Living in a big city I’m realizing the difficulty of getting good hours in on the tri bike and am ready to grab a trainer. Looking at the reviews, it seems the Wahoo KICKR Snap (wheel-on) and the new 2018 KICKR Core (direct-drive) are two of my top choices in the under-$1K range. Obviously the Core was just announced so let’s assume it’s roughly equal to the regular KICKR. The price difference between the two isn’t a major concern, and the accuracy isn’t important as I have Vector 3’s on the bike. I think I’d probably opt for the direct-drive KICKR Core for the noise reduction and better road “feel” (purely basing this on other reviews), but, my concern is that, living in a relatively small city apartment (700 sq ft), this trainer will have to be used in my living room (i.e. the only room other than my bedroom), which I share with the girlfriend. This means I’ll probably need to stow/deploy it in the closet every time I use it. I’m guessing this will be a bigger PITA with the direct-drive vs the wheel-on, but having never used the things I’m not sure to what degree. Is the wheel-on Snap easy to deploy/stow? With the direct-drive, if I just leave the rear wheel off most of the time, would it be any more difficult to deploy/stow than the wheel-on? In other words, is it a giant pain to attach the bike and hook up the chain?
The direct drive is probably just as fast to mount and remove after you’ve practiced a few times. Plus, you’ll then be a pro. However, it is a little awkward to store the bike afterwards unless you put the rear wheel back on…so yeah, it’ll take another 15 seconds total.
Direct drive is better - quieter, no tire wear, no tire flakes flying off.
If you have a corner that the trainer can stay permanently, consider leaving the bike mounted up and rotate the bike up so that the saddle and bars rest against the wall. It won’t take up much room and you can pull it down instantly to get riding faster.
Where do you store the bike now?
You might also want to consider the Stac Zero halcyon that just came out. It’s completely quiet, wheel on, and easily stored. Just my two watts
As a Snap owner, I’d go Core.
Any additional slight hassle in stowing/setting up is likely much less than the 10-15 minute hassle to get good power data (e.g. warmup, spindown). And even then the power is suspect for me. I’m over it.
Thanks all. I have the power meter in the pedals so I’m not sure the warm up period is a major issue for me… is that true? Right now I’m storing the bike in a storage closet which it just barely fits in (long ways). This is a major upgrade from the previous apt where the bikes were just sitting in the living room. I guess if it’s only an extra minute or so to attach/detach I can live with that. I just wasn’t sure if it was a major hassle. Side note - is the KICKR Core available anywhere yet? I see it’s backordered on Clever Training til late August, and I’m definitely hoping to grab one before then.
RE: Mounting a bike on either a wheel-on or direct drive. Here’s a video I did a while back on that one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge5YW5zMDE0
RE: The CORE. It’s a Kickr17 with quietness benefits… but no height adjustment (or cassette). For the price point it should be the most popular trainer for 2018-19.
RE: Stac Zero Halcyon. A design only an engineer could love. It’s hideous. However… If it’s as they say (and as reviewed), it’s an option. I’m trying to get my hands on one for the Lama Lab.
I’ve had a KICKR Snap for about 2 years - I can’t fault it. It’s one of my 5 most favourite things i’d rescue in a fire. (including the kids)
Thanks all. I have the power meter in the pedals so I’m not sure the warm up period is a major issue for me… is that true? Right now I’m storing the bike in a storage closet which it just barely fits in (long ways). This is a major upgrade from the previous apt where the bikes were just sitting in the living room. I guess if it’s only an extra minute or so to attach/detach I can live with that. I just wasn’t sure if it was a major hassle. Side note - is the KICKR Core available anywhere yet? I see it’s backordered on Clever Training til late August, and I’m definitely hoping to grab one before then.
I expect you’ll see units quite a bit before then. Wahoo’s intentionally putting the dates further out since it’s a new product and that want to give themselves some fair bit of padding.
Living in a big city I’m realizing the difficulty of getting good hours in on the tri bike and am ready to grab a trainer. Looking at the reviews, it seems the Wahoo KICKR Snap (wheel-on) and the new 2018 KICKR Core (direct-drive) are two of my top choices in the under-$1K range. Obviously the Core was just announced so let’s assume it’s roughly equal to the regular KICKR. The price difference between the two isn’t a major concern, and the accuracy isn’t important as I have Vector 3’s on the bike. I think I’d probably opt for the direct-drive KICKR Core for the noise reduction and better road “feel” (purely basing this on other reviews), but, my concern is that, living in a relatively small city apartment (700 sq ft), this trainer will have to be used in my living room (i.e. the only room other than my bedroom), which I share with the girlfriend. This means I’ll probably need to stow/deploy it in the closet every time I use it. I’m guessing this will be a bigger PITA with the direct-drive vs the wheel-on, but having never used the things I’m not sure to what degree. Is the wheel-on Snap easy to deploy/stow? With the direct-drive, if I just leave the rear wheel off most of the time, would it be any more difficult to deploy/stow than the wheel-on? In other words, is it a giant pain to attach the bike and hook up the chain?
I’ve had the Snap for about a year. Very simple to mount/ dismount, takes about 10 seconds. Direct mount would take probably a whole 20 seconds longer. It’s fairly quiet as I don’t have to jack up the volume on the TV that much if I’m watching Netflix, etc.
I have my own power meter as well, but still need to rely on the Snap power meter for trainer rides using Zwift if I want to use that to record ride data. I use a Stages left crank meter, and the power drops out constantly on Zwift. My meter works great otherwise.
The power output on the Snap is usually 15-20 watts higher than my Stages output, and that’s even after doing a spindown.
For the price point I like the Snap and am fairly happy overall. I use my Garmin 520 to record the ride data. If it broke today, I would spend a few hundred more and get direct drive however. No tire wear expense or no expense for having to buy a dedicated trainer wheel/tire.
In terms of time spent taking bikes on and off the trainer your biggest consideration should be what your wheel/tire set up is for a wheel on trainer.
If you just use your standard wheels and tires the Snap will be quicker but it will also eat through your tires and you may end up with slippage issues. Even with a power meter wheel slippage it irritating because it impacts the quality of intervals. The alternative is having a dedicated trainer wheel with a trainer tire. This is my setup but it means removing the wheel most so is identical in terms of time as using a direct drive trainer. (You could also constantly swap tires but that would be substantially more time consuming). You also have to store the extra wheel somewhere which may be significant in your case given your space limitation.
RE: Mounting a bike on either a wheel-on or direct drive. Here’s a video I did a while back on that one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge5YW5zMDE0
RE: The CORE. It’s a Kickr17 with quietness benefits… but no height adjustment (or cassette). For the price point it should be the most popular trainer for 2018-19.
RE: Stac Zero Halcyon. A design only an engineer could love. It’s hideous. However… If it’s as they say (and as reviewed), it’s an option. I’m trying to get my hands on one for the Lama Lab.
Agreed get the core. I got a kickr v3 like 4 weeks ago and I’m dark that the core is out now.
…RE: Stac Zero Halcyon. A design only an engineer could love. It’s hideous. However… If it’s as they say (and as reviewed), it’s an option. I’m trying to get my hands on one for the Lama Lab.
You think the appearance of a trainer is relevant??? Who cares so long as it works!
If I was in an apartment, I’d probably go for the Stac, purely to minimise/eliminate any potential noise or vibration issues.
ELITE does not get enough love on here…
ELITE does not get enough love on here…
It’s all in the product.
Elite got a boatload of love last year with the Direto. As in, a cargo-ship worth of love. And it was well deserved. Without question it was the best bang for your back for last winter.
But technology advances each year, and price is very important. At the $899 price point (both are priced the same), I see zero reason why you’d pick a trainer that’s louder, has a 33% smaller flywheel, has a lower incline max (14% vs 16%), lower wattage support, and lower stated accuracy level.
Do you?
I do, I just bought the Direto after considering the Core.
At the same availability / price point, I’d probably buy the Core over the Direto. But here ( Europe), the price is currently 670€ vs 800€ for the wahoo.
I also prefer the Elite’s feet.
I love my Snap and I had the money for the more expensive one, too, but decided on the Snap.