The Wahoo Kickr Core has been my go-to direct drive turbo trainer recommendation since it was released in September 2018. In fact, I reviewed the Wahoo Kickr Core last year, five years on from its debut, and could still only find minor faults, which can be overlooked at its price point. So, when Wahoo and Zwift announced their Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One collaboration in February 2024, I was intrigued.

The concept is ingenious. Traditionally, you install a cassette (the cogs on your bike’s rear wheel) on the turbo trainer, and increase or decrease the trainer’s resistance when free-riding (and not following an ERG-mode workout) by shifting up and down with your bike’s drivetrain. The Zwift One cog replaces the cassette with a single-speed cog, and instead of controlling resistance with your bike’s gears, you modify resistance with two handlebar-mounted buttons.

How does this compare to that traditional cassette-based set-up? And will the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One knock its cassette cousin from my top spot as the best turbo trainer?

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One: Price And Availability

The Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One was released in February 2024 and costs $599.99 in the US and £549.99 in the UK. When the Wahoo Kickr Core was first launched it cost $899.99/£699.99 and didn’t include a pre-installed cassette, so the total set-up has come down by roughly $400/£200—bucking the trend seen across the rest of cycling. What’s more, it includes a free 12-month Zwift membership (RRP $149.99/£129.99), which reduces the actual cost of your investment to $450/£420.

How I Tested This Turbo Trainer

I logged 10 hours of turbo training on the Kickr Core Zwift One. I’m currently training for the Paris-Roubaix Challenge and I performed several long interval-based workout sessions on the training apps Zwift and TrainerRoad. I also spent time free-riding in Zwift’s virtual worlds and attempted (and failed) to test it in other virtual world-based training programs, such as Rouvy and MyWhoosh. I have experience with most of the best turbo trainers and smart bikes, including the cassette version of the Wahoo Kickr Core, Tacx’s top-of-the-range Neo 3M, and Wahoo’s Kickr Bike V2 smart bike.

Features

The Zwift One edition of the Wahoo Kickr Core is a carbon copy of the standard one, aside from the new  Zwift One cog replacing a cassette. That means you get the same maximum output (1,800W), simulated incline (16%) and power accuracy (+/- 2%) as the Kickr Core that’s been around since September 2018. 

While there are direct drive turbo trainers that can beat all these stats (most notably the Tacx Neo 3M), it’s important not to get fooled into thinking bigger is better. Even serious club riders aren’t able to exceed that maximum power output for more than a second or two at best, while you’d have to be a masochist to want to ride up gradients above 16% for sustained periods. The power accuracy may be an issue if you’re a professional athlete following strict interval sessions, but even the best turbo trainers have a +/- 1% margin of error, so it’s a minor sacrifice to make for substantial savings on the cost of a premium set-up. 

The main difference between the standard Wahoo Kickr Core and this update is the Zwift One cog. The 14-tooth sprocket comes installed on the unit and is compatible with most 8- to 12-speed bikes. This is different from the cassette version, which required the purchase of a separate driver and the installation of a drivetrain-specific cassette if your bike didn’t have a Shimano/SRAM road set-up. This makes the Kickr Core Zwift One more accessible to Campagnolo and mountain bike/gravel bike users, whose drivetrains aren’t compatible with the standard Wahoo Kickr Core out of the box. It also means if you have multiple bikes, or multiple riders want to use the turbo trainer, you can swap the bikes over without having to remove and install different cassettes and drivers.

The resistance is controlled by a Click button rather than shifting between gears on a bike’s drivetrain. The virtual drivetrain has a 24-speed drivetrain and a wide enough gear ratio for inching your way up Watopia’s inclines or putting down the hammer on the flats without spinning out. During ERG mode workouts, it can also increase and decrease the difficulty of the session—ideal if you’re struggling with a hard drill and want to dial it down rather than stopping. The Bluetooth button can be mounted in multiple locations on a handlebar, whether you have flat, drop or triathlon bars, and its coin battery is said to last 100 hours.

The Kickr Zwift One has one major flaw: It’s only compatible with Zwift. While the cog can be used in ERG mode in platforms such as TrainerRoad, if you want to simulate free-riding and shifting between virtual gears, you won’t be able to on rival platforms like Rouvy and MyWhoosh.

The Set-Up

The Kickr Core Zwift One requires some self-assembly but should pose no issues. In the box, you’ll find the main unit, two stabilizing feet, instructions and tools, and it’s hard to get it wrong. Unlike previous Kickr Core models, the Zwift One cog is installed, so once the feet are on the base unit, you just need to remove the back wheel from your bike and slot it in place on the turbo. 

The Click button is a cinch to install on your handlebars. You can put it in various spots, but I found that the inside of the right hood allowed me to easily shift up and down with my thumb in my standard indoor riding position.

The Ride

The Kickr Core Zwift One has a similar ride feel to the cassette version. It has the same 5.4kg flywheel, and the resistance feels smooth and controlled, even when completing intervals that quickly switch from anaerobic efforts to recovery. In free-ride mode, the shifts in gradients feel realistic, and a sharp hill will soon have you out of the saddle.

However, there are notable differences. The single cog design seemed quieter than the cassette version I tried previously, while there are no clunks of the derailleur between gear shifts. The 24-speed virtual drivetrain had no noticeable jumps between gears, and it solves the issue you can have with a cassette where you start to cross-chain or when you spin out after shifting between the big and small rings when downshifting quickly. Keeping track of what gear you’re in is easy and it’s displayed alongside speed, cadence and power output.

As with the cassette version, the main downside is the lack of lateral movement. This was noticeable when jumping from the Wahoo Kickr V6 with Axis feet to its cheaper sibling, and the latter has a stationary riding position, which started to get uncomfortable on training rides of an hour-plus.

Is The Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One Worth It?

The Kickr Core Zwift One is the cheapest it has ever been, and when you consider that it also comes with a year’s subscription to Zwift, it’s hard to beat on cost. The Zwift One cog should last longer than a cassette because there’s no shifting between cogs to wear out the teeth, reducing long-term costs, while the fact that it can be used by multiple people could help you share the investment between others.

If you’re searching for the most cost-effective way to get started with Zwift, then it’s difficult to look beyond the Kickr Core Zwift One. The smart direct drive turbo trainer, pound for pound, is the best design available, and the addition of the Zwift One cog removes some of the hassles that can come with a cassette version. If you plan on using other training programs then you’re better off with the original Wahoo Kickr Core, but for Zwift and TrainerRoad, the Zwift One version takes some beating.

The best home treadmills are amazing machines. You can get them with high top speeds and inclines, and even declines, as well as huge screens on the console to show guided workouts, scenic runs, or Netflix.

However, as a keen runner who has tested many great treadmills, I’ve yet to find one that captures the feeling of running outdoors. The new Wahoo Kickr Run is designed to change that. Wahoo’s first treadmill looks set to be one of the most innovative and its aim is to create a realistic outdoor running experience for indoor runners. 

Central to this is the RunFree Mode, which allows you to change speed without touching a button or dial. The treadmill reacts to where you land on the belt, so striding out and landing further forward on the belt will see it speed up in a way that feels more natural. There are also “nudgeable” panels you can use to adjust speed quickly, if you prefer.

Another innovative feature on the Kickr Run treadmill is its ability to tilt laterally to create a more road-like feel. Presumably it won’t tilt so much that you’re thrown off to the side, but anything that can recreate the camber that seems to be on every sidewalk near me is going to feel more realistic, and it will change the angle of contact on your run so it’s slightly less repetitive when using the treadmill.

Wahoo also says the belt on the machine has a surface that mimics the energy return of outdoor running and it has a top speed of 4min 0sec/mile or 15mph. Most treadmills I’ve come across only go up to around 12mph, even expensive ones, so this extra capacity will be a plus for fast runners.

The treadmill has an integrated shelf to hold a laptop or tablet and connects directly to third-party apps like Zwift, and Wahoo’s SYSTM training platform. Apps can control the treadmill's speed and incline automatically to make running in virtual worlds or following workouts easier to do without having to fiddle with dials.

Wahoo’s indoor cycling products like the Kickr V6 smart trainer and Kickr V2 Bike are among the best available and the Kickr turbo is particularly popular, so it will be interesting to see if the Kickr Run can pull off the same trick with runners.

The Wahoo Kickr Run treadmill will launch in the US in summer 2024, with the price yet to be confirmed. It will be available globally in 2025.

Since its launch in September 2018, I’ve banged the drum for the Wahoo Kickr Core when anyone’s asked me to recommend the best turbo trainers.  I’ve put in lots of time on the Wahoo Kickr Core—it’s the turbo trainer I used during my tilt for a Zwift Academy contract in 2020—and can’t fault its performance.

Amazing specs, durable construction and a relatively low price meant it was the best pound-for-pound choice for even strong riders, compared with the more expensive Wahoo Kickr or other top-of-the-range options like the Tacx Neo 2T. Plus, it held its value well, which is ideal if you decide to sell it on.

That all changed, though, with the launch of the Zwift Hub in September 2022. The training app’s first foray into the world of indoor cycling hardware was a direct challenge to the Wahoo Kickr Core, with comparable specs but a lower price.

I tested it and was instantly impressed, putting it at the top of Coach’s turbo trainer pile. In this light, it was only fair to test a Wahoo Kickr Core. Could some more time on the original entry-level smart direct-drive turbo trainer make me rethink my opinion again? Or would it solidify the Zwift Hub’s position as the best turbo trainer for the everyday cyclist?

Wahoo Kickr Core: Price And Availability

The Wahoo Kickr Core was released in September 2018 and now costs $599 in the US and £639.99 in the UK. It has come down in price since it was launched five years ago. It didn’t have any direct competition when first unveiled, but there are now other similarly-priced smart direct-drive turbo trainers now include the Zwift Hub ($599/£549) and the Tacx Flux S ($599.99/£599.99).

How I Tested This Trainer

I’ve logged 10 hours of turbo training on the Wahoo Kickr Core. I performed a mixture of interval-based workout sessions on the training apps Zwift and TrainerRoad, and spent time “free-riding” in Zwift’s virtual worlds. I have experience with most of the best turbo trainers and smart bikes, including the Wahoo Kickr Core’s direct rival, the Zwift Hub, and two generations of the top-of-the-range Wahoo Kickr (Wahoo Kickr V5 and Wahoo Kickr V6).

Features

When it first launched, Wahoo announced the Kickr Core alongside the fourth version of its Kickr turbo trainer. All the attention was focused on the headline specs of the brand’s premium offering, but the Kickr Core provided something that had been missing in the burgeoning smart turbo trainer market: affordability.

It still wasn’t cheap by any means, particularly since users were required to buy a cassette, but it offered a middle ground between a bog-standard wheel-on turbo trainer and the four-figure smart direct-drive models revolutionizing indoor cycling.

In the intervening years, Wahoo hasn’t updated the Kickr Core’s features or specs. But, even though it now has competition for the title of best mid-range smart turbo trainer, its newer rivals are unable to beat it on maximum power output (1,800W), simulated incline (16%), or power accuracy (+/- 2%). Similarly, its connectivity (ANT+, Bluetooth) can only be bettered by the top-of-the-range alternatives. 

The only downside is that, unlike the Zwift Hub, you have to manually calibrate the unit by performing a spin-down. Wahoo recommends performing this every two weeks or after transporting it to a new location. This takes less than 60 seconds, so it’s a minor inconvenience.

The Set-Up

The Wahoo Kickr Core’s set-up is what lets it down. Out of the box, the unit itself is simple to put together. Using the instructions and tools included, I attached the two stabilizing feet to the main body of the turbo trainer in less than 10 minutes. However, that’s where things start to differ from options like the Zwift Hub.

The Kickr Core doesn’t come with a cassette (the cogs found on your bike’s back wheel) pre-installed. Wahoo sells 11- and 10-speed cassettes online for $50/£39.99, increasing your initial outlay, or you can install the one from your rear wheel’s hub for no additional cost. Whichever option you choose, you’re required to install the cassette on the turbo trainer’s flywheel. This is a five-minute job if you’ve got the tools and the know-how, but it could spell a trip to your local bike shop (and additional expense) if you don’t.

Also, if you decide to save money and use the cassette from your rear wheel, every time you want to use your bike outside, you’ll have to remove the cassette from the turbo trainer and reinstall it on your rear wheel’s hub. That’s fine if you’re doing it a couple of times a year, but inconvenient if every training session. Considering the Zwift Hub comes with a cassette of your choice preinstalled, this makes the Kickr Core less accessible to those new to indoor cycling.

Once the cassette is on, you just need to remove your bike’s rear wheel (if you haven’t already), slot it onto the quick-release skewer or tighten your thru-axle, sync the turbo with the Wahoo Fitness app (on iOS and Android) and perform a calibrating spin-down. All in all, it took me about an hour from unboxing to riding.

The Ride

The Wahoo Kickr Core was a solid indoor cycling companion whether used in simulation mode or ERG mode (where resistance is automatically changed by a pre-set workout). Its 5.4kg flywheel’s resistance created a realistic ride feel, and gradient and power changes were smooth—even during an all-out HIIT session.

Although I’d consider myself a strong club-level rider, at no point did I get anywhere close to the Kickr Core’s 1,800W maximum output. There are a handful of locations on Zwift where the gradient tips beyond the Kickr Core’s max incline 16%, but most people will find it a mercy rather than a disappointment that the turbo trainer has maxed out. However, unlike its rivals, the Kickr Core is compatible with the Wahoo Kickr Climb, allowing you to elevate your experience with a gradient simulator that tilts the front of your bike +20%/-10%.

However, the Kickr Core’s ride feel isn’t perfect. The lack of side-to-side movement (and no option to add the Axis feet found on the Wahoo Kickr) led to a rather stationary riding position, which may cause discomfort during long indoor training sessions. To counter, it could be worth investing in a rocker plate or a thick turbo training mat.

Is The Wahoo Kickr Core Worth It?

The Kickr Core is currently the cheapest it’s ever been, though it remains undercut by the Zwift Hub when you factor in the additional cost of a cassette. Despite this, it’s still a great piece of kit that is well worth the investment once you’ve sorted the initial set-up. Plus, it currently comes with a one-year Zwift subscription.

There’s a reason why the Kickr Core was the turbo trainer I recommended to friends for years, and that hasn’t changed. It’s reliable and robust, and is a unit that most will never outgrow. Choosing between it and the Kickr, I’d still plump for the five-year-old Kickr Core every time: the top-of-the-range model’s latest feature additions (Wi-Fi, direct connectivity, ERG easy ramp, Axis feet) and better specs aren’t worth the extra money. 

Yet, it remains second best in my list of the best turbo trainers because it can’t compete with the Zwift Hub on price and ease of set-up—two things that are key to making indoor cycling more accessible.

When road cyclists are deciding how to train indoors, it’s worth considering smart exercise bikes alongside turbo trainers (if you have the money). The best indoor bikes match the features of the best turbo trainers and don’t require the use of your bike—a convenience for those who want to ride outdoors and train inside during the colder (or indeed hotter) seasons.

The Wattbike was the only real option if you wanted something that mimicked gear changes, until Wahoo released the Kickr Bike in 2019. As with everything the US manufacturer has released, it disrupted the market, bringing the tilting technology of its turbo training accessory the Kickr Rise to the stationary bike and increasing the realism of the ride. The Kickr Bike V2 (released in 2022) refined some of the first edition’s features but, ultimately, it was an evolution rather than a revolution, and its price of $3,999.99/£3,499 meant it remained out of reach for most. 

The launch of the new, cheaper Kickr Bike Shift should therefore be exciting for those who like the idea of a standalone smart bike for indoor training, but have been put off by the cost. But is this another pioneering release from Wahoo or a flop to file alongside its Kickr Steer?

Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift: Price And Availability

The Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift was released on September 12, 2023 and costs $2,999 in the US and £2,699 in the UK; that’s $1,000/£800 less than the Wahoo Kickr Bike V2. It is the second model in Wahoo’s smart bike line-up, and is a direct competitor to the Wattbike Atom and Tacx Neo Smart Bike.

How I Tested This Bike

I’ve logged 10 hours of indoor training on Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift, including rides on virtual platforms, such as Zwift and Wahoo X, as well as structured workouts on Zwift and TrainerRoad. I have experience with most of the best turbo trainers and smart bikes, including the Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift’s direct rivals.

Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift Vs Wahoo Kickr Bike V2

To the untrained eye, the Kickr Bike Shift looks similar to its more expensive colleague, but there are differences. It has refined its five-point adjustable fit set-up (stack, reach, setback, saddle height and frame height) and five crank length possibilities, enabling you to match the geometry of your bike or professional bike fit to the nearest millimeter. 

Keep looking and you’ll see where Wahoo has made changes to keep its price down. Instead of the 13lb flywheel at the rear, it has an enclosed electromagnetic brake-actioned resistance design—similar to that used by the Tacx Neo Smart bike. The Kickr Bike Shift’s frame material is steel rather than aluminum and it doesn’t have a digital display on its top tube.

Aside from visuals, it shares many of the same features as the Kickr Bike V2: power accuracy (+/- 1%), simulated gradients (between 20% to -15%), ERG easy ramp (where you can gradually build back up to a power output if you have to pause mid-interval) and in-game steering. It can connect to heart rate monitors, computers and phones via Bluetooth and ANT+; there’s also a built-in Wi-Fi receiver and direct connection that enables you to plug straight into a router and end signal drop-outs for good (although it does require the purchase of an additional $99.99/£80 accessory). The Kickr Bike Shift has a slightly lower maximum output (2,200W vs 2,500W) than the Kickr Bike V2, but good luck getting close to those heady heights!

The key difference between them is the lack of tilting on the Kickr Bike Shift. Where I would rise out of the saddle as the bike angled backward to tackle a punchy climb on the Kickr Bike V2, I tended to stay in the saddle on the Kickr Bike Shift, grinding away in a seated position and letting my quads (rather than calves) do the heavy lifting.

The Set-Up

The Kickr Bike Shift arrived in a big box and needed some assembly before it could be put to use. Since it weighs 79lb/35.8kg, it’s best to do this with someone else’s help, although I managed to carry it up one flight of stairs on my own for set-up in my home office.

Before you can get started on your first virtual ride or training session, you need to secure three stabilizing legs with the bolts and tools provided, attach the handlebars to the stem, insert the seatpost and magnetically attach the cable from the handlebar to the underside of the stem for the gear shifting. It’s fairly straightforward if you’ve done your share of flat-pack furniture building, and there are instructions included in the box.

Next, tune the smart bike’s geometry to your ideal fit. If you have a bike fit report from GURU, Retül or Trek, you can enter your numbers into the web-based wizard to get the correct set-up. If your bike fit report doesn’t fall into this category (as mine didn’t), you can insert rough figures before breaking out the tape measure to get things dialed in properly. Alternatively, there is an AI-based system where you take a photo of your bike to get a somewhat accurate fit, or use measurements of your body to get a less accurate fit.

The final step in the set-up process is tailoring the virtual drivetrain to your real-life bike. All the major shifting configurations (Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo) are catered for, while it’s possible to refine your gearing (from the number of chainrings to the individual cassette cogs) to your heart’s content.

The Ride

The Kickr Bike Shift ticks all the boxes you’d want in a stand-alone smart bike to successfully recreate a realistic ride. During testing I found the rise and fall of virtual gradients was simulated seamlessly by the electromagnetic resistance, while it reacted to gear shifts and surges in power instantly. Its fixed base meant it lacked the range of side-to-side movement of the Kickr V6 turbo trainer, but there was a couple of millimeters of give, due to my use of a turbo trainer mat.

During an interval workout the power output remained consistent and it avoided the slips that can plague wheel-on turbo trainers with sudden changes in cadence or effort.

It wasn’t perfect. The finish kit hasn’t been improved from the Kickr Bike and cheapens the experience. The lack of display made it hard to keep track of what gear I was in when whizzing around the virtual worlds, which was particularly noticeable when I’d forgotten what chainring I was in, only to shift and get stuck in a ridiculously high gear. It also can’t simulate the gravel or cobbled roads found on Zwift, like the Tacx Neo smart bike—although I would add that this is more of a gimmick that doesn’t add much to the overall immersive experience.

The main issue with the Kickr Bike Shift is that it doesn’t include the tilt feature I found so innovative on the original Kickr Bike. I found it helped me to change my on-bike position throughout an indoor training session like I would on the road, minimizing sore spots that can occur from riding in a fixed position for hours on end and also engaging different muscle groups. Without it, the Kickr Bike Shift’s ride feel doesn’t stand out when compared with any other high-end turbo trainer or smart bike. 

I appreciate Wahoo had to make cuts to get the price of its second-tier smart bike down, but it seems a shame that it didn’t just scale back the likes of gradient range or maximum power output rather than forgoing one of the Kickr Bike’s best features.

Is the Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift Worth It?

If you’re in the market for a smart bike to use for indoor training while reserving your actual bike for best, there’s a good chance that budget isn’t an issue. So why would you settle for a second-tier alternative when an extra $1,000/£800 could get you the Kickr Bike? When the cheaper Wattbike Atom and Tacx Neo Smart Bike are available too, I’m left scratching my head as to why you would opt for the Kickr Bike Shift.

The category leader, the Wattbike Atom, is at the top of the pile for a reason. It has higher capabilities than the Kickr Bike Shift in terms of maximum output (2,500W vs 2,200W) and gradient simulation (25% vs 20%) without sacrificing power accuracy (also +/- 1%). It also has a smaller footprint (50cm x 100cm) and little wheels to move it around on—ideal if your pain cave has to double up as spare room or garage.

Yes, the Wahoo Kickr Bike Shift is a solid smart bike and does everything it claims, to the incredibly high standards that we’ve come to expect from Wahoo. But it seems an unnecessary addition to the market that doesn’t do enough to make it stand head and shoulders above the rest.

If you look back at the cycling technology and gear of 2018, it’s apparent that much has changed in the intervening years. Most new road bikes come with disc brakes, tubeless-ready tires and can handle gravel-riding roughage, while top-tier lights come with cameras as standard.

Look at the best turbo trainers, though, and very little appears to have changed. Brands like Wahoo and Tacx (now owned by Garmin) have released a couple of iterations of the Kickr Bike and Neo Bike smart training bikes respectively. Moves have been made to improve the indoor riding experience (see the Wahoo Kickr Rise or Elite’s Rizer) via gradient simulators but updates to flagship direct drive turbo trainers have been minimal.

The Wahoo Kickr V6 is the latest release that fails to break this pattern. It looks identical to the fifth version it is replacing, which itself was a near-carbon copy of 2018’s V4. However, though there have only been minor improvements, the V6 doesn’t feel dated. In fact it provides one of the best turbo training experiences available.

Wahoo Kickr V6: Price And Availability

The Wahoo Kickr V6 was released in September 2022 and costs $1,300 in the US and £1,099.99 in the UK. The RRP is $100/£100 more than the Wahoo Kickr V5 was on release and tips the Kickr into four figures for the first time. 

Wahoo Kickr V6 Vs Wahoo Kickr V5

The biggest difference between the Wahoo Kickr V6 and its predecessor is that it now comes with Wi-Fi. This allows you to connect the trainer to your internet router, minimizing the risks of mid-ride drop-outs that can be an issue when piggybacking on a Bluetooth or ANT+ connection between the trainer and your chosen device.

In the past, I’ve experienced these issues, which can be frustrating when you’re mid-workout or in an e-race (such as those on Zwift), where signal loss can send you to the back of the pack. During testing of the Kickr V6, I didn’t have any issues when setting up or with a loss of connectivity.

Otherwise, the changes to the V6 are minimal. There’s the inclusion of the ERG Easy Ramp, which is also seen on the Kickr Bike V2. Essentially, if you have to pause a workout for any reason, you now have 10 seconds to ramp back up to the power when you resume rather than grinding away at an impossibly hard resistance. There is also an odometer, which logs the turbo’s total use.

In other regards, the V6 is the same as the V5. It has the same maximum power output (2,200W), power accuracy (+/- 1%), maximum gradient simulation (20%) and retains the Axis feet (allowing for 5° of side-to-side movement) that were introduced last time around.

The Set-Up

The Kickr V6 is straightforward to set up and is ready to go out of the box if you have an 11-speed road bike with quick-release wheels. There are only minor adjustments required if you have a mountain bike or thru-axles (common on new bikes with disc brakes).

To start riding, you unfold the two side legs before adjusting the height of the trainer using the bike and wheel size markers as a guide. This is also the time to switch out the Axis feet if required, replacing them with one of the two sets included in the box that allow you to tailor the experience depending on your weight. After this, you remove the rear wheel from your bike, connect its chain to the Kickr’s pre-installed cassette and slot the frame’s drop-outs onto the turbo trainer’s lugs.

Unlike its Tacx Neo 2T rival, the Kickr V6 needs to be plugged into the mains to work. Once switched on, open the Wahoo Fitness smartphone app, add the Kickr to your profile and fill in your router’s details to get the trainer paired to your home Wi-Fi.

The pre-installed cassette works with Shimano and SRAM 11-speed drivetrains (count the number of cogs on your bike’s back wheel if you’re not sure how many gears you’ve got). If your bike is more than 10 years old, you’ll probably need to swap the pre-installed cassette for one that is compatible with your set-up. Also, if using a mountain bike (or even a 1x gravel bike), the number of teeth on the stock cassette won’t leave you with a lot of low-end range, so it will be worth swapping it for the same cassette that you have on your bike if you want to be able to climb hills in simulation mode. If you’re unsure about any of these then contact a bike store.

The Ride

In terms of hardware, the Kickr V6 is identical to its predecessor and feels exactly the same to ride. I was a fan of the V5—and if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Its 16lb (7.25kg) flywheel is the driving force behind its realistic ride feel, while the Axis feet enabled enough side-to-side movement to ensure I didn’t feel like I was fighting against the bike during my out-of-the-saddle efforts.

I tested the turbo trainer in simulation mode on Zwift and ERG mode on TrainerRoad and was impressed with its performance on both. When climbing a virtual hill, the resistance smoothly increased and decreased in line with the on-screen gradient, while it accurately held power without wavering during interval workout sessions. I also used the latter as an opportunity to test out the ERG Easy Ramp and it worked without a hitch.

The only thing its main rival (the Tacx Neo 2T) can offer that the Kickr V6 can’t is the ability to simulate different riding terrains, where haptic feedback makes it feel like you’re spinning your way across cobblestones or gravel. From personal experience, this is a gimmick: while it might add to the immersive nature of a virtual training platform like Zwift, it’s hard to escape the reality that you’re riding indoors.

Is The Wahoo Kickr V6 Worth It?

Wahoo isn’t alone in putting prices up, but, on paper, it’s hard to argue that the improvements are worth the additional $100/£100.

The Kickr is still Wahoo’s top-of-the-range turbo trainer, but for $500/£500 less, you get the Kickr Core—another direct drive smart turbo trainer that is tough to beat when it comes to value for money. At the other end of the scale, if you want a truly immersive indoor training experience, the latest Kickr Bike V2 ($3,999.99/£3,499.99) is a great way to splash the cash.

When compared with other brands’ top-of-the-range direct drive turbo trainers on price, the Wahoo Kickr V6 is in the middle of the pack. Where it leads the way is in being the only one that comes pre-installed with a cassette (saving you additional outlays if you have an 11-speed road bike) and the only release currently available with built-in Wi-Fi.

Its biggest competitor on value is its predecessor. The Kickr V5 is still available online and if connecting to your home internet is a deal-breaker, it’s possible to buy a Kickr Direct Connect (£79.99) and plug the trainer directly into your router.

The Wahoo Kickr V6 is at the top of the best turbo trainer pile. It combines a brilliant, pro-level package that will last you years—and its specs mean you’ll never outgrow it. This is its downfall as well, though. Wahoo hasn’t moved things on dramatically since the 2018 V4 and if you already own one of these, or a slightly newer V5, there’s little need to upgrade.

Wahoo built its reputation on being a disruptor. The American brand tore up the turbo trainer rule book when it launched the Kickr back in 2012, bringing direct drive machines to the masses and starting the decline of wheel-on trainers.

Today, with the sixth-generation Kickr, second-generation smart Kickr Bike and suite of indoor training accessories – from gradient simulator Kickr Rise to its Kickr Headwind smart fan – it has established itself as the dominant indoor cycling hardware manufacturer.

Wahoo isn’t content with owning the hardware market, though. In 2019 it acquired the workout app Sufferfest and last year it added the virtual environments of Road Grand Tours (RGT) to its training app portfolio. The pair have been bundled together and repackaged as Wahoo X, a product whose aim is to challenge rival Zwift with a superior combination of tailored training plans and the chance to race against others online.

Today Wahoo has announced its latest turbo training accessory the Kickr Steer, alongside updates to Wahoo RGT. Designed to be used in parallel with Wahoo RGT and the Wahoo RGT Remote app, the Kickr Steer enables riders to navigate their way around a course for the first time, rather than simply riding in a straight line and relying on the software’s auto-overtake.

We spoke to Wahoo product manager Tyler Harris who pointed out that, until now, the only way to control an avatar would be to change your power output. “To really take it to the next step, you need to be able to steer and navigate through the course that you’re on, to make that more fun and introduce elements of strategy and everything else that you think about riding outdoors.”

The leg work of the new feature is undertaken by the Wahoo RGT Remote app. It uses a phone’s built-in gyroscope, which reacts to being tilted in either direction, sending a signal to the app and changing your avatar’s direction as a result. The Wahoo Steer is a “dumb” device, meaning it isn’t connected to the app at all: it’s essentially a handlebar-mounted platform for a mobile phone to rest on while running the Wahoo RGT Remote app. Two attached paddles tilt the platform from side to side. 

Before getting into what it’s like to use, it’s worth clarifying a few things. You don’t need a Kickr Steer or even a phone running the Wahoo RGT Remote app to use the new function. If you have a Wahoo Kickr Bike, the buttons on the hoods of the handlebars can be programmed to perform a similar function. Alternatively, you can use the A and D buttons on your computer’s keyboard.

Currently, routes on Wahoo RGT are all loops, unlike on Zwift where you can change course by selecting a different path when arriving at junctions. The functionality is more about altering your position on the road.

“Under the hood, the road is broken up into about 30 different lanes,” says Harris. “If you don’t steer, you’ll stick to one lane.”

While changing lane might not seem important if you’re just free riding, Harris believes that it can make all the difference when racing, allowing you to hit the apex of corners, employ tactics when racing in a group such as boxing other riders in, and sit in someone’s slipstream before overtaking them with a burst of speed.

He also adds that the Kickr Steer can’t be used to navigate on Zwift right now, but “there’s no reason why Zwift could not take the same hardware piece and apply that approach to their game”.

Wahoo Kickr Steer Price And Availability

The Wahoo Kickr Steer was released in February 2023 and costs £89.99 in the UK. It is available direct from Wahoo and many third-party retailers. 

A Wahoo X annual membership and Kickr Steer bundle is available for US$199.99/£179.99.

The Set-Up

All Wahoo RGT users will get the update to the software as standard, so I’ll concentrate on the Wahoo Kickr Steer. The unit comes in two main parts: an aluminium mount that attaches to your handlebars and has the same mounting point as those used by GPS head units; and a separate platform which can easily be clipped on and off, and which the paddles connect to.

As you’re going to be applying some force through the paddles, Wahoo recommends swapping out a standard mount for the aluminium alternative. It features a Wahoo-style mounting bracket as standard but includes a Garmin alternative that you can switch to if you plan on using a Garmin head unit when using your turbo training bike outside. Weight weenies beware: the Kickr Steer’s aluminium head unit mount is 66g heavier than the plastic one that comes as standard with the Wahoo Elemnt Roam V2, while it is also lacking the same sleek lines, meaning it will most probably create more drag too.

Setting up the platform and the paddles is relatively straightforward, and two Allen keys are supplied to make all the necessary adjustments.

It’s worth noting that the Kickr Steer only works with dropped handlebars.

The Experience

Steering outside relies on you to turn the handlebars or lean from side to side. The user experience of the Kickr Steer involves neither of these. Yes, you press a paddle down to adjust your positioning on the virtual road, but it bears no resemblance to the real world and therefore doesn’t add any more realism to your on-bike positioning when training indoors.

Instead, the Kickr Steer is best viewed as a controller that enables you to move your avatar wherever your hands are positioned on a set of dropped handlebars, and it’s these actions that improve the realism. You are able to sit in someone’s slipstream to conserve your energy before springing an attack or carve your way through a corner. But, like eRacing itself, it takes a bit of getting used to. I found that there was a slight lag when turning, and to turn harder, you had to hold the paddle down for longer rather than apply more pressure – making it a skill of timing.

It was only when racing or in a group situation that the Kickr Steer and updated Wahoo RGT software made sense. I was able to undercut a fellow rider and make a break through a corner, cover someone’s path to stop them from passing me and generally feel more engaged in the whole experience, rather than solely focusing on my power output. 

Unfortunately, thanks to the lack of users on Wahoo RGT compared with Zwift, when free riding or following an ERG-based workout, the steering functionality is a bit pointless. You have to be unlucky to get stuck behind another rider, and you’re best leaving the auto overtake on unless practising your cornering technique.

Is The Kickr Steer Worth It?

Wahoo has made some great turbo trainer accessories that have enhanced the indoor training experience. The Kickr Steer isn’t one of them, though.

While it’s right to highlight steering as the next frontier in training app immersion and the functionality of the updated Wahoo RGT is sound, the experience it offers is too niche. It will only benefit those who race indoors (a minority of turbo trainer users), and race indoors on Wahoo RGT at that – narrowing the pool even further.

Throw in an £89.99 price tag for a platform that allows you to slightly tilt your phone, and it’s something for those who want marginal gains regardless of the cost.

The updated racing mechanics on Wahoo RGT meanwhile certainly make for a more realistic and tactical experience than those found on Zwift – where it’s purely about putting down the power and holding on – and it’s more immersive. Only time will tell, though, whether it’s enough to draw people away from the established racing leagues and different experience categories on Zwift.

The new Elemnt Roam is small, affordable and easy to use, and my spell checker hates it. What it lacks in vowels it makes up for in improvements on what was already a pretty solid platform. The move from single to dual-band GPS should put an end to dropped signals and the Strava straight line of doom, and will be better suited for “covered sky” environments (usually woodland), where single-band GPS can struggle to obtain a single.

The Roam can also synchronise with other equipment using the Wahoo X system, allowing you to interchange indoor and outdoor training plans without compromising the demands of a given block of training. In a more prosaic but equally welcome change, the Roam has a greater colour palette (up to 64 from the 2019 version’s eight) and a USB-C socket for more convenient charging. 

There’s also a touch of future-proofing in the form of built-in accelerometers and a gyro. At present these serve no purpose, but it’s easy to imagine that future firmware updates will use them to add extra functions, most likely in the form of emergency crash alerts. Finally, it has the feature of the moment: the ability to feed you data about the upcoming climbs on your chosen route.

Wahoo Elemnt Roam v2: Price And Availability

The Wahoo Elemnt Roam was released in October 2022 and costs $399.99 in the US and £349.99 in the UK. It is available direct from Wahoo UK and Wahoo US, and many third-party retailers. 

The original Elemnt Roam costs £299.99 and Wahoo’s other bike computer, the Bolt, costs £264.99.

Rival Garmin’s best bike computers top out with the Garmin Edge 1040 (£519.99), with the Edge 830 (£349.99) being Garmin’s effort at the Roam’s price point.

The Set-Up

No-one wants to go from the excitement of unboxing a new device to getting lost in a welter of menus. It’s rare to find a device these days that isn’t designed for a quick and easy set-up, but even so the Elemnt Roam stands out.

There used to be an ironic blog titled “Pictures Of People Using QR Codes”. It was empty. How things change. These days we use them for everything from ordering a pint to proving we’re not contagious, and, of course, for setting up bike computers. In the Roam’s case, scanning its QR code with your phone instantly syncs the two devices as well as authenticating training and tracking apps such as Strava – something that is usually a separate step. Synchronising various apps allows you to incorporate their features into the existing Roam feature list. This does mean that you’ll need your phone with you to get the absolute most out of the Roam, but that’s true of pretty much every bike computer these days, even those significantly more expensive than this.

In addition to the built-in and app-borrowed functionality, Wahoo’s Live Track function adds an Elemnt-specific social factor, monitoring and comparing you with other Wahoo users nearby. It’s a niche function, but despite the smaller pool of users, any form of comparative date is useful, whether it’s for training, for ego or just for the feeling of being part of a club.

During set-up the Roam will use your initial location data from your phone and apps to download the most relevant maps for you, while offering a prompt that will allow you to download other regions or countries when you know you’re going to need them. We sent it off in search of a few French maps just to be on the safe side, and the Roam got on with the job in the background while we continued tinkering with its other features and pairing it with an external heart rate monitor.

The Experience

The Roam is an interesting mixture of behind-the-scenes advancements twinned with very traditional display. The standard selection of data fields and even their arrangement onscreen and the bulky text of the display all feel reassuringly familiar – it’s not appreciably different from looking at a bike computer from a decade ago. The unit is controlled via chunky, sealed buttons that click solidly within their housings, feeling durable and responsive. Three buttons across the front of the unit cover your most-used features, such as page changes and history, while buttons on either side allow you to access and navigate the menus.

The default data is arrayed across three pages, the first containing speed, distance, time, ride duration, average and max speed, and the amount of climbing. Press the solid-feeling sealed button and you switch to a more detailed page with gradient and VAM (average ascent speed) details, while a third push takes you to the GPS page. 

This was possibly my only moment of being dissatisfied with the Elemnt Roam. The new Roam has a 64-colour display, with a higher resolution than its predecessor, but it still wasn’t quite big or bold enough for my somewhat mature eyes to instantly grasp what was on the screen, and it took a little getting used to before I could reliably pick out important details on busier maps. Clicking into the pan-and-zoom mode allowed me to resize the map using the side buttons, which helped a great deal, but a more vibrantly colourful display might make things a little more distinctive. 

Upon finishing a ride, you’ll jump to a pair of at-a-glance pages for the ride and the week, allowing you to track your day’s contribution to your overall training plan.

Pressing the on/off button will take you into a more detailed menu where you can adjust the backlight and indicator LEDs, add further sensors, and access features such as FTP tests and training sessions. The array of sessions is particularly appealing, covering everything from intervals to climbing to sprinting sessions and more besides. For the average user, these workouts will be more than enough to improve your performance – it’s unlikely that you’ll need anything more nuanced until you hit a fitness plateau, and all of this is before you start importing custom plans from other devices.

Is It Worth It?

The Elemnt Roam is a lovely little machine: solid, with straightforward controls and enough functions to be genuinely useful without having so many as to become cluttered or unintuitive. The easy set-up and incredibly straightforward use are big factors in its favour – it’s been a long time since I’ve got as deep into a gadget’s functions without needing to use the manual.

It would be easy to be underwhelmed by the fact that most of the Roam’s improvements are internal and, in the case of the gyro and accelerometer, as yet unrealised. On a surface level it’s hard to see that much has changed in the update, but on a practical level the improved GPS performance and increased memory are both welcome additions, while the ability to marry up your indoor and outdoor training programmes will help keep training blocks interesting and allow you to change things up without training less efficiently. 

Given that I already like the existing Roam user environment and am quite happy to keep it, most of the changes being under the surface is no problem. While there are more expensive computers with bigger feature lists, I’m always happiest with features I know I’ll definitely use, especially when they come at a good price.

The concept of a smart bike is fairly simple. Rather than requiring an actual bike as traditional turbo trainers do, it’s an all-in-one exercise bike designed for dedicated cyclists rather than general gym-goers who may prefer connected exercise bikes like Peloton which connect to trainer-led workouts.

The geometry on smart exercise bikes can be tweaked to mimic your actual bike’s set-up; you can increase or decrease resistance using handlebar-mounted levers rather than a dial on the crossbar like connected spin bikes; and they are made to be used with a variety of training apps such as Zwift, Wahoo X and TrainerRoad. Once your bike is synced, it’s possible to have the resistance automatically altered depending on a pre-set workout or to simulate the virtual world you’re riding around – hence the “smart” aspect.

Wahoo released its debut smart bike, the Kickr Bike, in the summer of 2020. At the time, indoor cycling was going through a purple patch as worldwide lockdown restrictions and unknowns about the evolving pandemic caused turbo trainer sales to explode. The Kickr Bike was the American company’s challenge to the Tacx Neo Smart Bike and Wattbike Atom, and promised a hyper-realistic riding experience courtesy of its gradient- and resistance-simulating capabilities. We rated it highly in our Wahoo Kickr Bike review, giving it 4½ stars and a place on Coach’s best exercise bike round-up.

Two years on, Wahoo has released its second generation, the Kickr Bike V2. It doesn’t look an awful lot different from the version it’s replacing and promises the same pioneering tilt technologies. At £3,499.99, it’s even more expensive. But is it worth it?

Wahoo Kickr Bike V2: Price And Availability

The Wahoo Kickr Bike V2 was released in September 2022 and costs $3,999.99 in the US and £3,499.99 in the UK. The only smart bike in Wahoo’s range, it essentially combines the features of the Wahoo Kickr V6 ($1,299.99/£1,099.99) and the Wahoo Kickr Climb indoor grade simulator ($699.99/£529.99). The cost is £500 more than the release price of the original Wahoo Kickr (reflecting the narrowing of the exchange rate between sterling and the US dollar). The Wahoo Kickr V1 is also currently significantly discounted ($2999.99/£2,199.99), although you won’t be able to upgrade its connectivity to include WiFi.

Wahoo Kickr Bike V1 Versus V2

The Kickr Bike V2 looks nearly identical to the V1 it replaces. It has the same 13lb flywheel, a five-point adjustable fit (stack, reach, setback, saddle height and frame height) and four different crank length possibilities that allow you to match the geometry of your own bike to the nearest millimetre. It is still as accurate (+/- 1%) and is able to simulate ascents of 20% and descents of 15%. The subtle differences (and improvements) are internal.

The headline changes are built-in WiFi, an increase in its maximum output from 2,200W to 2,500W, and the addition of an odometer. The first of these is welcome – the signal didn’t drop out once during testing, whereas turbo trainers can sometimes randomly drop out when relying on a Bluetooth or ANT+ connection, disrupting a workout or spelling the end of a virtual race. The extra 300W seems slightly pointless – even Chris Hoy in his Olympic medal-winning prime would struggle to hit 2,200W – while the odometer (which tracks the trainer’s use in a similar way to one in a car) is only useful when you come to sell it.

The only other tweak is the incorporation of an ERG easy ramp feature. In essence, if you need to resume an interval when using the smart bike in ERG mode – where the resistance is held at a specific power output – the intensity will be gradually built up over 10 seconds rather than immediately returning to the target power. Although a “nice to have” rather than a necessity, it provided a better experience than having to grind away in a low cadence before getting back up to speed.

The Set Up

The Kickr Bike V2 is a durable, solid piece of kit that is made from aluminium and steel, which Wahoo claims will help it survive years of hard training. At 42kg, it isn’t the easiest to manoeuvre – although I did manage to carry it up a flight of stairs so it could be positioned in a first-floor home office. 

Setting it up for the first time requires you to secure two stabilising legs, attach the handlebars to the stem and insert the seatpost into the corresponding hole. Easy-to-follow instructions come in the box, and allen keys are included. From here, you can tune the Kickr Bike’s geometry to your requirements. There are three ways of doing it, but each requires you to use the Wahoo Fitness smartphone app. 

The first and most accurate is by using a bike fit report – something you’d have to hand if you’ve paid for one in the past. The second and somewhat accurate set-up requires you to take a photo of your bike in the app and use AI to do the rest. The final option uses measurements of your body, although Wahoo warns this is the least accurate. I used the second method and found it matched my road bike fairly accurately – the only additional adjustment required was tweaking the angle of the saddle.

After this, you can create a profile that increases the realism even more by mimicking your real-life bike’s drivetrain – from choosing between Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo shifting to matching the range and number of cogs on your cassette.

The Ride

For the amount it costs, you’d expect the Kickr Bike V2 to achieve an extremely realistic simulation of outdoor riding. After a couple of weeks of testing, it was certainly the closest I’ve felt to slogging up a real-life climb or flying down a descent when hitting the hills on a virtual training platform. The immersive experience still had shortcomings, but it had nothing to do with the hardware – the likes of Zwift are good, but it’s still hard to trick your mind that you’re riding outside when you’re set up next to your desk and using a 13in laptop screen.

The trainer didn’t skip a beat when it came to simulating the changes in resistance that occur on virtual undulating terrain, and working my way up and down the “gears” on my drivetrain certainly felt like the real thing (minus the clunks of mechanical derailleurs). In ERG mode, the changes in resistance felt more accurate than turbo trainers I’ve tested in the past.

The biggest sell, though, is the gradient simulation. Although it might seem like a gimmick (particularly for downhill sections), it has a noticeable impact on your positioning. Rather than sitting fairly static throughout a session, I found myself moving around on the bike a lot more – like I would on the road. When tackling virtual climbs, I was able to get out of the saddle, engaging muscles in my calves rather than relying on my quads to power my way to the top using brute force.

It’s during these all-out moments that you realise the Kickr Bike V2 isn’t perfect. The handlebars and bottom bracket both creaked slightly when laying down the power, and it would wobble slightly when out of the saddle. While it’s sturdy enough that I didn’t worry about it toppling over, the limited degree of side-to-side movement means it loses some of that realism.

The finishing kit also left a lot to be desired. While it’s possible to change the handlebars, handlebar tape, stem and saddle, all these components felt quite cheap on a product that prides itself on being premium.

Is The Wahoo Kickr Bike V2 Worth It?

If you were starting from scratch, rather than plumping for the £3,499.99 Kickr Bike V2, you could theoretically buy Wahoo’s top-tier turbo trainer and tilting accessory, and still have £1,870.01 left to spend on a road bike that you could use for both indoor and outdoor training. But the Kickr Bike V2 isn’t aimed at those looking to create the most cost-effective indoor training set-up. Instead, it’s targeting those who are happy to splash the cash for the convenience of not having to install and uninstall a bike when switching between indoor and outdoor training.

When compared with its direct rivals, it’s significantly more expensive than the Tacx Neo Smart Bike ($3,199.99/£2,299) and Wattbike Atom ($3,399/£2,399).

If you want the best indoor training experience currently available on the market, then the Kickr Bike V2 is tough to beat. Its simulating features (from gearing to gradients) ensure it continues to stand out from its rivals, while the addition of WiFi prevents the drop-outs that can plague a workout or race. The only downside is some of its finishing, but if money’s truly no object, this could be easily sorted for an additional £100-200.

Wahoo is releasing the latest generation of its KICKR Bike and KICKR Smart Trainer, and aims to improve how well they work with connected training apps.

Both the indoor bike and the turbo trainer lines are among the top options for cyclists looking for a realistic ride experience. We gave both the KICKR Bike and the KICKR V5 4.5-star reviews and places in our round-ups of the best exercise bikes and best turbo trainers.

The headline development is the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity to both, which makes for a faster, more stable connection than when using Bluetooth/ANT+ to connect to apps and other devices.

Both the bike and turbo also integrate seamlessly with the Wahoo X training platform, which  contains the Wahoo SYSTM And Wahoo RGT apps, where you can immerse yourself in virtual worlds, and tackle training programmes and workouts to improve your cycling. The trainers also connect to third-party apps like Zwift and TrainerRoad, and having Wi-Fi should ensure that connection is better than ever. Wahoo even says on-screen metrics will update 65% faster over Wi-Fi than Bluetooth or ANT+.

“We are excited that Wahoo continues to lead innovation in the category by being the first major brand to introduce Wi-Fi on its smart trainers and bikes,” says Wahoo CEO Mike Saturnia. “We are creating the most innovative connected fitness ecosystem on the market, and these new Wi-Fi-enabled products play a key role.”

The addition of Wi-Fi also means that firmware will be updated automatically between uses, so you don’t have to sit waiting for a software update to finish when you want to start cycling.

Other updates include ERG Easy Ramp, which helps you to resume an ERG workout during an interrupted interval by easing you back up to your desired wattage. This means you don’t have to struggle to hit a high wattage target from stationary after a break.

The new machines also come with an odometer to track the total distance covered using them, which can help you keep on top of maintaining them. 

The KICKR Bike offers 2,500W of resistance and has Wahoo’s KICKR Climb technology built in, and so can tilt forwards and backwards to create inclines of up to 20% for climbs and 15% for descents. We will be testing it as soon as possible to see how the upgrades affect the experience of using it.

The new KICKR Bike V2 costs $3,999.99 in the US and £3,499.99 in the UK and is available to pre-order before the shipping date of 5th October. The new KICKR Smart Trainer V6 is $1,299.99/£1,099.99 and is available to buy now. 

Pre-order KICKR Bike V2 from Wahoo US or Wahoo UK

Buy KICKR Smart Trainer V6 from Wahoo US or Wahoo UK

• Wahoo Buys Virtual Cycling App RGT Cycling And Creates New Wahoo X Subscription
• The Beginner’s Guide To Turbo Training
• How To Get Started With Zwift Cycling

Wahoo has announced the acquisition of the virtual training app RGT cycling, which will be rebranded as Wahoo RGT and bundled with Wahoo’s SYSTM training app under one subscription, Wahoo X. 

You may better know Wahoo as the manufacturer of some of the best turbo trainers, best exercise bikes, best heart rate monitors, best bike computers… you get the idea.

The move means that Wahoo can offer its subscribers both platforms in what will make an attractive alternative to virtual training giant Zwift. The Wahoo X subscription costs $14.99 a month (around £12) or $129 a year (around £102). Zwift costs $14.99 or £12.99 a month.

Wahoo RGT users are able to ride on realistic-looking virtual roads, with routes like the Mont Ventoux climb and the World Championship course in Leuven, as well as uploading their own routes to be created via the Magic Roads feature. 

The Magic Roads feature means you can practice the route of your next race, or upload your favourite training ride so you can tackle it indoors when the weather outside is inclement. The app also offers social rides and races.

Realism is a distinguishing feature of Wahoo RGT compared with Zwift, which offers a more “gamified” experience in its colourful virtual worlds. Wahoo RGT focuses on producing a realistic experience, in both the roads you ride on and the physics of cycling – so you don’t fly around hairpin turns without having to slow down and you have to ride around other cyclists to overtake, rather than passing straight through them.

Wahoo’s existing SYSTM app offers a more holistic approach to your cycling and multisport training, backing up personalised cycling workouts with yoga, strength sessions and mental training (the latter a 10-week program covering elite strategies like positive self-talk). The SYSTM app also includes The Sufferfest training platform, which Wahoo acquired in 2019.

Current Wahoo SYSTEM or RGT Cycling users will be moved to a Wahoo X subscription with no extra charge. The Wahoo SYSTM and Wahoo RGT apps are available for iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. Those keen to test out the platform can try it through a 14-day free trial, and you can learn more about the Wahoo X subscription on the Wahoo website.

• Familiarize yourself with indoor cycling using our beginners guide to turbo training.
• Find out why the latest version of the pioneering turbo trainer still leads the way with our Wahoo Kickr V5 review.
• Read our Wahoo Kickr Bike review to discover why we called it the stationary bike with the most realistic indoor ride.

When Wahoo released the first Kickr turbo trainer 10 years ago, it was a seismic moment in indoor cycle training. A decade on, its Kickr V5 is still pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on a stationary bike, providing an immersive experience on those days when heading outside on two wheels just isn’t going to be convenient (or fun!).

So how does it differ from previous versions? On the face of it, it looks nearly identical to the fourth-generation Kickr from 2018. It has the same recessed 16lb (7.3kg) flywheel, a quick-release mechanism, built-in speed and cadence sensors, and a power meter, and is thru-axle compatible. Scratch a little deeper, though, and you’ll notice subtle improvements.

Wahoo has replaced the static feet with Axis feet that allow for a slight 5° of movement from side to side, helping you simulate the real-world experience of cycling. (These feet are also available to purchase separately and are compatible with older Kickr turbo trainers.) It has also improved power accuracy from +/-2% to +/-1% (ensuring your wattage is what it should be) and the machine will now auto-calibrate itself, unlike previous models which required a spin down every once in a while.

• NEWSFLASH: Wahoo Adds Wi-Fi To New KICKR Bike And Turbo

Wahoo Kickr V5: Price

The Wahoo Kickr V5 was released in August 2020 and costs £999.99 (although, at the time of writing, we’ve seen it listed for £899). The Kickr is the top-of-the-range direct drive smart turbo trainer, in a line-up that also includes the cheaper wheel-on Wahoo Snap (£429.99) and smart direct drive Wahoo Kickr Core (£699.99) turbos. (The brand also sells the stationary Kickr Bike for £2,999 if money and space are no issue.)

In layman’s terms, direct drive means that your bike’s drivetrain (the parts that control power transfer from the pedals to the wheels) connects directly with a cassette (the cogs on the back wheel) that is pre-installed on the turbo’s flywheel. This does away with the wheel-on method, common on older or cheaper turbo trainers, where you place your bike’s back wheel on a roller.

The benefit of a direct drive set-up is a more realistic feel, improved resistance and the removal of problems such as tyre slips. The only downsides are the extra expense and the need to find somewhere to store your rear wheel when using your turbo.

The smart aspect allows the turbo trainer’s resistance to be controlled by external software. The Kickr connects to all training platforms such as Zwift, Wahoo SYSTM and Trainerroad, while a fixed wattage or incline can also be set via the Wahoo Fitness app. What’s more, you get free trial passes to Wahoo SYSTM in the box, giving you the chance to find out if that training platform suits you (then the fee is $14.99/£11 a month, or $129/£94 a year).

Wahoo Kickr V5: Set-up

The Kickr V5 is a solid piece of kit that will survive being put through its paces. At 22kg, it’s not the lightest thing to move around, but it’s more than likely that once you’ve set it in place in your pain cave, it won’t be moving a lot anyway.

Setting it up is relatively simple. After unfolding the two supporting legs and adjusting the Axis feet until they’re level on your floor, you just have to plug it into a power source, remove your rear wheel from your bike, and slot it on to the turbo. If this sounds a bit too technical, the instructions feature detailed guides for getting started.

If you’ve not changed your bike’s chain for a while (or ever), it’s wise to do this before installing it on to the turbo’s shiny new cassette – a worn chain will wear down the cassette a lot more quickly than a new chain, and it’ll sound like a bag of nails rather than the claimed “virtually silent riding experience”. Not sure how to do this? Your local bike shop will be able to help.

It’s also worth noting that the Kickr V5 comes pre-installed with an 11-speed cassette. It will work with an eight, nine or 10-speed cassette common on older bikes, or even a 12-speed cassette with a specific adapter. It is also compatible with 130mm and 135mm quick-release axles, and 142x12mm and 148x12mm thru-axles. Again, if in doubt, your local bike shop is your friend.

Wahoo Kickr V5: The Ride

When investing in a turbo trainer, you want something that’s up to the task of powering an avatar around a virtual world. Training platforms like Zwift can’t create an immersive experience if your turbo trainer keeps breaking the illusion.

The Kickr V5 clears this bar with ease. It is able to simulate climbs in SIM mode between 0-20% and specific wattage of up to 2,200 at 40km/h when used in ERG mode – where the turbo automatically sets and amends the resistance for you, which is handy during an interval workout. The upper limits simply show what the trainer, rather than you, is capable of – unless your name is Chris Hoy or Geraint Thomas, that is. In practice, any climb and its various changes in gradient that I attempted on Zwift felt like it would on the road, while in ERG mode I could just focus on turning the pedals during workouts with resistance automatically adjusted as I progressed during the session.

The addition of the Axis feet means an improved feel when out of the saddle on a climb or sprinting hard compared with the previous Kickr V4 and Core models that I’ve ridden, but don’t expect to be throwing your bike from side to side like Mark Cavendish any time soon.

To further increase the realism, Wahoo also sells the Kickr Climb (£449.99), a gradient simulator that lifts the front of your bike up and down alongside virtual gradients. There’s also the Kickr Headwind (£199.99), a fan that adjusts its strength depending on your heart rate and speed, but these are bonus rather than essential additions to your set-up.

Wahoo Kickr V5 Vs Core

One of the Kickr V5’s biggest rivals is its sibling, the Wahoo Kickr Core. It will save you £300, but that’s not the only reason you should consider it as a direct drive smart turbo trainer.

While its max watts and incline are lower than the Kickr V5 (at 1,800w and 16% respectively), this is more than enough for an amateur or even club-level rider. Although it can’t be folded away like its big brother, that’s only an advantage if it’s going to be put in storage over the summer.

The only downsides I can see are that the Kickr Core doesn’t include Axis feet (and won’t ever be able to because of its construction) and that it doesn’t come pre-installed with a cassette. But since the cost of a cassette is a lot less than the £300 price difference, it might just be the best pound-for-pound direct drive smart turbo on the market.

If you must have the best of the best, then it’s tough to beat the Kickr V5, but if you’re happy to settle for a plucky underdog that punches above its weight, then the Kickr Core is the trainer for you. 

Is The Wahoo Kickr V5 Worth It?

There’s no getting around the fact that the price of the Wahoo Kickr V5 is more than many people would spend on a new road bike, so it’s not surprising if you’d balk at spending that on a turbo trainer – especially as you need a bike to use it too.

That said, the Wahoo Kickr V5 sits in the middle of other top-tier offerings, like the Tacx Neo 2T (£1,999 RRP) and Saris H3 (£899 RRP), and you’re investing in a solid piece of professional-grade kit that will last you for years to come, as well as keeping its resale value if you find that indoor cycling isn’t for you.

If you already own an earlier Kickr, the differences with the V5 are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, so it’s not worth the additional outlay, plus you can upgrade your current model with the Axis feet (£64.99).

Keen cyclists will already be well aware of Wahoo, which makes a range of excellent turbo trainers, one of our favourite exercise bikes (the KICKR Bike) and bike computers. Fitness enthusiasts of all types may well have come across the Wahoo TICKR chest strap heart rate monitor.

If you’ve used any of its gear, the odds are you’re a fan. I’ve been impressed by every Wahoo device I’ve tried, and the brand is well established as a Garmin rival in bike computers, while having a claim to the premium turbo trainer crown.

So there’s good reason to be excited about Wahoo’s first GPS multisports watch. While Coros has done great work in establishing itself as a rival to the traditionally dominant forces of Garmin, Polar and Suunto, this is still an area where fresh blood is welcome.

The Wahoo ELEMNT RIVAL watch is targeted at triathletes and costs £349.99, which puts it at the top end of the mid-range watch bracket. It’s cheaper than Garmin’s triathlon watches (aside from the older Forerunner 735XT), but more expensive than the Polar Vantage M, Coros Apex and the Coros Pace 2, the latter a very capable triathlon watch that costs just £180.

All the key hardware is in place on the RIVAL. It has a heart rate monitor, GPS plus Galileo for distance tracking, and a barometric altimeter for accurate elevation tracking. The watch is also able to connect to external sensors via both Bluetooth and ANT+, and it’s waterproof to 50m, with the ability to track both indoor and open-water swimming.

Battery life is listed at a solid 24 hours of GPS, or two weeks in watch mode. After a 1hr 50min run it dropped by 5 percentage points, which bodes well for that GPS battery life. So far I have found the watch drops at least 10 percentage points a day even if I only use it for a short run, so I’d roughly expect seven to 10 days of use overall.

The RIVAL’s design is similar to that of the Garmin Fenix, with a chunky build and shiny ceramic bezel, but the watch is much lighter at 53g – the Fenix 6 Pro is 83g for the steel version. The screen is a 240x240 transflective display that is clear to read even in bright sun. You can get an all-black watch or one with a white case and band underneath the bezel, and the quick-release 22mm band can be swapped out.

You can set up each sports mode to display your preferred stats, with a unique zoom feature that makes reading them easier. You can rank up to six stats on the workout page for a sport, then click a combination of buttons to change how many of those stats are displayed, so you can keep tabs on all six for important workouts when you want all the data possible, or easily switch to essentials like time and distance or even just heart rate when out for a easy run.

The RIVAL has template modes for a vast range of sports and several preset multisport modes you can use, including triathlon, duathlon and a run-bike brick session. One of the device’s most exciting features is touchless transitions, which means the watch recognises a switch in disciplines automatically. Plus, if you’re using a Wahoo bike computer for a triathlon it will link to the RIVAL and start recording your cycling stint while showing the stats on your swim and the time spent in transition.

If you’re not happy to rely on the automatic feature, you can manually log a transition. As well as the preset multisport modes you can switch to any other workout mode during a training session by holding the top right button, and your entire session will be synced as one to the partner Wahoo app.

So far I’ve only used the RIVAL for a 24km run. The distance tracking was good, and better than the Polar Vantage V2 on my other wrist which logged one rogue kilometre at far too fast a pace. However, the heart rate tracking was less impressive, frequently showing my rate as somewhere around 80-90bpm when it was actually between 120-135bpm. Hopefully this was a one-off problem, but if not, connecting the watch to a chest strap monitor will sort the problem.

I particularly liked the lap screen on the watch which displays all your splits in order. It’s something I’ve noticed on Suunto watches, but it’s missing from Garmin and Polar devices.

The tracking seems solid and in line with other devices, but at launch the RIVAL is lagging behind on other fronts. There’s no way to programme a structured workout and have the watch guide you through it. You’ll need to commit it to memory and press the lap button to mark each effort. Custom workouts should arrive in a post-launch update, but the timescale is yet to be confirmed.

See related

• The Best Fitness Trackers Of 2021
• The Best Running Watches Of 2021

There are also no training insights to speak of – whether that’s how an individual training session has improved your fitness or if your overall training load is proving effective. It also lacks VO2 max estimates and advised recovery times. The watch is really just a tool to record your sessions, whereas Garmin and Polar offer increasingly impressive insights into your workouts and recovery that can help shape your training, and Coros at least offers some insights like VO2 max and overall training load effectiveness.

That is a problem at the RIVAL’s price. There are much cheaper Coros watches like the Pace 2 that offer equally good triathlon tracking plus structured workouts and basic training insights, though lacking more glossy features like touchless transitions.

At £350 you’re also within spitting distance of high-end triathlon watches like the Polar Vantage V2 and Garmin Forerunner 745. Both have an RRP of £450, but that price is already dropping to nearer £420 on some sites even though they’re fairly new. The V2 and 745 are light years ahead of the RIVAL for training insights and can offer training plans and structured workouts you follow on the wrist.

The RIVAL will gain more features in time through updates, and of course it’s a challenge to match the performance of companies that have been making watches for yonks. For now, the RIVAL is a solid sports tracker with a few novel features that should prove genuinely useful, especially if you already own other Wahoo products, but until more work is done to deliver key features like structured workouts, there are better options. Given Wahoo’s record I have faith those features will arrive, but holding off on the RIVAL is probably the smartest course of action for now.

Buy from Wahoo | £349.99

If you’re a serious cyclist then the time you spend training indoors will be geared towards helping you achieve more impressive results on the road. So it makes sense that you’d want your indoor set-up to replicate riding outdoors as close as possible, and on this front the Wahoo KICKR Bike offers an unparalleled experience.

Everything about the bike can be adjusted to replicate your road bike, and I do mean everything. There are levers all over the KICKR Bike which you can loosen to adjust the handlebars, the stem length, the crank length and much more. You can also select the gearset you have on your road ride so you have the exact same gearing on the KICKR Bike, and there’s even a smooth and satisfying clunk when you change gears on the bike.

Naturally this involves quite a bit of setting up, which the partner Wahoo app guides you through. My test sample of the KICKR Bike came fully assembled so I can’t speak to how hard it is to put together, but setting it up to your specifications is made very easy by the fit wizard.

There are three options in the set-up. You can enter your measurements from a bike fitting if you have done one, or you can take a photo of your road bike and mark where certain parts are, or you can enter your body measurements. I chose the third option, which Wahoo warns is the least accurate, but it was quick and fitted me well.

The bike can be set up to fit riders from 5ft (1.52m) to 6ft 4in (1.92m), and has a range of five crank lengths available from 165mm to 175mm.

There are a few other features which add to the realism once you actually start pedalling, the chief one being that the bike can tilt forwards and backwards (from -15% up to 20%) to replicate hills. A button on the handlebars controls this lean (which can make for a shocking experience if you, like me, accidentally hit the button and throw the whole bike forwards like you’re flying down a mountain), but it comes into its own if you’ve linked the KICKR Bike up to an app like Zwift that will automatically control the resistance and gradient. Even on a rolling Zwift course with frequent ups and downs the KICKR Bike was able to keep up with the changes in gradient smoothly.

A small display on the right side of the top tube shows the gear you’re in and also the gradient at which the bike is set. There’s also a button on this display that means you can lock the gradient so only you can adjust it, whereas if you hold the button to unlock it apps like Zwift can tilt the bike forwards and back automatically.

The bike uses an electromagnetic flywheel that allows for a maximum power output of 2,200 watts, which is plenty even if you’re an aspiring Tour rider. The power is calibrated automatically by the bike, so there’s no need to spin it down and it’s advertised as accurate to within 1% either way. This was bad news for me, because it showed readings a fair bit lower than my turbo trainer, which, it turns out, was in need of a spin-down – a 15-minute task I’ve been putting off.

What the KICKR Bike lacks is a mount for your phone or tablet. A huge shame, especially because it’s a bike that’s at its best when linked up to apps like Zwift. Not to mention the fact it costs £3,000 – I’d expect a tablet mount on the handlebars for that money.

Aside from that minor complaint, however, there’s really no other reason to fault the KICKR Bike, which offers as realistic a ride feel as I’ve come across on indoor exercise bikes. That ride comes at a premium, especially when there are exceptional turbo trainers available for £1,000 or less, including Wahoo’s own KICKR V5 Smart trainer. The appeal of the KICKR Bike is clear, although for all but a small minority of cyclists it’s probably overkill. Still, you won’t be disappointed if you do stump up the cash.

Editor’s note: The Wahoo KICKR was reviewed in 2020, then retrospectively awarded an Editor’s Choice badge in 2021 once we had ridden the majority of the competition