Kickr Bike experience and questions: Triathlon Forum: Slowtwitch Forums

rcmioga wrote:

Does anyone have any extended use experience training on the new Kickr Bike? If so, what is your take of the pros/cons?

Another question: can you easily install aerobars, swap out the seat to an ISM/dash type split seat and generally mimic your tri-bike set-up?

A few 100kms. My full rundown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKXARTx2pmY

tldw; Ride feel is good. Power accuracy is spot on. Gear shifting is brilliant. They've released a firmware allowing real watts to be shown in ERG. I like it. More importantly, my wife likes it.

Aero bars: Yes. You can swap out the front end/stem to anything you like. We're still waiting to see the TT/Tri shifters/blips addon from Wahoo. Maybe some more fit profiles in the setup to allow for a quick transition from a road setup to a TT position.

Saddle: Can be swapped to anything... and the post too. Making it easier to swap it over if you have different saddles/users/etc.

Here was my review after the first couple rides, nothing has changed after a couple months of use other than:

#4 has either gone away (with 5mm longer spindles, which my fitter recommends anyways) or I don't notice it anymore; #5 has gone away entirely with the wider spindles
#7 has either gone away or I don't notice it (I wear headphones while riding in the garage and any noise the KICKR Bike may make doesn't make it past the headphones and
#8 remains an issue. It's NBD just plodding through Sweet Spot and recovery intervals (about all I'm using it for these days, but I did do one race and when I (tried to sprint) at the end I didn't like the "slop" in the bike. If you really yank up and down on the bars, this very well may be an issue for you.

(1) Bike is very very easy to put together. My guess is that 90% will assemble solo like I did, though Wahoo will never recommend this.

(2) Fit wizard didn't really work for me. In the end, I just replicated my position the old-fashioned way: with a plumb bob and tape measure.

(3) Ride is amazingly smooth. It may spoil me for actual outdoor riding, even with a well-tuned Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrain.

(4) I do get a bit of thigh rub - for me it's more like Vastus Medialas (VMO) rub. But it's not every pedal stroke and so slight that it almost feels like a little tickle by the cold steel of the "top tube." And it's almost always my right leg and I only noticed it when riding easy at something like 120-180W. So for me, NBD.

(5) I did get a bit of heel rub, again almost exclusively on the right side. Due to the increased Q-factor of the KICKR Bike vs a Shimano drivetrain, I used some Speedplay pedals that I had on hand that are a bit narrower than the (wider than stock) spindle I ride on the road, so maybe I was a little too narrow. I do plan on measuring Q-factor and may go with a slightly wider spindle, which may well eliminate the heel rub (and perhaps reduce the thigh rub as well).

(6) The buttons on the inside of the hoods are very easy to press inadvertently - they don't do anything at the moment and I'm sure I could get used to gripping the hoods without triggering the buttons, but something to be mindful of when the buttons are given a use.

(7) I hear a slight rotating metallic noise that matches my cadence. I only hear it when riding without a fan and without headphones, which is pretty atypical for me, but it's there. For me, NBD.

(8) If there is ONE thing that give me pause, it's the fore/aft "rocking" or "slip" that occurs when you significantly shift weight rear to front (more pronounced) or vice versa (less pronounced). For me, this is most noticeable when moving from out of saddle back onto the bars. The weight on the bars causes the whole unit to rotate on its axis a bit forward (so the bars move a bit down). It's as if the motor controlling the tilt mechanism can't hold the unit at its exact incline and has some "play" built in. As much as I want to love the unit, and so far I do, it's hard for me to call this a "feature" and not a "bug." If I could eliminate the play, I certainly would. For the easy ride I did this morning, it fell somewhere in the range of "mildly distracting" to "NBD," but I think it may be more annoying under harder efforts, with more pulling and pushing on the bars and hard transitions in and out of the saddle.

(9) Looking forward, the shift feel is pretty subtle, and I would like to see an option to get more of a "thunk" when shifting. And it seems pretty clear that if Wahoo can mimic a shift feel through stuttering the electromagnetic engine in the unit, then they can mimic road feel like Tacx does with the NEO. I am curious whether this is a firmware feature that will be added down the road or whether Tacx has patents in this area that will preclude the KICKR Bike from adding this feature. It's the one thing I miss the most from the NEO.

Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Poll

Triathlon Forum

Our Partners

Poll

Triathlon Forum

Our Partners

Newsletter