Wahoo has revealed the Kickr Core 2 – the long-awaited successor to its iconic ‘affordable’ direct-drive smart trainer.
Promising “legendary ride feel, revolutionary value”, the Wahoo Kickr Core 2 is designed to be easy to assemble and features a spec good enough for all but the strongest riders.
Smart trainers have come on in leaps and bounds in the past few years, but it’s fair to say the original Kickr Core was ahead of its time when it launched back in 2018. Most of its competitors have spent that time simply catching up to Wahoo’s effort.
Looking to put it back in the lead, Wahoo has updated the trainer’s support legs and added premium features such as Wi-Fi connectivity, ‘Race Mode’ and sensor bridging.
But with almost everything else staying unchanged – and a small price rise to £499.99 / $549.99 / €549.99 – is that enough for the Kickr Core 2 to re-take its ‘best mid-range smart trainer’ crown? Let’s take a closer look.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?
The original Wahoo Kickr Core set the tone for mid-range direct-drive smart trainers.
In the years since it launched, its basic design has spawned all manner of copycat smart trainers, from the Zwift Hub to the Pinnacle HC Home Trainer and, more recently, the Van Rysel D100.
Given this, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Wahoo has decided to stick with a tried-and-tested formula when it comes to the Kickr Core 2’s design.
After all, the basic design of the brand’s high-end smart trainer, the Kickr V6 has also remained largely unchanged since the first Kickr launched way back in 2012.
The subtle refinements to the Kickr Core 2’s design come in the form of flat legs, which are designed to make assembling the trainer a little easier.
Because the only assembly required with the Kickr Core 2 is to bolt the legs on, select the right axle adaptors and plug it in, having legs that don’t move around so much (the old round legs used to roll away unless held in place) helps smooth the process a touch.
Borrowing an idea from the Zwift Hub, Wahoo has also colour-coded the legs and included a guide to help riders find the correct axle adaptors for their bike.
Wahoo has also added new, multi-colour indicator lights to the rear of the unit to give riders a quick insight to whether everything is working as expected (or not) before they jump on the bike.
Beyond that, the physical specs of the Kickr Core 2 are practically identical to the original model.
There’s still the same 5.4kg flywheel – among the heaviest in this segment of the market – plus a maximum power output of 1,800 watts and a claimed power accuracy of +/- 2 per cent.
It also comes with the option of an 11-speed cassette or the latest Zwift Cog and Click v2 bundle, as we have in for testing.
As a reminder, the Zwift Cog is a singlespeed adaptor for smart trainers, enabling almost any 8- to 12-speed bike to be mounted on the trainer. Shifting is then taken care of by the bundled Zwift Click controllers, which control the resistance of the smart trainer to replicate gear changes virtually.
While designed to work best with Zwift, the Cog can be disassembled using a cassette lockring tool and a chain whip. A standard bike cassette can then be mounted on the freehub in its place if you’d rather use a different indoor cycling app, which doesn’t support virtual shifting.
Upgraded connectivity
The other big upgrades to the Kickr Core platform are the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity and the ability to act as a ‘bridge’ for additional sensors such as heart rate monitors.
As on the pricier Kickr V6, Wi-Fi connectivity gives the Kickr Core 2 the ability to connect to your smart devices with a stronger and more stable connection, compared to Bluetooth or ANT+.
When connected to a Wi-Fi network, the Kickr Core can also update its own firmware automatically.
Alongside this, Wahoo has added ‘Race Mode’ to the Kickr Core 2. This enables the trainer to communicate with smart devices at up to 10x higher rates (up to 10hz instead of 1hz), making for a more responsive ride feel.
According to the Wahoo app, though, it appears Race Mode will only be available when using a Wi-Fi connection, rather than with Bluetooth or a network connection, as on the Kickr V6.
The sensor-bridging function also plugs a hole in the original Kickr Core’s spec sheet, enabling riders to sync their heart rate monitor and Zwift controllers to the trainer so the data can be sent via a single stream.
This can be useful for riders playing Zwift on Apple TV, which only allows a limited number of Bluetooth connections.
Wahoo Kickr Core 2 first impressions
As promised, the Kickr Core 2 is very easy to set up.
I didn’t think the original Kickr Core was tricky to assemble, of course, but it’s fair to say the colour-coded flat legs would likely make things that little bit easier for beginners.
After updating the firmware, I initially had trouble connecting the Kickr Core 2 to my Wi-Fi network. Given the app mentioned signal quality, I thought I might be too far from the router, but bringing the trainer right next to it didn’t solve the issue.
For my first ride, then, I stuck to Bluetooth and everything went without a hitch from then on.
The ride feel was as good as ever, the connection to my laptop stable, and the power numbers seemed in the right ballpark compared to a set of Favero Assioma PRO RS power meter pedals, and a 4iiii Precision 3+ Pro crankset.
The next day, I tried connecting to Wi-Fi again and for some reason it worked. It has stayed reliably connected since. That’s something I’ll keep an eye on over the coming weeks as I do more in-depth testing for a proper review.
I also didn’t get an option to use the Kickr Core 2 as a sensor bridge for my heart rate monitor (a Wahoo Trackr) via the Wahoo iOS app, but hopefully that will come post-launch.
Connectivity gremlins aside, the Kickr Core 2 feels very similar to its predecessor.
That’s not a bad thing per se – the ‘old’ Kickr Core remains an excellent trainer – but it’s fair to say Wahoo hasn’t moved the game forward in the same way it did with that original model back in 2018.
Performance-wise, though, everything seems spot-on (provided I don’t suffer any more Wi-Fi gremlins and the sensor-bridging option arrives as promised, of course), so the major sticking point could be the price.
With the highly rated JetBlack Victory offering an almost identical spec sheet for £100 / $100 / €100 less, and the possibility we’ll see other models discounted around Black Friday, the Kickr Core 2 faces stiff competition from cheaper opposition.
Wahoo’s pitch, though, remains that the Kickr Core 2 is a reputable option with tank-like build quality and a design that has stood the test of time.
Whether that's enough to justify its premium price, we look forward to finding out.
