Kickr Vibration on Rug

I just bought 2 kickr’s and kickr climb’s from zwift last week and I set them up. I bought a cheap rug to put underneath of them. Should I get a rubber mat or something as I’m getting a lot of vibration noise when pedalling in the tougher gears. I’m not sure what to do, should I get a level out and try to level it better? Drivetrain is slightly dirty from fall use but nothing crazy. I have hardwood floors, and the noise is like this resonating vibration. Is this just common with trainers?

How old is your chain? An old stretched out chain on a new cassette will cause a lot of vibration as it is not seating correctly on the new cassette.

Bike is a '19 Topstone that I got back in…July? I put some miles on it this summer/fall but nothing crazy. Probably 400-500miles? Is that a lot?

No, chain should last at least 1000 miles. Did you put the same gear ratio cassette on the Kickr that you have on your bike? Are you getting the same result on both Kickrs with the same bike?

Same issue for the most part with both bikes, Warroad '19 is the other. I haven’t switched the bikes around, mostly because it wasn’t fun the first time. I guess logically that does lend me to believe perhaps a mat might help? Unlikely I have 2 bad setups, bikes or kickr’s.

I’m not sure what type of installation help Zwift provides, but you should give them a call.

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Well, Kickrs were infamous for several issues and one of them was strong vibration, known as “drone sound” (not sure if this problem was really fixed or persists). Mostly it appeared at higher speeds - when flywheel was spinning really fast … so mostly on downhills or on flat roads when pedaling hard. My Kickr suffered from the same issue - firstly it appeared as a weak sound/vibration but after two or three weeks became really strong and loud and nasty. As far as I was able to recognize (I dismantled it and check inside) there was problem with bearing - nothing you can fix at home. I returned it to seller.

I’m not saying your problem is the same, but it could be one option … google for Kickr drone sound for more info.

GdF

It’s just strange, it gets worse as I pedal harder and it’s this kind of rubbing/vibration, it only happens when I pedal. My thru axle need more grease? I didn’t want to but I guess I’ll take this thing off and clean it from head to toe. Just to rule that out.

In my case (described above) greasing thru axle wouldn’t help at all. But, let me state again: IN_MY_CASE. My Kickr’s problem was caused by internal bearing - flywheel one. Poor quality and probably wrong size. Nothing you can fix by greasing thru axle.

But I honestly believe your issue is caused by something else. In my case the vibration came when flywheel was spinning really fast. As I’m poor and weak cyclist it happened often while descending - like from Epic KOM (as even low effort makes higher speeds). Then you could hear and FEEL strong vibrations - coming from trainer, literally through bike frame, floor etc … On the other hand, when I was climbing - ie. pedal, but low cadence & low speed, it didn’t happen at all.

I had to adjust the derailleur a bit when using it on the Kickr vs. riding with the rear wheel outside. The chain wasn’t lined up perfectly centered on the cassette cogs of the Kickr, and that adds noise and vibration.

Not all wheels position the cassette cog in the same place down the the fraction of a millimeter. If you have multiple rear wheels from different brands, you may have experienced this outdoors. Same thing when you put your bike on a wheel-off trainer.

Good to know, would switching the cassette to the one that is on my topstone wheel have the same effect?

Having the same exact cassette make/model on the trainer & your rear wheel may help a little, but that’s not the real problem.

Gonna nerd out on bikes for a second, but the real issue is the axle end on the right side (rider’s right) of the wheel or trainer. If the right side axle end on the trainer is say, 1.0 mm longer vs. the wheel, then net result is the entire cassette stack is shifted to the left by 1.0 mm. A milllimeter doesn’t sound like much, but it could be enough to throw the adjustment of your derailleur off and cause this constant noise in every gear.

A bike shop is tuning the derailleur to a specific rear wheel. Over time, cable stretch can cause the derailleur to go out of tune with that same wheel. Since this is a new-ish bike, I’d suggest you take it to your local shop and ask them for a followup tune using the trainer instead of the rear wheel.

Any good mechanic should be able to demonstrate how a few quarter-turns on the adjustment barrel can be used to dial your derailleur indoors vs outdoors. It’s not a big deal once you understand how it works.

So you think it might be worth my while to take it to a bike shop and see if they can tune it to the trainer?

@Chris_Zimmerman
I think it might, but I’m assuming the source of the noise is a slightly misadjusted derailleur. A ~6 month old bike with ~500 miles is a prime candidate for a derailleur that’s slightly out of adjustment due to a new cable that’s stretched out.

Others have suggested valid alternative theories. Wahoo did have a generation of trainers that developed a high speed vibration, so it might be that as well. Here again - a good technician at your local Wahoo dealer should be able to offer a firsthand opinion on this possibility.

I can’t emphasize enough the value of a good local technician. Finding a good bike shop is like dating - sometimes you have to visit a few of them, but when you find your “people,” you hold on to that one.

Hey, did you ever get this resolved?

I just bought a wahoo kickr Core. I put a new chain and cassette on that exactly matches my road setup (same bike), and re-indexed gears. Whenever I get to ~210Watts I get a low level vibration too. I don’t believe it’s a cassette/deraliour issue. It definetely feels like it’s coming from the wahoo.

Hi, did you ever get this problem solved, if so what did you do?

I have a 2 wk old Core and get the same vibration feel when going over 200wat, it also seems like the chain is vibrating up and down which could be the cause. I swapped chain and having the same issue.

I have wahoo involved but so far it’s just sending them videos.

The OP’s situation definitely sounds like a trainer specific issue. The KICKR has a 10.5 lb. flywheel spinning at high speed. Some of these flywheels are better balanced than others. I’ve had several KICKR’s and some of them shook the entire house. Wahoo support is fantastic. They measure the vibration levels of their returned/refurbished units and sent me one with a lower level of vibration. But it’s not perfect.

The speed at which you get the resonance will depend on your set-up - mostly on what’s underneath your trainer. If your trainer is over a soft spot in the floor, the resonance will occur at a lower speed.

My trainer is set-up in the room next to a sleeping child, so I added an isolation platform made from 3/4" plywood and appliance isolation pads. That sits on top of a vibration absorbing mat, which is on carpet with thick carpet padding underneath. And that’s over a wooden floor.

Another thread on this topic → Am I going to get an angry knock my door

Having read the older posts here i’m going to be very pedantic/nerdy/geeky for a second, just indulge me for a second!

technically chains don’t “stretch” they wear which makes the gaps between the pins slightly bigger so they don’t seat properly on the teeth of the cassette.

Same for cables, they don’t stretch, what actually happens is that everything bedss in a bit, the ferrules move further over the cable outers and they push a bit further into the frame fittings. The end result is the distance the cable has to travel is slightly shorter which gives the same end result of the cable being slightly longer.

truing gears is actually quite an easy skill to learn. If your bike struggles to change from smaller gears to bigger ones on the cassette then, looking from behind the bike, turn the barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur a quarter turn to the left. If this doesn’t work try another quarter turn until it works. if it doesn’t move from bigger to smaller do quarter turns to the right. As long as you adjust a small amount at a time and remember how many turns you have done you’ll be able to put it back if it doesn’t work and you’ll be no worse off.

I only use my bike on the trainer. Should I be changing my chain every 1500kms? That seems like a short life.

Uae a chain checker tool regularly to see when your chain has stretched enough to warrant replacing. I don’t think that fixed intervals make any sense, because everyone’s usage is.different.