Wahoo Fitness KICKR Core Smart Trainer, Black

Product Information

And speaking of general problems for Elite, when doing turbo sessions without erg mode, I found it was quite easy to end up running out of gears and spinning out. Even with a 50x11t combination – actual road, not gravel – I had to pedal uncomfortably fast to hold 250w.

Kickr Core Smart Trainer - road.cc Wahoo Kickr Core Smart Trainer - road.cc

Power meters aren’t real big in my circle of riders (cx, mtn, and gravel) but from analyzing some zwift data from guys with power meters (like at Chequamegon) it looks like I’m pulling a lot more outdoor watts than indoor. In my case I used three different bike setups, though the majority of time was spent on setups #1 and #2 below: With the Direto XR-T, if you drop your cadence slightly, it will immediately ramp up the resistance – in turn, often causing another drop in cadence and thus precipitating something of a death spiral of ever increasing resistance. Do ensure that you set the wheel size on the combination using the Wahoo App, that way it knows how much it can descend properly. It only takes a second to do:

Wahoo Kickr Core Smart impressions

As you can see, overall things are very close – at least for most of the steady-state sections. The three big spikes you see in the middle there are supposed to be 800w efforts held for 10-seconds per the workout. I failed to achieve that, so I ended up around 700w. I know full well I can’t hold 800w for 10-seconds except on the bestest of awesome days. This was not one of those days. Speaking of the Wahoo app, it’s here that you can turn on or off a handful of settings. One most notable setting I like to turn off is ERG mode smoothing. While this sounds great (and pretty, and it is), it essentially falsifies data from an accuracy standpoint and makes everything look perfect. So I always turn it off. But for most people (that aren’t doing accuracy testing), you can leave it on without any impact.

Wahoo KICKR Core Review - Is It Worth it? - Bicycle Guider Wahoo KICKR Core Review - Is It Worth it? - Bicycle Guider

In terms of the turbo’s resistance when winding up a sprint, there’s a nice, even sensation to it, reducing the number of gear shifts you need to make compared to other trainers – such as the Tacx Neo 2T in particular. The main benefit is to save wear on your drivetrain and allow you to focus on the effort, more than coordinating shifts. On the other hand, this super fast ramping up of the resistance is great for rolling courses on Zwift, with sudden and repeated gradient changes. Combined with the option of pairing this turbo with a riser unit (not reviewed), Elite stands to offer a pretty immersive virtual riding experience.

Once again the two power figures are very close and within 3%. This is where we often see some discrepancies, but no issues with the Core providing reliable and accurate data. Any thoughts? I cannot keep up with my real world group riders (similar strength) on zwift anymore, I’m getting dropped HARD and fast. Smart trainers at the lower end of the price scale tend to compromise on things such as power accuracy and noise levels, but should still offer an immersive experience. High maximum power outputs or leg-breakingly steep gradients are nice to have, but far from essential, so don’t be swayed by on-paper spec alone. Do you really need a trainer capable of handling a 2,000-watt sprint?

KICKR Core Smart Turbo Trainer | Wiggle Wahoo KICKR Core Smart Turbo Trainer | Wiggle

Part of the attraction of turbo trainers is that they are easy to fold up and store once you've finished your session. But if you are looking for a more permanent indoor setup, then our guide to the best exercise and best smart bikes should help you decide what sort is right for you.

One benefit of a traditional setup like this is that it’s nice and compact when folded down and takes little time to drop your bike into place (although, unlike a direct-drive trainer, the wheel-on design may wear down your rear tyre). So far so good, but the flipside to this is that when riding in erg mode and doing a session such as 20/40s or 10x1min – anything where there’s a big power differential – you can quietly easily end up in something of a ‘death spiral’ of ever increasing resistance as you struggle to spin your legs up to speed. However, many indoor cycling apps, including Zwift, automatically set the difficulty level to 50 per cent, so a 10 per cent ‘real life’ gradient will feel like five per cent on a smart trainer. Real world evidence: I group ride w/ gravel grinders and race locally at the Elite/Pro XC Mtn bike level. I know my power compared to others. It isn’t matching up in the digital world. I do not have a power meter on my outdoor bikes though.