Smart Trainers outside of warranty

I’m on my third Wahoo KICKR in a year (2 Cores and now a KICKR) and my warranty has just expired. If I have another problem I’m hoping the Wahoo wouldn’t just leave me out to dry, but I was also wondering if there are any other options for getting these (and other brands) things fixed? Spares dont seem readily available and, having had a sensor and bearing failure, I’m not sure if it’d be a DIY fix anyway. Has anyone seen anything along the lines of a repair shop?

it’s a good question. I’m sure my Snap is out of warranty now, so not sure what the option is when it goes wrong, but i’d likely just buy a Core anyway.

As on the flux thread, isn’t warranty 2 years?

also I know most companies claim it’s from the date of purchase but logically/legally if you have been sent a replacement it should last the full warranty from that point.

Is there anyone out there who actually fixes these things once they’re out of warranty or is it just a case of buying a new one if your smart trainer goes pop and it’s a few years old?

Legally the warranty starts from the date of purchase regardless of whether it’s replaced or not, otherwise you could buy something once and have it ‘break’ within warranty every time and never have to buy another one.

Might be worth exploring the EU ruling around reasonable lifespan though. I know it expects electronics to last a decent amount of time, TV’s are roughly 6 years whereas a cheap toaster should give 2-3 year’s service fo example, so an expensive trainer should last longer than 2 I’d have thought.

mrb123
Member

Is there anyone out there who actually fixes these things once they’re out of warranty or is it just a case of buying a new one if your smart trainer goes pop and it’s a few years old?

That’s the question I’m asking. Throwing £1,000 worth of trainer in the bin when it’s only a year or two old is absolute madness

My Tacx is on it’s second critical failure, one month after the last and within a few weeks of the 2 year warranty.

This time I am hoping they replace for a current model, as even though I appreciate there’s no warranty there may at least be parts available.

The old trainer I have (not really that old) is totally obscelete, half of the key parts are no longer made and the ‘resistance unit’ spare part is more than I paid for the trainer in the first place.

Wahoo swapped out my Kickr Snap after 18 months with a brand new one, no quibbles

We have 1 place on the list:

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Another Kickr in for a service. New flywheel bearings required. These units are specced with high quality Japanese NSK bearings and I only replace with the same. . . . . #bicyclemaintenancethewayitshouldbe #turbotrainer #wahoo #kickr

A post shared by Bomber Bikeworks (@bomberbikeworks) on Jul 17, 2020 at 2:54am PDT

My Tacx is on it’s second critical failure, one month after the last and within a few weeks of the 2 year warranty.

Was it a flux?

I’ve just shelled out today for a neo t2. I’m hoping it’s going to be more robust than the flux, which was God damn awful.

Super easy to change the main bearings, bolts and key.

My guide – http://www.unsponsored.co.uk/press/wahoo-kickr-and-kickr-core-repair/

I’m on my second Neo. The first died (no lights) inside warranty and CRC changed it out.

The replacement the Freehub bearings died outside of warranty, I sent Tacx a video and after a gentle push they sent me a new freehub FOC. The older design I had was the Edeco which they replaced with their own. Touch wood it’s been fine for the past 3 years.

On third Core here. Had a faulty Neo for a week or 2 but refunded. Returns (the Cores)sorted via Evans, who were fast and great service, even during lock down.👍

All the trainer manufacturers seem to have had troubles over the last couple of years…

I’ve decided on 2 options.

1 Ebay the trainer just before end of warranty and take a hit but then buy a new trainer with new warranty. Hardly ideal but compared to having a £700 door stop…

2 When it goes wrong out of warranty and dies (it WILL go wrong) either diy a repair if just bearings etc (doable if you look on the net/ yt) or see how much Wahoo will charge to repair.

Most trainers are a bit shit at the moment…😕

I took my flux back to halfords today. They’d said they would replace with the upgraded version but didn’t have any in stock. So instead they gave me the money back..20 months after I bought it..they didn’t even test it,

I can’t rembebr how much i paid for it but I’m pretty sure they refunded me the price of the upgraded one as well!!

Hopefully the neo is better, however the posts above don’t fill me with confidence!

Nice result tp, that’s where I got my Neo 2t from. I wouldn’t buy a trainer mail order, needs to be something I can take back to a local shop.lol

I reckon the Neo2 is still one of the better bets out there tbh.👍