Upgraded Trainer

Kickr on the Karma

I’ve been looking at the Wahoo Kickr since it was first announces, and finally pulled the trigger and replaced original mag trainer we purchased back in 2000 over the Christmas holidays. It’s been a lot of fun so far, and I’m using it primarily in conjunction with Trainerroad. Trainerroad workouts set the resistance on the Kickr via Bluetooth/ANT+  so that as you move into different power intervals, no mater what cadence you are pedaling, it forces you to produce the prescribed power output. This works great for longer intervals as it sets the Kickr in ERG mode to accomplish this. Not so good for quick short sprint intervals and so for this workouts I switch it to “Standard” mode and it behave like a fluid trainer with variable resistance settings and non-linear, exponential power curves, the faster you pedal, the more resistance is applied.

I’ve tried the Wahoo Segments app on the iPad which allows you to ride Strava segments on the trainer and compete against anyone on the leaderboard. The surprising thing is how quickly the app changes the Kickr resistance to correspond to the Strava data. The app displays the elevation profile, but this is no replacement for visually seeing where you’re riding. I found my self shifting like a mad man to manage the power demands on my 1st attempt. Turned out to be a very draining 25 minute workout, actually more like a race that a workout.