For 10 years, the Wahoo Kickr has been one of the leading lines in the war against riding outdoors. Ok, perhaps I paint an overzealous picture, but thanks to the technological advances pioneered by brands like Wahoo, the experience of indoor cycling has improved infinitely, and the number of people pedalling nowhere indoors has grown at a stratospheric rate helped in large part by the pandemic, of course. There’s no denying the indoor cycling industry is moving at a fast pace but if product cycles are anything to go by, none are moving faster than Wahoo, whose Kickr turbo trainer has now received its third update in five years.
This means we’re now onto Wahoo Kickr V6, although that’s the last you’ll hear us use that term, as Wahoo doesn’t want us to use its internal ‘version’ nomenclature publicly. From here on, we’ll differentiate by their launch year: V4 = 2018, V5 = 2020, this one = 2022. Its launch celebrates the 10th anniversary of the OG Kickr, and while the five subsequent iterations have seen advancements come thick and fast to keep them competitive among the best turbo trainers, their DNA has remained largely unchanged.
This includes two round metal legs, which fold out from a third central leg to form a trident base. Above which, a belt connects the flywheel and the drive wheel, onto which a cassette comes fitted. The black, grey and blue theme has been a constant, and Wahoo’s famously simple app-based setup has complemented the hardware nicely.
When compared to the 2020 model, the Kickr 2022 is more of the same. Aesthetically it is almost identical, but a few features have been added internally. One of those could bring huge benefits down the line, according to Wahoo.
Design & Specifications I’ll start with what remains the same with Kickr 2020, and to prove the above claim that the two models are aesthetically similar, let’s play a game of spot the difference. The new Wahoo Kickr 2022 is on the left, while Kickr 2020 is on the right. (Image credit: Future) As you can see in the images above, there’s very little difference.
It appears in the images that the handle of the new Kickr is angled differently, but that’s down to the difference in height I’d set it to. Ultimately, apart from a status light on the rear which I’ll discuss in more depth later, there’s nothing to distinguish the two. Functionally, it remains largely the same too.
The three legs, the ergonomic carry handle introduced in 2016, the adjustable height for different wheel sizes, and the black-blue-grey colour theme are all still present, as are the Axis feet introduced in 2020. The height adjustment on the middle leg remains the same as before (Image credit: Josh Croxton) Internally, the top line specs remain the same too. This includes a maximum resistance capability of 2200 watts, gradient simulation of up to 20 per cent, and power measurement accuracy within +/- 1%.
There’s still a 7. 25kg (16lb) flywheel, and as before the Kickr 2022 will automatically calibrate itself whenever you freewheel. It also comes with the same adaptors, meaning 12x142mm and 12x148mm thru axle adaptors plus 130mm and 135mm quick-release adaptors.
Elsewhere, despite the shift towards 12-speed now being pushed by all three of the major groupset brands, Wahoo says the Kickr is still predominantly used with 11-speed groupsets by its customers, and as such the Kickr 2022 comes fitted with the same 11-speed 11-28 SunRace cassettes as the previous model. On that subject, a Wahoo spokesperson has confirmed to Cyclingnews that it will be looking to add an option to choose your cassette as part of the checkout process in the not-too-distant future. As for what’s new, that goes as follows: WiFi: This is the biggest change from the previous Kickr; put simply, it connects your Kickr directly to your home’s WiFi network, allowing it to communicate with your devices via a local internet connection, rather than relying on Bluetooth or ANT+.
Comparatively, Wahoo says, “this helps solve most drop-out issues and delivers your on-screen stats over 65% faster than before. ” The WiFi status light replaces the ANT+ light from before (Image credit: Josh Croxton) Accompanying this change, the only aesthetic change comes at the status lights on the frame. Whereas the previous model had a status light for Bluetooth and ANT+, the latter has now been replaced with a light for WiFi connection instead.
Throughout my review of the Kickr 2020, one of the downsides I found wasn’t necessarily with the Kickr itself, but the connectivity between my Kickr and my Bluetooth-enabled laptop. I don’t know specifically what was causing the issue, but on occasional rides, my connection to the trainer would repeatedly drop and reconnect. I put it down to Bluetooth interference, especially since I’m regularly running three power meters, a heart rate monitor, headphones and multiple devices.
The result was never too vast that it caused my ride to stop, but it would cause low-reading power numbers, and occasionally mean that resistance would remain stuck at the higher power after an interval was finished. The switch to WiFi would undoubtedly resolve this issue, but would be reliant on a stable WiFi connection instead. In terms of which apps can take advantage, Wahoo tells us that “all apps that added Direct Connect support are able to connect and control the Kickr over WiFi out of the gate.
This includes Zwift, Fulgaz, TrainerRoad, RGT and Systm (Windows and Mac) with more apps slated to add support later this fall. “The introduction of WiFi also means automatic firmware updates, rather than the current process of opening the Wahoo app to check for them. If you’re anything like me, you’ll do all your indoor training via other apps and can go months without needing to open the Wahoo app at all, thus meaning firmware updates can easily be missed.
This solves that issue, meaning bug fixes, feature add-ons, and performance improvements (for the trainer, sadly not the rider) will just happen. The third benefit of the WiFi is a direct connection to Wahoo’s customer support for diagnostics. If you have issues with your trainer, Wahoo will be able to run certain tests remotely, potentially even resolving problems from afar.
Wahoo tells us that there are more benefits to come from the WiFi connectivity down the line, but refuses to give any clues as to what they might be. ERG Easy RampERG technically stands for ergonomic resistance, but it’s best described as ‘letting the trainer handle the resistance’. Power is calculated as torque (how hard you’re pressing the pedals) multiplied by cadence (how quickly you’re spinning them).
Given your workout knows how much power you should be doing in each interval and what your cadence is at any given time, it can reverse calculate for torque. It performs this calculation multiple times per second and adjusts the resistance accordingly. This isn’t in any way new, or even specific to the Kickr, but anyone who’s stopped halfway through a hard interval will know that it requires enormous torque to get going again.
Your cadence starts at zero, so many turbo trainers simply heap on maximum resistance as required by that backwards calculation, and it can require a leg-sapping standing start to overcome. ERG Easy Ramp solves this with a 10-second period of ramped resistance, allowing you to bring your cadence up before the trainer restarts the desired workout. Having tested it on a few occasions so far, it works exactly as described.
OdometerA small third change is the introduction of an odometer. Wahoo says that this “identifies the exact amount of use, helping you to keep track of progress by knowing how many miles you’ve achieved,” but I expect this will be more commonly used as part of the aforementioned remote diagnostics feature, so Wahoo can tell how much use a trainer has been through. PriceThe final change is one that’s less welcome.
Price increases are hitting all walks of life recently, and I’d say that Wahoo has done well to keep the price of the Kickr steady for so long. However, with the added development and ever-increasing costs, Kickr 2022 sees a price hike to £1099. 99 / $1299.
99 / €1299. 99. Performance Starting with the initial setup, much remains the same as the previous Kickr, which as one of the most straightforward out there, is no bad thing.
You’ll need to download the Wahoo app, and once you’ve created an account, you can follow one of two processes. Either ‘quickly pair a new sensor’, or follow the ‘setup wizard’ for a more in-depth process. It’s worth going through the latter, as it walks you through the process step by step.
A recent addition to this process includes a thorough walkthrough of the basics; choosing the correct Axis feet, folding out the legs, choosing your required adaptor, etc. It appears that like Zwift with its new Zwift Hub trainer, Wahoo has also realised that the setup process can be a daunting one for beginners, and sought to simplify it. Part of the process is to connect your device to WiFi, and from this point on, it’s a simple case of choosing from the vast array of indoor cycling apps.
Wahoo would like you to use Systm or RGT, of course, but I also spend time using Zwift and TrainerRoad, and the connection was pretty straightforward. For anyone who’s not used the Direct Connect, it comes up as a separate option in the list of found devices, as shown below. Image 1 of 3Once the Kickr is connected to WiFi (via the Wahoo app), Zwift will find it via ‘Direct Connect’ as a separate option to the Bluetooth connection (Image credit: Josh Croxton)Image 2 of 3Here, shown with Bluetooth out of range (Image credit: Josh Croxton)Image 3 of 3Here’s how it looks on TrainerRoad (Image credit: Josh Croxton) Power accuracy For all of my accuracy tests, I compared the Kickr to the S-Works Power LR power meter and a pair of Wahoo Speedplay Powrlink pedals.
The first of my rides on the new Kickr was a 45-minute ride with some threshold over-unders, connected via Bluetooth. This allowed me to get a feel for how quick the pickup of resistance was in response to the suggested workout, and how quickly it dropped back down, while double-checking that the connectivity was as good as the previous model. Ultimately, the workout was drama-free, with accurate power and response times as quick as expected.
Unfortunately, the Speedplay pedals were reading around 20 watts low throughout so I’ve excluded those from the graph. There’s nothing untoward here, the Kickr responds quickly and the power remains as stable as expected. (Image credit: Josh Croxton) The second of my rides included 3 x 5 minutes at Vo2 Max, allowing me to test the steadiness of the power reading at both high power (relative – I concede that my power numbers aren’t breaking any records) and low power, as well as the speed of the Kickr’s reaction whenever I went above or below the target power.
This was also connected via Bluetooth. Once again, everything appears to be working exactly as it should. Here, a single higher-power interval shows consistency against the two other power meters (Image credit: Josh Croxton) This ‘off’ section is similarly stable and accurate.
(Image credit: Josh Croxton) The third test was connected via WiFi. My usual turbo trainer setup is in my garage, which is situated right on the edge of my WiFi’s reach. As such, it feels like my setup will prove a good real-world test for Wahoo’s claims of improved stability.
In this image, I’ve included the power numbers from the three turbo trainers to show the continued accuracy when connected via WiFi. This is the second half of a two-part workout (Image credit: Josh Croxton) This is the final VO2Max step from the interval above, showing how closely the three power meters track together (Image credit: Josh Croxton) In terms of power measurement and speed of the Kickr’s response to workout changes, everything worked exactly as it should. However, there is one thing to note with my final workout, in that halfway through, my WiFi dropped out.
Usually, if this were to happen when connected via Bluetooth, all that would happen is whatever I’m streaming on Netflix would pause. This time around, it disconnected the turbo trainer and stopped my workout for a few minutes. With the choice between a patchy WiFi connection and a close-quarters Bluetooth connection, I believe that the latter will actually prove more reliable.
It might have been something I pulled up in my previous review, but Bluetooth was never exactly a big issue. With that in mind, if your setup is similar to mine in that WiFi stability isn’t a given, then the introduction of WiFi connectivity might not be as beneficial to someone whose Zwift setup is in their living room six feet away from their router. Of course, there’s nothing stopping me from continuing to connect via Bluetooth, and using WiFi only for its other benefits (firmware updates, diagnostics, and whatever else Wahoo is working on behind the scenes).
As time goes on, more testing will take place of course, but to conclude this section from the few rides I’ve experienced so far, the 2022 Kickr’s Bluetooth connection is just as reliable as its predecessor, which I’ve used extensively to great success, and the addition of WiFi will offer a degree of futureproofing while also offering an improvement for many (but not all) users. Verdict Overall, the Kickr 2022 takes the already-excellent Kickr and improves it in a few ways. The most pertinent of those is the introduction of WiFi connectivity, which claims to improve the stability and speed of your connection while allowing for automatic updates and remote diagnostics.
Depending on the device you’re using and the WiFi stability in your home, that could either be a complete game-changer, or make little difference to your indoor cycling experience, but the automatic firmware updates and the ERG Easy Ramp feature will both be welcome additions. It’s not enough of a difference, in my opinion, to warrant an immediate upgrade from Kickr 2020, but if you’re in the market for a top-level turbo trainer, then the Kickr 2022 is perhaps the most futureproof option available today, with the specs to rival the best. For those reasons, combined with the easy installation and almost entirely perfect operation I’ve experienced so far, it’s impossible not to recommend.
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From: cyclingnews
URL: https://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/wahoo-kickr-2022-turbo-trainer/
