Heads up! The big Garmin annual spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8 (first sale to date!), $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965 at $499, the Forerunner 265, the new Instinct 3, and countless other Garmin products including inReach Mini 2. Plus the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium is on sale, and some Suunto & Wahoo product deals too. Full list & thoughts here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
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In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
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Has it been 9 years, wow. My only issue with the generic desk is it doesn’t go up further, which is sometimes needed to unblock the fans directly in front as much as possible. For high fan activities I slide that desk to the side to be able to enjoy maximal air flow from my double Vacmasters in front. (the trainer section is tucked away alongside a wall in my office, no space to put one of the fans diagonally)
PS: The gallery photos have no background, so viewing them larger is a bit… weird
Yeah, that’s the gallery provided in the media pack (all transparent PNG’s). I put a background on the main post image, but they didn’t include any actual ‘lifestyle’ imagery showing it without transparent backgrounds.
:-/
I got my generic desk 6.5cm higher by drilling a couple of holes in the lower legs where the height adjusting nubs engage. There’s still plenty length of engagement between the upper and lower leg and it would be possible to go even higher. It’s pretty easy to do.
That had never occured to me but thanks for the idea, after a quick drilling session now I have 2 more levels (I think the first one will be enough as I kept them the same distance apart as the other ones, second one is encroaching on the bike quite a lot)
– Adds wheel locks (and goes from 3 wheels to 4 wheels)
4th wheel ships Q2 2025
🙂
…always be pot stirring…😂
I doubt I’ll be “upgrading” – doesn’t really seem much point.
That said the rubbery surface on my Kickr desk has started to degrade / disintegrate in places – anyone else had this? – it’s maybe 6 years old, am thinking maybe condensation from bottles or UV or something has killed it.
“a power street” (from the paragraph about Elite desk) probably should be “a power strip”.
I mean, it’s kinda a street too. A street of power for your devices…
Your link to the $110 desk on Amazon end up with a £266 or £284 version on their UK site. Which makes the Wahoo desk look cheap.
This is same desk at a considerably lower £140.
Still overpriced for something so simple and cheap to make.
link to amazon.co.uk
And to prove my point, here’s the same desk that is in the two links above, but for just £42. The key difference is that I found the cheap one in home office furniture, not the sports department.
link to amazon.co.uk
Yup, welcome to the wonderful world of Amazon product ID’s, and automated redirection.
Essentially, Amazon US assigns a product ID (the B0BC79VPQ2 part of the Amazon.com link) to each product. However, Amazon European sites give a different product ID. Generally speaking, across the EU sites, those are the same. However, the UK site is the wildcard, and sometimes it matches and sometimes not. Then you get to all the other Amazon countries (e.g. Singapore, etc…), which ironically sometimes match the US Amazon ID, and sometimes not.
In the DCR product database, I start with the US ID. For popular products, I can manually add in each other country product ID. Else, I can let Amazon do their yolo redirection, where it attempts to match on name or some other cosmic attribute.
Ironically, this generic trainer desk is kinda the one product in the database that has solidly broken it, as you’ve illustrated. Not only are there unique ID’s per country by different no-name rebrands, but even worse, they change constantly. I can deal (easily) with the different ID’s, but years of trying to chase each new ID each time one no-name company disappears and the new no-name company appears is never-ending. After all, it’s all the exact same trainer desk, just different no-name brands.
Finally, on that 48GBP UK one, note the delivery time is out to as late as June 2025 (plus at least for me also showing a 35GBP delivery fee). Sigh…
Ah yes. I didn’t notice the ‘usually delivered within 3-7months’ on the cheapest one.
Another curiosity is that the 4 wheel version is the cheapest option on the the £140 desk and the more expensive option on the £266 desk.
And the cheapest option that I linked that was in Home office desks is now back in sports/cycling department, according to breadcrumb trail. 🤷🏻♂️
Oh the £42 desk was free delivery for prime members, I’m in UK. So maybe that’s the difference.
So which desk is your favorite then? Especially for a cramped home gym where shared space is at a premium?
I really like the KOM one (link to amazon.com). The generic ones are the most stable (well, Wahoo’s is too, but setting that aside). But the KOM one is awesome in a tight space. We used it in the heat chamber for exactly that reason, super tight space. And before that I used it inside our shed for a while.
The only downside to the KOM one is positioning it relative to your front wheel (being single-pole design), but having it simply offset is totally fine for me.
I love that I can pack it up to basically the size of a folded tripod (as shown in my review, in the cargo bike). So yeah, it’s my preference for small spaces for sure.
With all the riding you do on trainers, do you have a favorite sweat guard for the bike?
Honestly never had a need for one. I find simply leaving the fan on after my ride for a bit takes care of any remaining sweat.
Are these things sturdy enough to hold the lasko fan as well as the tablet? I like my fan at body level, not at the floor.
It’s a tight fit in terms of space for other stuff, but definitely. Designed for 22kg/50lbs of weight.
This may be a bit non-sequitur-ish but in a way, the release of this desk at this price with this amount of lack of features has just convinced me to NOT buy an Element Ace in the future.
A company that cannot even compete in a market they created, by bringing out yet another half-baked item that does nothing to entice the replacement of a desk I already own does not give me any confidence at all in the future of their bike computer.
I assume they simply finally ran out of stock on their old desk and faced with placing a reorder decided to throw a couple features at it to stay in the market but come on. In 2024 I should have to plug in one plug on my desk. EVERYTHING else should be run from desk. EVERYTHING else!
I should also be able to mount or attach their fan in such a way that it does not block airflow and can move the desk with the fan attached. Dropping the fan legs over the front is also just as, and has been, half-baked since inception.
Wahoo, do you even ask regular wahoo users what they want?
There’s also the Decathlon desk. It doesn’t have an adjusting height but it’s more compact and stores more easily than the other options. I have been using one for almost two years, and for my use case it *just works*
It could be cheaper tough…
They usually put it on sale around summer. I got one for almost nothing.
Are the new slots wider? to be able to fit a tablet/phone with a case?
This is a major design flaw on the first version.
Phones and tables without a case may look great on marketing material but not so in real life.
The cheaper version (a lot cheaper BTW) that was being sold at UK bike online stores, had that figured out long time ago, not to mention they also had cup holders and wheel locks…
I was also wondering whether they made those slots wider to accommodate tablets with a case. the original ones were too thin.
Why have they put the cup holders at the back again? It just means that I have to reach further each time to get my bottle or jelly babies!
No USB-C port makes it an absoloute no go for me anyway.
Any idea if anyone took up the mantle of the “Lifeline Pro Trainer Desk” that you reviewed?
Are they somehow also angry with you about the treadmill? Really wanting to see the review of the final product!
I don’t think it’s anger on that one. It’s more of a logistical challenge of getting a unit to Europe, where they don’t yet have units.
That’s the one I’m most excited about, as on specs (and my first runs last year), it was awesome. Aside from people upset about the power requirements (which aren’t an issue for me personally), I haven’t heard anything bad yet from real users.
So Wahoo built the original desk, copycats improved it for less than half the price and now Wahoo simply copies the copycats for still double the money?
Even if you give them credit for improving tablet holding functionality now, how many people spend $200+ on a desk but don’t have a smart bike that offers a dedicated space for tablets?
My current desk is getting pretty rusty after 6+ years of use so I might replace it soon. But certainly not with the new Wahoo desk.
Is it compatible with the ACE air sensor tho? It might block the air from the fan and mess up the data. Maybe the 2033 version… 😏
Many thanks for another fun year of news, reviews, and chews!! Cheers! 🎄⛄
I use a Tacx Bracket for Tablets. 3D printed to hold my iPad Pro. Perfect.
100% agree. I have the generic Amazon one, and there is absolutely no value-add for the more expensive Wahoo branded one, so why would anyone bother?
The bracket on the leg is meant to hold the rear wheel.
I actually ordered this from a reseller and it was delivered last week. A few key notes:
1. As someone pointed out, the hooks on both sides are a nice little touch to store the rear wheel (and front wheel if using the Kickr Climb)
2. This is my setup in CO, so I can’t verify tonight, but I don’t think there are locks on the wheels. I specifically looked for that and was shocked the wheels didn’t lock.
3. One of the things I actually liked about the v1, which I have here in NC, is the fan fit over the wheel and frame very nicely. It all looked like it was meant to go together. The V2, like the knock offs, is too high to use the fan like before. Does that mean a new fan is coming?
In summary, it will do the trick. However, I can’t believe there is no way to lock the wheels (unless somehow I totally missed this), and the fan feature is gone.
Interesting, in the imagery the two front wheels looked like they had step-on wheel locks. A shame if they don’t. :(
Also solidly sucks the fan doesn’t sit over the top given that was a bit selling point of the unit before. Like, huh?
And nice catch on wheel holders, it wasn’t in any of their media kit pics, and their site doesn’t show it yet. But, I found it in the V2 assembly manual.
Thanks for the pic!
Four years ago, I bought two “generic” desk stands, based on your recommendation in one of your pieces, for myself and my wife. Anyhow, they’re still going strong and we love them. They’re sturdy, hold drink bottles, a laptop, phone, remotes, and nicely fit a 20″ Lasko High Velocity floor fan under them.
I’ll gladly pay a premium price for something if I think is worth it. But in this case the batter product and value (by far) is not the Wahoo desk stand.
I’ve had my V1 desk for 3 years next month, same time I bought my KICKR Bike V1, and the WAHOO mat to go beneath. Paid full price for all of them, sure it was too much. But if I were buying any of these again, I’d buy exactly the same, bar none.
I could care less about ANY electrical parts in the table. Needless complication, in my opinion. I use a laptop for riding apps, set my phone alongside on the table, with maybe some gel or food. Bottle goes in the KICKR Bike bottle holder. Towel rests on my handlebars where I’m constantly grabbing to wipe my face on harder rides.
I don’t care about wheel locks, since part of the function of the table is that I can roll it out away from me when I want to, or bring it up close when I want to work on the laptop and need to reach the keyboard comfortably. I would never lock the wheels anyway.
I’ve traveled with both KICKR Bike and the Desk in my car for vacations long enough to justify having it with me, and the desk breaks down easily and stows pretty well.
Everyone’s setup is different, but mine is perfect as is.
If the slots for phones or tablets was wider to hold a phone with a case on it, that WOULD be better, but laying it flat is all I need. They SHOULD have fixed that long ago, but 🤷.
I’m actually happy they dropped the price to $200 instead of $300 that they were before. I’ve been burned by Amazonian fails too many times to trust them for this kind of item.
Like I said, I would buy it again without a second thought.
This is a very important addition.
For me more important than virtual rain, virtual wind or virtual shifting.
If I watch TV or youtube during indoor training this is a wonderful place for drink, banana, computer wireless mouse and keyboard and TV remote control.
this one is only 55€ at decathlon – Table Home trainer Van Rysel
Oh, that’s a nice one, I like the stability of that better (than the other Decathlon one I’ve seen).
Shouldn’t cup holders be at the front 🤔
I’ve just used a medical bed side table for the past 5 years and it works great! $50. I recently “upgraded” it by mounting a desktop power strip with 4 plugs & 4 USB ports.
I can’t imagine spending hundreds on stuff like this.
Has anybody tried this table from ikea: link to ikea.com
If it doesn’t have any obvious drawbacks I would maybe give it a shot as it fits better from an interior design perspective.
Great to see some innovation on the Wahoo Kickr Desk front. :-)
For me an indoor trainer desk is an absolute must have, even for short 1 – 1,5 hour training sessions. I like the “system view” that Wahoo always takes, which drives a better integration focus for the different products.
Personally I’m using the Lifeline variation as of 2021 and without any issues of wear, for my use cases. :-)
What is the exact width between the legs? Have tried to find this for the V1 and generic stands, bit was never sure if the measurement was center-to-center distance or inside-to-inside distance between the legs. The 1/2” or so makes a critical difference as to whether my preferred high-speed floor fan will fit between the legs or not.
Just here to show my appreciation for use of the word “contraption”.