Wahoo Fitness  KICKR Smart Trainer - 2021

Easy, prompt purchase at REI. After logging 500 miles on a dumb, wheel on trainer I upgraded to the Kickr direct drive. The Kickr is expensive but outstanding in every way. The ride experience is close to IRL. The fly wheel is smooth, grade changes are smooth, and Bluetooth connections are fast and steady. Setup and mounting my bike was fast and easy. The Zwift experience is more enjoyable with the Kickr. I should have upgraded sooner.

I have ridden my racing bike over 75k in the past 35 years. In winter, I generally have just commuted to work on my alternate bike. Spring rolls around, and it's time to get outdoors and regaining fitness again. Each year, it seems a bit harder to get back into shape. But no more. This Wahoo Kickr replicates outdoor training like I never thought possible. (I'd used a Mag Trainer in the past, very infrequently). This is the real deal, I ride for "20 miles" and get off my bike (my regular outdoor bike) and I feel like I've actually ridden 20 miles. In the six weeks I've owned this, I've logged 400 miles. It comes with an 11-speed cassette, but I replaced that with a 9-speed (for my '98 LeMond Zurich), and it works great. Part of the actual joy of riding this thing is I subscribed to Zwift, added a 24" monitor and Chromecast, and screenshare my simulation app to the monitor. When the road starts to climb, you'll feel the resistance increase automatically. I've ridden in London, NYC, Yorkshire, France. The simulation makes it highly engaging, and the Kickr makes it all seamless. No more ride cancellations due to poor road conditions, darkness, or whatever. My wife and I often ride together (we bought two of these), and often "meet up" with my brother online. In a single sitting, we've ridden up to 40 miles (with stretch break in the middle, simulating the coffee shop stop!). Highly recommended, best cycling investment I've made in years, maybe ever. This means when we turn to outdoor riding, on day one we can do a 50-60 miler, versus building up to that for June or July.

Comes with wheel presets ( i.e 700c , etc ). These presets are machine drilled so zero opportunity for error on the consumer side. When set to road cycling 700c the back is about 2 inches higher than the front wheel. Take a look at Reddit you’ll find many others with the same problem. Horrible engineer level error on Wahoo side. Should not have to use towels to get device level. Currently have trainer set to 650c road even though I have 700c wheels. It’s more level now . Wahoo should send me another trainer and verify the holes are measured correctly before doing so. You would never use this trainer to get properly fit on your bike either .

I originally purchased a Tacx Neo 2t but returned it for this. I use this along with Zwift and so far its been great. Its quiet and the power changes are smooth unlike the Neo 2t where the power applies hard and can stop you in your tracks if you start to slow down your cadence. As far as the axis feet I can't really feel much movement.

I am able to download ANY "Ride With GPS" route that I've only dreamed of riding. Additionally, if I miss a group ride, no probs...I'll ride it on my trainer. Funny thing is a ride on the trainer is actually harder because you still have to pedal on the downhills; whereas you just coast down on the actual ride...but oh well! Quick and easy mount/dismount.

Took it out of the box. Extended the legs. Plugged it in. Paired to zwift on apple tv almost immediately and I was riding in minutes. My first trainer so I don't have anything to reference to but highly recommend. Road feel is good with the side to side motion from the axis feet and I think it does help with comfort on longer rides. Very smooth and resistance changes are spot on. Slight delay in shipping due to covid but that was expected. Shipping updates could have been better. Overall Very happy with my purchase and would highly recommend. Best of all I've already lost 4 lbs in the first 2 weeks of ownership. Thanks Wahoo. P.s. my wife loves it too.

Out of box and on the bike within an hour. I love the axis feet - makes hard climbs and sprints more comfortable and realistic by providing some side-to-side movement while standing. This replaced a 'dumb' trainer that only monitored power, but was not controlled by Zwift or Wahoo, and I am officially hooked. Over the past month, I have definitely spent less time getting set for an outdoor ride (packing, driving, etc.) and more time on the bike enjoying virtual rides and the challenges of good climbs in Zwift with the Kickr. For anyone thinking "Is that extra money worth going to a (smart) controllable trainer?", it definitely is.

Only after buying this expensive trainer did I find out that it is incompatible with my trek domane. This is not easy Information to find from the product page where you click buy. I contacted support and their vague answer was that the issue is being worked on and it is an open ticket. I asked support 3 more questions over a few days regarding this issue and there was no response. It has been over a week and no response from support. I would not recommend this product because they expect me to keep an incompatible expensive produce. They don’t respond in the support portal or to email. And also they don’t offer any solutions.

This trainer is a vast improvement over my bluetooth connected dumb trainer. Using applications like Zwift feel very much like the road. As the virtual grade smoothly pitches up I'm having to shift down, jsut like I would on the road, and vice versa for drafting and downhill. For this reason alone, the purchase was well worth it. The one reason why I did not give it a 5 star rating is I am coming off a rocker board because of the axis feet on this unit. After a couple weeks on this trainer, I still prefer the feel of the rocker board. The axis feet are a little stiff and/or don't provide the amount of sway I would like.

Really happy with this purchase - I upgraded from a much cheaper wheel on trainer and the difference is night and day. Sturdy, dependable, ride feels so much more realistic and is about a billion times quieter. I use it mostly for training with zwift - about 4-5 hours a week minimum. No complaints!