I am wondering if anyone has any insight on Kickr reliability or has had any issues?.
I bought mine at the end of 2019, but didn’t actually even take it out of the box until covid hit, so I started using it around April 2020, it started making a grinding sound at the end of 2021, and Wahoo replaced it under warranty (which I was extremely grateful for), but now that one (which I have had for about 2.5 years) is again making that same noise and it is no longer under warranty.
So is 2 years basically the life span of a Kickr?. I’m not sure if my expectation is high, but that seems a bit short to me for something that costs what it does.
My V3 died at 9,000 miles and Wahoo wouldn’t do anything. They went as far as saying 9,000 miles is a reasonable lifespan of a Kickr unit (they told me that in an email). Wahoo wouldn’t as much as offer 10% of a new model. Nothing. So I went to buy another brand, but before I could, my LBS offered me a V6 at cost. The rule was not to tell Wahoo about it since it violates some pricing agreement.
I don’t have much confidence in their quality, however, that’s really par for the course when it comes to consumer products these days. Seems like every company sells stuff designed to last as long as the warranty period.
I definitely don’t have 9000 miles on this one nor did I have 9000 on the original one.
I’m not really sure how many miles I have on it, but it’s definitely not that much.
Still rocking my original Kickr V1 for 9 years with no problems.
Same. I have my OG V1 Kickr which replaced my Computrainer when the headunit on that finally died. Was using it with Trainerroad for a while, but I have logged > 9,000 miles with it on Zwift, so it’s got a least that much and likely another couple thousand or so. Haven’t done a huge amount of maintenance on it either, come to think. I hope I’m not jixing myself.
Thank you for the responses so far.
I don’t know, maybe I just had the dumb luck of getting not one, but 2 bad units in a row…
Was glad that they replaced the first one but I am having a hard time justifying spending another $1000+ now on a 3rd one.
I’ve had a v1 since december 2014. Still works fine and I do 90% of my riding indoors. I put thousands of hours on that thing.
I am wondering if anyone has any insight on Kickr reliability or has had any issues?.
I bought mine at the end of 2019, but didn’t actually even take it out of the box until covid hit, so I started using it around April 2020, it started making a grinding sound at the end of 2021, and Wahoo replaced it under warranty (which I was extremely grateful for), but now that one (which I have had for about 2.5 years) is again making that same noise and it is no longer under warranty.
So is 2 years basically the life span of a Kickr?. I’m not sure if my expectation is high, but that seems a bit short to me for something that costs what it does.
OK, so this thread made me curious about my trainer. Santa brought me a Tacx Vortex Smart in December 2015 (!). I just added up the annual miles on this dinosaur and…15,400. Zero issues. It’s not the most accurate. It’s wheel-on (they all were, I think, in 2015). It’s loud. But it is bullet-proof. Now that I’ve reported this, there is no doubt that it will catch on fire during my workout tomorrow…
You’re right it would be great to hear more anecdotal stories on longevity of popular indoor trainers. It’s not a feature a typical review provides but would definitely affect my purchasing decision if I knew brand X was more likely to last than brand Y.
Count me as another with a roughly 10 year old kickr that is still working. I -was- getting some squeaking coming from the bearings in it about 7 years ago, and wahoo sent me a free set of bearings to put in. But while I was waiting for them to arrive, I said screw it and sprayed some WD40 into them. Oddly, after thousands of miles, it hasn’t made a peep since and works great.
Did Wahoo say what the grinding noise was from? Bearings? Belt?
Still rocking an original Kickr from 2012-2013. Only issue is that it won’t die and allow me to upgrade. I really can’t justify spending money to replace something that is working fine.
Still rocking an original Kickr from 2012-2013. Only issue is that it won’t die and allow me to upgrade. I really can’t justify spending money to replace something that is working fine.
Same here, although a direct drive, quieter trainer would be a big improvement. My dedicated trainer bike is a 1988 (!) Cannondale SR500. 12 speed, downtube shifters. The rear spacing and gearing are incompatible with any modern direct drive trainer, so, in addition to a new trainer, I’d need to comb through Craigslist for a trainer bike. Maybe someday I’ll find the time/energy… But if the current Tacx dies, well, that would be motivation for a new trainer…
lifespan depends also on the watts you deliver and the resitance (hill gradient) you use, besides total distance; big watts and steep hills are going to kill the trainer faster
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Given my screen name, you’d be right to assume I have a Kickr. Mine is a V2 2016, and I’ve done 16,000+ kms on it in that time with literally zero issues and the only maintenance being to wipe the dust off of it occasionally.
I seem to see folks talking about newer models not having the same longevity, so I put up with fewer bells and whistles (it’s not anywhere near silent like the newer ones, it has no pivots for the Climb, no direct connect, no race mode, etc.).
(and for those wondering as some have speculated previously, I have zero affiliation with Wahoo, and bought my Kickr entirely retail from my LBS - I was just stumped for a screen name and was literally riding my trainer when I registered!).
I’m another one with V1 for 10 years. I ride almost all indoors and have had no problems. I’m also on the smaller side (130-140 lbs) so I don’t push huge watts.
Still rocking my original Kickr V1 for 9 years with no problems.
Same. I have my OG V1 Kickr which replaced my Computrainer when the headunit on that finally died. Was using it with Trainerroad for a while, but I have logged > 9,000 miles with it on Zwift, so it’s got a least that much and likely another couple thousand or so. Haven’t done a huge amount of maintenance on it either, come to think. I hope I’m not jixing myself.
Same. The power meter is totally off so I use my crank based PM but other than that & a belt change during COVID it’s been a workhorse of a trainer.
Are the older ones more reliable that the newer generation models?
Glad i’m not the only one who has issues, and agree it would be great to hear anecdotal reviews on the various trainers out there. I got my Kickr at the end of 2020 - not sure the miles on it but i’m level 80 in Zwift and was probably level 10 when I got the Kickr. I’ve had to replace the belt and my partner is extremely handy and has replaced all the bearings at least once. I’m still dealing with some horrifically loud sounds (to the point that i don’t want to be on my trainer). We (my partner) are in the process of replacing one last bearing that he had to order a piece of pipe for and cut to size. That’s the project for tonight- hopefully it solves the issue. But i’m disappointed as honestly the price of these trainers does have me feel that they should be somewhat bulletproof.
It seems like the units made early on have less issues. I started getting random Bluetooth/power drop outs on my kickr core after about 200 hours of use. I used to be an erg mode only user so the drop outs were painfully obvious. They would only last a second or two, but were completely random and I would lose all resistance temporarily.
I now only ride in sim mode mostly in the big ring and will get a momentary drop out here and there, seems to be worse when I have to switch to the little ring on climbs. Not a big enough issue for me to contact wahoo at this point.
Have you tried reaching out Wahoo about the noise issue with your Kickr? I had a 1st gen Kickr Core that was developed a bad grinding sound, which was long out of the warranty period. I reached out to Wahoo anyways and, after sending some info and video, they sent me the current gen Kickr (not the Core). I can’t tell if it’s new or refurbed, but it’s an upgraded model and works fine. And not a dime out of pocket for me even though the warranty expired.
