you are interested in this bike or any smart trainer,
make sure to check out SMARTBikeTrainers.com
for up-to-date pricing and deals.
I usually keep my eyes on all trainer prices
and update the website throughout the year.
Okay, that's all I have. Hope you enjoyed this video.
Remember to hit the like button
and if you are still watching and have not subscribed yet,
then you know what to do.
Thank you for watching, and see you guys in the next video.
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(electrical discharge zapping)
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