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In Depth Product Reviews
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Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
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Do I understand this right, if Wahoo would decide to get rid of Ant+ there could be potentially a solution to get Virtual shifting on kick v4 or v5? (if it is really a memory issue…)
Any chance of them releasing a software without Ant+ to make if possible?
I mean I have no use for Ant+ in my current setup anyhow…
Correct. They noted though that they were not in favor of removing pre-existing open standards:
“The only other option would be to remove some existing features but that would be taking away from open standards which I am really not a fan of. “
Good grief… Wahoo, I do not need/use Ant+ on my KICKR V4 and would gladly sacrifice it to be able to use virtual shifting Zwift.
I use ANT+ all the time. It’s my preferred protocol, given the choice – mostly because you get the ability to connect multiple head units to a single sensor out of the box, whereas that’s not guaranteed with BLE. (I run an Edge 540 and a Fenix 7s; if I’m on the bike, both of them are recording and displaying what I’m doing. The Fenix is my “definitive” unit, whilst the Edge is the main display, but the Edge also controls the trainer if I’m doing an indoor set. Never mind that my HR strap is ANT+ only.)
So whilst what you are describing would work for you, it would not necessarily work for others who use the hardware. Don’t assume that _your_ use case is the _only_ use case, please.
The new bike computer pic has been leaked all over the place – not sure what Wahoo is waiting for…
Marketing must think they are releasing a new iPhone. They are trying to build up anticipation but its just annoying and dumb.
Software probably isn’t ready.
It very well may build up anticipation but I am in the need of a computer and with Black Friday coming and not knowing what the new Wahoo is or does, I will be buying a Garmin 1040 to replace my old Roam.
The LEDs were one of the few different with the competition …
I liked them when used to indicate R/L turns
I recently discussed with a friend that Garmin should add something similar
Alas
What percentage of indoor riding setups are using ANT+? No one knows for sure, but I would posit not very many.
Given that you can simply hook an ANT+ dongle to your laptop and get all the bells and whistles of it without the drawbacks of BLE, I expect that a sizeable number of people does it.
Due to frequent dropouts with the typical BLE/BT connection, many people prefer ANT+, and especially those who do races…
Among the people I know from Zwift racing, about half use ANT+ and the other half use BT because they’re on Apple TV and have no choice.
The latter are those who often get stuck in the pen because their BT disconnects while they’re having a quick washroom break before start.
Maybe they could just release 2 firmware versions? Or release one for BLE only as sort of Beta and manual upload? Like this people could chose. That should be doable I would think and wouldn´t impact any users negatively but only make some very happy :)
Yes, as Pavel stated, I “still” use a laptop, I still use a dongle and for whatever reason I have multiple support cases with ALL three biggies, Wahoo, Garmin, and Hammerhead, over sensor dropouts with their head units, and have all of them telling me that Ant+ is much better for connecting and the preferred way to connect. So I dongle away flawlessly all the time and ENJOY my laptop and my overall experience doing it this way
So, you’re telling me that Wahoo is not going to release its supposed new bike computer until one week AFTER the biggest shopping day of the year. Genius move!
Kikr bike v1 has had zero, ZERO meaningful functionality updates. You pay 3k for a bike, you expect some new releases. But instead Wahoo forget about you. I will not buy any Wahoo products as a result of my experience.
Well, if it’s meant to replace the Roam or Bolt, those should be on liquidation pricing during Black Friday, so they’ll clear out old stock and maybe steal a few sales from Garmin.
Agreed, pure genius. Why does it seem that every company has someone in marketing that gets listened to like this. Is it because when you pay for an opinion you feel you have to accept it?
Oh please, just release the damn thing, some marketing persons idea no doubt to annoy their customers.
This! I think what they are doing is ridiculous. the method, the timing, all of it.
As a Kickr Bike v1 owner, thanks for calling them out on this. I only bought the bike 3 years ago, so I am a bit put off by the lack of updates. At least give me onscreen gearing.
They even sent an email proclaiming my bike had an update. Checked the app…nope.
Ray, thanks for clarifying the issue with a V1 Bike. I had asked Wahoo for more specifics, but have so far heard nothing. I do hope they and Zwift can enable the Gearing – I also think it speaks to both stepping up and avoiding obsolescence of electronic gear. I’m no Apple fan boy, but they really to set the standard for supporting products for longer than most expect.
I feel betrayed. I supported Wahoo by purchasing the Kickr V1 when it first came out under the premise that it was decked out in technology that this wonderful thing called “updates” would keep it feeling like new in the years to come. I could have bought a $1000 trainer and a $3000 beginner road bike. I chose to trust them in their vision, a vision that apparently was more a sales pitch than reality. Honor matters. That’s why I’ve decided to ignore their treadmill. They will just do the same thing again.
IndieVelo (now TrainingPeaks Virtual) also has custom mapping for KB V1 buttons. Different for races and free rides and workouts.
That is interesting, thanks for letting us know, I had no idea they had that – maybe a move away from Zwift then?
The KB 1 has no limitations. In game shifting display, change of view using top buttons, “steering” etc. all done in TrainingPeaks Virtual.
I think Wahoo is just upselling just the way how they do it with the V5 and VS as well.
Wattbike have a lot to learn from Wahoo. The ATOM and Proton have numerous redundant buttons that could be used in Zwift and the Proton doesn’t show the current gear either. Rubbish. I’m starting to regret my Proton purchase.
Ray – I’d be really interested in your view of the Atom Vs the Bike Shift. Largely for ERG mode training. I’ve read your comments on n the Atom suffering in this respect and that’s tipping me to the Shift but I wondered what your longer term experience with it has been? I’d really appreciate any insights please! Thanks….
For me personally, I’d pick the SHIFT just about any day in that comparison. Of course, it costs more. But it has more features and integration with Zwift.
THANK YOU. Decision made
Recommend people upset with Wahoo send messages to their support team. I generally prefer Wahoo over Garmin, but Garmin largely hasn’t left their customers out to dry by EOLing product well before it’s reasonable.
I have two v1 bikes and this is really frustrating as I wrongly assumed Wahoo would treat this expensive hardware like their bike computers…
Wahoo, why would I even contemplate purchasing something like the Kickr Run V1 knowing how you’ve treated the V1 bike consumer? I bet they have more V1 owners than V2 and Shift combined.
Isn’t the Wahoo Ace a sure thing?
Steering does allow you to choose directions at intersections on Zwift, just not all the time. It seems as though when you choose a route to ride from the start you are locked in on that unless you steer away from the keyboard or the app. However, when I just join my buddies who are already riding then the steer buttons on my KBv2 will allow me to choose directions at intersections. I learned this accidentally and had to teleport back to them.
Every blogger praises the products of manufacturers but no one touches on an important thing like repair and offering spare parts. What was my encounter with wahoo when I asked wahoo about the strap for my kickr. It is a basic consumable item that should be available. The answer I got was that wahoo does not have spare parts!!!! Not even a strap for the trainer. Your strap wears out and they suggest buying a new trainer, that is sick. No one touches on buying spare parts.
Not sure about “every blogger”, considering I talked about it right here: link to dcrainmaker.com
FWIW, I’ve had a few replacement bits for my old Kickr Snap from Wahoo Customer Service UK, all FOC; most recently, a rubber floor pad and the missing bit for a thru axle adapter.
I thought the Ace post on Reddit was from someone at an LBS. I had heard from a source (😉) that a new device would probably be released at the end of summer. With the Dec. 3 date, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Wahoo that did the Reddit post. The poster hasn’t answered any questions , posted better pictures, etc. Probably trying to get a little excitement going with such a late release date. Hopefully the software is solid on release.
I still can’t understand why it was possible for the kickr core to get the update but not the V4/V5? Back then I remember them being based on pretty much the same chipset (core &V4) only difference seems a much higher necessity/ incentive to make it become a zwift hub, not a hardware limitation.
My understanding is that while they likely have the exact same chipset, the CORE doesn’t have the port for DIRCON (ethernet connectivity), nor the WiFi connectivity. Both of which take up code memory.
That would explain it for the v5 but not the V4.. such a messy situation :(
Ahh, that’s right – I forgot V4 didn’t have DIRCON. Feels like forever ago.
Well if they are doing right by their customers this will never be a problem again. General Purpose micro controllers can be had with tons of storage and memory for next to nothing these days. 5-6 years ago was a bit harder. Hopefully they are future proofing…
The kickr v1 not getting updates is indeed infuriating. Maybe just sell us an updated compute upgrade or something?
It’s very frustrating not getting an update. But if it is hardware related, nothing can be done. Wahoo continues to update firmware imo as much as possible. I have a Garmin Epix 2, Hardware allows the new UI of the Fenix 8, but Garmin denies it. I have only positive experiences with wahoo CS, not so much with Garmin.
I don’t buy the excuse to the v1 bike being left out like it is for something as petty as a gear display on the hud…
It shows elsewhere just not in zwift… yeah it does tick me off as my v1 bike works just fine I don’t need a v2 as I don’t put out the numbers the v2 maxes to it even the v1 I have been a zwift sub for sheesh I think five years now… Talk about feeling a touch betrayed for no other reason than they just being honest…
Lame