I have a smart control, moved from my Saris Powerbeam Pro to get a bluetooth enabled trainer. I'd say it's "fine," works with zwift, erg mode for workouts, and is solid construction. My only gripe is that it read consistently 30W lower that both of my quarqs. For the price, meets my expectations.

Thanks for the feedback. That’s disappointing the power is that inaccurate as even the DCR tests seemed to indicate the power was within +/-3%.

Yeah, it’s consistent ride to ride though so the worst that happens is I feel like a stud next time I’m on the road!

Funny, I did the exact same thing. I had a KK rock n roll fluid trainer in addition to my powerbeam. When the 1st gen KK smart resistance unit was on closeout for like $225, I figured it was worth the gamble to upgrade from the fluid unit despite the poor reviews.

I find the power readings to be reasonable compared to the quarq on my tribike, which is useful to know when I put on my road bike that does not have a power meter. What sucks is any sort of smart control / manual erg mode and the Kinetic Fit app. Seems like the response time is waaaaayyyy slow, taking forever to jump to or settle in at an interval’s prescribed wattage. Kind of makes short intervals pointless. I do not use Zwift or the like but imagine the experience would be even more frustrating. I now find myself using my 8 yr old Powerbeam instead of the KK if I want to do a controlled workout.

Yeah good point — any interval shorter than 30s lags significantly, or overshoots and you Erg death spiral. The powerbeam was great but I needed Bluetooth! It’s worth noting that I had a faulty resistance unit but KK replaced it and overnighted me a new one!

Thanks for the feedback regarding resistance change lag times. I have passed on your comments to KK tech support as I don't wanna spend $400 if the unit does not perform satisfactorily for controlled workouts. I imagine this would be akin to being on a rolling hills section in zwift.

I have a KK smart trainer that I just bought in March. The first control unit was defective but they sent a new one out within about a week (to Hawaii). Great CS.

As for the unit I feel it does pretty well in Zwift even on the rolling hills of Titans Grove. About as good as I've seen of videos from other smart trainers. In erg mode it wanders a bit but that's with instant power and not 3 second.

My only real issue/complaint is when sprinting in Zwift. There it seems to have at least a 2-3 seconds delay. So for the sprint sections I need to start pretty far from the actual start to have the power up.

You might be better off by spending another $100 and getting the Kicker Snap. I got the trainer for $350 during their "corona virus" sale. I will eventually upgrade to a direct drive or even smart bike.

Thanks for your feedback. I probably won’t be doing a lot of sprinting other than short microbursts in a controlled workout 1-2x per week. If I purchase the KK control power unit, I will certainly experiment with the sprinting and microbursts. The unit seems to be a good deal for $400 and at some point , I too will upgrade to a direct drive or smart bike. I will also have a look at the Kickr Snap.