I’ve recently upgraded from a Wahoo Kickr Core to the Kickr Bike. Really enjoying the switch, but I’ve noticed my previous FTP of 252 from having the Core is hard to achieve and definitely much tougher on the equivalent trading plans. My FTP feels right and is evenly matched on my real world road bike using a decent power meter.
Fitness levels have been maintained and increased based on PB’s on my road bike. I’m 65kg and typically average 18 to 19 mph on a real world bike ride over 25 plus miles on hilly terrain Kickr bike settings all seem fine. Any advice please or is this something I accept and downgrade my FTP on Zwift? Thanks.
have you done an actual FTP test on the new kickr bike yet…?
no point using old number from previous trainer to set workouts on a new trainer.
power meters are not 100% accurate and the manufacturing claims are probably slightly exaggerated anyway, so expect to see a slight difference when swapping device (even on the same bike - and you are replacing the entire bike, which may also be affecting things - it will take a bit of time to get used to the new bike / positioning etc.)
also depends how often you were calibrating your trainer previously vs now etc.
long shot but also if the kickr bike is brand new, maybe it needs some time to “bed in” or w/e (i dno if that affects these things or not).
1 Like
Thanks Ben, yes FTP on Kickr bike is around 200 and when doing training plans definitely harder to maintain old FTP levels. I’ve collaborated the Kickr bike to be the same gear ratio and geometry as my road bike so most variables should be the same. Not a huge issue as really pushing myself on the training plans but sometimes the cadence to power on really high watt targets on training plans isn’t sustainable and I grind to a halt so probably need to drop my FTP numbers to get a more effective training session.
i mean a drop of 50 watts is absolutely bonkers, there’s either something very wrong with your old trainer or something very wrong with your new trainer, and without a 2nd power meter it’s impossible to know which is correct and which is not.
i reckon it’s likely you haven’t set up the kickr bike correctly, but i dont have one myself so dont know what to look for - but i’d say start off by going back into kickr bike settings wherever that is and double check everything is entered correctly.
also get in touch with wahoo support asap cos they will provide much better help than anyone here most likely and you may need to get a replacement if you can’t resolve the issue.
1 Like
Same as @John_Seaman! I’ve recently upgraded from a new Wahoo Kickr trainer v5 (bought September 2021) to a new Wahoo Kickr bike and seen a drop about 30 on my FTP. My FTP level on the v5 trainer matched my Stages power meter readings of last year on my real world bike, but I feel a big difference with the Kickr bike.
I just came from a Neo 2T to a Wahoo Bike and I feel like superman now. I can’t imagine that the Kickr reports even higher power than the bike does?
1 Like
I just switched from the Kickr to the Kickr Bike and noticed straight away during the very first warm up that the pedaling resistance felt much more consistent throughout the entire rotation of the pedal stroke compared with hooking up my road bike’s chain to the kickr rear cassette. Prior to this switch I had built up my FTP to 315 over several months of training on the Kickr. But the new FTP did not translate to the Kickr Bike – it was impossible to complete the next two structured workouts. I thought I lost nearly all the fitness built up over the 3 weeks I took off from training with the birth of our second child. At 55, I became discouraged wondering how it was possible to lose all this fitness in such a short time – was this my age finally catching up with me? LOL. Anyway, I had to adjust my FTP down 35 points to 280 to make the workouts achievable. This is kind of a bummer – I’ve relied on pairing Wahoo’s FTP numbers with the powermeter installed on my road bike for field training.
Technically, should the Kickr v5 be basically the same as Kickr Bike. I recently got the Kickr v5 and my neighbor has the Kickr Bike. But I am not 100% but the latest update for Zwift seams slower. But all in much better than my old Sarius M2
is this issue solved? I am still experiencing the same problems of low power read outs from the Wahoo bike…
Sadly not. Something I’ve just had to accept and get used to after t exhausting all options.
Any time you change power sources you’re going to see a change. It might be small, it might be big.
You’ll see this between any two power measurement devices.
The Core has a reputation to tend to read high, especially for higher power riders - but the individual variation is probably greater than the trend, so you might see opposite for any two specific trainers.
1 Like
I don’t agree. I have multiple bikes, all with Powermeters. I have had stages, now two bikes with Sram Red powermeter and a MTB with a Quarq. They all are very similar, and close to my Wahoo V5. I am not talking about 1 or 2% difference, but close to 10-15% with the Wahoo Bike. Tomorow I will discuss this with my dealer, because I does not make sense to do Zwift racing with this Wahoo bike. For training it is less relevant.
1 Like
I wonder if the factory spindown would help
the Kickr Bike does not offer a spindown option. You can’t cailbrate the bike like you can with the Wahoo Kickr Power trainers…
I got my new Kickr Bike Shift about 4 weeks ago. I immediately noticed a huge difference with my road bikes regarding power numbers.
Recent road bike power meters quark & 4iiii - Kickr numbers:
Max power:
1000watts vs 700 watts
5 sec power:
900w vs 660w (and that 1st # was during a 9hr winter ride 2 weeks ago)
30 secs power:
663 vs 507w
1min power:
476 vs 352w
Ftp: 200w vs 275w
I cycled 18k kms outside in 2023 and regularly do 4+ hrs endurance rides of around 200watts, but when trying on the Kickr bike I get exhausted within a few minutes at “200” watts.
From 6 years training with power meters, I can feel the Kickr underreporting at least 25-35%.
2 Likes