Wahoo has taken their KICKR family of indoor trainers into a next-level indoor fitness bike, by getting rid of your bike altogether. Incorporating all of the smart connectivity of their earlier trainers, the new KICKR Bike is designed to offer the ultimate indoor training experience. It easily & precisely duplicates the fit and feel of your current bike for a smoother transition from riding outside to training indoors, and no wear on your regular bike.
Wahoo KICKR Bike smart indoor training fitness bike
The new KICKR Bike is something of a cross between a gym fitness bike and the adjustable tool that bike fitters use to dial in your ideal riding position. That basically describes its key features – all of the stable performance of a fixed solid fitness bike, with an easily dialed in fit to perfectly mimic your normal riding position.
Getting that perfect fit is important, so it has easy to use QR levers to dial in handlebar stack & reach, plus saddle height & crank length. Setup is a hug deal, and the Wahoo mobile app makes it as easy as taking a picture of your standard bike to perfectly recreate your bike fit.
That easy adjustment also means multiple riders (think: husband & wife) can share one fitness bike at home with quick fit reconfiguration in less than a minute. And while the KICKR Bike comes with a bar & saddle, it uses standard components so that you can personalize your setup with your favorite cockpit & contact points.
Tech details & adjustability
Of course it is a Wahoo KICKR, so you also get premium smart reactive resistance control up to 2200W that works with interactive training systems like Zwift. It also has automatically adjusting tilt control so you simulate the feeling of up to 20% climbs and -15% descending. Integrated real power measurement gives +/-1% power accuracy, so you can track your training efforts. It also has a basic LED display that shows gear selection & lets you control tilt without external devices.
And since it is a single integrated solution, the KICKR Bike is quieter than any bike+trainer setup. An internal belt drive to the large flywheel & resistance motor offers direct power transfer, smooth & quiet operation, and a responsive feel that meshes with realistic online training environments.
Also, the single integrated solution means it is more durable than bike+trainer setups, and you don’t have to worry about any drivetrain, frame, or tire wear on your regular bike. Plus, no more covering your regular road bike in sweat when training inside of your home pain cave.
More than just adjusting your position perfectly on the fitness bike to replicate your standard bike fit, the Kickr Bike also has its own Wahoo shift/brake levers that are programmable to mimic the same action of your road bike.
The Reality Shift will mimic your actual preferred gear ratios, and can program the buttons to recreate shift patterns mimicking Shimano, Campagnolo, or SRAM electronic groups. Those special shifters also have extra buttons up top that can work with in-game features integrated in Zwift, or other future gamification – it puts a video game controller at your fingertips while you train!
As with all other Wahoo trainers, the KICKR Bike can be connected via ANT+, ANT+ FE-C & multi-connection Bluetooth to almost all of the popular virtual training programs, like Zwift, TrainerRoad, The Sufferfest, Kinomap, FulGaz, and many more. No need to calibrate it, just pair it to your cycling computer, your mobile phone, tablet, PC, TV, and ride… inside.
Pricing & availability
The new KICKR Bike indoor training fitness bike is available to pre-order starting today for $3500, with those first orders expected to ship in min October 2019. That sounds like a hefty price tag, but surely many Zwift fanatics and other riders who spend much of the year train inside will be happy to have a more solid, high-performance trainer for their home workouts. And without wearing down your regular bike, you’ll get more outside life out of your expensive electronic drivetrain.
