Has anyone tried spacers to resolve the problem? Seems like a low tech solution and i haven’t looked at the fit, but at least weight isn’t a consideration. thanks
Update - first ride with Park Tools assembly compound on the stem and tube - the bars didn’t drop by a millimetre over a 50 minute ride, whereas previously it would slip within minutes. Hope that’s sorted the problem and helps others. There was a lot of grease inside the tube, which presumably was the cause, although i don’t have enough experience to know whether it was obviously too much…
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I took delivery of my Wahoo KICKR Bike yesterday - set it up, and all seemed fine.
Until this morning when I connected to Zwift and started a group ride. About 3 minutes into the ride, I lost all functionality on the KICKR Bike and received an “ER 17” on the display.
After reseting it by removing the power, the same pattern continued…I ramped up the power and then the bike stopped functioning, and received the error.
Does anyone know what Wahoo’s error codes mean?
I have a suspicion that something in the resistance system is reaching a High Temp cut out - as there is a slight smell of electrical burn. However that may just be the newness of the unit.
Any help would be appreciated.
I have initiated a Ticket with Wahoo for service.
Paul
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Paul, it seems that Wahoo will be replacing your bike. What you described is not normal. What I can tell, though, that there were several times when I contacted Wahoo with questions regarding my Kickr Bike (some of them were just things which I did not understand how things work, which later were documented on their web site), and they were great in all respects. They have a very good tracking system for customer’s issues, they are knowledgeable, and they are working hard within their system to help.
When I unpacked my Kickr bike, there was no smell, and there is no indication that I ever was able to drive it to any degree of overheating. It is designed to absorb up to 2 kW of cyclists power. Definitely something is not working as it should in your unit. It is unfortunate, but it can be fixed.
I hope it will get fixed/replaced soon. Overall, it is a very nice trainer!
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Like many, I’m now on my second Kickr Bike.
First bike had the uncontrollable forward tilt error, however they replaced quite quickly (using the additional £1000 deposit option) although collection of the old bike was slow (Covid 19 delays i was told).
Three weeks on my second bike has developed the shifter problem. Contacted Wahoo and, after 3 days, got the same message as on here previously about sweat etc. Sent the required photos and am now informed that i will get new handlebars when Wahoo get some in stock next week. annoying downtime though.
It’s usually the right shifter that doesn’t work so if i change to Di2 synchro and swap the handlebar config over i can ride the full range of gears from the left shifter, at least for a while before that goes too.
Like others i believe this is the best kit out there when it’s working but i’ve only had about 6 weeks of working in 10 weeks of ownership.
here’s hoping the new handlebars work!
Just to follow up: My Kickr bike broke on 1/26/21 (dead bike blinking power brick). I wasn’t offered early shipping option with a deposit, so I had to wait until the returned bike was picked up. After a couple of snow storms and mistaken Fed Ex arrangements by Wahoo, the replacement finally arrived 2/16/21. So far so good for Bike #2.
-Chris
I have this exact same issue, and also between 3 & 4. I did have a custom gearing setup to match my specialized venge, so when I went back to the “default” setup, I think that seemed to help?
What they had me do was also start in gear 1 and shift up every 30 seconds in their wahoo app. The power curve based on that is below, and you can see the big spike between 3 & 4. It does correct itself, but is super unnatural.
Did you have any resolution from wahoo on this?
Has anyone experienced drivetrain clicking? I have an annoying click that can be more felt than heard on right pedal downstroke - typically only at cadences under 80 after at least 20 minutes of riding. Brand new SPD pedals/cleats with issue occurring prior as well.
I’ve ruled out just about everything else that I can think of. Assuming it’s an internal item that is about to bust right as warranty deadline approaches.
I’ve not heard of setting up custom gearing like that. It would be great if it worked.
I did this:
- Set it up in Shimano Di Sync (I’m a long time Dura-Ace user and SRAM shifting always fouls me up)
- 11-25 cassette
- 34-50 chainrings
- In Sync, you don’t manually shift from small chainring to the big ring, it automatically does it as you shift through the stack so the levers do the same thing on both sides, up and down.
- Then as when it goes to the big ring, there’s a jump in gearing that is similar to the usual shift between rings so you then downshift or upshift on the cassette to get to the right gear.
For instance, climbing The Alpe I usually stand before the numbered turns and put down more power because the road flattens out a little and the burst gets me started on the next pitch. When I stand, I upshift and usually it gets on the big ring but the gear is too tall for me so I downshift to cogs on the cassette and all’s right with the world; well as right as it ever is on The Alpe.
Hope that makes sense…
In the end my gears freezing issue meant I had no recourse but to pay £1k up front for them to send a replacement kickr bike.
However, I went into the app and deleted all the multiple bike gear set ups I had entered. I’d agree with Mark Crane response. I changed the gear set up for a more simple shimano one. I originally tried the 50/34 and 11/34 on the back on my real road bike… that probably led to this weird quirky problem.
I dont know why Wahoo dont just provide a simple 1 - 24 difficulty option instead of trying to replicate a normal bike. I just want a gear I can settle into at the low end or set myself up properly for a sprint at the big end.
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_D_Gafieldez, I had a similar issue and contacted Wahoo support. They were quick to reply and recommended a sequence of troubleshooting steps which is similar to Kickr Bike maintenance guide, which can be downloaded from
Please refer to page 4 of the PDF file which you can download through this link. Tightening the fixing bolt helped. I must warn you, though, that you should take extremely seriously the 3 Nm torque limit for the fixing bolt. This is an aluminum part. It is soft enough to make its hex hole very easy to damage if you insert the 5 mm metric Allen wrench not all the way in, or tighten it too much (do not ask me how I found out!). Be sure to use torque wrench and pay a lot of attention when you do it. 3 N-m is quite low torque.
Tightening other bolts on the trainer might be a good idea, too.
Regardless of anything else, these maintenance schedule should have been a part of the manual.
If this does not help, it could be bottom bracket. Clicking sounds from bottom brackets are quite common with road bikes, too. Standard Shimano BBs are quite notorious for that. Just google for it… This, however, is considered an annoyance rather than a sign of failure…
Thanks for the insight. Unfortunately, those were the first steps I attempted. Doesn’t seem to have helped. I’ll reach out to wahoo and post back here if I figure out a resolution. I was hoping trainer would not have the sound hunting that is so common on actual bikes.
_D_Garfieldez, thank you for sharing. Please keep the community updated and you are able to find a solution. Anyone of us can potentially run into this issue.
Another factor which may contribute to clicking (or lack thereof), according to my findings, is the pedaling technique. I am talking about applying torque in the right direction around the whole 360 degrees rotation cycle, as opposed to pushing hard on the pedal between 1:30 o’clock and 4:30 o’clock and just keeping foot on the pedal for the rest of the circle (this is how kids learn to pedal on bikes with flat pedals - they pedal as if they are walking up the stairs). Some cycling apps have drills for improving pedaling technique, and similar drills are described in books on cycling training. They are very simple, it is either pedaling with one foot (very low resistance) while other foot is unclipped (this forces one to apply torque around the circle of the pedals), or focusing on different phases of the revolution, one leg at a time - focus on pushing the pedal forward around 12 o’clock, then pull it back around 6 o’clock, then pull it up around 9 o’clock (BTW, that a great exercise to boost up your psoas muscle), then integrate the developed habit into a full circle smooth rotation of pedals with both feet.
When you do this, not only your pedaling efficiency increases and power losses decrease, but you also apply more balanced load to the cranks and bottom bracket. I saw a correlation with clicking or no clicking depending on how much I was focused on correct pedaling. I thought, wow, it is a good feedback for me, which reminds me to remember to continue doing the right things!
Hi All - just to close the loop on my file…after a few weeks waiting I do have a new / replacement Wahoo Bike. It’s not quite as easy in Canada since I learned Wahoo only deals through a CDN distributor. Once Wahoo assessed the problem through their Service Ticket system I was told someone in Canada would contact me within 5 biz days (and they did so late on the 5th day). In this case the Canadian Distributor is Live to Play Sports. They sent a set of boxes, I dismantled the bike (much further than how I received it), packed the bike up in the boxes, and drove it to their warehouse in Toronto, and they sent me a replacement bike. While I had the defective bike, I captured a few pics and got to the bottom of what caused the bike to stop working after a few minutes of riding after each reset.
as-found deformed fan squirrel cage
coil cooling chamber and back of circuit board
48 Volt cooling fan
looking down at the coil chamber that fan mounts to and cools.
There is an internal fan near the bottom / rear of the bike. In my case the fan must not have started the first time I hopped on the bike to set it up - and the heat generated during 4 minutes or riding it ended up melting part of the squirrel cage in the fan due to the heat rising up from a set of coils that the fan is designed to cool (directly below the fan). When I found the fan, the squirrel cage had melted and deformed enough to prevent it from turning freely inside the housing - so no further cooling was possible.
I don’t know why it failed to operate initially because it was receiving power and wanted to turn when I found it.
Hopes this helps others if they encounter the “ER17” error message on the display.
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Now 15th March - still no replacement handlebars and my Di2 hack has stopped working as both shifters have now stopped working! I can still train against ERG workouts but paying £3000 for a dumb trainer is a bit too much to bear! Wahoo should be getting these issues sorted!
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Hi Chris
Did the issue get resolved ? I have got the issue on mine and it’s all because of poor engineering and open tolerance.
I am yet to ride it and have kept the boxes.
I tighten the clamp up so much it bends the bolt to hold it.
It’s just such a crap fit.
I am going to make a nylon flat strip to go against tge flat portion of the d profile to see if that works.
£3k and I’m having to engineer it !!! Ridiculous
Actually it was not the bike as it turned out. Kicker sent me a new bike and before I unpacked it I put the new bars on the old bike and it was the post that was defective. The new post held just fine in the old bike. So if you have a problem you should request a new bar post first, it should fix the problem.
Chris Culp CRNA
We’ve had our Kickr bike about 3 1/2 months and my husband and I have ridden it less than 120 hours between the both of us. It was working great and we loved every minute on it being connected to Zwift and their world! One day, there was just no power. Checked everything and contacted Wahoo Support and they said the bike is unfixable. Gave us 2 options to get a new bike, one in which we would have to pay $1500.00 before they send us another bike and refund it once they get the old bike. This was all sent by email and I responded back, but I had questions. I’m still waiting to hear from them on a resolution and they’re not answering their phone now!! Very disappointed with their customer service for such an expensive product!! I miss riding and Zwift. I just want what we paid for!!
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I really love the idea of the kickr bike, but reading of all your experiences means that I’m definitely not getting one, at least for a while.
On the customer service topic, I think it’s disgusting that they are asking you for £1.5k deposit on a replacement. Especially when you have spent £3k on the thing in the first place.
My own experiences are with a regular kickr. I have had one for c.3 years and absolutely love it. However, I have had to return 3 of them during that time. Although I have found the customer service team to be good, their response times are frustrating when you are in winter training limbo. They have a similar level of distrust, in that they will collect your existing kickr by courier and only send out your replacement when they have received your old one. I did last time manage to get them to send me a replacement at the same time as I was returning the faulty one, but that was only because they had sent me a duff model in the first place…
The toughest thing for me is that now I’m getting on in years I just lose my fitness so quickly. This image shows my ‘Fitness’ chart from Strava during my last kickr problem period (Nov/Dec). I basically reduced from 68 to 47 over about 7 weeks of faffing around with Wahoo.
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Ruby, please keep us updated on how this goes. Mine is running fine but I want to know how things might go if this turns pear shaped.