New Wahoo Kickr Trainer V6 2022

Equipment
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https://cyclingtips.com/2022/09/got-wifi-wahoo-unveils-its-latest-kickr-trainer-and-kickr-bike

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Oh Shi- here’s the kickr

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Based on Ray’s comment in the video for this being an active week in the sector, I am holding my wallet just a bit longer… but I am likely getting the V6 to replace my V3. There are a wealth of improvements between these steps and I am finally ready to upgrade.

  • Noise is a leading factor for me. We have a dedicated room and my wife doesn’t complain about the noise, but I want it less noisy so I can use regular speakers at times instead of my ear buds.

  • The connection options are a close second. I typically don’t have issues with my V3, but I do get a few data drops in TR that are just frequent enough to be annoying.

  • My desire to keep and use my InsideRide E-Flex is a driving factor as well, and any other option will either need to offer some amazing options, or even a way that I can hack it to work with the E-F for me to move away from the Kickr V6.

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You should hold out for the v7 with the Kickr electromagnetic motor :rofl:

My guess is if the v2 version of the electromagnetic motor in the Kickr bike works well and holds up in the real world, it will come to the Kickr v7

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I wondered if we’d see that resistance unit jump to the Kickr at some point. I think it will eventually, and maybe even end up with them having that as the top tier, with this basic trainer stepping down to the Core level and likely get the simple base as well.

I am ready to make a move now and like the general “known” quantity that is this version. Even though I usually wait months and avoid early adoption, this is a minor step in the ways that would worry me, so I will pull a trigger sooner than later.

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Nothing on the new one is really jumping out to me so fingers crossed for a v5 fire sale somewhere.

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Not a “fire sale”, but the V5 seems on sale just about everywhere I can see at $1000 USD. $200 less than original MSRP and $300 less than the new one. About 17% discount from original MSRP so not a massive deal. People got much better from the Zwift clearing house sale many months ago. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see bigger sales if inventory remains in hand when we get towards Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales times.

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A week ago I thought the v5 was on sale for $900? My v3/2017 was purchased at a group discount for something less than $900, don’t recall the exact number. Because of my InsideRide motion setup I’d prefer to pick up another Kickr, but the retail pricing is crazy IMHO. Noise has never been an issue for me, its in the garage. The V6 announce is disappointing, for me, as its essentially a $100 price increase and I’d still need to buy an XDR adapter.

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  • Sure could have been. I have not been watching it closely. The best tracking I know would be to revisit the Deals topic and see what was posted there. I expect the current $1k won’t be the lowest we see this season.

  • I also see this as a general evolution in design vs revolution. Quite incremental when viewed in context with changes we saw with each version. I agree that the new model is not an easy buy for your needs and preferences.

  • Perhaps there will even be some sales via Wahoo (or other incentives by retailers) when we get to the sales season? Worth waiting to see that and any other pending releases (Tacx?) at this point for you from what I see.

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Wahoo really needs a bundle of the new v6 + updated version of the InsideRide E-Flex (updated == the new front fork attachment that @mcneese.chad is testing) for a good combo price

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Ha, would be interesting but that seems destined for “never gunna hap’n” :stuck_out_tongue:

Wahoo’s apparent resistance and small effort towards motion with the Axis feet seem to indicate they are doing the bare minimum to check that box.

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Agreed.

I find it fascinating that InsideRide built this exclusively for the Kickr / Kickr Core. Would be interesting if they “open sourced” the rear-end standard to trainer companies to make their trainers compatible with this.

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I have spoken with IR about a more universal option.

  • The main issue comes with “ride height” or “stack”. The Kickr in particular is great since the axle height is adjustable. Just like the trainer on it’s own, you can set the Kickr to the position one lower than you would use on it’s own, so that it sitting on the E-Flex rear makes the whole bike “normal” ride height. You can get on and off with no extra step or difficult reach that is common with other trainers and or motion systems.

  • It was a minor feature for me initially, but one I really value now. This also seems to work fine with the Core since the legs are removed and the height stays nearly the same as the Kickr from what I have seen (never measured in person though).

  • I mention that because just about any other trainer solution will result in lifting the trainer and axle higher than whatever is stock. It’s possible to make the E-Flex match that taller height, but you gain the stepover or height issue that is skipped with Wahoo stuff. Maybe a non-issue, but that is the reason IR has not made other offerings.

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Yes expecting at least one more announcement (Tacx).

And there will be Kickr sales later this year, but 25% off a $100 higher starting point means I’m done with Wahoo unless somebody I know decides to sell their 2018 or later. Highly unlikely.

Time to sell my InsideRide+Kickr combo. Sad. Wahoo decided to not deliver a XDR freehub for the 2017 model (should have bought a Tacx Neo that year), looks like I’m done with Wahoo.

Oh well, the gym’s Stages SC3 bikes offer more entertainment than staring out the door of my garage.

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I suspect it will have absolutely no bearing on your direction, but the other announcement I am hoping to see this week relates to Kinetic. From comments by Ray, it sounds like he is in the process of reviewing the K labeled Magene T100 and I hope the review includes the first real, public info about Magene’s purchase of the Kinetic brand.

Unless they uncork a very well hidden trainer (which is possible), I expect the trainer to be a ho-hum review with more interesting info about the company side of it all. General interest on par with the future destination of the Saris brand for me at least.

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The only thing vaguely interesting so far is the $500 Zwift Hub which should be a wash financially if I sell the InsideRide + Kickr 2017 for about the same. Or put a different seat on the grocery store bike (Giant Escape) and keep using it on the IR+Kickr.

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What would be awesome is a direct drive Kinetic rock and roll trainer around $300. Won’t happen, but would be a great option for folks who don’t like ERG mode

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Seems like its a wifi version of the v5 with an extra software feature to help with erg mode. Very useful if you have something old but I have a v4 so not that big a jump.

I know this is very nit picking but isn’t DRC using TR to check the responsiveness of the trainer not really an accurate measure in that TR knows what trainer you are using so offsets when it sends a change in erg resistance to the trainer. At least I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere in the forum.

I wish Inside ride used in incline in the front so instead of elastic and careful alignment of the front to the back it could use pushing against gravity to control side to side tilt and steering straight ahead. (yes, the metal bar/sprint is installed in the correct direction)

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  • I’d need to check his hard data (I rarely dig that deep and rely on the video with a quick skim of the written article usually), but I think he also ran similar tests in Zwift at the very least. Regardless of that, TR is only sending that instruction 1-2 seconds early from what I have seen, so it’s not likely to skew results in a meaningful way, if I understand your concern right.
  • I need to re-read this a time or two. I am not catching your drift yet, but will reply once I get on board :stuck_out_tongue:

Edit to add, are you asking for a way that the left-right lean angle is controlled separately from the actual handlebar steering input?

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just want to point out, I know this is nit picking so I wouldn’t really call it an area of concern so much as something to think about that I’m not sure is really dealt with (and may not need to be dealt with, hense nitpicking) Anyway…
The delay itself isn’t so important as the software can just offset when it sends the command as long as the delay is consistent. The important parts are:

  • how long it takes to ramp up or down as both too fast and too slow is bad
  • dealing with undershooting and over shooting the resistance when the erg level changes.
    As in at the end of a hard interval you don’t want to just spin out when the resistance drops and if you’re doing short intervals you don’t want to have the hard part be too short cause its not at the hard part long enough

I try to not make sense. Basically when I had it setup I felt like I was leaning a bit. So yes, I don’t like the handlebar angle controlling the lean. Not because the handlebar angle itself matters but it felt never really straight ahead

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