Hey gang, so I am now trainer-less and need some advice. I returned the H3, so that one is out of the question. I tried a Neo2, but was underwhelmed with ERG performance. All that’s really left of the big dogs is the Kickr 2018. For those using it I have a few questions
How is ERG performance as far as smoothness of interval engagement, etc. (if you can link a few rides so I can see the interval ramp up and down that would be sweet.
How has reliability been? I know there were some early issues but I believe they have largely been fixed.
…2a If you did have a problem, how was Wahoo service as far as turnaround time, ease of replacement/repair, etc.?
If you came from an H1/H2/H3, how does ERG performance compare? The Saris trainer is like butter, I’m wondering how the 2018 Kickr specifically, compares, seeing that it now has a heavier flywheel.
Do you have personal experience or are we just recycling old threads? You’ve never even posted in that thread so I assume you don’t even own an 18 Kickr, so not sure what the point of your post is.
I’ve had an 18 for about a month now. No issues at all at this point.
I previously had the original Kickr so that’s all I have for comparison. The 18 is much quieter/smoother and responds faster in ERG mode. I use it for both TR and Zwift and have been very happy with the way it responds to target and gradient changes.
It’s also way more compatible with modern bikes. I got the XDR driver with it and now my AXS road bike and my Eagle MTB work on the trainer.
What is the point of asking if you dont want opinions? He gave you a thead where all the reliability issues are in.
Kickr itself is good. (So good that I’ve already had three of them and will get fourth one soon )
They have fixed some issues but still be ready to contact support if you pull the short straw in the lottery (support is responsive and willing to change faulty units.)
I went through 4 of them, the upper pulley has a fatal design flaw that Saris refuses to fix properly and keeps trying to use some shadetree repair nonsense on it. As a result the belt squeaks at higher load, defying the point of the trainer being quiet, and someone had the belt “walk” off of the upper pulley and shred inside of the housing. Some have not had bad luck like me, must be my whopping 310w FTP
I asked for people’s experience who are using the Kickr 18, not regurgitating old threads. He has nothing to contribute, so not sure what the point of the post was. I also asked about ERG performance specifically.
I’m on my 4th 2018 model. The 1st started out fine but fell victim To the known gremlins. Number 2&3 were duds right out of the box and number 4 has held up for a little while. During my ride on Saturday I started to feel chatter. I’ll dig into it more to make sure it’s not the bike.
The support through the process has been outstanding. They are quick to respond, never gave me a hassle and at one point, I had all 4 trainers in my possession, as security if you will. I didn’t trust the process because of all of the problems I had with the trainer. The only positive of the whole experience was their customer service, in my opinion.
If the current one has an issue, I’m not sure what will happen or if they will stand behind it and own the problem. It is outside of their stated warranty period so we will see, if it happens again.
Show some respect for someone who made an honest effort to share worthwhile info.
It’s not a requirement for people to have direct experience to share info and opinions here. I have had several friends with K18s pop, and that forms a solid opinion on my part despite never touching one myself. I also know people who have had great luck with their H3 despite your experience.
The point? Lots to learn from here, even from those without direct experience. Let’s cut the criticism of posts that don’t fit the narrow scope of your current analysis.
Perpaps I should ease up yes. But I also asked for personal experiences. If I started a thread called “does anyone have an H3 that doesn’t make noise” and kept it going and had a few people chime in, that could be used to say “don’t buy the H3” even if its not a widespread issue. The thread he posted was started before the issues were recognized and apparently remedied by Wahoo. I’m specifically asking because I want to know how the reliability of the units is now, in 2020, since there has been more time to address the issues. I don’t think asking for people’s current and actual experience is too much to ask.
I won’t lie, I was really hesitant to buy the new Kickr because of all the problems I have read about. I bought the Gen 1 Kickr back in 2015 and it’s been a total workhorse for me. Literally never had an issue in 5 years. In my mind I felt like that positive experience with a Wahoo product warranted giving the new model a chance.
It’s been about a month and because of this lockdown I’m riding it like crazy. 16 days straight at last check and I’ve had no issues.
Oh come on, I asked specifically for the experience of people using it, and the first reply I get is based on no first hand experience. I’ve read the other thread, most of the posts are old, which is why I made this to get a more recent assessment since there has been a decent amount of time that’s passed for issues to be worked out, or not worked out.
If someone asked about the H3 and someone came in and linked my thread with a comment that says “buy any Saris except the H3” based on only my experience, that would be pretty misleading considering there are tons of other folks who may have a good experience and have never posted in my thread about issues. That’s the people I want to hear from, or more recent buyers. I wouldn’t have made this thread specifically asking about the quality now, I would have just posted in that other thread
Wow. I made the assumption that you hadn’t seen the Kickr 18 thread so I thought I’d direct you to it. Excuse me for pointing you in the right direction. If the information wasn’t useful then simply move along to the next comment. However, you choose another route and attitude. I see the general tone of TR, the overwhelmingly helpfulness of this forum and the global pandemic of helping others hasn’t softened you a bit. Well done and noted.
Just got to demo a 2018 Kickr, my LBS loaned it to me since they are closed due to COVID. Serial number is 01192900274, felt good for the few short minutes I got to spend on it.
ERG transitions were faster than the H3, but slower than the NEO2, so good impressions here overall. I thought the NEO2 was way too fast, but had gotten used to the H3, I suppose I can get used to this as well.
Road feel in Zwift was decent, again, today is a day off but I wanted to try to a bit as I was anxious, seemed to respond well on Titan’s Grove in Zwift.
One concern I had was that on every 5th pedal stroke or so, I felt a clunk or knock, very faintly, through the pedals. I could hear it a little, but not much. I asked the LBS owner and he said the unit is new, was just opened up in January, I think the SN puts it somewhere in the middle of 2019 production. Has about 3 rides on it. A bit concerning, but I guess I can’t expect anything good from this last round of devices though
Getting my 2nd replacement Kickr 18 tomorrow. Besides the 2 times I’ve been unable to train for several days while waiting for the replacement units to arrive I’ve never had any issues with erg mode workouts in terms of ramping up and holding. Based on my last replacement process they are no longer pre shipping warranty units as they had many cases of people not returning the defective units.
I’ve also attached some links to rides where I used the kickr for
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