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getting a Wattbike shortly for some winter training, general fitness and structured intervals etc.
Anyone use one regularly, what do you think of them?
brother does, seems very happy with it & has def helped boost his fitness levels & time trial goals
Are you hiring it Jonny m? What's the monthly cost if you don't mind me asking. I've recovering from knee surgery and was thinking of a trainer of some sort to help get me back to full fitness
About the only negatives I have heard that they are very noisy and q-factor is huge.
And they are a large stationary trainer so take up lots of space compared to a fold away. If I had the space I would have bought one, but I don't so went for a wahoo kickr.
Also interested to know people's thoughts on one. Think they're about £80 a month rental.
I'm currently using a turbo & trainerroad
I use one in the work gym. Only real negatives I find are the big Q factor compared to a road bike and the gym ones have the "generic huge saddle". If you had your own you could change the saddle and I think the Q factor is closer to my MTB.
A friend picked one up secondhand with only 5 hours use on the odometer - paid £750 as the seller was desperate to get rid of it as he was moving. My friend also has a Kickr which he's now planning to sell as he prefers the convenience of the Wattbike compared with setting up his bike on the turbo. He does a lot of indoor training.
Daft question - What's the Q factor ?
but I don't so went for a wahoo kickr.
Do you think the Kickr is overkill for a hobbyist planning to hitch a MTB to it?
Q factor=distance between pedal cranks measured horizontally
I've used them at the gym a fair bit. The plus points are that they are well put together, have a good range of adjustment, the pedalling feel is pretty realistic and the performance monitoring seems to work well. The downside is the head unit is woeful like something Texas Instruments would have made in the the early eighties, it is noisy which is probably more relevant for home use as opposed to a commercial gym where the background noise is high to begin with. I also found the resistance controls awkward to access once you're sat on the bike, you may be more flexible.
I've also used a wahoo kickr extensively and much prefer that combined with trainerroad. The only place where I think the watt bike betters the kickr is in accurate data collection. I'm just a hobby cyclist looking to maintain a bit of fitness so my need for absolute accuracy of data is not so high.
I had the option of getting a wattbike or the kickr and chose the kickr, I've saved several hundred pounds and think ive got a unit that is more appropriate for my needs. If I was lookin to make a smiler purchase now I would also take a look at the new tacx neo.
Hi, getting a reconditioned one with warranty on 0% finance for £70 per month X 20 months
Can't go wrong really...
Been on the waiting list for a recon one for a while though, £500 cheaper
Do you think the Kickr is overkill for a hobbyist planning to hitch a MTB to it?
Odd comment considering the OP is asking about a wattbike at circa £2k isn't it? Kickr is much less.
Do hobbyist MTB's need anything more than deore gearsets and cheap suspension?
If you have the cash and you want to spend on your hobby why not?
I only got the kickr Friday and spent last night setting it up with trainerroad. The way you can set the resistance in erg mode is the key selling point for me, and I hoping when I test tonight the way it should autoadjust based on the workout. I don't know if the wattbike can do that?
We have them in the gym at work so they're good for a lunchtime session. Just like turbo, better to use them for structured, intensive sessions rather than just sitting there grinding out the miles like the regular gym bunnies.
I can live with the Q-factor as I'm current training for an arctic race on my fatbike.
Seems to me the power calibration is set-up for heavier riders - there was a Wattbike 'gold' challenge to ride 15km in 20 mins - at less than 60kg I was having to generate nearly 400w to meet the required speed! Either that or the calibration is $crewed...
Odd comment considering the OP is asking about a wattbike at circa £2k isn't it? Kickr is much less.
Probably but a wattbike is a wattbike and they have a cost. Turbos range from £100 - £1500(?), so £900 is pretty high end. My major concern is all of those lovely features I'd be paying for and would they be of use to me?
I want a program based thingy so when I ride uphill, the resistance gets harder, do intervals etc. The live racing thing looks fun too.
By hobbyist, I mean that I won't be training for XC races.
Wattbike is pretty unengaging, so if you're not really interesting in training by numbers you'd probably get more mileage out of a VR trainer package - for the same money get a big telly and one of the Tacx VR trainers or the like
If you are looking for some of training entertainment I think the combination of kickr and zwift looks excellent.
I've been given a free months trainerroad from Kryton off here, and already have some sufferfest vids so I'm looking forward to giving those a go with the autoresist features.
Like I said not sure the wattbike can do that, nor many other trainers out there at the moment (new tacx neo?)
Way I see it, it is cheaper than a gym membership. I'm planning on 3-4 sessions a week.
Use one at the gym at work. Fearsome piece of kit, will make you realise how much harder you could be.
Like I said not sure the wattbike can do that, nor many other trainers out there at the moment (new tacx neo?)
Most of the Tacx Smart range can do that now. Starting with the Vortex at around 240 quid.
Not used a wattbike, but it'd have to be pretty good to tempt me away from a dedicated turbo bike with a proper power meter, hooked up to a smart turbo, with Trainer Road or Zwift managing it all on a nice big screen.