Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer

Nov 13, 17 11:14

Post #1 of 20 (6485 views)

A few months ago I bought myself a new wahoo kickr to upgrade the kurt kinetic road machine dumb trainer I had been using and loving for years (I already had a power meter on my bike).

Now, a few months later I find myself still using the KK. I live in an apartment in NYC and the wifey does not allow the bike to sit on the trainer in the living room all the time (she's already agreed to have 2 bikes in our small apartment + loads of other bike junk so I can't complain).

With the dumb trainer it takes 2 minutes to take my bike off the wall and get on the trainer and I can TR/zwift away. With the kickr, it's a whole process....taking the wheel off, mounting it, riding for 10 minutes to calibrate...then taking off and putting wheel back on when I'm done. I find this adds 15-20 minutes to the routine and I either don't have the time or I'm too lazy to fumble around with it.

Am I doing something wrong? Does the 10 minute calibration need to happen every time? The website says: "We recommend performing a spindown approximately once every two weeks or after transporting your KICKR".
Since I have to put the kickr back in the closet after every ride, I assume that means I have to do the spindown every time. I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but I just can't bring myself to wake up 20 mins earlier each time just to do this when my old trainer works just fine.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 11:19

Post #2 of 20 (6468 views)

you have a power meter, why are you bothering to calibrate the kickr? just saved you 10 minutes :D

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 11:21

Post #3 of 20 (6459 views)

Wahoo does recommend calibration everytime you move the kickr. But I've moved mine few times and didn't calibrate and it was still fine. However, it seems like you have a powermeter already on your bike. Why not just used that? Depending on the app you use, but TrainerRoad and Zwift both offer power match. Or you can enable power match in the kickr itself.

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Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [Tri Nut] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 11:25

Post #4 of 20 (6439 views)

Very good point...I suppose I will just do power match and skip the calibration process. I guess I've been wanting to see how the kickr power compares to the power from my powertap p1 pedals, but doesn't really matter. Thanks!

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 11:40

Post #5 of 20 (6395 views)

What's your take on the Kickr vs. KK? I also have the KK and have been wrestling with the idea of getting a Kickr. Already have a power meter so really would only be for the dynamic gradient changing. Also live in NYC and space is always the issue.....

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 12:03

Post #6 of 20 (6350 views)

wahoowatri wrote:

With the dumb trainer it takes 2 minutes to take my bike off the wall and get on the trainer and I can TR/zwift away. With the kickr, it's a whole process....taking the wheel off, mounting it, riding for 10 minutes to calibrate...then taking off and putting wheel back on when I'm done. I find this adds 15-20 minutes to the routine and I either don't have the time or I'm too lazy to fumble around with it.

Ditto above. I went from a KKRM to a KICKR. And, I have a PM on my bike. I rarely calibrate my KICKR-- I just use TrainerRoad and its Power Match feature.

I much prefer the training on the KICKR to the KKRM. The KKRM is a great device, and if DCR did not hate on their smart trainer version so much, I probably would have just upgraded it. I absolutely love the smart feature on the KICKR. It means that I can simply allow the program and machine to box me in, and I can watch Netflix for training rides. With the KKRM, I had to be much more focused to maintain the target watts and cadence, and in many cases, I had to pick one of the two objectives. With the smart trainer, I hit both target power and cadence. And, I can do low cadence, high power intervals on the KICKR that were impossible on the KKRM.

I do find mounting and dismounting the bike a PITA. I have horizontal dropouts, so it is more of a hassle than with vertical dropouts, which I can do about as fast as mounting a front wheel and without touching the chain. One option is to sell the KICKR and get a KICKR Snap-- that would make the mount/dismount time the same as the KKRM.

Last edited by: exxxviii: Nov 13, 17 12:39

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [Blee] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 12:33

Post #7 of 20 (6315 views)

Honestly, as you can tell by my original post, I've still been using the KK - in a small apartment where I need to put it away after each ride, and I'm often pressed for time, I find the KK much easier to get the bike on and go. If I had more space and I could leave a spare bike on the kickr all the time, I'd obviously love that. I think I will start using the kickr again just with powermatch and my existing PM (to save dealing with calibrating the kickr), but it's not really worth over $1K just to not have to shift. I'm more into Trainerroad than Zwift, maybe if I used Zwift more I could justify the kickr because it's cooler and more realistic to ride around and feel the resistance when going up a virtual hill, but i don't feel like I'm missing anything with using trainerroad on a dumb trainer with a power meter.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 12:38

Post #8 of 20 (6302 views)

Can you just leave the rear wheel off the bike in-between trainer usage? That way you don't have to take the time to remove the wheel to put in on the kicker, etc? Seems if you do that it wouldn't take any more time to setup the kickr than the dumb trainer. Set out kicker. Put bike on kickr. Zero PM in trainerroad/zwift. Ride.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [Sean H] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 17 12:45

Post #9 of 20 (6276 views)

That's a good option but unfortunately won't always work for me, my bike hangs vertically on a wall and needs the rear wheel to rest against the wall to hang up, but maybe I can rig something else up

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 7:35

Post #10 of 20 (6034 views)

Do you ride in the morning? If so, you could set up the trainer before bed.

Janyne

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 7:43

Post #11 of 20 (6013 views)

exxxviii wrote:

Ditto above. I went from a KKRM to a KICKR. And, I have a PM on my bike. I rarely calibrate my KICKR-- I just use TrainerRoad and its Power Match feature.

I much prefer the training on the KICKR to the KKRM. The KKRM is a great device, and if DCR did not hate on their smart trainer version so much, I probably would have just upgraded it. I absolutely love the smart feature on the KICKR. It means that I can simply allow the program and machine to box me in, and I can watch Netflix for training rides.

I finally bit the bullet and have a KICKR arriving this week (jumped on DCR's 20% off deal!) and planned on using it with TrainerRoad. By the above, I assume you mean you just sync TR with the KICKR, start a TR workaround, and the KICKR then does everything else so that you don't even have to shift? I also have P1s on the bike and so the power match feature would work for me also. Sorry for the noob question, but I'm hoping it's really this easy.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 7:52

Post #12 of 20 (5994 views)

I've had a Kickr for about 4 months and love it. Prior to that I had a set of rollers. I can leave my bike on the Kickr, so not exactly the same situation.

I will add that if you aren't maximizing the features of the Kickr, then you might as well sell it. What I mean is, for me, the two biggest benefits of the Kickr is when Zwifting, the erg mode makes the ride feel more realistic and therefore I'm more engaged in the workout. Even bigger, I love being able to program in intervals so that the wattage is what I want and I don't have to worry about finding the right gear and/or adjusting resistance depending on the interval. This alone was the selling point of the Kickr for me. If you aren't using these features, then it sounds like your KK trainer meets your needs. If you are using them, to me their benefit more than outweighs the extra time it takes to set it up.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [mbwallis] [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 7:54

Post #13 of 20 (5987 views)

mbwallis wrote:

By the above, I assume you mean you just sync TR with the KICKR, start a TR workaround, and the KICKR then does everything else so that you don't even have to shift? I also have P1s on the bike and so the power match feature would work for me also. Sorry for the noob question, but I'm hoping it's really this easy.

Yes, this exactly. I also have P1 pedals and use TrainerRoad. When you link everything to TR, TR will default to using your P1 pedals for Power Match. Then, you just start your workout in TR and go. It will set the power. I have my bike on the small chainring and one of the bigger gears in back. This lowers the speed of the trainer considerably and reduces noise. The only downside to this is that your speed and distance for the workout will look very low in Strava. But, I prefer the low noise and wear to Strava bragging. I never shift. You can pretty much entirely ignore the TR screen during a workout, because TR and the KICKR will do everything for you.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 8:25

Post #14 of 20 (5925 views)

wahoowatri wrote:

A few months ago I bought myself a new wahoo kickr to upgrade the kurt kinetic road machine dumb trainer I had been using and loving for years (I already had a power meter on my bike).

Now, a few months later I find myself still using the KK. I live in an apartment in NYC and the wifey does not allow the bike to sit on the trainer in the living room all the time (she's already agreed to have 2 bikes in our small apartment + loads of other bike junk so I can't complain).

With the dumb trainer it takes 2 minutes to take my bike off the wall and get on the trainer and I can TR/zwift away. With the kickr, it's a whole process....taking the wheel off, mounting it, riding for 10 minutes to calibrate...then taking off and putting wheel back on when I'm done. I find this adds 15-20 minutes to the routine and I either don't have the time or I'm too lazy to fumble around with it.

Am I doing something wrong? Does the 10 minute calibration need to happen every time? The website says: "We recommend performing a spindown approximately once every two weeks or after transporting your KICKR".
Since I have to put the kickr back in the closet after every ride, I assume that means I have to do the spindown every time. I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but I just can't bring myself to wake up 20 mins earlier each time just to do this when my old trainer works just fine.

You should try rollers it is even faster, use PM to control kickr and no need to calibrate.
I use kick only for simulating climbing, otherwise KK is as good if not better.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 8:31

Post #15 of 20 (5914 views)

I have the KK for travel/races and the Kickr for Zwift at home. The KK/Powermeter combo is fine (and probably a bit quieter) sounds like you should get past the sunk cost and just sell the Kickr.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 14, 17 9:44

Post #16 of 20 (5848 views)

I've had a Kickr for years and the Vector1 and Vector2 PM's soon after I got the Kickr. I've found the 2 match so close even without the Kickr calibration, I don't bother anymore.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [Tri Nut] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 8:02

Post #17 of 20 (5599 views)

Is there a way to disable Ant+ in the Kickr? I use the Kickr with an iPad. This combination works perfectly with Bluetooth. I also occasionally use my Garmin Edge 500 to collect data from my Quarq (older model that only has Ant+). I know the general recommendation is to use power match if you have a power meter, and I would, except that requires an Ant+ adaptor for my iPad which. Also I never get dropouts with Bluetooth which might be a problem with Ant+. The issue I have with the Edge 500 is that it often reads the Kickr data rather than the Quarq data - this is true even when I put the Quarq ID into the Edge 500. It seems like the Edge 500 does not remember the Quarq. This is a problem at races as well. When I try to calibrate my Quarq on race morning it is never successful because it is reading a zillion other power meters. The solution is to first input the Quarq ID everytime I perform a calibration which is a PITA. Looks like its time for an Edge 520. In the interim if I can disable Ant+ in the Kickr then this will not be an issue insofar as indoor training is concerned. Time to watch for Garmin Vector 3/Edge 520 Black Friday/Christmas deals.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [Scott_B] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 13:29

Post #18 of 20 (5479 views)

You can disable the KICKR in your Garmin under the device menu and it shouldn't pick it up. But there is no way to disable the ANT+ in the kickr itself that I know of.

SmartBikeTrainers.com || YouTube || My Twitter

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 15:03

Post #19 of 20 (5422 views)

New wife?

If not just go with you're other idea to run the power through your pedals. I love the feel of the kickr.

Re: Bought new kickr but have still been using dumb trainer [wahoowatri] [ In reply to ]

Nov 17, 17 22:37

Post #20 of 20 (5296 views)

To be honest, I was in the same boat. Was using dumb trainer for years with a pm, then bought a Kickr... and the power reading were not exactly 100%, and the Kickr would drift... so I sold the Kickr and am now back to the $100 perf bike floor trainer + p1 pedals. Less self doubt and I know that my numbers are correct.

Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

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