Part bike roller, part smart trainer, the KICKR ROLLR can reinvent and gamify your indoor cycle sessions, writes Laurence McJannet
● PERFECT FIT WAHOO KICKR ROLLR
It turns out you might not need to buy a brand-new exercise bike to get your cardio fix during the winter months. Because, with the Wahoo KICKR ROLLR, the best bike is the one you already own.
It’s a hybrid between a traditional bike roller and smart trainer. Rather than removing the rear wheel, like most smart trainers, with the KICKR ROLLR your entire bike slots in. The rear wheel sits on dual rollers, while the front wheel is clamped still.
If you’ve ever used a set of traditional rollers, you’ll know how difficult they are to get the hang of. Once you’ve mastered them, though, they’re great for developing balance and handling skills.
But it’s best to set up next to something around hip height to hold onto, to aid mounting and dismounting. With the KICKR ROLLR, there’s no such issue, as the bike is held firm, but you still get the roller ‘feel’ from the rear wheel. You also get the additional benefits of smart training insights through Bluetooth connectivity to Wahoo’s suite of apps. And if you have a power meter, you can enjoy variable resistance levels up to 10%.
Setting it up
It comes in two main parts and assembly is surprisingly straightforward. The front portion is a hinged stand that unfolds almost to a right angle. From there, the rear portion with the roller slots into the tube that runs perpendicular to the front stand. All you need to do is slot the bike’s front wheel into the clamp, tighten it, then move the rear roller section so the rear wheel touches both rollers. Then just secure the clamp and you’re good to go.
For basic operation, you don’t need to connect to any app – you can just jump on for warm-up and cool-down efforts. But for speed, distance and time (as well as heart rate if you want to connect a chest strap), you’ll need the Wahoo Fitness app. It took a few attempts to pair my android phone with the unit’s sensor. But once you have, starting a workout is easy – just hit ‘start’ and begin pedalling.
As there’s little data on display, the numbers are big and bold – which is just as well, as you’ll probably have your phone or tablet on a table next to you. That’s because there’s nowhere to mount a screen on the unit. Wahoo is obviously hoping that you’ll opt for the additional KICKR Desk Stand. But for an extra £229, that seems a bit steep for what is essentially an adjustable laptop stand.
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