Wahoo kickr bike

Sutton_Rider

I'm thinking about buying a Wahoo Kickr Bike. Has anyone got one and using it, what do you think. Are there any issues with it. Is it worth the money.

redvision

I must admit, I was close to buying one a few weeks back. However, i was put off by the reported issues of the bike creaking, noise and vibration problems and some power oddities. DCR mentions some of these.

I would suggest looking on the kickr forum to get a feel. Some owners rave about the bike but for such an expensive product there were a few too many complaints for me so I decided to stick with my kickr.

Fwiw the stages bike and tacx neo bike also have their own issues, so it appears all 3 manufacturers are suffering a bit with the current first gen bikes.

parmos

i was looking about 6 weeks ago and should've really bought one then as they were in stock but i sent a mate a text saying i was thinking about getting one and he said he'd just got one himself and really rated it especially now the bad weather has come.

i work away and currently away at the moment and going to be away a lot next year so decided against it but yesterday i had a little google about and struggled to find one.

Sutton_Rider

I've looked at various sites / reviews and I must admit I'm cooling down on the idea. Had a read of the T&C's and should you not like it and want to send it back they will charge a £200 re-stocking fee + P&P. I did take delivery of the new v2 Wattbike Atom and that had to go back it had 3 faults on it. I may just stick to my smart turbo and a permanent bike stuck to it.

paulbox

I fancy getting one, but will leave it until about version 3 I think. Let them iron out some problems.

molteni_man

Sutton_Rider said:

I've looked at various sites / reviews and I must admit I'm cooling down on the idea. Had a read of the T&C's and should you not like it and want to send it back they will charge a £200 re-stocking fee + P&P. I did take delivery of the new v2 Wattbike Atom and that had to go back it had 3 faults on it. I may just stick to my smart turbo and a permanent bike stuck to it.

Hi Suttonrider,
I’ve currently got a Wattbike Pro but was thinking about getting the new V2 Atom which you describe as having to send back. I’ve been put off by the very long waiting list , but wondered if you might share what the issues were with the new Atom please? The first Atom had some issues on launch so wonder if its worth me waiting for these to be ironed out on the V2!
Like you I might go for a smart trainer and bike, but I like just jumping on the Pro without inserting wheel etc. I also like the rock steady stability as I posted about a few weeks back.
Anyone else out there got the new V2 and what are your thoughts please.

George_Scott

We reviewed the Kickr Bike on BikeRadar earlier in the year: https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/training/indoor-trainers/wahoo-kickr-bike-review/

Sutton_Rider

The Wattbike had 3 issues out of the box. 1. The peanut didn't work, nothing displayed. 2. The gears, I could be pedaling fine, change gear and I'm pedaling through treacle. 3. The power reading, sometimes it was right and other times it was only reading half. Other things, no clue as to what gear I was in, the push button multi purpose gear change is horrible. Not enough authority on the fore and aft position of the handlebars for shorter riders. In my opinion Its not worth the money. Almost impossible to talk to wattbike on the phone and they don't answer most emails. I'm glad I'm out of it.

molteni_man

Sutton_Rider said:

The Wattbike had 3 issues out of the box. 1. The peanut didn't work, nothing displayed. 2. The gears, I could be pedaling fine, change gear and I'm pedaling through treacle. 3. The power reading, sometimes it was right and other times it was only reading half. Other things, no clue as to what gear I was in, the push button multi purpose gear change is horrible. Not enough authority on the fore and aft position of the handlebars for shorter riders. In my opinion Its not worth the money. Almost impossible to talk to wattbike on the phone and they don't answer most emails. I'm glad I'm out of it.

Thanks Sutton Rider. That’s good to know. Sounds as if they have rushed it out too quickly? On paper it looks v good, but good to get some ‘ real- life’ feedback. One of the things I have liked about my Pro is that it has been utterly reliable over 7,000 miles, recognising that a smart bike will have higher technical demands of course!

slowmart

It makes you think when you hear the issues ( Flux owner 1and 2 ) that manufacturer's are seemingly putting themselves under immense pressure to get their product to market when the quality and development seem to be nowhere near the required standard. With this perspective you could take a relaxed view regarding the issues facing many cyclists who have bought into the hardware.

What is not so easy to forgive is the shocking customer service post purchase. Tacx are ok, Garmin, new owners of Tacx have gone backwards IMHO as the service levels have declined. A case in point is the removal of the online chat service with their customer support. Which says everything you need to know about Garmin's commercial focus.

I doubt I'll buy another Grain product again, I've already started the hardware migration with a purchase of a roam but like many comments above the pain threshold for entry of ownership is simply to high a price and more of a consideration with the 2nd or even 3rd iteration of the product

That said the Flux owners facebook page is a great informed resource to get your unit up to working order. Pity Garmin is really shit at customer service as I've asked several questions without a response.

redvision

To be honest i think all the smart bike manufacturers are guilty of releasing the first gens before they were really ready, using the consumer as guinea pigs.

I was very close to buying the wahoo bike but was put off by the issues which are apparently still ongoing, and that's after a year.

And it's not just the smart bike they are failing to iron out problems with, there is also a well known issue with the Bolt now where the average speed (when using speed sensor) is inaccurate. Granted it isn't the biggest issue but i think when something which should be a relatively minor fix has still not been resolved after more than 6 months of being highlighted, it shows the company have taken a step back in recent times (a couple of years ago they would have got on top of such issues in days or weeks).

Sutton_Rider

Your post redvision is 100% spot on. I used to work for a company that did just that. One of the things that put me off the wahoo bike is the top tube issue rubbing against the thigh. So until I can sit on one and see if its a problem I'll not be buying. I've gone back to a smart turbo and brought a cheap (zelos) bike to permanently attach to it. That will do me for now.

zest28

I honestly don't see the point of these "trainer bikes". You can buy a bike + top of the range smart trainer for the same money and you have an additional bike to ride outside.

redvision

zest28 said:

I honestly don't see the point of these "trainer bikes". You can buy a bike + top of the range smart trainer for the same money and you have an additional bike to ride outside.

Think they are aimed at households with multiple users, and also for those who mainly train inside.

One of the reasons I was considering one was that I was doing a lot of indoor training and always find it a pain in the behind to get my kickr set up (putting the bike on etc). It's not difficult but I guess I'm lazy and always found it annoying. Plus, even though the debate on whether turbos can damage frames seems to have been settled with more manufacturers apparently ok-ing this use, I'm still wary of the loads/ stresses it puts on the frame, in particular the drop outs and stays.

But at the current prices with the current issues, I've shelved the idea for the immediate future.

Dorset_Boy

If you've space for a smart bike, you surely have space to have a smart turbo with bike permanaently attached.

dazz_ni45

I bought a Kickr bike at the end of October. It worked for two rides and then died.

Wahoo agreed to replace it so I paid a further £1,000 deposit to get it shipped without having to wait for the defective bike to be collected and returned.

Received the new bike two weeks later. Straight out of the box the handlebars would not stop slipping no matter how much I tightened them (common issues), there were loud creaking noises (known issues) and 20 mins into the ride I had another power failure and the bike is rendered useless again.

So 6 weeks into ownership I've had 2.5 hours of use and nothing else to train on.

Wahoo don't seem to want to replace it again and have suggested I return the original bike to the retailer for a refund and the replacement bike to them to release my £1,000 deposit.

To add insult to injury, the boxes there were supposed to ship 5 weeks ago to return the original bike still haven't been sent.

In their facebook page there are many others with exactly the same problem(s) and my guess is that Wahoo don't have the bikes to replace defective bikes with and probably due to the amount of returns, they don't even have enough boxes.

I appreciate it is Gen1 but the quality control is shocking, especially with the replacement bike. I suspect I was just sent a bike that someone else returned.

At least their customer service is reasonably good, although even their email response times have now slowed down as they are no doubt inundated. The colder weather appears to have playing havoc with the electronics in the bike.

All in all, I love the bike for the short time I used it and it was so smooth compared to my previous trainers, however I haven't been able to train for 6 weeks and I doubt I will have any money back in my account for another 2-3 weeks at least so I can't afford to buy anything else so it has left a sour taste in my mouth and I won't be buying another one until their is a Gen2 which has been proven as reliable.