Wahoo Kickr2 or Kickr Snap...

[parajba]

Hi all,

In the market for a good trainer to keep for many years and to be paired with some BePro S pedals. Main units will be iPhone/iPad/Edge520.

Narrowed it down to these 2 products.

Given the price difference of £500 (in the UK the Snap can be had for £450-£470), how do the two trainers really compare? I watched many online reviews, including DCRainmaker, but I am still undecided. Anything that can push out 700W is plenty of me so both qualify.

Does the Kickr2 warrant an extra £500? I only tried a Tacx Satori a while ago and was shocked by the terrible experience. I am thinking how can a traditional trainer like the Snap possibly be night and day better than the Satori. Btw, I am not planning to have a dedicated turbo tyre and all my bikes have identical set-ups (SRAM 10 sp).

Whilst money is not a big issue, after all cycling is my passion, a £500 saving could go towards my next set of wheels.

Any advice is really appreciated.

[cloudnine]

Might not be of much help, but I had the 1st version of the Kickr and a Bushido Smart before that. I sold the Kickr and got the Neo Smart and I never looked back. It's a considerable sum more than the kickr but it is worth the money in my opinion.

The kickr I purchased had an unaligned belt which caused it to brush along side the pulley and caused it to tear the edges of the belt and it became unusable. My local dealer was of no use as they had no spares, I e-mailed Wahoo and to their credit, the service was great. They were gonna send me a new belt until they found out I live in Asia so they said they do not ship internationally. Long story short I got to use the kickr for a 1 hour zwift session before the belt finally gave up. I had to go to the local Gates dealer and have them custom cut me a belt as a replacement. I used it for another 5 months with no issues but when I tried the Neo Smart I was sold.

I heard the new flux trainer from tacx is launching soon too, might want to consider that along with the kickr as it's both direct drive with a belt and flywheel.

[aqualelaki]

I have a Kickr (1 set generation) and have tried Kickr Snap. Kickr's flywheel is heavier and that makes a different in terms of road feeling experience. You can decide easily if you try both of them

[parajba]

Thanks both, I should probably try them out before buying you are right. Just a bit of a challenge sometimes.

Re the Flux, I read it has some belt design issues (there are quite a few videos/comments surfacing on YouTube...). Admittedly I am not a big fan of Tacx as I find their sw division a mess, and with so much technology going into these gadgets, well, I don't trust them.

[AJS914]

I was thinking about a Kickr Snap ($550) until I found a Tacx Vortex Smart for $340. DC Rainmaker says that all of these mid-level trainers are basically the same - that he didn't recommend one over the other.

The nice thing is that this generation of trainers all do ANT+ FE-C protocols and pretty much any software can control them.

[parajba]

I see, so the Vortex and the Snap in essence provide an identical experience? Wow. I don't have electricity in my shed (I would have to run an extension), so I might consider the Bushido for the convenience of it (or a Vortex with an extension).

[AJS914]

The "experience" between my new Tacx and my 30 year old Minoura mag trainer is just about the same except the Tacx is slightly smoother and controlled by a computer rather than a lever and cable.

If you don't have power, what is your goal for a "smart" trainer? I'm going go down the route of a big screen in front of me and probably Zwift or some other software that creates a more immersive experience.

[jmaccyd]

Got a mate who has just got the new Tacx and he has a belt fault on it after a couple of weeks and it will have to go back. Just a heads up.

[parajba]

Thanks all. Almost decided to get a Vortex (£300 new) given that I am also buying a powermeter (BePro S). Goal is to use TrainerRoad to do structured interval training. These 2 are still cheaper than a Kickr.

[parajba]

Went to my LBS and tried both Kickr2 and Snap. For a wheel-on the Snap is excellent, but the Kickr was simply amazing so I bought a Kickr instead. I find the direct drive a lot easier to use. It's a lot of money but it will be an invaluable training aid that will accompany me for many years. With this thing you could do all sorts of things from base training to intervals and everything in between. Coupled with TrainerRoad and Zwift it's like having a full time coach.

[reknop]

If you tend towards the Snap you should also consider the Tacx Flux direct drive trainer: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/08/tac ... ainer.html