I have Brand X road bike with 7 gears, with a Lifeline fluid TT-02 fluid trainer, with added lifeline sensors. I was thinking of upgrading to a Zwift one hub to get extra virtual gears, more resistance and automatic ramping for hill climbs. Does anyone know if my bike will fit the Zwift one hub or can suggest similar cost / cheaper alternative.
The cog on the trainer is designed for 8-12 speed chains. Most likely your bike will fit (I assume the axle width is at least 130mm - that is the minimum). If the bike has a wide 7 speed chain, you may need to install an 8 speed chain on it. If for any reason it doesn’t work well with the single-gear cog, you can still put a 7 speed cassette on the trainer. Some extra spacers would be required for that to work but it’s possible.
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Thanks, that really helps. The space vetween the drop outs is exactly 130 mm, so hopefully that will work. How can I find out what type of chain it is?
If you have a vernier caliper you can measure the outside width of the chain. An 8 speed chain is typically like 7 - 7.1mm wide. A 7 speed chain is typically 7.3 - 7.4mm wide. 5-8 speed chains have the same internal width so 8 speed chains are generally usable on bikes with fewer gears (as long as the gap between the front chainrings isn’t so great that a chain with narrower outer width can get trapped between the chainrings). Many chains on 7 speed bikes are actually 6/7/8 speed compatible so they are really 8 speed chains. Hard to guess what yours is without knowing the exact make/model of the chain.
There will be less room between the plastic guides on the Cog for a wider chain (even an 8 speed chain) so in any case you’ll need to have good chain line to avoid rubbing.
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Thank Paul. That’s really helpful. I’ll borrow some vernier callipers from work and measure the chain. Should be all good to go then.
One last question. You mentioned adding spacers. If I need some later, where do I get them from?
You can get them from a bike shop, online bike parts retailer, Amazon, etc.
This document from Wahoo describes the spacers necessary (1.8mm + 4.5mm for 7 speed). The dimensions of the freehub body on the Wahoo trainer should be the same as on the Zwift Hub. (Note that the Zwift Hub One has been discontinued and replaced with a Wahoo Kickr Core but in terms of compatibility they should be the same.)
That’s great. Many thanks Paul
Just in case any one else has a Brand X road bike and is thinking of getting a Zwift one hub I can recommend it. It fits perfectly with no adjustments needed and runs very smoothly. The trainer is very quiet, can mimic gradients of 16%+ and gives realistic power data. The best thing now though is that thanks to the virtual gears I now have 24 gears at my disposal as opposed to the few I could realistically use when I had it on a Lifeline TT-02 fluid trainer.
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Hi, i also have a brand x bike and wanted to know if there would be a difference between the Zwift one hub and the Wahoo kickr core zwift one and if the brand x would still work on the new version the same?
Any information would be appreciated
I have not researched this but I really can’t see why the brand x bike wouldn’t also work with the new wahoo version.