Last week on the way to Outdoor Retailer I made a slight diversion to stop by the ‘world headquarters’ of Wahoo Fitness. They’re based in Atlanta, GA – just a bit outside of the downtown area in a relatively quiet area that’s largely residential in nature.
There’s long been an invite out to come and check out things in the Wahoo world – it was just a matter of making it work schedule-wise. The trip to Salt Lake City provided just that perfect opportunity for my schedule and theirs as well.
As with all Behind the Scenes posts, I pay for all my own travel – so I do them based mostly on companies that readers have interest in – or that I have interest in seeing how they operate. With that in mind, let’s dive into things!
An early morning track workout:
You know when you agree to something and then you realize immediately upon saying ‘Yes’ that it was probably a bad idea?
That would roughly describe agreeing to a 5:45AM track workout. There are many things I do at 5:45AM (ok, I lie, there are actually none) – but running around a track with a bunch of really fast skinny dudes is definitely not one of them. The last time I willingly went to the track in the 5AM hour was to run 62 laps around it. And like that time, when I arrived, it was dark out. See, proof it was dark out:
Though somehow because it’s The South in the summer it was still hot out despite lack of the big flaming fireball in the sky.
The reason I was here was that some of the Wahoo guys had decided it’d be a fun way to start the morning. And, truth be told, it actually kinda was. While in France I rarely run with other people. And from a running workout standpoint, I rather enjoy track workouts. Even more so with a group of people suffering alongside me.
I think my general enjoyment for track workouts comes in the challenge of executing them perfectly. Meaning, if you have a specific pace/time to hit, the challenge of how precisely can you hit said pace using simple time splits every 100-200m, or just by the feel of pacing. In DC I routinely did track workouts with a small group of guys, which were always entertaining.
For this particular workout in Atlanta, it was actually fairly straight forward with a self-serve warm-up followed by 2x2400m sets and then a cool-down. Another group substituted the main set for 600’s. Having a history with shorter-distance reps (like 600’s), I know nothing good comes of those. They usually result in throwing up on the side of the track.
The paces for the 2400’s were about 6:10/mile for the group, so a nice steady-state pace – not too hard. At one point however someone mind-bogglingly suggested that I could go faster than the group if I wanted to. I wanted to point out that at 6AM the only thing I’d be running faster to would be my bed or the Waffle House. But I decided against that response, for fear that they might actually speed up on their own accord.
Thankfully, the women who was in charge of paces for our group was scary perfect in her pacing on the track without any watch usage. She was always within half a second on each 200m chunk. It only hurt one’s ego a little bit that she was nearly double my age. Clearly she kicks ass.
With a nice hour-long workout complete though, it was off to the the Wahoo offices to shower and then to grab some breakfast.
Inside Wahoo HQ:
When you first roll up to Wahoo headquarters, you probably wouldn’t associate it with a fitness company. The building screams…well…not-fitness. And sure enough, aside from Wahoo the rest of the building is full of law offices and people in suits.
You’ll find Wahoo’s main entrance inside on the ground floor past the the row of lawyers with granite engraved signs. The lawyers are apparently good spirited though, as this past Halloween they all dressed up as fitness people. A tip of the hat to the parade of fitness dressed people (definitely not in suits) streaming by at all hours of the day.
As you enter the main door there’s a rack of of bikes up against the wall. While some are commuter bikes, many are there more for testing than anything else.
There’s a wide assortment of road and triathlon bikes present, with other bikes such as mountain bikes around the office. In fact, there’s pretty much a bike at or near every desk in the facility.
To the left of the bike rack is some lockers and a small private phone room – for those moments you need to shout it out with your favorite phone-a-friend.
To the right just inside the entrance is a shrine to past bibs and medals for events raced by Wahoo employees.
The Wahoo offices are setup in a bit of a loop with one main room and then a few smaller offices with 2-3 employees in each of them, plus a few conference rooms. Here’s the main room – complete with another Wahoo painted logo as well as the yellow stripe on the ventilation system. The Ikea chairs being a perfectly matched Wahoo blue, and the rest of the furniture also proudly Ikea sourced.
There are some 35 people employed by Wahoo Fitness these days. The majority are based in Atlanta, though a handful of developers are also based out of a few locations in Australia spanning the east coast there.
Within Atlanta, Wahoo currently fits on one floor – but is just about to expand to the space above them which will ultimately result in a single larger cohesive space after the stripper fireman’s pole is installed between the two. It’s unclear whether or not Wahoo will adapt the TICKR X to better understand the pole workout market (which is apparently booming these days).
Should they get into the pole workout market, their current wall of ‘Awkward Wahoo Moments’ would be well equipped to handle any potential windfalls from that:
Heck, Mike S. from Wahoo seems like he’s basically even dressed the part.
Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering about this. Wahoo had been involved in a major race in Atlanta and apparently the lead runner was going to be escorted on an ElliptiGO. Not familiar with said device? See this video. Said situation waterfalled into leaving Chip (founder of Wahoo Fitness and pretty fast runner) to be rocking the ElliptiGO. Which of course definitely turned into an awkward photo moment.
As you head around the corner you’ll hit the various offices up for some of the different smaller teams. And as usual, there’s trainers, bikes and bike parts strewn about most of them.
They’ve also got a dimly lit conference room, complete with various product historical photos on the wall.
For example, iterations on the Wahoo box designs…
…or a screenshot of being featured in an Apple keynote presentation:
Lastly, before diving into some of the product support and lab pieces, they’ve got your usual break room complete with lockers and beer.
Wait, you’re office break room doesn’t have either of those in them? Strange.
Product Support & Testing:
Of course, it’s not all beer and ElliptiGO’s at Wahoo HQ. As a company that makes and sells hardware, the focus in this area of the facility is primarily on building, testing and validating both their upcoming designs as well as current products.
Like most product development, there’s a component that looks at existing units in the field as well as new products. You typically learn from your existing products – both in terms of potential improvements as well as ways to innovate.
Within this room you’ll find products coming in from customers/bike shops, as well as parts and tools to work on newer products.
Critical to any such effort is interns. Yes, interns. These two are having ‘fun’ dissecting a KICKR that came in for service.
As part of that service of that KICKR they’ll use Wahoo’s new calibration set (which, you can actually buy now) to do so.
While you can do a calibration of the KICKR by just following the prompts on the app, you can also pickup this specialized weight and arm system from Wahoo to further validate your calibration findings.
The interns (or a regular Wahoo employee) will start by taking a unit that has come back to Wahoo for any number of reasons. These units hang out on a rack as seen below.
In some cases though, a unit may not have anything wrong with it at all. In fact, the entire second row is KICKR’s from Team Sky. The Team had used them this past spring at the Tour of California and simply shipped them back to Wahoo upon completion.
They were even kind enough to sign them. That’s Bradley Wiggins signature to the right on the below KICKR. These units won’t just be sent out to any random person as a refurb unit, but rather likely used in a special contest or giveaway down the road.
When I was there another unit had recently arrived as well – this one in a special protective travelling case (the black case below):
It belonged to none other than 2013 Tour de France Champion Chris Froome:
After his untimely early departure from the Tour de France this year (2014) he left Europe altogether and spent some time in California while the Tour was still going on. During that time he used one of the KICKR’s to get his workouts in. After completion he just sent it back to Wahoo (Wahoo is a sponsor of Team Sky).
For customers other than Mr. Froome however, you’re likely to work with Wahoo’s customer service department. Up until this year this had been a bit of a sore spot for Wahoo. While they were growing quickly in terms of sales, their customer service department was woefully understaffed – resulting in frustrated customers that had to wait days (or longer) for answers to questions, with what were very limited support hours.
They heard the feedback though and now have a much larger dedicated team of folks working support from this office. From a support standpoint everything starts and ends here. They’ll take your call and/or e-mail and then start the process.
In the event that you send something back to them, it’ll come into the office to get checked out. First the unit will be dissected and then put into bins as validated and tested.
This same team also sorts out various product returns from retailers in cases where the box may have been opened but not even used. This includes places like Best Buy, Apple Stores, bike shops and others.
Occasionally when these companies (especially larger ones) send stuff back to Wahoo, they get random things that are definitely not Wahoo made. For example, these:
Normally after testing items they’re re-packed back into boxes and sent along their way.
So you may be wondering about where production takes place. In that case virtually all production occurs in Taiwan. For example, the Wahoo KICKR is made by and in the same factory as Giant Bicycles (the world’s largest bike manufacturer).
Upon build of a trainer in Taiwan the units are loaded into their own container and placed on a ship to the US (or to Europe, depending on the batch). Once in the US they are placed on a train and off to distribution. Perhaps some day if I have a reason to go to Taiwan I’ll stop in and check out things in the factory there.
New Products In Development:
Like all companies, Wahoo is developing new products that aren’t yet announced. If they weren’t, they’d soon be out of business. But of course, like all other companies – those products aren’t something that they’re sharing publically at this time (well, except the one below).
I point this out merely because many times when I visit companies folks ask what new things they’re working on. I’d love to tell you, because as was the case here too, they are really cool things. But no amount of chocolate chip cookie deliveries will change my ability to tell you about unannounced things.
Of course, the reason companies (from Apple to to Wahoo) keep roadmaps quiet until they’re ready to announce is because dates, goals and target audiences change over the product development cycle. They may find out when they deliver a bill of materials to a manufacturing company that the price point is no longer valid, or that by the time the product hits market, it may no longer be competitive.
Unfortunately for tech companies things change so fast that companies have to be flexible with respect to features. They know that if they announce a product too soon and a person decides to buy a product because Feature X is planned, only to have Feature X cut, then the consumer gets upset.
In some ways, Wahoo has historically been caught in not only this pickle but the delivery date game as well. While Wahoo has typically delivered very solid and unique products – they haven’t quite been so good at delivering said products anywhere near the date they initially estimated. On the positive side, they did just hire their first project manager, who started the morning prior to my arrival.
Hopefully between the project manager and some of their past hard timeline lessons (which, they readily admitted), they’ll be able to get products into the market in the future near when and where they promise them.
The KICKR Desk:
Next up is a bit of a look at how products get developed and where they start. I do want to point out that this is NOT YET AN ACTUAL PRODUCT. They don’t know if they’ll even bring it to market, or for that matter when or how much. It’s just on the list of random pet projects floating around the office they were willing to share.
Like most engineers, Chip is always tinkering with new ideas. I’d be willing to bet if you asked anyone in the sports technology industry which one single person is most likely to make the most interesting and “Damn, I wish I thought of that!” type gadgets and ideas, people will likely name Chip (with others like Quarq’s Jim Meyer being in the same group).
The KICKR desk (non-official name) is one of those such ideas. Like many people with trainers, most have laptops o tablets floating around to watch movies on, or simply to control their trainer with apps like TrainerRoad. Typically these expensive screens and devices are placed atop a perilous Jenga tower of random household items. Something like an old swirling office chair crowned with an upside-down laundry basket and three text books (to get more elevation) and the laptop atop.
Of course, most of these DIY ‘inventions’ lack the structure and form to be easily accessible, or easy to place the myriad of other items a long trainer ride might utilize (such as gels, your phone, water bottles, towels, pet hamster, etc…). Thus, the KICKR desk. Or at least, the bare bones of it:
The unit has multiple positions, allowing it to go up or down and lock into several different places depending on what you’re looking to get out of it position-wise.
So if you want it higher up for actual typing (kinda like a treadmill desk, but for cycling), you can do that – just as you could have it more out-front if you’re hanging out in aero bars on a triathlon bike.
Now I will note that having seen some of the CAD drawings of more advanced design variants of it – there was a ton of brilliant little touches that turned it from a simple table surface to one that’s more flexible with devices and accessories you’d use.
But all of that will really depend on if Wahoo takes it to market. From their perspective they want something inexpensive enough (but not cheap feeling) that makes it a no-brainer decision to buy. Hopefully they find a way to make that happen, as I think it’s a cool idea that plenty of people would utilize and that would be more resilient to random mid-trainer cat visits on the DIY tower of terror.
The TICKR X:
It exists. For real.
Seen above, is an actual TICKR X. And more importantly, an actual TICKR X I took back with me. So it makes it doubly more real.
Right now the timelines are looking like September for release of units. In fact, the factory run for the pods starts here in the next week or so, with delivery in the US to Wahoo HQ slated a week or so later.
But the TICKR X is really all about software. It’s effectively a flexible platform complete with storage capacity and accelerometers that enable them to do all sorts of creative development. The challenge will be in what’s available out of the gate for the unit, versus what a long term roadmap looks like.
Wahoo has stated since the beginning that they see the TICKR X as a platform for continual evolution and new features. In my mind, that means that every once in a while (say, every few months), you’d see new features or functionality – at least for some reasonable amount of time. How precisely Wahoo plans to deliver on that remains to be seen.
So, this isn’t meant to be a preview, a review, or anything else. Just simply a note that said product does actually exist, and is still in the pipeline. And, importantly, is close enough to production that it’s actually in my hands. Or, rather, on my chest.
With that – thanks for reading!
—
To view all my past Behind the Scenes posts, swing over here to the big list of them.
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Interesting article. As a runner who typically runs my workouts in the 8-9 min/mile pace, I got a good chuckle out of the comment – “The paces for the 2400’s were about 6:10/mile for the group, so a nice steady-state pace – not too hard.” I would love to be doing my not hard workouts at 6:10/mile… :-)
Wow.. they’re right down the street from me (like a mile) and I didn’t even know it. lol
Thanks Ray for showing off my Santa Speedo Run (for charity) picture. Revenge will be fun!
Wahoo Mike
Thanks for visiting. It was nice to have you in the office for the day. Look forward to the next time you are in Atlanta!
Safe travel!
I’ve had the pleasure of being a Wahoo customer, for the RFLKT unit, which I and also using their app as the front-end to many other tracking apps. I’ve worked directly with Chip H and Megan F there, and I have to agree that they are a great group of folks and I’m sure they’ll continue to do well in everything they do!
(I even bought the Wahoo-custom kit from Voler – matches my bike and also my Kali helmet, so I’m all decked out in blue white and black!)
Ray,
will the tick x retransmit ant+ signals to bluetooth le? like the 4iiii?
+10 to this :)
Although the trainer road guys seem to have leaked a possible BT to Ant bridge that wahoo is working on?
These guys desperately need a new office. With them being such a forward-thinking company I’m a little shocked at the space they are inhabiting.
We actually chatted about it a little bit and their decisions. The offices for them are fairly new. On one hand they could have moved into some of the tech-focused offices in more urban areas. That would have increased collaboration within the tech community, but at the same time also likely lead to increased expenses. On the flip side it might attract more software related dev talents (since the company continues to expand).
It’s always a tough trade-off. In general within the industry you tend to see most sports/fitness companies in non-urban locations. Non-examples of that would be companies based out of the Bay Area, where they tend to have roots more in the Silicon Valley mentality than the garage mentality.
All the developers I know would prefer to move out of the city*, they are only there in the first place because that’s where the jobs are. I think we need more tech companies out in rural areas, I would certainly relocate for a job in a nicer location.
*obviously it needs to be somewhere with high speed net access :)
high speed net access so can’t be too rural and easy commute is all I need. The only advantage of an urban job site is if you transfer jobs its easier to find one not too far away. (a job market based on gov contracts tends to make jobs short term)
Maybe. GoPro has a very similar situation. Offices look like a generic cubicle farm and they are too far out of the valley to be considered part of it.
Really pleased with my cadence pod (RPM) from Wahoo. Can’t wait to see what’s in the pipeline for the future!
Fascinating review as usual. A word of advice about big office space — leds to less collaborations.
Ticker DESK sounds so much better than the DICKER.
Hmm… that does have a nice ring to it…
if whoo comes up with a really cool indoor cycling desk i would buy it immediately! i am looking and trying to figuring out how to manage my laptop and other accessories while indoor cycling for quite a while now – no satisfying solution was found yet ;)
welcome to atlanta! hope your stay was nice.
Nice. I love my TICKR Run. I can’t wait until the X comes out just to see what it offers. Every time I tell a friend about it, I lead in with, “I wanted to get as much Garmin as I could for as little of a price. This basically turns my phone into a Garmin.”
Big thumbs up for Wahoo. I used their original HR strap off and on for about 2 yrs, but upgraded to the TICKR along with a RFLKT+ a few months ago.The transition hasn’t been completely problem free, but Wahoo has been there with quality support all along and very helpful. For example, the battery drain issue on the RFLKT+. Acknowledged quickly by them, offered extra batteries to compensate, and fixed the firmware fairly rapidly. All in astoundingly crisp contrast to Gamin’s deny deny deny deny, & charge 80% retail for a refurb unit.
The iPhone/TICKR/RFLKT+ combo has served me well on several century rides with no problems, and a massive 18 hour ride with the help of an external battery pack for the iPhone. I also use it for running with a Garmin wrist strap holding the RFLKT+ in place.
Keep up the fine work, Wahoo peeps. I can’t wait to see what you’re working on.
That’s encouraging to hear, Jon. I’ve been interested in the RFLKT+ and Blue SC. I haven’t made the leap because I’ve been nervous about iPhone battery life.
Why do you run with the RFLKT+? Just curious.
@James: I use the RFLKT for running because I can’t see the iphone display when it’s in my pocket. :-) I sold my garmin, and the iphone is my only GPS tracker now. I stuff it in the stealthy side pocket of my RoadRunner Sports compression shorts, a handy place by the way — I don’t even notice it’s there. I don’t bring the RFLKT on every run, but I do like having quick access to HR and pace data on most of them.
In both cases, cycling and running, I always pack a phone anyway for safety reasons so using it for tracking seemed like an efficient thing to do. And $129 is pretty cheap in this space.
Can they PLEASE make a lightning ANT+ stick? Using a lightning to old style adapter made me quit using their stuff. It was way too bulky and awkward. And I like Wahoo’s stuff!
Hopefully a signed Kickr shows up in the next 24 hours of DCRaimaker giveaway madness – that would be sweet!
Feel free to add your signature Ray
Agreed!
Will it be possible to use Tickr X for vibration alerts while using Ambit 2/3? Does the tickr has internal “brain” that can work according to simple rules like if HR Value is X, then Vibrate and so on?
What about complex stuff like vibration signals when intervals are done or entering/ending a strava segment?
No, not unless Suunto implemented the Wahoo Fitness API in their products (which seems unlikely).
Ray,
When we can read your test about Wahoo RPM: Dual ANT+/BLE Version…
By the way is it works with Garmin Fenix 2?
Regards.
Bond
I think next week. In short I’m having no issues with it. Just a case of finding time to write up about it.
If they do make the desk I hope it can double as a folding tv tray. Not so much the folding part (although I’m not against that) but so that in an apt with limited space it could be more multi purpose to help with having a table in front of a sofa. Looks like it could easily fit that role if it could be lowered more.
The bad part of that design is the feet on it is a flat bar so would be hard to use with a rowing machine. (see the pic at link to shoxbox.biz)
When are Wahoo going to resolve the average speed (when in use) issue on their iphone app which shows the av as massively off? (typically average 20mph yet show it as 10.5 or 11mphish). I find this really annoying considering at the end of the session it is correct yet it can’t show it accurately when running. FYI I use this together with an ant sensor.
I thought I already read elsewhere (on DCR) that a dual BLE/ANT+ version of the Blue SC speed & cadence sensor was on the way… is that… true?
That’s true. Likely later this fall by the sounds of it.
Love Wahoo, their cmitment to open APIs, their products, and how they are challenging incumbents. The Team Sky sponsorship is encouraging as the only complaint I have about them is that they have to think bigger; e.g., move from hobbyist and tinkering to: every cyclist with a phone should have a RFLKT.
Sadly, for the sake of balance, I’ve had nothing but issues with my RFLKT. They are working on it, responses can take a couple days. At least I am hearing from them.
Great report (as always). I was fascinated by the photo of the hanging bikes. I need to do this for my garage….. I did some research on the web and could not find the manufacturer. Who makes these vertical wall-mounted racks?
Hey Jeff,
You can find similar racks from Saris:
link to saris.com
I. Want. That. Desk.
Has Wahoo given any thought to making the TickrX firmware/on-board software hackable? I might produce some interesting ideas they could incorporate into future products.
It’s really fun to see the inside of such a quality outfit. I’m a happy customer of Wahoo, and have relied on their customer service from time to time — and found it to be excellent.
I use a “bedside table” for my KICKR desk, kind of like what you see in hospital rooms. Adjustable height, and half the work surface can be tilted. Of course, its #1 use is as a crap-catcher.
I suspect I’m in a minority of folks who LOATHE heart rate straps. They don’t work reliably (for me), and they’re uncomfortable. So I’m unhappy that “value-add” features like accelerometers are being incorporated here. I’d love a pin-on device that would just provide functions like running dynamics, and leave the HRM to others, e.g. the Valencell Optical HRM.
I think one of the tricks with using a pin-on system for things like running dynamics is that stuff like vertical oscillation ideally needs a well grounded ‘constant’, hence the chest strap. Also why the Scribe labs piece is glued to the back of the shoe versus a footpod on the front.
I do agree however that longer term chest based HR straps will fade away in fade of optical for 95% of uses. Only a matter of time.
I got my MOOV the other day, and it reports some running dynamics info itself — and this for an ankle-mounted bracelet. Not suggesting folks go run out and buy it, but it does lead one to the conclusion that you can have your running dynamics without having your gizzards squeezed by some contraption designed by the Marquis de Sade’s fitter brother.
If I could just pin the HRM2 to my waistband, and have the FR620 get heart rate from an optical meter and *just* the dynamics stuff from the HRM2 I’d be happy-ish.
Since we’re asking for stuff… :-)
Would love to see the rest of the TICKR RUN features on my Android, please!
Hi Jay. It is in the works! Our Android team is hard at work adding all of these features into the Android app.
Ray, I totally agree with your review on the KICKR app where you wrote: “My only complaint though is that at the end of the day I’d really much rather just customize these (screens) myself – like on most devices. Pick and choose them.”
The screen that permits changing of KICKR target power displays only cadence and actual power — inexplicably leaving off heart rate. Did you get the sense that they have any plans to add custom screens (or at least add HR to the target power change screen)? Or have they just moved on?
Yes, we did chat about that specific item actually. They are definitely keenly aware it’s lacking in that specific area. They’ve actually long talked about addressing it, but it’s not 100% clear to me when such a change might see the light of day. :-/
Similar to TickerX there is another activity tracker : Atlas activity tracker which on paper ticks all the right box. Optical heart rate monitor, memory, all kinds of workout tracker, wrist based, water proof, high battery life, etc.
Ray, is there any chance you will review he same.
I’ve followed them along a bit. I’ll probably continue to follow along until they ship and then see from there if it makes sense to do a review.
So how long before something like this gets added to the heart rate monitor to both power the heart rate strap and allow the heart rate strap to transmit lactate data:
link to gizmodo.com
Didn’t happen to see a stand alone BT/ANT+ speed sensor sitting on a shelf in a lab while you were there did you? Just picked up the RPM for cadence on my bike and would love for them to release something similar to Garmin’s new magnet-less speed sensor (but not limited to just ANT+).
Hi Ray,
I checked in to see if there was an update on the Tickr X and am really excited to hear more about it. My 16 month old Suunto M5 probably needs a new HRM strap and I will probably wait for the Tickr X.
I would love that desk as an option at work ;-)
Any word as to more software partnerships for the Kickr? I’m a big fan, no significant regrets after selling my CompuTrainer and moving to the Kickr, but I do miss the simplicity and accuracy of the Real Course Videos from time to time.
Put me down for a KICKR desk…
Let us know when it becomes available…
Thanks for the update/tour commentary…
They are killing me on the TickrX… Have the HR Blue and Blue SC and really like ’em… Although, I am really excited about the new HR…
Great post – keep it up.
I live about 5 minutes away from Wahoo. I even considered applying for that PM job they just filled. It would have been a cool gig, especially seeing the laid back startup environment that they work in.
It would have been cool to know you were in Atlanta & try to do an informal DCR meetup for drinks. You have to do that next time you have a layover here…and let’s be honest, everyone connects through Hartsfield eventually!
Any word on developing an app for Windows Phone? Now with the newest firmware (on old devices) and Windows Phone 8.1 BT4.0 LE support is finally in place!
I would love to retire my Garmin 310XT and get a universal BT device I can use for mtb and road cycling, running and cross country skiing! And finally get a watt meter on the road bike! :)
Wahoo – pleeease release Your app for Windows Phone as the marked is ever increasing and you’re loosing potential customers.
Would love to see some Power meter devices from them – have used the AnT+ stuff when it came out and then the blue sc and love it. Does the rflkt really save that much power? Seems i can get through about 3 hours of riding with bluetooth sc and hr monitor connected with nothing else running before i get to a low battery on iphone .
Ray, I know this might sound like a stretch, but is there any chance an ElliptiGo or Bionic Runner could be attached to the KICKR? Just think of the possibilities… Trainer Road like indoor running workouts.
I’m not sure how you would unfortunately, due to the cassette design.
I absolutely love my Wahoo products (kickr, tickr, and RPM) the combination of these products have done wonders for my training and health overall; the only issues I have with them is the software has a few glitches in it that have been there from the start. The Wahoo Fitness app display of MPH is off (I think it displays in Kilometers) you have to export the results to Strava to know what your MPH averages actually were during your training ride. Second is the Wahoo Segments app (an app you have to pay for btw) will not upload to Strava as advertised, this is surprising since the Wahoo Fitness app integrates so well. As a developer myself, I don’t mind paying for software, but when I do I want it to work as advertised, and if it doesn’t I would like a time frame of when an advertised feature will be available. I will say when I contacted support they admitted the bug was known and told me to wait for an update before trying again, they just didn’t have a time frame of when to expect the update to the Segments app.
Wahoo’s customer service is virtually non-existent. Try calling their support number. You’ll get a voice-mail, not a person. Leave a message. Wait for their call-back. HA. The new Elemnt that I purchased has had problems since I took it out of the box. I’m returning to the store.
getting ready for winter training and will be switching to Zswift and Wahoo
So cool to see the people behind the products. Love this brand.