Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 In-Depth Review: The Best Option?

It’s been a bit over 2 months since Wahoo announced the KICKR CORE 2, and in that time both myself and my wife have put an absolute boatload of miles on it (or, kilometers) to see where it works well, and where it falls short. After all, the Wahoo KICKR CORE 1 was a mainstay in the trainer industry for 7 years. I’d struggle to think of many products in the sports tech realm that have that kind of staying power.

Thus the question is, will the KICKR CORE 2 remain around that long as well? And more importantly at the moment – are the changes worth it, for either existing owners or owners of other smart trainers. And lastly, does it work as described? After all, it’s exceptionally rare for me to go out and buy another copy of a product during the review cycle, because I have concerns about the loaner one that was sent to me. While I virtually always buy my own copies later to replace the loaner ones, the circumstances here were pretty unique.

In any case, let’s dig into things!

What’s New & Key Tech Specs:

First up, let’s run through what’s new about the KICKR CORE 2, compared to the now 7-year old KICKR CORE 1. That thing went the distance, so kudos there. But it was also getting a bit long in the tooth. Here’s what’s new:

– Added WiFi connectivity (helps in certain environments, and auto downloads firmware updates
– Added Race Mode (faster update rate)
– Added ‘Sensor Hub’, aka Bluetooth bridging, helpful for Apple TV users especially
– Added secure/bonded/encrypted Bluetooth pairing for EU security compliance (EU RED)
– Added new trainer LED’s for trainer/WiFi status
– Tweaked the legs to be flat shaped (versus rounded previously)

As you can see above, the main thing here is really the addition of WiFi, Race Mode, and the Sensor Hub. The WiFi helps keep it up with others in this price range, who were undercutting Wahoo (namely JetBlack and to a lesser degree Elite), adding in Wahoo & Race Mode, but not having the global reach of Wahoo (in terms of support/distributors/etc…). Obviously, but from a core trainer design standpoint, it really hasn’t changed any. This was about electronics swapping, and better assembly. And that’s fair enough.

In any case, here’s the main specs in a simple guide:

– Direct drive trainer: This means you remove your rear wheel
– Flywheel: It has a flywheel weight of 11.9lbs/5.4kg
– Cassette: Equipped with either Zwift COG or 11-speed (11-28) cassette (also compatible with 8-13 speed cassettes – some cassette types will require adapter)
– Sound: Essentially silent. Only the sound of your drivetrain is heard
– Handle: Sadly, still no
– Flexible Feet for Motion/Sway: No
– Protocol Compatibility: ANT+ FE-C, ANT+ Power, Bluetooth Smart Trainer Control, Bluetooth Smart Power (everything you need), Direct Connect WiFi, Zwift Protocol
– WiFi: Yes, built-in, Direct Connect to all apps via WiFi
– Zwift Race Mode: Yes, 10 Hz in WiFi (and Bluetooth for Zwift)
– Heart Rate Bridging: Can rebroadcast your heart rate sensor within a single channel, ideal for Apple TV Zwift users (who are Bluetooth channel limited), as well as some Zwift controller bridging compatibility.
– App Compatibility: Anything and everything
– Skewer Compatibility: All the skewers and adapters you could ask for: Road 130mm, 135mm, 142x12mm, 148x12mm
– KICKR CLIMB Compatible: Yes
– Max Incline: 16% simulated grade
– Max Wattage: 1,800 watts resistance
– Stated Accuracy: < +/2.0%
– Max Rider Weight: 250lbs/113kg
– Unit Weight: 30lbs/13.6kg
– Power Cable Required: Yes, power block compatible with 100-240v
– Pricing: $549USD / €549EUR / £499GBP

As you can see, the specs otherwise remain in the mostly mid-tier category for trainers. What’s interesting here is that the KICKR CORE had started out 7-years ago in the mid to high-tier range. But with the KICKR CORE 2, this puts it solidly in the mid-tier realm, to just slightly lower than that, depending on which specs you look at. For example, the Elite Rivo is at 18% incline, though lower overall wattage. The JetBlack Victory is at the same 16%, though at $150 lower price-point ($399USD).

But point is, I do wonder if Wahoo could have increased the specs a little bit here, to give this trainer longer staying power. There’s no way these specs will hold up another 7-years, unless the competitors just give-up altogether. However, perhaps Wahoo knows that, and would prefer to get back into an every 2-3 year cycle, to encourage upgrades. In any case, more on competitors later on.

The Two Core Models:

While it might be obvious that there are effectively two models of the KICKR CORE 2, I wanted to call that out, and be a bit more clear on it. Under the covers, they are the same units, and you can always switch cassettes later (it’s the same software/etc…). But from a purchasing standpoint, you do need to make a choice upfront:

A) KICKR CORE 2 with Zwift COG/CLICK
B) KICKR CORE 2 with standard 11-speed cassette

Again, you can always switch from the cassette version to COG/CLICK later, or vice versa. Likewise, you can switch from an 11-speed cassette to a 12-speed cassette later too, which is actually exactly what I did.

In short, here’s why you’d purchase one version versus the other:

KICKR CORE 2 with Zwift COG/CLICK: The Zwift COG means that it works with basically any-speed bike. Thus, I can put on my 12-speed road/triathlon bike, but also my 13-speed gravel bike, and even an older 11-speed bike. Zero issues with that, whereas a normal non-Zwift COG cassette means I have to swap the cassette between bikes in order to get shifting in the rear cassette. However, the downside to Zwift COG/CLICK is that it officially only works with Zwift for virtual shifting. Thus, if you use other 3rd party platforms (e.g. Rouvy, Kinomap, TrainingPeaks Virtual, etc…), they don’t officially support virtual shifting. For structured workouts in ERG mode, no shifting is required. So, you can use all those apps, including TrainerRoad, without any issues on the Zwift COG/CLICK in a structured workout. And likewise, if you’re willing to yolo it, apps like Rouvy have made virtual shifting work on their platform too, though, it’s possible it could be broken by Zwift with a software update.

KICKR CORE 2 with standard cassette: In this case, you’ll need the cassette for your bike. By default, it comes with an 11-speed cassette, which is the most widely used cassette type for older bikes. But if you’ve got a newer road bike, it’s almost certainly a 12-speed. Cassettes cost about $50, and the tools another $10-$15, so it’s not a huge deal to swap it out. That’s why I did for my cassette version, as I’ll cover below. The benefit to a traditional cassette is that it works with every app ever made, without any funkiness or lock-in. The downside is if you have multiple bikes of different cassette types. You can also debate the pros/cons of virtual shifting (more on that later). I personally like the real-shifter feel of using my actual shifters, over virtual shifting buttons (the CLICK), but to each their own.

In general, my guidance here is simple: If you only use Zwift, and have multiple bikes, just get the Zwift Cog/Click version. Inversely, if you don’t use Zwift, definitely don’t get that variant, and get a cassette instead. If you use Zwift for regular riding, but then use something like TrainerRoad for structured workouts, get the Zwift version – since that’s perfectly fine. But if you use an app like Rouvy, even with their creative workaround for the Zwift Click, I’d still recommend just getting the regular cassette unless you have multiple bikes. That way when Zwift breaks it some random snowy winter day, you don’t have to deal with the hassle.

Either way, to be super clear: The underlying hardware and software of the CORE 2 is *IDENTICAL*. It’s merely which mechanical cassette they’ve stuck on the side of the unit. The unit itself literally has no idea what’s on the side of it, even with the Zwift COG/CLICK, you can actually use that CLICK with a regular cassette, since it’s merely controlling software in the trainer, not actually interacting with the COG.

Make sense?

Unboxing & Setup:

Getting things setup is super straight forward. First up, above is the box. Wahoo has revamped the box bits, like their other recent/new products. This includes a bunch of tutorials and such. But frankly, if you’re reading this – you won’t need any of that. At the end of the day all you’re doing is attaching two legs to it, plugging it in, and you’re done. Mostly.

Here’s all the parts laid out:

That essentially is divided into two categories:

A) The Wahoo trainer bits
B) The little Zwift box, with the Zwift CLICK bits.

If you didn’t get the Zwift version, fear not, I’ve got you covered there too. You’ll have a cassette already instead, and won’t have the extra little Zwift Click box bits:

In any case, the other thing of note here is this cardboard piece. This has two sets of axle adapters in it. One for a thru-axle, and one for a quick-release skewer. It explains how to figure out which one you have, in case you’re unsure. In short, a quick-release skewer will be very skinny like you see there, whereas a thru-axle will be roughly the thickness of your finger.

Setting that aside for a moment, you need to attach the legs. This is rather simple, and you’ll notice they’ve color coded the legs to the frame, to avoid putting the wrong leg on the wrong side/direction. Likewise, you’ll notice the legs are now ‘flat’ versus rounded. This is to match with the flat design of the KICKR RIDE. Way-back-when, Zwift had matched the Zwift Ride frame to match the flat-look of the Zwift Hub, but the newer Wahoo KICKR CORE had round legs and no longer looked picture-perfect.

This was a change that Zwift had made with the Zwift Hub a couple years ago, and now Wahoo followed through too.

Once that’s set, you’ll attach the right adapter for your skewer/axle. This takes approximately 3 seconds:

That said, let me point out one of my biggest annoyances here: The drive-side (right side) adapter literally just ‘sits’ there. It doesn’t screw in, doesn’t lock. Just hangs out on the edge of the cliff. So every time you remove your bike or move the trainer, it falls off. Like, what the actual fudge?!? Every other trainer ever made has managed to not have this just fall off (thru-axle adapters). This is especially annoying if/when you pack up or move your trainer, because it will very easily fall off and then you’ll never realize it, since it’ll also conveniently roll away and under something. C’mon, do better.

Once that’s sorted, you’ll plug it in. Meanwhile, they’ve updated the status lights on the other side, so you can see whether it’s connected to WiFi, as well as a multi-color light for general status:

The CORE 2’s status lights can mean a whole host of things, there’s a giant page here to decode them all. But here’s the most common ones you’re going to see for the regular status light:

Yellow: Trainer booting up
Green: Idle/Ready
White: Flywheel Turning
Orange: Zwift paired
Purple: Zwift paired + Virtual Shifting enabled
Red: Just give up and eat ice cream, something broke

Meanwhile, there’s that WiFi icon status light, which is actually all connection types, so here’s the quick version of what it can show:

1 Blue Flash: One Bluetooth Connection
2 Blue Flashes: Two Bluetooth Connections
3 Blue Flashes: Three Bluetooth Connections
Blue flash + white flash: Bluetooth + WiFi Connection
Red Blinking: ANT control connection
Blue, Red, and White Flashing: The cops are coming, ride faster

Ok, with that all set, one quick diversion over to folks that got the regular cassette version. By default that includes an 11-speed cassette. But if you’ve got a newer bike, such as one with a 12-speed cassette (or an older one with 10-speed), you might need to swap it out. That’s what I did (to 12-speed). This is easy enough with just a cassette tool:

You can purchase any cassette you want as long as it’s the same speed. Manufacturers will argue you need a SRAM cassette for SRAM drive trainers, or a Shimano cassette for Shimano drive trainers. But frankly, you don’t. That’s demonstrated quite handily by the fact that these trainer companies themselves ship neither Shimano or SRAM cassettes with their trainer, but rather just generic cassettes. Point being, I just go on Amazon and usually just buy whatever mid-tier cassette is available to arrive the next day. Sometimes that’s a 12-speed SRAM one, sometimes it’s a 12-speed Shimano one. There’s very slight noise/wear benefits to aligning it to the brand (mainly on SRAM), but don’t overthink it.

With that, let’s start using it day to day.

Daily Riding Basics:

To begin, we’ll get our bike mounted to the trainer. For this you’ll remove the rear wheel, and then place it on the trainer. If you’re using the Zwift COG, you’ll want to shift your rear derailleur to roughly the middle of the cassette, to align with the Zwift COG.

Oh, and of course, that little thru-axle cap will probably fall off at some point in this dance. If you’ve got a regular cassette, then it doesn’t really matter where you put it on, though for certain bikes (especially triathlon bikes that tend to have rearward dropouts as as opposed to straight-down dropouts), it’s often easier to first shift into the smallest/hardest gear in the back.

Now, back on the Zwift COG edition, you’ll notice there’s a small ring with a number on it. All this does is simply adjust (very slightly) left/right the exact position of the Zwift COG itself. Meaning, if you think you’ve got it all lined up, but it still doesn’t sound perfectly silent, simply rotate this one position at a time until it’s spot-on. Again, super-duper easy.

Also, as a reminder, there’s no electronic technology whatsoever within the Zwift COG itself. It’s literally the equivalent of two kid IKEA bowls with a single cog (from a cassette) in the middle:

Instead, the virtual shifting piece happens entirely from the handlebars with the Zwift CLICK’s, which control shifting between Zwift and the trainer. Thus, if you have the Zwift COG, now is a good time to install those Click’s. There are a few different places you can stick them, which is entirely user preference. Generally speaking the ‘best’ place is on the inside or outside of your handlebars, like so:

Or, the outside of the shifters:

However, if I’m doing a structured workout where I won’t be shifting, but might want other controls, then the top bars might work better. My wife often puts them here on her rides.

As I noted in my Zwift Click V2 Review, overall these are great, though I find the bands absolutely suck (mostly from a taking on/off standpoint). Instead, I prefer to use the extra rubber bands that come with Garmin bike computers. You can buy a package of them here.

Meanwhile, if you have the cassette version, then none of this matters (ok, technically speaking, you can still use the Zwift Click just fine, though Zwift doesn’t offer just the clicks at this point, but you can use Zwift Play instead). Again, because the trainer has no idea whether or not you have a Zwift COG or physical cassette on there, it acts the same once you enable virtual shifting with the CLICKS.

With all that noted, we’d normally start riding. However, if this is your first time using the trainer, you’ll want to setup WiFi first and then ensure that the firmware is updated. You’ll do that within the Wahoo Fitness app:

This is quick and easy, and then behind the scenes the trainer will automatically connect and check for new firmware every 11 hours, ensuring all is good. Likewise, you can turn on/off any smoothing settings here (I turn off ERG mode smoothing, which is on by default), as well as pair using the sensor bridging.

The idea behind sensor bridging is primarily for Apple TV, in that Apple TV is limited to two concurrent Bluetooth connections (+ the remote). So if you had a smart trainer, and then the Zwift Click, you’d be at your maximum and couldn’t also pair a heart rate strap. To solve that, the trainer then will then pair to your heart rate sensor on its behalf, and funnel the data to Zwift (or any app) as part of that single cohesive trainer channel/connection. That channel can include power, cadence, heart rate, trainer control, and more.

To set it up, you’ll go into the sensor bridging menu, and then it’ll search for sensors it can pair with, both ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart (this is also useful if you have an older ANT+ only HR sensor). From there you can pair them into the app:

Once that’s done, you’ll see the heart rate data channel, but coming from the Wahoo KICKR CORE, in your pairing menu:

Now, my experience with this in reality has been anything but smooth. I’ve had all assortment of failures here. Some rides the heart rate doesn’t come through at all. Others it stops and hangs half-way, others it updates once per minute, and so on. Who knew it could fail so many ways? Below, notice the lack of HR in the upper left corner.

In talking to Wahoo, they haven’t seen any of these failures. Though, I’ve seen them across two different trainers. In those discussions they noted that it may be tied to the secure channel aspect of the Garmin HRM-600. Both Garmin & Wahoo are required to implement secure Bluetooth connections under an EU directive. And as I’ve seen with countless vendors over the last year, whether or not these companies do that correctly can be iffy. Garmin has had this out for about a year now, though this is Wahoo’s first product with it. Wahoo says they’re working to figure out what’s going on, and I’m guessing they’ll solve it, but in the meantime, I’ve had to switch to an older heart rate strap that doesn’t have the Bluetooth security features (which to be clear, is totally fine, if my neighbor over the fence wants to creep on my HR, so be it).

So on Wahoo’s advice, I switched over to a less-smart heart rate strap, to try and side-step some of the cutting-edge tech issues, selecting the Polar H10. I got it paired up in the app easily:

However, back in Zwift, it was hanging yet again. You can see this below with the bike GPS showing the current HR (139bpm), and Zwift showing a stuck value (97bpm):

I then did what any toddler does, and randomly hit a bunch of buttons. Specifically, I selected from a slate of different options on the pairing screen, and after a bunch of clicking, the one that listed the Polar H10 (but with the trainer icon) did seem to hold. But all the other trainer icon ones in that HR section had various failure states (hang on connecting, shows null, shows stuck value, etc…).

In any case, I’m sure Wahoo will sort things out on these newer straps.

With that, open up whatever app it is you’re going to ride. I’ll talk about apps and connectivity and such down below in the next section. But for the purposes of this section, let’s just assume it’s Zwift. We’d pair up the trainer in the pairing screen. It’ll offer the recommended connection types, which can include ANT+, Bluetooth, and WiFi, depending on what’s configured/available.

Once that’s done you’ll start riding. The trainer will automatically control the resistance based on what the app is sending. When it comes to smart trainers, there are really two core modes that you’ll be using:

ERG Mode: Setting a specific power level – i.e., 175w. In this mode, no matter what gearing you use, the trainer will simply stay at 175w (or whatever you set it to).

Simulation (SIM) Mode: Simulating a specific outdoor grade – i.e., 8% incline. In this mode, it’s just like outdoors in that you can change your gearing to make it easier or harder. Wattage is not hard-set, only incline levels. For a Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 configured with the Zwift Cog, this mode will officially*ONLY* work with Zwift, via the Zwift Click. Rouvy works today, but that could change at any moment. With a regular cassette, this works in any app.

In the case of simulation (aka slope) mode, the Wahoo KICKR can simulate from 0% to 16% incline – the same as the JetBlackV Victory, but slightly less than some of Elite’s mid-range trainers at 18%. Tacx doesn’t have anything in this realm/price point you’d wish on your own worst enemy, all of which is horrifically outdated. In any case, while other higher-end trainers can simulate above 20% these days, I continue to question how many people actually want to ride such a gradient. When I’m outside doing any road rides with more than about 12% gradient, it just sucks – let alone 14%, 16%, and more. But a 24% incline? There’s just no reason I want to relive that scenario voluntarily indoors.

Next, most apps, Zwift included, have a ‘Trainer Difficulty’ setting. Note that by default Zwift will be set for 50% trainer difficulty level. This changes how the game simulates gradient. To understand what this means, assume you’re coming up on a 10% gradient climb, it’ll actually only feel like a 5% climb (if set for 50% trainer difficulty). This won’t impact your in-game speed (since that’s based on wattage), but does impact how the climb feels to your legs, and which specific gearing you’ll use.

I prefer setting into 100%, since the whole point of buying a fancy trainer to simulate the outdoors rides is to actually feel those hills. But, that’s just me.

Now, to shift as you go up/down these hills, if you got the Zwift COG edition, then you’ll use the Zwift Click. This simply iterates through one continuous 24-speed virtual drivetrain. One tap makes it one increment harder, tap the other way, makes it easier. Pretty straightforward. You’ll see your current gear located in the upper left corner of Zwift – shown here in “Gear 17” or “Gear 2-8”:

With the CLICK V2, you can also configure it in a 2x configuration (two virtual chainrings up front), which is what I prefer, allowing me to shift similar to SRAM style shifting. You can change this in the menu as well:

Meanwhile, if you have a regular cassette, then you’ll simply use your bike’s shifters to shift. In many ways, I prefer this too. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Zwift Click buttons, but again, these manufactures have spent all this effort to recreate the outdoor riding experience, and you as a consumer have spent money buying these products, why take away that experience by going to a non-realistic game controller button? Again, nothing wrong with the Zwift Click, and if you’ve got multiple bikes of different cassette types it makes a ton of sense, but still, I like regular shifters.

In any case, as for road feel, the KICKR CORE 2 feels just like the KICKR CORE 1 did, which is perfectly good. The flywheel weight is enough to keep the inertia up, and my guess is that most people in a blind test, wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a KICKR CORE 2 and a KICKR V6. Likewise, in my testing of the JetBlack Victory, even with the smaller flywheel, I didn’t notice any difference there, because the flywheel weight is only one component, as differing gear ratios internal to the trainer can make the inertia feel substantially different.

As for sound, again, the same as before. It’s mostly silent/quiet, depending on exactly how clean your drive chain is, and that exact interaction with the cassette or Zwift COG. But the trainer itself isn’t making any meaningful amount of noise. 2012 this is not. Your fan will far out-volume the trainer itself.

Overall, the KICKR CORE 2 works pretty much exactly like the KICKR CORE 1 did, except it has a few more protocol bits behind it. But in terms of day-to-day riding, you won’t really notice those once paired up. However, those bit can be super important for users on Apple TV, or if you want Race Mode, and so on. So, let’s dig into them a bit more closely.

App/Connectivity Compatibility:

The Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 supports virtually all of the industry standards when it comes to smart trainers, across ANT+, Bluetooth Smart, WiFi, and more. This means that from a hardware standpoint, you can use the KICKR CORE 2 with any app out there. Though, keep in mind if you have the Zwift COG edition, that’s a bit more limited in terms of apps that require shifting (simulation mode). But you can always switch the cassette later on.

The Wahoo KICKR CORE supports all the following technical standards:

ANT+ FE-C Control: This is for controlling the trainer via ANT+ from apps and head units, and includes power & cadence data. Read tons about it here.

ANT+ Power Meter Profile: This broadcasts as a standard ANT+ power meter, with cadence and speed data baked in.

Bluetooth Smart FTMS: This is the industry standard for apps controlling the trainer via Bluetooth Smart, and includes ANT+ power and cadence baked in. Additionally, with heart rate bridging, it’ll include that data too.

Bluetooth Smart Power Meter Profile: This broadcasts as a standard Bluetooth Smart power meter, with cadence and speed data baked in.

Wireless (WiFi) Direct Connect: This uses WiFi built-in, to apps on the same WiFi network, this includes power/speed/cadence/heart rate data, along with trainer control.

Zwift Protocol: This is the control protocol that Zwift uses to support Virtual Shifting, and other Zwift-specific features. This is used between the trainer and Zwift, to control the trainers resistance.

From a connectivity standpoint, it supports unlimited ANT+ connections, and supports three (3) concurrent Bluetooth connections. The three Bluetooth connections is useful if you have a watch (such an Apple/Polar/Suunto/COROS Watch) that connects to the trainer to read your power data for training load/recovery, and then you’ve got the Zwift app reading your data, this ensures that even if your phone is still randomly paired to the trainer behind the scenes, it doesn’t block any connections.

Additionally, as outlined in the earlier section, it supports bridging of sensor connections via the trainer, including heart rate.

Further, the KICKR CORE 2 supports so-called ‘Race Mode’, which means that it transmits your power data at a much higher rate than once/second. In Race Mode, it transmits at 10hz (10 times a second), when connected via WiFi or Bluetooth (Zwift only for Bluetooth). You can toggle this in the settings of the Wahoo app first, and you’ll simply notice it updates the number in Zwift far faster/continuously while riding.

In terms of compatibility with the KICKR CORE 2, I’ve used it with the following apps:

– Rouvy (regular cassette and SIM mode)
– TrainerRoad (ERG mode)
– Zwift (SIM & ERG mode, both Zwift COG & regular cassette)
– TrainingPeaks Virtual (regular cassette and SIM mode)

I haven’t had any issues with any of those apps in terms of connectivity and such. Here’s Rouvy:

I did have one issue that’s worthwhile mentioning, whereby the resistance unit would ‘lock’ and stop changing resistance. Meaning, it would randomly stop changing the incline/gradient for the remainder of the ride, or until I pulled the power cord out for a second. This occurred in both Zwift & Rouvy. In talking with Wahoo a few weeks ago, they also discovered this bug about the same time I did. A fix for that actually went out yesterday in a firmware update. In my ride today, I didn’t see the issue, so hopefully it’s now solved for good.

With that, let’s dig into the power accuracy bits.

Power Accuracy:

At this point I’ve got a bit over 1,000km ride on the KICKR CORE 2 between myself and my wife. Plenty of miles across plenty of different bikes, scenarios, and apps. I’m going to sprinkle a bunch of different data sets in here, though by and large they’re all basically the same in terms of accuracy/etc..

Now, it’s this entire section that led me down the path to buy a second unit from a random retailer to validate the accuracy. I did that because there were certain aspects about the media-loaner KICKR CORE 2 that Wahoo sent me, that caused me to substantially question whether or not the results were representative of what you as consumers would actually get. Specifically, the following items:

– Media Loaner Unit High Ride Mileage: The unit they sent me as a media loaner had some 262KM ridden on it (per the nifty odometer feature). Whereas the random retail unit I bought had a mere 0.82km (basically, automated tests). 262KM is an incredible amount of validation riding, which indicates it was heavily tested and/or calibrated to be absolutely perfect. Now, as often as people like to think companies cherry pick reviewer units, for most product categories, that rarely matters (as history has shown, repeatedly). But for power meters and trainers, it can matter, because factory calibration (or lack thereof) is a very real factor – especially for budget/mid-range trainers where companies may do minimal factory validation, compared with higher-end units that typically get more extensive factory validation/QC. Whereas for a watch or bike computer, it’s almost always software that sucks, not hardware.

– Substantial hesitance/delays in getting initial unit to me: Despite early summer initial discussions on getting me a review unit far before launch to test, things kept sliding, repeatedly, with kinda odd excuses each time. Some of that was my travel, but most of it wasn’t. Ultimately, the unit only arrived the day of launch…while I was traveling (though, kudos to them on getting it to my hotel). This is pretty unusual for Wahoo, and combined with other reviewers reporting early accuracy challenges, would seem to indicate some hesitance to get me a unit. Many companies are hesitant to send units until they know the product is solid, but this factor combined with the others is more notable.

– Every Launch Reviewer Had to Use Pro Spindown Calibration Tool: Almost every single reviewer for launch-day reviews across YouTube and various written publications noted having to use a secret ‘Pro Spindown’ option in order to get usable/accurate data. Given the heavily tested unit that ultimately arrived to me didn’t require this, my assumption here was Wahoo had already done it on this unit. While I have no problem with a trainer requiring some sort of calibration, this feature is basically hidden unless support tells you to use it. Thus a normal user without comparative data would have no idea if their unit was awesome accurate or sucky.

– Various readers reporting accuracy issues: A number of DCR readers had contacted me with accuracy issues on the CORE 2. Now to be honest, I don’t really trust anyone except a very limited number of people to do accuracy testing correctly. I can count these people on one hand. And even more frankly, the vast majority of accuracy complaints I get are iffy at best. Still, some of these were pretty notable.

In any case, with all those factors above, I went to a random Spanish online 3rd party retailer and ordered a KICKR CORE 2, which shipped later that same day, and arrived two days later. I’ve included both data sets in this review. Those dated October 30th and earlier are from the media loaner, and those dated October 31st and later are from the unit I bought.

Starting off first with a 30×30 trainer test that I do on all trainers. There are two parts to this test. The first is testing trainer responsiveness, as well as validating control of the flywheel inertia. The second piece is accuracy. Starting off on the first portion, which is how quickly it arrives at the set point, going from ~150w to 450w. The ideal timeframe here is 2-3 seconds. Doing it in 1 second is actually too fast, and is like hitting a brick wall. Whereas anything more than 4 seconds starts to eat into the interval time.

Above you can see the full set. On the first one, I wasn’t quite in the gearing that’s best for ERG mode. You ideally want one of the ‘easier’ gears in the back cassette (or, small ring in the front). Basically, you want to reduce the ‘speed’ of the flywheel to allow the trainer to have better control. Think of it like being on the highway at a reasonable speed, versus out of control

In any case, if we look at the 5th interval, both my gearing is good, and my legs are getting used to the 30×30 piece (after yesterday’s dumb-idea hill repeats). So that’s the one I’ll judge it on. Here we can see it takes 2-seconds to arrive, and then more critically is nice and stable after that. Good job.

Next, looking at accuracy, no issues there. All three units (Wahoo KICKR CORE 2, SRAM Force crankset power meter, and Garmin Rally RS-210 power meter pedals) are within a spread of 1.5% (at worst). Good job.

It’s worthwhile mentioning that Wahoo says they’ve tweaked the power profile slightly on the KICKR CORE 2 to account for drivetrain loses. This means that normally you’d see about a 1-2% drivetrain loss in power from power meter pedals/cranksets, to a trainer (meaning, the trainer is lower). Whereas Wahoo has accounted for that in their algorithms. One can have an entire debate about this, but for now, it is what it is.

Here’s another ERG (structured) workout, this one some 3-minute repeats, and you can see it’s exactly matching the Garmin Rally XC-210 power meter pedals:

And if I look at cadence for that particular workout, it’s spot-on as well (all of them were spot-on for cadence):

Next, another ERG workout, this one from my wife for about 90 minutes, against her Quarq/SRAM RED power meter, without any issues, spot-on across the board.

And here’s another ERG workout of mine, again, without issue.

I will note that on one of the bikes I was on, I had a SRAM/Quarq unit that seems to be reading (consistently) high. I’ve left it off these sets while I figure out what’s going there. But for these comparisons, I’ve got multiple bikes and multiple different power meter pedals sets I’ve been mixing and matching.

Next, turning our attention to SIM mode (simulation mode), where your shifting, rather than a set power wattage. Here’s a first example on Zwift, and as you can see, again, without any issue. This is on a different bike with both different pedals and different crankset. All are very close, and within the +/- 2% margin of error:

If I look at a few sprints, it’s near spot-on as well. Keeping in mind it’s virtually impossible to get three power meters to agree to a single 1-second value at the top of a sprint. In most cases, doing so is just dumb-luck, due to the differences in transmission and recording rates (again, an entire topic you can spend hours on).

But you can see these are very close:

Here’s the mean-max plot for that particular ride:

Switching to another ride, here we can see all three are within the 2% again. That Fenix 8 one is the Rally RS-210. Notably the KICKR CORE 2 is just a couple of watts lower here. That’s actually where I’d normally expect it, setting aside Wahoo saying they slightly adjust/inflate the power to account for drive train losses.

And finally, another ride, this one on Rouvy (cassette in SIM mode), on a bit of a rolling course.

Again, seeing this particular bike’s SRAM unit reporting a touch bit high (maybe 1-1.5%), but otherwise the CORE 2 and Rally pedals agree spot-on.

Point is, despite going out and buying another KICKR CORE 2, I don’t see any differences in accuracy between either unit. They’re performing identically. Overall, I’m happy with the accuracy on both the media loaner CORE 2, and more importantly, the one I bought from a random retailer.

(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy sections were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks, and plenty more. You can use it as well for your own gadget comparisons, more details here.)

Wrap-Up:

The KICKR CORE 2 is almost entirely about keeping the trainer competitive, without having to make major changes. It ultimately boils down to a new electronics stack and some new legs. Which isn’t to say those aren’t appreciated, because, they are. And in fact, as I’ll touch on in a second – I don’t need some fancy new physical design on a mid-range trainer just to jack up the price. In this case, Wahoo delivered on the handful of things people wanted. Things that made it easier to use the KICKR CORE day to day, and ensured it kept up with technology. For the most part, smart trainers are a very mature product category – and this shows that.

From an accuracy standpoint, despite my initial concerns (and buying a second unit), both units have ended up being spot-on, as-is. Across multiple bikes, multiple riders, multiple apps, and multiple trainer modes, it’s been consistently accurate at all assortment of power levels.

In terms of issues, about the only remaining issue for me is the heart rate sensor bridging. This wasn’t available to reviewers (or anyone) when the KICKR CORE 2 first launched, as they noted they were still working on it. At this point, for me on both two different units with two different heart rate straps and brands, I’m still seeing everything from non-functionality to weird quirks. Hopefully, they can sort that out, though practically speaking, that would only impact you if using Apple TV. Setting that aside, everything else is working quite nicely for me.

Looking at pricing, this will be an interesting product to see where it lands. Right now it’s priced at $549, which is higher than most other similar-spec’d competitors. But equally, just two weeks ago Wahoo already had the KICKR CORE 2 down to $439 (20% off). Which, is a fantastic price, and very competitive (well, more than competitive). I get the impression here that the $549 price is leaving a lot of room for future price shifts and sales. Which, is good for consumers. After all, the KICKR CORE 1 basically sat in the $400-$499ish range the last few years. And from a manufacturing/components standpoint, this thing is nearly identical to the CORE 1.

In any case, I’ve got no problems recommending the KICKR CORE 2, the core functionality has worked well for both myself and my wife, and the ride feel is what people expect from a Wahoo trainer.

With that, thanks for reading!