Wahoo Fitness KICKR Core Smart Trainer, Black

Product Information

Want the smart trainer experience at a wallet-friendly price? The Tacx Vortex Smart is, well, a smart option. At first glance, it looks like a typical wheel-on turbo, but plug the Vortex into the mains and you’ve got a fully-fledged smart trainer, ready to be hooked up to just about any software you like. Setup Tip:If you use a 10-speed cassette make sure you have the same spacer behind the cassette as on your bike otherwise shifting might not be the same as on your bike. With its 6.7kg flywheel, it has a good ride feel, but there is a ceiling of 1,500 watts power and just 10 per cent simulated gradients, which might occasionally be limiting for stronger riders in comparison to other trainers. Note: the Wahoo Fitness app (required for important firmware updates) is only available on iOS and Android mobile devices. All in all I’m disappointed by quality of refurb’ed Cores. As Ludo and Cypher mentioned also, I had expectation/hope that those unity get a kind of QA before they leave out to customers, especially as issues were known/confirmed by Wahoo and units have been in use already.

Wahoo Kickr Core Smart Trainer - 99 Bikes Wahoo Kickr Core Smart Trainer - 99 Bikes

ERG: You specify a power level and Core will continuously correct the resistance regardless of what gear you are in or how fast you are pedalling. Zwift includes a cassette of your choosing – an essential you often need to buy separately for other smart trainers. To make it a bit easier to read I’ll add a 5-second smoothing and zoom in for the first 9 minutes or so: On the other hand, Wahoo is known for making some of the best and most high-quality smart trainers in the world.

On longer activities it was also good to see no discernible temperature drift – this is where the trainer starts amplifying power numbers as it gets hot. I found that even on hour-long slogs up the alp at max effort the Wahoo consistently read the same as my Quarq from cold right until the bitter end. SYSTM has been a relatively recent project for Wahoo and they are definitely, currently working to add much more to it. Expect it to get even better.

KICKR CORE with 1-Year Zwift Membership | Wahoo Fitness KICKR CORE with 1-Year Zwift Membership | Wahoo Fitness

Pinnacle’s HC Turbo Home Trainer is a cheaper direct-drive trainer with impressive specs. Simon von Bromley / Immediate Media The legendary flywheel technology and tested algorithms emulate the power and experience of riding outdoors, especially when using virtual training platforms like The Sufferfest or Zwift. Setup is also easy, with the unit’s legs simply needing to be bolted on. There’s no cassette included though, so you’ll have to remember to factor that in.The Elite Suito is known for being the simplest direct-drive smart trainer that you’ll ever set up. Five minutes from the time you open the box to the time you’re on your bike and riding. One point for the Elite Suito. But the Suito is not known for having great ride quality. As you can see, overall things are very close – at least for most of the steady-state sections. The three big spikes you see in the middle there are supposed to be 800w efforts held for 10-seconds per the workout. I failed to achieve that, so I ended up around 700w. I know full well I can’t hold 800w for 10-seconds except on the bestest of awesome days. This was not one of those days. You also can’t easily fold the legs away for storage – something to consider if you’re not able to leave your indoor trainer setup at home. As with other wheel-on smart trainers, the Flow Smart is louder and does report power with less accuracy than direct-drive models. But if you’re on a limited budget, it will still do a respectable job.

KICKR Core Smart Bike Trainer | Cycle Trainer - Wahoo Fitness KICKR Core Smart Bike Trainer | Cycle Trainer - Wahoo Fitness

We've ridden and rated the top-selling smart trainers below, using Zwift as the virtual testing ground, taking into account their user-friendliness, functionality, features, and price for an overall score. PS. I don’t want to comment that i should repair 4 months old not working properly product by myself ;/In general this is pretty good. Not the best ever (an award Elite with their Drivo 1 still hold), but solid. You’ll notice slight variations from interval to interval, which is mostly based on me getting into a better gear. In fact, TrainerRoad gives you a little warning before a workout that putting the bike into the small ring up front will produce better results for most trainers. And that’s true. You can see the middle intervals were much more smooth than the first few, as I shifted for those. The last two I was just simply getting tired as this was the second workout in a row I had done. The Peloton bike is an alternative for those of you without a road bike as is the CAROL Bike that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Fun Facts & Annoyances Wahoo Fitness strongly discourages altering trainers to fit bikes deviating from the following specifications including (but not limited to) grinding-down components, adding washers, or improperly reversing spacers as these may void your warranty and increase inherent risk. Wahoo Fitness is not liable for any damage or injury related to improper installation, modification, or misuse of hardware. Known Incompatible Bikes After sending the wrestling video* to Wahoo, their customer support told me it was the main bearing that was faulty and that I would get a replacement.