At this point, it’s probably really only a matter of time before we see the Wahoo KICKR CORE with an orange paint job and called Zwift Hub 2. But, before we get there, let’s first explain what Wahoo (and Zwift) have just announced. Some might see this as merely a price change, but I think that’d be incredibly naive.
A lot of things are changing, some of them minor, but some of them pretty big and will certainly impact both consumers and industry alike, even if not a consumer of Zwift or Wahoo.
What’s Changing:
From today, four things happen immediately, but that’s really only the beginning:
#1) Drop the Floor: The Wahoo KICKR CORE price permanently reduced from $599USD to $499USD: This is no longer just a Black Friday sale, and I don’t see it indicative of some new model coming. It’s reality setting in. This price will only be available at retail stores/bike shops.
#2) All-Inclusive: The Wahoo KICKR CORE is also going to be available for $599 but WITH both a pre-installed cassette (8/9/10/11/12 speeds) AND 1-year of Zwift. This is only available on WahooFitness.com and Zwift.com
#3) The Hook-Up: Wahoo is making Wahoo/Zwift bundles for all their other hardware products that upsell it by $100 to include 1-year of Zwift. And if you buy one of the other hardware units via retailer, you can buy a $100 Zwift up-sell package afterwards.
#4) Zwift Hub Classic Killed Off: The new Zwift Hub One with the Zwift Cog remains, but the cassette-inclusive version called the Zwift Hub Classic is gone, no longer listed on Zwift’s site.
It’s kinda amazing to see how quickly things have moved since this summer. Just back in June the two companies were in lawsuit hell fighting over everything, with one of many snippets where Wahoo was saying these sorts of pricing would be the downfall for the company:
“Zwift, which is only selling the Hub direct to consumers via its website, Wahoo’s higher price for its KICKR trainers is based on the cost structure it has built for its KICKR trainers, which has multiple sales channels (independent bike dealer (IBD), national retailer, and direct to consumer) that each require their own sales forces and marketing teams, which results in additional operating expenditures. In addition, Wahoo also has significant operating expenses related to ongoing research and development activities that are required to launch new, innovative products, which investors recognize are important to the company’s growth and financial health as they fuel product purchases and revenue growth.” – Nathan Fenwick (Wahoo Fitness CFO, Case 1:22-cv-01295-CFC Document 22 – Filed 11/17/22)
Less than a year later and here we are – with such pricing, while concurrently releasing press releases including more honeymoon-like statements:
“Wahoo’s new bundles will revolutionize the indoor cycling experience. Our goal is to provide customers with unprecedented options, affordability, and an easy, enjoyable onboarding process. Together with Zwift, we are thrilled to be able to offer the broadest range of choice and functionality in the indoor cycling category, helping to build the better athlete in all of us.” – Chip Hawkins (Founder of Wahoo Fitness – Nov 21, 2023)
Of course, if you’re a consumer – this is all fantastic news. At least in the short term. The long-term is far messier. But hey – Zwift effectively succeeded in dropping the floor out of the mainstream trainer pricing realm. $499 is the new $899. A move that Elite likely already saw coming, when they priced their Elite Suito-T at $549 a few months back.
So, just to flesh out some details here on each component, here’s the new KICKR CORE-specific pricing options:
Option 1 – No Cassette: $499USD
Option 2 – With Cassette and Zwift: $599USD
And further, on the non-CORE Wahoo hardware models, here’s the pricing where you get one year of Zwift included:
● KICKR BIKE at US$4,099.99EU€4,099.99/UK£3,599.99/CA$5,439.99 /
● KICKR BIKE SHIFT at US$3,099.99/EU€3,099.99/UK£2,799.99/CA$4,339.99 /
● KICKR MOVE at US$1,699.99/EU€1,699.99/UK£1,499.99/CA$2,289.99
● KICKR at US$1,399.99/EU€1,399.99/UK£1,199.99/CA$2,019.99 /
● KICKR ROLLR at US$699.99/EU€699.99/UK£649.99/CA$939.99
● KICKR SNAP at US$399.99/EU€399.99/UK£349.99/CA$739.99
Now, setting aside consumer competition for a second (after all, Zwift only entered the hardware game a year ago), there are many industry losers here. Some more immediate, some will take a bit of time. So, let’s dig into that.
A Quirky Future:
Short term, the biggest loser here is Garmin/Tacx, followed closely by Elite. I’d say Saris too – but frankly I’m not even sure they’re making trainers at this point. Everything has gone quiet after the sale to the no-name brand holding company more than a year ago. Garmin’s biggest gap isn’t the Zwift tack-on $100 membership, instead, it’s the Flux 2 pricing just being non-competitive. Elite probably has less to lose here merely because they have a lesser footprint globally than Garmin/Tacx. Proportionally though, it’s still gonna be tough for them.
However, longer term, I’ve gotta imagine the real (biggest) loser here is JetBlack (or, more technically their manufacturing facilities/partners). JetBlack currently works closely with Zwift on the Zwift Hub One. And at this juncture, I just don’t see how the future continues there. There’s just no need for even the Zwift Hub One, given the current trajectory of the Wahoo/Zwift partnership, which has escalated in closeness faster than a 50 Shades of Gray movie.
Specifically, there’s no reason to have a Zwift Hub One anymore. The Zwift Hub One is certainly good, but in this parity-priced scenario, the Wahoo KICKR CORE is, and always has been, slightly better (though, it lacks the new auto-cal and race mode of the Zwift Hub, but those should be easy for Wahoo to add via firmware update). Thus, Zwift could easily paint the legs and flywheel orange, and call it Zwift Hub 2. Or Zwift Hub by Wahoo, or whatever the heck they want to call it. And the Zwift Hub One (with the Zwift Cog)? No biggie – that Cog can go on any trainer, since again, the software side of that comes from the Zwift app telling the trainer what to do. Having that be part of the KICKR CORE is just one software update away.
That all seems to be a given at this point to me. Anything less would be silly, again, given the trajectory of the partnership.
The real question at the end of the day is: Will Zwift buy Wahoo? And that’s messier, obviously. Zwift fund-raised a boatload (some $620 million dollars), and doesn’t really have anywhere to put that money. Best we can tell, Zwift isn’t turning a profit at this point, and also isn’t meaningfully growing subscription-count-wise. At least compared to the estimates/hopes/dreams given to investors a few years ago.
As a result, at some point, those investors are eager for a return on that investment – and that’s certainly not going to come from an IPO of Zwift. This is no financial environment to IPO an indoor cycling company. That party bus left the station, and crashed about 3 years ago.
Instead, buying Wahoo would begin to give investors a return on their investment that’s real-world tangible. If Wahoo is to be believed, once they sorted their debt pieces out this past spring and bought themselves back, they were otherwise profitable. And while indoor cycling gear sales have been down/flat the last 2 years post-COVID-peak-bubble, there are signs it’s slowly starting to solidify again. Not in a bubble way, but in a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ way. It’d also give Wahoo’s new investors a solid payday as well.
Of course, how much of that $620M cash Zwift actually has left is a bigger question. Concurrently, how much Wahoo would accept for sale is also a question. When Tacx sold to Garmin in Feb 2019, it was stated in the Dutch media it did so for about €170M (~$185M USD). At the time, it was also stated Wahoo was a bigger company than Tacx. Certainly, valuations have grown considerably for both Tacx & Wahoo since then. And concurrently Zwift has been spending money. Again, where that middle-ground between what Zwift has left, and what Wahoo would ask for, is the big question.
Of course, none of that would be good for consumers long-term, and probably not even short-term. It would essentially create a behemoth that could only really be countered by a Garmin-like sized company, which has shown no real interest in substantially expanding the Tacx App beyond what it was when they bought it. Of course, all of this is overshadowed by Peloton, which continues to slowly but surely expand its footprint into areas likely once considered more sport-focused (and survey’s this week indicate it’s looking at lots of options for expansion, including naming Zwift by name).
Either way, interesting times ahead. The good news though is that unlike 3-4 years ago in peak-COVID, this isn’t a fast-moving indoor trainer arms race. Everyone who might ever have bought a trainer, has one, thus, there’s less urgency to be the ‘winner’ in this realm, because most consumers have already chosen a platform. Instead, it’s a smaller battle to convince someone to ditch an existing platform/older trainer. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how companies like Garmin, Elite, and others respond.
Thanks for reading!
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“I’d say Saris too – but frankly I’m not even sure they’re making trainers at this point. Everything has gone quiet after the sale to the no-name brand holding company more than a year ago.”
Looks like Saris is still open for business. This link with the old reliable Fluid2 trainer that I own has a date of 2023 on it. link to saris.com
Oh, I don’t doubt they’re still selling trainers. I guess I’d question more if they’re still developing them or engineering them. I haven’t heard a peep from the company since the old owners went away (and many others left around that timeframe).
I also wonder how much old stock they’re working through too (one of the things they cited as one of their downfalls requiring them to sell the company). Are you saying you bought a trainer this year with a build date of 2023 on it?
Interesting chance with the new version 1.53.
In Workout details, replaced Stress Point (SP) with Training Stress Score (TSS®). The number value will remain the same. TSS® is a registered trademark of TrainingPeaks.
I was just about to purchase a Saris H3+ and reading this let the wind out of my sails. In your opinion, will is be a poor decision to purchase? I had a very poor customer service experience with Wahoo years ago when my battery malfunctioned in my Elemnt after just over a year and they wouldn’t replace it with one representative actually telling me that, essentially, the batteries are limited in lifetime?? I elevated my complaint and eventually spoke with someone who offered me a 40% discount toward a new computer (bolt) and I actually found the battery from a manufacturer in China selling it on eBay (still working 4 years later)
European distribution usually ignores the price drop to keep the margin as long as possible
I did see a major sports online store selling the kickr core for EUR 479,- today though…
I’m curious what will happen on software update side for Zwift Hub owners
So if I want to use any platform besides Zwift, the Zwift trainer is useless now with only the Smart Hub thing. However the Wahoo Core is as you say a bit better than Zwift/Jet Black and has options like the CLIMB accessory. Seems hard to rationalize a Tacx Neo with the moving base, although I guess the KICKR MOVE is still way up there in cost as well
I keep telling myself I need to use my current wheel-on trainer more before justifying an upgrade, but these are tempting
No, you can install a casette.
for me the point of the Zwift hub one is that different bikes(people) can use the same trainer irrespective of their great setup. but this won’t work unless they all have a Zwift subscription – probably why they have discontinued the classic hub.
Ah, got it, but wonder if I’d have to switch back to the Smart Hub to use Zwift? Seems probably not since other trainers work without it.
Oh boy, and I have just pulled the trigger and bought Kickr Core for 499€ … guess it makes more sense to send it back and wait for “normal” price of (I guess??) 449€… although as somebody said, the question is when will the price in Europe get updated?
Zwift / SYSTM?
that’s what i was thinking. i know there was a rumor a while ago about Zwift and TR where TR would have the structured training and zwift the gameplay. since we never heard more about it, i’m guessing that deal fell apart. and if zwift still wants better training sessions perhaps SYSTM would be that component.
The best thing that has happened to virtual cycling world is the release of indieVelo. The next season colour for my Volt is green not orange. Would be nice to have a some thoughts about it from your blog .
Funny you should mention Indievelo…
Why is that funny?
For those that have been following on Strava, you’ll note that I’ve been riding it a bit lately. More soon!
Just another Zwift offshoot isn’t it
all things Zwift ,cannot be great for the consumer
id be totally confused where get my wahoo kickr core repaired at this stage , should it go wrong
indieVelo I tested it, the graphics are rough and not very pleasing to the eyes, like a ghost town. It feels artificial. A better alternative is mywoosh.
doesn’t sit right with me .
I now hate myself for not paying for rgt , I dont think there is anything out there that does the same thing .
Makes the $430 I paid for an Elite Direto XR last month look like less of a screaming deal bit I’m still happy wirh it. I appreciate your thoughts on how it might play out. Hopefully Elite sticks around so I have long term support.
My main concern is that the Zwift hub one as sold is useless without a Zwift subscription – and it feels very like peloton. I don’t see any reason why the clicker could not pair directly with the trainer instead or though the app – it feels like a closed system is comming and if wahoo and Zwift merge that only makes it more likely
My Hub One works perfectly with Trainer Road, which is best in ERG mode. No shifting needed.
Of course I bought a Hub Classic last week, thinking it was the best price at that moment. Should I return it and get a Core instead for the same price?
I’m in same boat. I can’t decide if it is worth hassle. The Core is not significantly better than the Hub. The reason I’m leaning in to is Wahoo’s customer service is way ahead of Zwift’s. In my experience Zwift’s is terrible.
So when do we get Zwift virtual shifting on Wahoo trainers? Seems inevitable given this news.
I think they should implement it quickly. I am waiting for this solution for wahoo kick.
With my Kickr Core going on three years of heavy use, the price drop softens the blow when the trainer finally breaks down. That will also help ease the pain of new chainrings and cassette on my dedicated Zwift bike…those are on need of replacing.
Great article, detailed and informative.
I was about to pull the trigger on a Hub One as I’d like the flex to be able to switch training bikes quickly… my question is, will it still possible to add a cassette if I so choose? Does one need some kind of conversion/adapter kit from Zwift, and will that still be available in the new world of Zwift Hub One + Wahoo Kickr Core being the two offerings.
Separately, and as an aside… until about 2wks ago, Chain Reaction here in the UK were selling the Kickr (not Core) for £499, which seemed like a knockout deal (that, sadly, I slept on).
You can always add a cassette to the Hub One later if you want, turning it back into effectively a Zwift Hub Classic.
The CORE is £449 at Sigma Sports this week 👀
I hope this makes garmin/tacx actually do something again.
when was the last time they made a new trainers?
I guess it isn’t easy to find the time when they have to release three to four watches each week.
In “#3) The Hook-Up” DCR mentioned: “And if you buy one of the other hardware units via retailer, you can buy a $100 Zwift up-sell package afterwards.”
How can I take advantage of this? I bought the REI deal for the Kicker Core and would love to take advantage of the Zwift up-sell package. Specially that the 12-speed Kicker Core option is out of stock.
Apparently, this offer happens as part of the product activation in the Wahoo app.
Thanks! I found that documented here:
link to support.wahoofitness.com
It does not mention the price, but that is good enough for now.
Does Wahoo have a public beta program for the Core? I know the firmware hasn’t been updated since 2021 (i.e., it’s pretty darn stable), but I’d love to get some early access to 10hz mode, assuming that is something they are actually doing.
I’m waiting for a virtual gear change for KICK. This should have been implemented a long time ago. Companies specifically dose additives to sell their equipment in the future :(.
Hi Ray, as you made reference to the movie, 50 Shades of Grey. There was never going to be room for a 3 way and Jetblack was always going to be the one left out. Saying that, we have been grateful for the oppertunity helping Zwift bring the Hub to market and we have learnt allot working along side Zwift. Personally I am please for Wahoo, although a competitor, the re-found love between Zwift and Wahoo is great for the industry. Wahoo are a iconic brand and it would have been a shame to see the rift between the brands get messy. JetBlack is still working with Zwift with our accessories, the FAN, TABLE and TRAINER TRAY, (you are yet to review) these all are available via the Zwift Shop. As for trainers, we will continue with the JetBlack VOLT, selling in the territories we are permitted to sell. (wahoo legal) We do struggle with the fact other trainer brands using the same technology are still able to sell in highlighted markets that JetBlack is not permitted. I hope this changes and Wahoo continues what they started. As for JetBlack’s future, we have been in the trainer industry since 2003. We will continue to innovate and make indoor trainer accessible to all. Thanks for your time.
Well said. Thanks for making the Zwift hub possible (I love mine).
Thanks for adding in your perspective.
What does this mean for Systm/Sufferland?
How come Canada is getting screwed?
Convert Kickr Core US price to Canadian dollars and it’s CA$100 less than what wahoo is charging in Canada.
Even worse for the Kickr Snap: Canadians have to pay an extra ~CA$200 for the privilege of buying it in Canada vs buying from an American place.
The time of €899 smart trainers is indeed over.
Decathlon just introduced their D100 smart trainer a few weeks ago.
It only goes to 6% gradient and 600 watts, accuracy is 5% (time for a review Ray?) but it is only €249,-
Yeah, I’ve got it on my radar. Trying not to get too distracted though from finishing my KICKR BIKE SHIFT review first!
My assumption though it’s that it’s simply a Magene T110 rebrand, looking at the components/frame design.
This sounds like a fitness not device for Esports and Zwift racing. Waste of money.
Trainer manufacturers are having a tough time after the Covid bubble burst. We are going to see many offers to release the stock.
Hi Ray
Out of curiosity how is some of this going to work from an antitrust perspective – I say this as an antitrust lawyer who thought the first round of co-op was interesting but probably ok.
Here it seems that a) Wahoo would be imposing pricing obligations on online retailers to prevent them matching the physical bricks and mortar $499 price – there is some wiggle room but this is tricky to justify; b) more problematically, it seems like Zwift and Wahoo have effectively agreed to reduce the extent to which they compete – Zwift is only going to sell their hub trainers whilst Wahoo will sell cassette trainers – if there is even a whiff that this was agreed, rather than a decision reached independently (and there’s more than a strong whiff that this is agreed) then that is arguably a market sharing agreement and that would be a serious problem.
The pricing components are probably best divided up into three portions.
Portion A: What’s actually available to each:
1) The $599 CORE Cassette+Zwift deal is *only* available on Zwift.com and WahooFitness.com
2) The $499 CORE no-Cassette option is inversely *only* available through normal retail channels (but not WahooFitness.co or Zwift.com sites)
3) The $100 upsell for Zwift is available post-sale to those retail customers, via the Wahoo app
Portion B: Zwift.com sales of trainers
Zwift was selling other trainer companies on their site, but at least for the EU site doesn’t appear to anymore. That’s gone back and forth a few times, and frankly, I can’t keep track of where it was a month ago, versus August, versus last Feb, versus 1.5 years ago (when they had everyone onboard). Either way, as of today it’s only all Wahoo trainers/bikes and the Zwift Hub One.
Portion C: Whether or not the two coordinated
I suppose that all depends on the end-goal. If the end-goal is actually that the Zwift Hub goes away entirely (including ONE), and the CORE becomes the new Zwift Hub, as it seems is to hint might be the case, then one could probably argue Zwift has simply selected a new hardware vendor (as opposed to JetBlack/their manuf partners). And in some ways, this would all just put them back to the scenario prior to Sept 2022 when Zwift made trainer hardware at all. Zwift could probably easily argue the entire thing wasn’t worth their time/distraction, and decided to defer to partners.
Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s some substantial concerns here depending on future directions. Concerns that Zwift especially never seem to want to make concrete formal published statements on (around adopting standards/compatibility/etc…).
I don’t know, but antitrust generally involves harm to consumers, right? The new dramatically lower price points are a major win. Or it involves leveraging a monopoly of some sort, in which a consumer is forced to secure products or services from a particular provider. This isn’t the case here either. Possibly competition will evaporate because of the new low cost of the product, but there is no barrier to entry (or continuity) by alternatives.
The barrier is low, as we’ve seen here, where people constantly mention new competitors to Zwift. The question is, are any of them, including Zwift, going to be around in 10 years? As I understand it, Zwift itself has never turned a profit, and is far larger than the competition. MyWhoosh is backed by infinite money, but the rest? (And if the emir or whoever that’s promoting cycling goes away, what then? It’s happened many times with pro team sponsors that the cycling enthusiast goes elsewhere and the sponsorship ends.) The market for these sites isn’t that large, and the number of new users, especially after COVID, must be very small. In my case, I started using Zwift about year ago, when Strava stopped allowing me to mark as virtual rides virtual rides I did using my Edge to replay rides I’d done outdoors. But I already had all the necessary equipment, so it was just a matter of downloading an app.
As for the trainer side, that seems more robust now, but Wahoo recently went through financial difficulties, and Tacx hasn’t put out anything new in a while. I have a Tacx Neo 2, and if I had to replace it right now, I probably wouldn’t go Tacx any more at their current prices (and they have a serious sale on the 2T at the moment). I’d miss road feel simulation, but that’s not worth several hundred dollars.
The question is what do we want? There are three types of platforms.
1. RIDE VIDEO
2. BIKE RACING
3. TRAINING PLATFORM PLANS
Zwift gives me positions 2 and 3. Rouvy and BIGRINGVR position 1.
When these applications die, even in 10 years, which I doubt. I will have a WAHOO ROAM counter from which I can complete point 3. I can also complete each map using the counter, so almost point 1.
Zwift has no revenue? JOKE :) Simple math gives them $2 million a month without producing anything.
Wahoo in a hole? see what they have released, a new bike, a new sliding trainer, a foldable trainer. In my opinion, the trainer industry is not yet saturated. In my environment, riding a trainer is evil. However, this is changing. I have been riding all year round for several years. It gives me training to go outside.
In my opinion, the industry will move towards bike trainers. For larger small versions see the fitness industry. There are plenty of bikes and competitions there.
I think the next step for wahoo/zwift will be to release a simple fitness bike.
“Everyone who might ever have bought a trainer, has one”
Really? For a long logn time, you either had to use a wheel on trainer that was problematic for anyone not living in a single familiy house (often veeerrryyy loud!) or pay 1000+€ for a direct drive.
500€-ish DD trainers are much more accesible. I got my first smart trainer (Elite Zumo) a few weeks ago. I don’t think I am the only one.
See…but you had one. ;)
You are indeed the target case though – someone who might be upgrading from a wheel-on trainer. But my point is that the sub-$500 direct drive trainer isn’t new. It wasn’t even new when Zwift announced the Zwift Hub. In fact, it was the Elite Zumo that largely introduced that concept back in 2019. While it technically retailed for 599EUR, the reality was it quickly went sub-500EUR. And considerably deeper. It’s been in the 300’s at Decathlon for 1-2 years now.
My point is, it’s more of a slog now convincing people to upgrade older trainers. Some, like yourself, have wheel-on trainers that are ripe for upgrade. Whereas many have largely perfectly functional older KICKR or TACX NEO trainers that don’t see a big difference in features/functions for the price.
I haven’t seen ANY marketing aimed specifically at convincing folks to upgrade from wheel-on to direct drive. I think a lot of people don’t understand all the advantages. I didn’t. For me, the big surprises were the vast improvement in pedaling smoothness and the reduction in noise.
Elite Suito-T $399 on Amazon right now. Some how Elite seems to keep undercutting Zwift/Wahoo pricing.
Does the 1-year Zwift membership apply to old customers too? I.e. can I cancel my membership and rejoin with this promotion (keeping my existing account)?
Yes. I did just that. It’s maybe a little too hard to find, but it’s there. No need to cancel, just switch to yearly. It’ll start at the end of your current month.
With exclusivity agreements for steering and these software-hardware deals it’s starting to look like quite bad behaviour, if not anti-competitive.
They may need to be reminded that common industry standards is what made them successful
I think that these indoor cycling companies should focus on the elderly, where the benefits of cycling at home are much greater than for young people, for reasons of safety, falls, etc. they would gain lots and lots of customers.
Does this mean that Systm/Sufferland is dead?
I used it last winter.
The workouts are still good but the language is dated.
Tacx would do well to just kill off the Flux line, reduce the price of their flagship NEO (2T or hypothetical “NEO3”) and offer a discounted, lower power NEO to compete directly with Wahoo. I can’t imagine the actual units are that expensive to build given fewer moving parts than any other trainer. (no belts or gears)
They better catch up on the design too and offer sensor bridging, maybe make the outer shell more compatible with modern bikes since it interferes with disc brakes and big derailleurs in many cases.
Well, that stopped me buying a Zwift Hub One!
Some questions/thoughts:
1. What future support (if any) will there be for the Hub Classic and One?
2. If this does happen, when do you think the Wahoo KICKR CORE (rebranded or otherwise) will offer the current ‘Cog + Click’ with virtual shifting?
3. Assume that virtual shifting and ‘Cog + Click’ will come to the KICKR and MOVE too?
4. From a commercial perspective, does Zwift have the IP to bundle the ‘Cog + Click’ with Wahoo hardware (as opposed to JetBlack)?
5. Would Wahoo KICKR COREs offer virtual shifting in other platforms other than just Zwift? I’d imagine Wahoo would not want to be tied to Zwift at this stage.
6. Will the required firmware updates to enable virtual shifting be pushed out to all KICKR COREs or just new ones? Could it be worth the gamble of buying one now on the basis that virtual shifting would soon become available?
7. Will it be possible to buy the Wahoo KICKR CORE with Click + Cog and virtual shifting without a 12 month subscription to Zwift?
I am literally going back and forth on the Zwift Hub or the Kickr Core. I just sold an old 2016 Kickr that was not that quiet unless in erg mode as I have 2 young kids and need something I can ride without waking them up. I was all set on the Zwift Hub given that this is the quietest option (no gear changes!), but now that it looks like Zwift and Wahoo might work together, I wonder if I should simply get the Kickr Core and wait/hope that the Hub attachment becomes compatible with all trainers in the future.
I am quite happily dedicated to Zwift so only being able to use that platform is not a problem for me. My only concern is whether I am losing out by not getting the Kickr Core? Is there enough difference for me to go with the Kickr over the Hub?
Any thoughts?
I’m in a similar position. I am actually thinking that to bide some time for things to potentially become clearer to get a month’s free trial of the Wattbike. If after the month I like it, or the concept at least, and it’s become no clearer if the Zwift Hub One will be replaced by the KICKR CORE, then I’ll consider buying the Wattbike or maybe even the new Wahoo KICKR BIKE SHIFT (who does WAHOO use CAPITALS for all their product names?!?).
Haven’t used Zwift in years. Switched over to FulGaz and haven’t looked back. Zwift just become so boring and monotonous after using it for 8 years. Updates weren’t anything to write home about and it all became a bit ‘meh’.
FulGaz really hits the spot for me, loads of different videos, always interesting.
PSA: don’t by the hub. I’m on my 2nd one now and it’s broken as well. First one came broken, sounded like a truck. 2nd one can’t provide normal resistance, like all or nothing, and it spits out incorrect data. (Ibtested it) Crap products + terrible customer service.