Wahoo KICKR ROLLR Smart Bike Trainer Review: Who is it for?

[@yelloboy32]

Great video. I just received my Rollr and got it because I hate the hassle of taking my back wheel off, like the convenience of just popping it on as a quick “warm up” before an outdoor ride, and since I already have a power meter, it’s a seamless fit. Had a Wahoo Snap and this is much better for my indoor needs.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

That’s what the Rollr is for. The ease of use is its biggest strength. Thanks for the feedback and watching, Tauheed 🙏🏼

[@CliffordFajardo]

Love my Wahoo Rollr. A friend gave me the Wahoo snap & i didn't like needing to clamp the back wheel on & off; with this I literally just roll my bike on. There's less friction to getting started, which has made me more consistent with biking. Also going from Rollr to biking outdoors just takes seconds. Its been helping me train for my ironman's and other long distance biking events

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Thank you for sharing your experience with the ROLLR and happy to hear you are happy with it.

[@tassko]

I dropped some cash on these. I ride so much getting my wheel on and off is annoying. I also want to do more long duration endurance rides in the winter. Setup was easyish. The Rollrs automatically pair with your power meter but there is no display and i think it was picking other power sources for the first 15 minutes. I did a 90 minute Z1 yesterday and felt it used more muscle groups.

[@cals.9269]

Tremendous content as always ! Many thanks for posting. Such great production too - sound, lighting etc. Very well done indeed Tariq :o)

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Thank you , Cal. Much appreciated 🙏🏼

[@TODDCSMITH_]

Great video as always. I can see these being used before or after races for sure, I can't see dropping $800 on one though.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

The ease of getting the bike on and off is pretty nice for sure particularly before races. Thanks for watching, Todd 🙏🏼

[@zzzgarage2704]

I have a canyon endurace carbon bike and I could never install my XDR wheelhub on my directdrive for some reason, plus I'll have to switch back and forth between shimano and sram if I want use my other bike to train, the roller actually has a perfect use case for me

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

I was just thinking about that when I was switching between my Canyon Aeroad 11 speed and BMC TT bike which is a 10 speed. The ROLLR made it so much easier to quickly do the switch without having to worry about swapping cassettes.

[@wss327]

Nice review. I am considering the roller as I currently use the Wahoo Kickr + Trainerroad in Erg. How is the Roller when I want to do VO2Max or Anaerobic sessions with short intervals? Do I have to do a lot of gear switching? And there will always be the 1 or 2 seconds lag as you have mentioned?

[@iang7007]

Hi Tariq :) another solid review thank you :) i went ahead and bought the TruTrainer rollers to use as roller thanks for your advice there :) i'm considering replacing my wahoo kickr snap that i would want to use for erg rides with the wahoo kickr roller. sounds like the kickr roller could work well and give me a bit more on the bike comfort for longer erg sessions (or sim sessions) vs the stationary trainer kickr snap. the main difference being the kickr roller wattage floor might be higher than for the kickr snap. does that sound right? thanks :)

[@janngolla6775]

Hey somehow it dosnt find my wahoo powermeters speed and cadence any fix?

[@sungjunejo1893]

Great video. I'm considering buying this. You connected with Favero Assioma! Did it work perfectly? Thank you.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

I have used it with three different power meters including the Favero pedals which I’m mainly using right now on my TT bike. I noticed the Favero to be a little jumpier than others and causes erg mode to be a little unsteady at times particularly at start of intervals. But overall works well.

[@michaelanderson6764]

Very helpful video. Thank you

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@STR675]

how long will my road tire last on the roller? any estimation? please please please reply 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 and also please do a long term review on this..that would definitely help a ton

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Wear and tear will vary per person and tires you have mounted on your bike. But I would say it would probably last you a year or so depending on your riding.

[@STR675]

@@SmartBikeTrainers thank you for you respond! 🙏🏻

[@DariuszGąsiorowski-t8u]

Hi there, thanks for the video. What are your experiences regarding the stress put on the fork/front wheel after a year? When you say wattage level is quite high for rollr does it mean it feels harder than riding outside or using old school turbo trainer at relatively the same level of effort being put in? When riding on wahoo kickr core on its own (not being hooked to any training platform like zwift, etc) it was impossible to swith erg mode off. So if I wanted to do zone two training with focus on the heart rate and not the power I just could not. In this respect how does rollr function? When pairing it up with my pro tap pedals power meter and wahoo bolt bike computer (but not with a training platform) can erg mode on rollr be switched off thus giving a linear resistance? How bad is the noise compared to kickr or turbo trainers? Hope to hear from you. Thanks.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

You should be able to switch between modes using the Wahoo app or Elemnt bike computer.

[@DariuszGąsiorowski-t8u]

@@SmartBikeTrainers Thank you for you reply. The same was theoretically possible with kick core. So in Wahoo fitness app you could switch ERG mode off. Yet if you were not connected to Zwift ERG mode was still active despite being switched off on wahoo fitness app. I would not like to have exact same problem with rollr.

[@craigg9742]

What do you think about that front wheel clamping mechanism? I mean, they say its okay, I just wonder what kind of stress is being put on the fork and wheel to keep your bike up. And that isn't even going into what might happen out of the saddle or sprinting. Color me skeptical of that one part.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

The clamp hold onto the tire itself and it’s pretty easy to operate. Have been using it for over a week now and have been thinking about that myself but it’s probably no different than a direct drive trainer holding onto the back wheel and it’s is more rigid. I plan on keep using it for now because This one is definitely worth revisiting with a long term review.

[@ManofSteele41]

Hi Tariq, Now that you've had this for a while, do you have any concerns about the torque on the front wheel/spokes/headset since the front wheel is locked in place?

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

No I do not. Used on two different carbon bikes with carbon wheels and had no issues.

[@richardwhalen4624]

Does this help with comfort somewhat? I see potential for this even though rear movement is minimal. As you say if you want it you know.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Hard to measure comfort but the saddle isn’t as static as a direct drive or wheel-on setup. Personally I think that tiny horizontal side to side movement is more important than any other rocking motion you get from a rocker type platform.

[@mohamadrachadianramadanm.d6627]

Hi Tariq, I recently bought this for me and my wife for indoor teaining, super-easy setup, hassle-free, but since we re absolutely new to cycling the roller starting (level 0) resistance feel so hard for us, we dont even completed the spindown test. Do you know any tricks to make the roller feels loghter than factory setup?

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Did you pair it to an app? I would pair it to the Wahoo app and set the resistance to zero. And see if that makes it any easier to start.

[@MrHotrod77dave]

Can you do A review on OSPW SYSTEMS . If you gain Some watt with that system yes or no and is it better 4 mountainbike than 4 Road cycling. Because I see now Some big mountainbike name’s running Ceramic speed systems on there bike.Making there bike ready for the cape epic.

[@AOBONO87]

will it work with a xc mtb ?

[@jeffkennedy6932]

Tariq, thanks for the great review on this trainer - i bought one and really like it but i am having an issue with the resistance (kind of embarrassing). I use heartrate and speed sensors from wahoo and i do not use a power meter , the embarraaing part is i find the resistance very hard (i am 61 yrs ild) shooting my hr in the 150 bpm zone ( with an average spped of about 15 km/hr) which is too high to sustain for lengthy periods of time. I had been using a tacx bushido before and the average speed was much higher and avg hrate bpm much lower. My question - is there a way to lesen the resistance if you are not using a power meter? And secondly if i did buy a power meter would that give me the ability to lessen the resistance or is the default level the lowest resistance it can go? Thanks Tariq

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Hmm… never used them without a power meter. They shouldn’t have that much resistance as you are describing. Make sure you are not using a hard gear on your bike. Also, you might be able to adjust the resistance in the Wahoo app. Just open the app and pair the ROLLR, then start a workout within the app. Then swipe left until you reach a page that show resistance and other options on top. See what resistance it is set to and adjust and see if that makes a difference. Let me know if that works for you.

[@jeffkennedy6932]

@@SmartBikeTrainers thanks tariq i will give it a try later today

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

To me it seems like a compromise that isn't very good at anything. It takes longer to set up than a roller. It too big to carry around. Twice the contact with a rolling cylinder than a wheel on trainer (twice the noise ?). Not as reactive as a direct drive.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Definitely a different product that we will see how it’s adopted in the next few years. It’s good to see new type of trainers hitting the market though. Thanks for watching and your feedback 🙏🏼

[@brianwallace1244]

No need for training tire?

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

You can use a trainer tire if you would like to preserve your road tire. But not really needed.

[@nathando5973]

The watts looks like is not real. I can do around 120 watts with Wahoo kickr but only do around 50 watts with Wahoo roller!

[@sylvainmichaud2262]

The ideal use case is, as a promotional tool for Wahoo at track, road racing or e-racing events. And let's not forget, the cyclists who wants the latest new toy to impress the crowd. A great Christmas gift for the cyclists who has everything. Unfortunately, it's has been introduced too late and by next Christmas, that person will most probably have bought it.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

We will probably see it in a lot of those events. I also think it’s a great option for anyone who want to be able to switch from indoor to outdoor quick and ones who don’t care much for having another power meter to worry about.

[@ttbittar]

Price is prohibitive, nice review

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Thanks for watching 🙏🏼

[@vincefava7929]

A solution for a problem that doesn't exist? Smart rollers already exist and for those that enjoy rollers, they likely want to ride rollers that have freedom at both the front and rear wheels.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

I see your point here. InsideRide made a fork for their rollers which basically give you the same type of ride as the ROLLR but not as compact or easy to use. So there seem to be a market for this for sure. Thanks for watching and your feedback 🙏🏼

[@JeffRejent]

Yeah, Pricing doesn't make any sense considering you can get trainers with built in power meters for the same price. Wahoo is getting pretentious. Thanks for your review.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

Thanks for watching 🙏🏼

[@MrBirdshell666]

this device is so useless it is amazing it was even introduced

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

I think it has its uses and might not be for everyone. For Wahoo to go with Rollers type trainer was a gamble because these have been tough to get at a level that we are used to seeing from Wahoo. But the ease of pairing to a power meter is a definite plus and setting the bike on and off is great for those who don’t want to fiddle with wheels and cassettes.

[@gregskinner9210]

I won't buy one. I have a Kickr and it gets the job done with my SRAM equipped bike. My Ekar equipped bike now has a potential place within the Wahoo ecosystem. So what? Wahoo continues to annoy me with their lack of N3W support but I'm not going to work around this by buying an $1400.00 Wahoo Roller/Power Pedal solution, rather than what should be by now a $100.00 free hub option for the Kickr.

[@SmartBikeTrainers]

The price is a bit steep with the power meter for sure. The one advantage with the bundle I see is you have a power meter on your bike which you can also use outside so you are not limited to the trainer’s power only. Thanks for watching and appreciate the feedback 🙏🏼

[@derekcranson2307]

Stay away from this thing,ruins your front wheel bearings,and put a lot off stress on the headsets, this guy is just trying to sell this stuff.

[@chrisyoung8062]

seems like it is the worst of both worlds. Not the best roller, not the best direct drive trainer.