(whirring, bright electronic music)
- What's up, guys?
This is Tariq here from SmartBikeTrainers.com.
And this is it. This is the KICKR smart bike.
This is Wahoo's latest and most advanced smart trainer,
one of the hottest products released last year,
and honestly, one of the most important products released
by Wahoo in a long time, a very long time.
The KICKR bike is meant for competitive cyclists
and triathletes who wants to replicate their real road bike
or kitty bike indoors with smart functionalities,
such as connectivity to third-party cycling apps,
gradient simulation, and ERG mode support.
Wahoo sent me this bike for this review
and I'll be returning it.
This is not a sponsored video ad or anything like that.
And you will hear my honest opinion
about this bike just like I usually do
with all of my other reviews.
And I have been using this bike
as my main trainer for the past few months now.
And in this video,
I'll talk about everything you ever wanted
to know about the KICKR bike.
I'll go over the specs and adjustability,
the Wahoo Fitness app.
We'll take a look at the power measurement accuracy
and listen to how loud or quiet the bike is
and how noise transmit through the floor
if you live in an apartment and even through my headset.
And I'll give you my thoughts on this bike
as well as what I like
and other areas that I think can be improved.
And if you find this video helpful,
I would appreciate it if you hit the like button
to help support what I do on this channel.
So the KICKR bike is priced at 3,500 US dollars.
And for comparison sake, the TechnoGym SkillBike is $4,870.
The Tacx NEO is $3,200 and the StagesBike is $2,200.
And the ATOM WattBike is $2,600.
The Peloton, which isn't a smart bike,
but I'm including it here
because it's probably their biggest competitor costs $2,245
with a $39 monthly subscription fee.
The KICKR bike has one main feature
that sets it apart from everyone else.
And that is the climb,
which is basically tilting the whole bike
to stimulate gradient changes,
not just by providing resistant changes
to simulate inclines, but physically raising
and lowering the bike to simulate changes
in ascents up to 20% and in descents as steep as minus 15%.
Wahoo also designed the KICKR bike
to look and feel like a real road bike,
rather than a stationary bike that you see at gyms
or even other smart bikes, like the Tacx NEO for example.
So there is no tray to hold a tablet or a phone
or a display screen to show metrics or gear combination.
As a matter of fact,
the only screen you'll see is right below the top tube.
It shows the gearing combination you're on.
You will see the tilt angle, connection status,
and a button on the side to lock
and unlock the tilting feature and that's about it.
And right below that you will see a USB port
for charging your phone or tablet.
The location of that screen is my first criticism
of this bike because it's really not easy to look at.
And you'll have to tilt sideways
to look at which gear you are on.
And if you have a towel on top of the handlebar,
then you will have to move that towel
and do that side tilt to see what's on the screen.
The flywheel on this bike is 13 pounds,
but unlike a regular KICKR direct-drive trainer,
this one is also powered by a motor
to give it more power and better overall road feel
and control and also downhill simulation
to maintain speed on descents.
So yes, it does have downhill simulation,
just like the Tacx NEO.
And my favorite feature
of this bike is it does not require calibration.
So unlike a regular KICKR direct-drive trainer,
this bike is calibration-free.
You might see a calibration option
in some apps like TrainerRoad, for example.
But you will just get a failed message if you try to do it.
And the bike has different adjustment points
to fit riders that are anywhere
between five feet to six foot four inches tall
and has a 250 pounds maximum rider's weight.
You'll see quick release levers across five points.
Stack, reach, sitback, saddle height, and frame height.
And the crank arms are also adjustable.
And you can go from 165 all the way to 175 millimeter.
Assembling the bike wasn't that difficult.
The bike comes in one large box
and you will need to attach the rear legs,
seat posts, and handlebars, and that's it.
Putting everything together will probably take you
about 20 to 30 minutes.
The KICKR bike has a six-point fitting adjustment,
stand-over height, saddle height, sitback,
reach, stack height, and crank length.
You can adjust each of these spots
by releasing the quick-release lever
and making your adjustments,
of course, except for the cranks.
But Wahoo went a step further with the fitting
and you can do all of the fitting
inside the Wahoo Fitness app.
So if you have a professional bike fitting done
using Retool, Trek, or GURU Fit System,
you can enter your measurement here.
And the app will walk you through all the adjustment points.
As long as everything you entered is correct,
then it should fit and feel like your real bike.
If you did not have a professional fitting done,
you can take a picture of your bike.
Then you drag and drop the five points on the bike
and enter the wheelbase measurement.
And the app will give you your fit measurement
in comparison to the photo you took,
which is really cool from a technological standpoint
and cool factor, but it did not work so well for me.
So I kind of scratch that one off.
But the last option is to enter your height
inseam, and preferred position.
And you can pick between race position,
endurance, and relaxed,
and the app will give you your fit measurement.
This is supposedly to be the least accurate method.
But if you couldn't do the first two,
then this one is for sure will get you somewhere there
or close enough.
The last method, which is the one I ended up using
because all other method
for whatever reason just did not work well for me.
I don't know if I have a weird fitting on my bike or what.
But it's basically manually measuring the bike
and making adjustments to the KICKR
to make it fit just like my real bike.
And that worked very well.
The bike broadcasts in ANT+ and Bluetooth.
It'll broadcast power, speed, and cadence.
And it does support
up to three simultaneous Bluetooth connections.
So you can pair it to multiple apps without worrying
about another device taking over your Bluetooth.
Everyone, please incorporate multiple Bluetooth connections
into your devices.
It's just so much better.
The bike has virtual shifting
and you can customize the shifters
to match the shifter you have on your own bike.
So if you have Shimano Di2, no problem.
SRAM mechanical or eTap, no problem.
Campagnolo, you can do that as well.
And it's all done within the app itself
and the customization options are well explained
and just overall well done by Wahoo, really well done,
really the best of any indoor bike out there.
Then you have the option to adjust
and play around with all the gearing combination
to match your own bike or to experience
with different gearing to see which one you'll like
that might even justify getting yourself new components
or even new bike.
So you can adjust the front chain ring.
And you can have up to three and customize each one.
Same thing with the rear cogs.
You can have nine to 12 speeds
and customize each single cassette.
And all of this done in the Wahoo fitness app.
And you can set up different profiles.
So if you want a profile with a 53/39
and another profile with compact chain ring,
you can do that.
The shifters on the bike are traditional shifters
and feel as close to real bike shifting
as you will get on an indoor bike.
So this is again, one of the advantages of going
with the traditional bike look and design.
The shifting works just like in real road bikes,
very smooth and quick.
You should feel a little feedback
as you shift through the gears.
The saddle is adjustable and you can remove it altogether
if you want and use your own saddle.
Since we're talking about the shifters and handlebars,
you'll see multiple buttons on the handlebars
that you can play with.
The buttons
on the left handlebar control the climb functionality
and pressing them will tilt the bike up and down.
Then you have the inside buttons for steering
that is currently not supported by any app that I know of.
Also, you have brake levers that stops
or increase that resistance to stop the flywheel.
Again, no app supports this functionality as of yet.
So the bike is kind of future-proof.
So once Zwift supports or any other app supports steering
and braking, then it will probably be just a matter
of a firmware update.
The bike has a really good road feel, very smooth.
The pedal stroke is smooth
and did not feel glitchy in any way.
You will find it to be much smoother
than your real bike on a direct-drive trainer.
And that's because of all the integrated gearing
and shifting.
Also the bike does have a little sway to it.
So it's not totally rigid like other indoor bikes.
And I found it to be more comfortable
on longer rides than the Tacx NEO bike, for example.
So you will feel a little side-to-side rocking.
And also it does have a slight forward-backwards
rocking motion to it, which I was not a fan of.
And I'm not talking about the tilting
that happens because of the gradient changes.
This is just a constant rocking motion.
Like there's something loose or I need to tighten a bolt.
And it doesn't feel the same as the fore-aft motion
that you see on the Inside Ride E-Motion Rollers,
for example, or the MP1 moving platform.
It just did not feel natural to me
and I just wasn't a fan of.
As for riding the bike felt very smooth
and it responded very well to gradient and also in ERG mode.
The KICKR bike can support up to 2200 watts
within 1% accuracy.
And as for power measurement,
it was very close to my Assioma pedals,
as you see here in a regular ride in SIM mode in Zwift.
Overall, it was really good.
The KICKR bike was measuring a tiny bit higher
than my Assioma power meter, but all within 1%.
So overall I am very happy with the data.
And nothing really to criticize here.
In ERG mode, overall it worked very well.
Here's my usual three by 10 minute test.
Usually this is done
with TrainerRoad controlling the trainer.
The first three warmup efforts,
if I zoom into these efforts,
you can see that KICKR responded quickly
and was within target or overshooting the target
within two seconds.
The KICKR bike was within 1% of my Assioma pedals again
throughout these three 10-minute intervals.
And that's using three different gearing combination
because I just like to mess around
with these trainers and put them
through different testing scenarios
that some companies didn't even think of.
The part distribution using all three gearing combination is
what I expect to see here, except for that first 10 minutes
or that first 10-minute interval.
That interval was done in a very small gear.
And I usually expect to see a faster reaction time
from the trainer to keep me close to my power target.
But that wasn't the case here with the KICKR bike.
There was a little more variability
in power distribution than what I expect to see.
And that doesn't mean it's a bad thing.
I personally like it that way.
And I think it feels more natural
than locking me at my target watt the whole time.
So from an accuracy standpoint,
the bike was spot-on and consistent.
I also love the fact
that the bike does not require calibration.
So you can just get on the bike and go.
As for noise, the bike has a unique noise to it.
There's that humming-type noise that you'll hear
at particularly low speeds.
And it became more pronounced when I put my headset on.
And I tried to capture that humming noise
from inside the headset.
So I actually put a small mic inside my headset.
So you hear what I'm talking about.
And I think it captured it very well.
So hear how it sounds.
(high-pitched humming)
These headsets have a noise-canceling feature
and it does minimize that humming noise.
When I turn noise canceling on,
I could still hear it, but not as loud.
But as you start pedaling and increase that speed,
the noise go away.
And I usually do not notice it any longer
after about a minute or so.
Or maybe my ear just get used to it.
Definitely not as loud as an old KICKR direct-drive trainer,
but also not as quiet as the current model
of the KICKR direct-drive trainer.
But usually that kind of humming noise love
to go through walls.
And here's how it sounds when I am one floor down
in the basement.
(low-pitched humming, whirring)
Keep in mind the sub floor here is very thin.
And most likely if you live in an apartment,
you will have a thicker floor and better noise proofing.
Again, as you speed up, the noise goes away.
And here's how the bike sounds.
(whirring)
Okay the KICKR bike is a really solid advanced smart bike
that is full of features
and will make riding indoors a lot more enjoyable
and streamlined.
It is accurate, does not require calibration,
and it is not loud.
The Wahoo Fitness app is so well done
and it makes it easy to replicate your bike fit,
create different profiles with different shifting.
The traditional bike design,
the tilting to simulate gradient changes,
makes it feel like a real bike.
I did miss not having a place to keep my iPhone or tablet.
My guess is Wahoo is hoping that most will go
and purchase the KICKR desk for another $250
and possibly also get the Wahoo ELEMNT
or ELEMNT bike computer, or I mean ELEMNT BOLT bike computer
to use instead of the screen to complete the bike setup,
which will get you closer or over $4,000
for a full bike setup.
So do I recommend this bike?
Is it worth spending $3,500?
I would say if you are dead serious
about indoor training and getting fit,
if you switch between indoor riding and outdoor riding a lot
and do not want to keep switching
or removing your bike from your trainer
and taking the wheel off,
or if you have another cyclist in your household
or even a significant other that just want to stay fit
and possibly do Peleton spinning classes
and do not want to go and purchase another dedicated bike,
or your ideal number of bike is n plus one,
then I would say go for it!
The more time I spend on these stationary bikes,
the more I am liking the idea
of just having a dedicated indoor bike.
Okay, hopefully I covered everything here.
If you have any questions,
let me know down in the comment section below.
And if you are interested in this bike or any smart trainer,
make sure to check out SmartBikeTrainers.com
for up-to-date pricing and deals.
I usually keep my eyes on all trainer prices
and update the website throughout the year.
So that's all I have. Hope you enjoyed this video.
Remember to hit the like button if you did.
And if you're still watching and haven't subscribed yet,
then you know what to do.
Thank you for watching!
And see you guys in the next one.
(bright music swells, fades out)