Wahoo Kickr losses resistance on long climbs with steep grades

Hi,

Had a weird issue today which has now happened to me a couple of times and am hoping someone here can provide me some advice.

I was doing the tour de zwift stage 6 and about half way up the Alpe du zwift. Suffering away as one would expect and trying to hold about 220W in a 34-28 on a steep section. Everything working normally up till that point (about an hour and 15 mins in i think) then all of a sudden the resistance went and my watts went through the roof at 1000+ but with little resistance from the kickr

Disappointing, as it was my first time doing the Alp and wasnt feeling too bad. I wanted to do the climb under my own power rather than blast up as superman, so i stopped and did an in game calibration spindown from the pairing screen. It then worked for about a minute or so but at once the grade got above 10% the same thing happened. I stopped again and did another spindown and again it worked for a couple of minutes until a high grade section and it let go again. All in all i had to do about 10 in game spindowns just to get to the top. I would have left the game completely but wanted to finish the stage as already put in so much effort prior to the issue occurring.

So has anyone else experienced such things? Is it a zwift thing or a kickr thing? I’m guessing the latter and think the kickr just got too hot and gave up the ghost but since it was fixed briefly by a spindown there maybe something else going on that i don’t understand. This has happened to me before on the epic KOM near the top. It seems that after long climbs with high grades it is susceptible to the issue.

I’m using a Kickr 1, iPad 5th gen, Tickr X HR and Wahoo cadence sensor by the way.

Cheers, Marc

Sounds like you have a faulty KICKR time to service or replace. Call Wahoo

Thanks for the response. Yeah that’s what i was thinking and i will contact them.

I was just curious if anyone else had similar issues with a kickr on Zwift before contacting wahoo. Has anyone?

EDIT: Just in case others have same issue. It seems that this is not an isolated case as i just found people with similar issues in an archived thread (https://forums.zwift.com/t/wahoo-kickr-overheating/2040/11). I tried the fixes they sugested regarding keeping the kickr out of direct light and i also put a small usb powered cooling fan next to the kickr. So far so good and i haven’t experienced the same issue since my original post.

Cheers, Marc

Yea. I have the same problem with my Kickr Core. It started about one week ago.
In ERG mode (it hapens 1-2 time per hour) just stop pedalling for 3-5 seconds resolves the problem. But not in ERG mode. I tried to reconnect trainer and turn it off/on. Only after 5 minutes it started work properly again.

Hey sorry I know this is an old post but I wanted to add that I encountered the exact same issue. I never had any trouble until my power levels started improving and I was doing more climbing. Wahoo spindowns report wild temperatures like -52 degrees Celsius. This happened after only about 48 hours of riding over two winters, so I was out of my warranty. Wahoo said it was likely an issue with the internal thermometer and my only option was a full replace with a refurbished '17 unit for $100 more than a brand new kickr core! Needless to say I’m never buying another Wahoo product again, and recommend anyone in this price range to go with a tacx neo instead. Just compare the track records

I had exactly the same issue as the OP described. Same set of circumstances - my first climb up Alpe du Zwift; holding around 220W for about hour; 1st Gen Wahoo Kickr; sudden loss of resistance and Superman powers going up Alpe du Zwift, zooming past other riders! Although it was nice to get the super boost, I also stopped the ride without making it to the top.

I didn’t do a spindown at the time, but I did touch the flywheel and noticed it was running hot.

I will try using a fan next to the Kickr flywheel next time and see if that does enough to reduce the buildup of heat and allow me to finish AdZ.

@Marc_Robson - have you had any more occurrences of this since your last update?

Hi Adam,

Sounds exactly like the issue i had. Happened to me also on the Alpe. I haven’t had anymore occurrences since i started using the small usb cooling fan hooked up to an old power bank that is located directly behind and pointing to the flywheel. I’ve been up the Alpe a few more times without any issues whatsoever. The Gen 1 kickr is still a viable option for me. Hope you get it sorted out as it sucks to get most of the way up the Alpe and then cant finish because of a mechanical.

Cheers, Marc

I have had the same issue a few times now and it happens every time on the alpe since I moved it indoors from my cold garage, it cant just be a zwift thing as had it doing stelvio on RGT cycling too, when I exited and did a wahoo spindown the temp was 50 degrees so I’m assuming its overheated. Stripped off the flywheel and belt today and all seems normal. I have noticed that the newer versions seem to have a lot more vents. Guess I need to buy a fan.

Same issue with me, 5 k to go Alp du Zwift, PB for sure​:expressionless:, avg 220w, resistance suddenly stopped, thought I’d dropped a chain! Flywheel so hot couldn’t hold hand on it for any length of time. Next morning carried out spin down, all good​:grin:. Will take thread advice and use fan for flywheel region as well as normal 2 fans. :crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers:

Hope the extra flywheel fan works for you. Mine still holding up well and the gen 1 kickr still hanging in there without issue since I started using it.

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Cheers Marc. Appreciate your advice. Here’s hoping. Stay safe. Cheers

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I had the same issue twice past weeks. Did it with an 2018 Kickr. half way up the climb resistance drops. Goin to try it with a fan next time, thanx.

Strange thing is, i’m using the trainer outdoors under a canopy by 8 degrees celcius.