(door creaking)
(yell)
(jacket unzipping)
- Morning, Trainiacs!
Gosh, that furnace is very eager, not,
to keep this place at minus 20 like it is outside.
Yeah, it actually got down to minus 20 earlier.
Over the last month, a lot of you have been noticing
that I've been going back and forth between the CycleOps H2,
their new Hammer model, and the Wahoo.
Some people are like, hey, welcome back to Wahoo.
Other people are like, hey, have you abandoned CycleOps?
No, I like to review both of them, go back and forth
so that I can give you an honest answer of like,
which one should I get, and when I did the comparison
between these two, basically what I said was,
it doesn't matter.
This trainer versus this trainer, they're very similar,
unless, you intend on getting one of these:
the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB.
I've been riding it for about a month and a half,
two months, so today we are going to talk about
if the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB is even worth buying,
and my thoughts on it.
(upbeat electronic music)
Just wrapping up a one hour ride,
mostly in zones like one and two,
but as I've incorporated into the Team Trainiac plans,
these rest rides are not just totally off.
Do, today, six times two minutes, focusing on the pull up
of the pedal stroke, high tension, get my hands way up high
like this, focus on nice tight core, 'cause as you know,
I'm all about muscle recruitment; as many muscles
as we can recruit to do the work, the better.
And, three, two, one, one hour.
One hour, 149 watts, 34 kilometers?
That doesn't make any sense, Zwift.
149 watts, 500 and something calories?
Hmm. We'll see.
Something might need to be calibrated.
Alright, KICKR CLIMB.
So let's talk about the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB.
This is, by far, one of the most sought after
but most delayed products in cycling
over the last couple years.
They announced it at Eurobike 2017,
and it wasn't until mid, late-fall-ish,
just the last few months 2018, that it actually came out,
about a year delay.
The reason for that, is that the functionality
of the up and down movement wasn't quite
where Wahoo wanted it to be.
When I tried it, at Interbike 2017, it was very jerky.
It was very quick, instant.
(imitating bike squealing)
It was not, like, the natural feel
of going up and down hills, and it was also quite loud.
As it would move, you would hear ...
(imitating bike squealing)
Now it's fairly smooth, and it's, I would say, silent.
Well, maybe not silent.
Here, we'll cut in, how it actually sounds.
(bike clicking and rumbling)
But in the background noise of the Wahoo KICKR,
which is virtually silent, you hear the KICKR,
but you don't really hear this.
So I think all of what they were trying to do
is basically just make it more user-friendly, less raw,
less rough around the edges, less of a prototype model
and more of a really nice finished model
that functions well in people's pain caves.
So let's get into a few specs.
$600, it has to be paired
with one of the 2017 or newer Wahoo KICKRs.
That's the SNAP, that's the KICKR, that's the new CORE,
and it has to pair with that,
because those trainers have the ability to go down,
and allow your frame to move down
to the minus 10 degree decline that this allows you to have,
all the way up to the plus 20 degree incline.
So, while Wahoo is very open API,
like they like being able to tie into everything,
just like you can pair a Headwind with a CycleOps H2,
this you can't, but it's a matter of safety
for your bike frame.
You also have, on the top, you've got this remote control,
which sets it on and off from locked or unlocked.
Locked mode just sets it at one degree,
but the unlocked mode allows it to end up adjusting
to wherever you're riding.
I almost never had, until we got to shoot some video of it,
in the locked mode and in the manual mode,
because the whole purpose of it
is to be more realistic with your simulator rides.
Works with either a quick release or a thru-axle;
doesn't really matter, they have all the adapters
for all the thru-axle sizes that you could want,
and it pairs to the trainer,
not to whatever app you're using.
It's a finicky thing, but if you're limited
to Bluetooth pairings, this doesn't require another one.
Let's get into the goods.
How does it actually ride?
Well, it is more realistic
than going on any sort of non-KICKR CLIMB trainer.
You do have that added little bit of movement
when you're going on Zwift or full gas,
where there is an incline factor
that can communicate with the trainer.
Is it groundbreaking?
Is it wildly better than all trainer experiences out there?
Not really. It's nice and smooth.
It's not jerky, so it does have a nice realistic road feel,
where the hills kind of do feel like hills,
and the reason that it doesn't feel so wildly different
is because that update that they made
for it to go up and down is so often very subtle
that you almost don't notice that it's happening.
So because you don't notice that it's happening,
it's just kind of like when you're out on the road,
and you're just reacting
to however the road conditions are presented to you.
So the main question, then, is, is it worth the $600?
I would say that if you are strapped for cash
and you're looking to get up and running
with a good pain cave setup that a lot of people
would love to have, you got a nice smart trainer,
you got Zwift rolling, you got a good setup
with all your stuff around you, this isn't necessary.
If you have more money than you know what to do with,
and you want the best smart trainer experience out there,
this is probably it,
but it's not like it's going to take it
from being completely unenjoyable
to being completely enjoyable
just because you got the CLIMB,
or completely ineffective to wildly effective
because you got the KICKR CLIMB.
It's just a nice add-on.
What I said before, in my first video talking about this,
is that if you do want to get this,
I wouldn't necessarily go with the Wahoo KICKR,
the more expensive $1400 Wahoo KICKR,
I'd go with the KICKR CORE, the less expensive version,
to save that money, and put it towards this,
and I think, because you've saved that money,
you're paying, I believe it works out to about $225 more
than just buying the Wahoo KICKR.
You're essentially getting a better setup
for not a ton more,
but, you know what, that said, here's one telling tidbit.
I will often judge whether a product is good or not
based on whether or not once I'm done
doing all the testing with it, do I come, whoa whoa whoa,
do I come back to that trainer
after I'm done all the testing,
and just use it because I enjoy it?
And in the case of the Wahoo KICKR CLIMB, the answer is yes.
I have it set up on the bike right now,
because it's just a nice addition, so that's kinda telling.
Alright, Trainiacs, if you aren't already subscribed,
hit the subscribe button below, because Petey would love it.
Graycie doesn't care though.
Graycie's too cool for school.
I would like it, and if you are already subscribed,
tell me in the comments below,
what trainer you are cranking out the miles on this winter.
Alright? Later, Trainiacs.
Who's this? (dogs snorting)