Wahoo Fitness KICKR Power Trainer

Chief among summer's joys is the ability to rise and ride before work, but as August gives way to September and October those early morning rides become unfeasible and we find ourselves confronting the indoor trainer. Wahoo's new KICKR Power Trainer is the latest model aiming to take the sting out of that inevitable transition, and since it's birthed from the imaginations of the people who introduced the smart trainer model it's effective at doing so. For 2016, Wahoo adds new functional features and a redesigned resistance and power algorithm, making the latest member of the KICKR family the smartest, quietest, most accurate road feel experience on the indoor suffer circuit. The new KICKR is more powerful, more accurate, and more responsive that its predecessor. It also enjoys improved power measurement accuracy 2%, which facilitates faster communication between the trainer and whatever virtual training app you're using. When your pixelated avatar is grinding through rollers, the transitions between descents, flats, and climbs are that much smoother, and the max measurable watts and simulated grade are both increased to 2,000 and 20%, respectively. These limits border on farce, but they mean your training sessions have virtually no ceiling unless you're riding a simulation of Flanders on a motorized e bike. Indoor training is never ideal, but the KICKR's optimized algorithm helps bridge the seasonal cycling divide by making riding inside feel that much more like riding outside. The new design includes firmware with an enhanced power algorithm that continuously reads and adjusts the massive electromagnetic brake. If this isn't your first Wahoo rodeo, then you're probably familiar with the brand's updateable design ethos the change to the KICKR's power measurement design brings it more in line with this attitude, and it means that the KICKR is an investment rather than just a temporary stop gap until ANT and Bluetooth are replaced by the next hot thing. T...