Kickr (£499) vs Vortex Smart (£308)

Thigh_burn
Thigh_burn Posts: 489
edited November 2017 in Indoor training and turbo forum
For a relatively unfit (in so far as I'm not a svelte mountain goat) but keen rider, keen to keep up the winter miles, is it really worth spending the additional £191? any insight from owners of both / either gratefully received.

Comments

  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,851
    The Vortex works for me compared to my previous based Cyclops model. I wouldn't have spent any more speculatively as I hated turbo training. The change was a last ditch attempt to use one to get fitter.

    Not sure what extra the Kickr offers. The only think I would have liked was direct drive but the cost was prohibitive.
  • Thigh_burn
    Thigh_burn Posts: 489
    Navrig2 wrote:
    The only think I would have liked was direct drive but the cost was prohibitive.

    Thanks for that. The Kickr isn't direct drive. Like you it's too much for me. But another factor against DD for me is that I'll be swapping bikes on the trainer, mine and Mrs TB
  • stevie63
    stevie63 Posts: 481
    There are a few differences between the Snap and the vortex but how important they are only you can answer. A few I can think of are:

    Power Accuracy (Snap is 3%+/-, Vortex is 10% doesn't specify whether +/- )
    Max Power Snap is 1500 watts vortex is 950
    Slope snap 12% Vortex 7%
    The build quality of the snap is much higher than the vortex
    The fly wheel weight of the snap is 5kg vs 1.7 on the vortex.
    The Snap is compatible with the Kickr Climb so that could be added at a later date.

    I think my advice would be if you can afford the snap then get that but if not the vortex is a great entry into smart training.
  • nicklong
    nicklong Posts: 231
    The Snap ISN'T compatible with the Kickr Climb. It's only the Kickr V3 which is.
  • redvision
    redvision Posts: 2,958
    nicklong wrote:
    The Snap ISN'T compatible with the Kickr Climb. It's only the Kickr V3 which is.

    The 2017 snap is compatible with the kickr climb
  • ravey1981
    ravey1981 Posts: 1,111
    couple of things, the vortex on the latest firmware reads about 5% high during normal riding (ie not sprinting). I have a vortex and I'm happy with it, If you are serious about zwift racing etc then you may want a higher spec trainer but for me the vortex does the job just fine. I use it mainly on zwift but also with bigringVR. Never had any issues with it. My feeling would be that you need to spend significantly more on a direct drive trainer to get better than the vortex.
  • Websta24
    Websta24 Posts: 162
    nicklong wrote:
    The Snap ISN'T compatible with the Kickr Climb. It's only the Kickr V3 which is.

    The 2017 model is
  • MiddleRinger
    MiddleRinger Posts: 678
    That's almost a £200 difference, but if you can justify it the KICKR Snap is the go for sure!
    ~ ~ How fast is fast enough? ~ ~ ~ ~ Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania ~ ~
  • Elfed
    Elfed Posts: 459
    I've had both.

    Bought the Vortex first and was really impressed but after two weeks it stopped working, so sent it back to Evans for a refund.
    I bought the Snap v1 then but that didn't work properly from the start as it kept putting up the resistance to unpedalable levels randomly, sent that back under warranty and got the Kickr.

    The Snap had only just been released when I purchased it so the problem was probably firmware related, I've read many good reviews about it.

    The Snap is so much better built, almost overbuilt and is so sturdy, it impressed me a lot.

    That being said, I'd not want to use a wheel on trainer after using a direct drive.

    Good luck

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