Wahoo Silent Kickr/Kickr Core Faults

[Erlenmeyer]

Add me to the list of people with the knocking issue. Bought the kickr one week ago to replace my old V1 model. I loved everything about the V1 except for the whining of the belt. Sold my V1 and was excited to start using the V4. After 3 rides, I noticed the knock and tried to trace the source. Eliminated all the usual suspects (crank bolt, BB, pedals etc.) and then my heart sank thinking it might be the trainer. Low and behold, a quick google search leads me here. I don't have a screw driver that fits the two small non-allen key bolts to remove the cowling. Rather than monkey with it I'm taking it back to the bike shop I bought it from in the morning. I want a refund/store credit and I'll just buy the Tacx Neo. What a disappointment!

 

[theboxers]

Add me to the list of people with the knocking issue. Bought the kickr one week ago to replace my old V1 model. I loved everything about the V1 except for the whining of the belt. Sold my V1 and was excited to start using the V4. After 3 rides, I noticed the knock and tried to trace the source. Eliminated all the usual suspects (crank bolt, BB, pedals etc.) and then my heart sank thinking it might be the trainer. Low and behold, a quick google search leads me here. I don't have a screw driver that fits the two small non-allen key bolts to remove the cowling. Rather than monkey with it I'm taking it back to the bike shop I bought it from in the morning. I want a refund/store credit and I'll just buy the Tacx Neo. What a disappointment!

Apart from a few belt issues I don't recall seeing anything like this on the previous kickrs. This reminds me of the neo spacing issuse or whatever it was when that launched.

 

[Erlenmeyer]

Well, I just got back from the bike shop. Was hoping they'd just refund me and deal with Wahoo directly on this faulty unit but no such luck. They're going to contact Wahoo to see about repair/replacement and get back to me. So I'm without a trainer indefinitely and not sure what the outcome will be. If they send a replacement unit I may just return it and get a Neo. To be continued....

 

[ATI]

Hello,
The whining sound of my Core is, to my mind, not normal and it si lounder at (very) high speed. I tried to give more slack to the belt (7 turns from factory setup) then tried with the factory setup. It is the same result. I made a little video to have your opinion.
The Core is set up in Erg Mode at 140W.

 

[theboxers]

Hello,
The whining sound of my Core is, to my mind, not normal and it si lounder at (very) high speed. I tried to give more slack to the belt (7 turns from factory setup) then tried with the factory setup. It is the same result. I made a little video to have your opinion.
The Core is set up in Erg Mode at 140W.

That don't sound right. My Kickr v4 is basically silent at 35mph. Any noise I get is more of a felt vibration and freehub spindown. That sounds like my Kickr v3 whine.

 

[CXRAndy]

Mine has a drone/vibration which comes and goes. I got my lad to ride the bike whilst I listened with a screwdriver to various bearing points. The noisiest point was at the QR point on the non drive side. The bearings are pretty quiet in comparison. I now suspect that it's a flywheel imbalance causing the drone, vibration. I'll need to do more tests. When the drone settles it's extremely quiet, but these periods are only for 20-30 seconds before the drone returns

 

[theboxers]

Mine has a drone/vibration which comes and goes. I got my lad to ride the bike whilst I listened with a screwdriver to various bearing points. The noisiest point was at the QR point on the non drive side. The bearings are pretty quiet in comparison. I now suspect that it's a flywheel imbalance causing the drone, vibration. I'll need to do more tests. When the drone settles it's extremely quiet, but these periods are only for 20-30 seconds before the drone returns

That's where I was going with mine. Because it was not a heard noise more a felt one.

 

[TossiToker]

Now after 70 miles, my sounds like this send with two youtube clips, Is it just submitting it to Wahoo or does it work and fix it fast yourself?
It's going to be so boring and untrained when even when your doctor has declined and cycled out, How long does it take? I send in to wahoo today. So, waiting for answers

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9mE7gDfJBQ

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSw5SvyGkqk

 

[ozlinzee]

Having been through four Kickr18 I'm now waiting (boy are they slow) on a refund for the one purchased from Wahoo (the third one) and the one purchased from a bike shop. The ones from Wahoo were defective out of the box rattling and scraping. The bike shop one was OK initially but started rattling and vibrating badly after 500 km.
Inherently they all vibrated a small amount from day one and I just think Wahoo have done a poor job balancing everything including the heavier flywheel. I think Wahoo have rushed into it and released them too soon thinking a heavier flywheel and belt drive would be trouble free. Maybe their testing showed that the high belt tension was needed to prevent slippage at their rated 2200 watts. Not that many people could develop that. The trade off is high bearing loads and failure. Also apart from balance issues in the flywheel and other areas changing the belt design introduces new harmonics in the trainer. Harmonics by itself has the ability to damage components let alone the vibrations. Next they've identified the undersize woodruff key and faulty washer under the bottom pulley securing bolt. Who the hell QAed these before releasing them for sale where out of the box their already faulty?
Anyway no more Kickr's for me probably look at a Neo.

 

[TossiToker]

If I want to fix it myself, what kind of tools do I need to pull the screw, because the belt is well and kmr just spin around if you try to tighten it only

 

[CXRAndy]

a small cross head screwdriver 2.5 mm Allen key, medium crosshead screwdriver. 5 mm Allen key. to check tightness

 

[TossiToker]

iam so dumb , =)

I'm not so technical, I insert the allen key in the bolt, but everything is spinning around where do I resist?

 

[Erlenmeyer]

I just checked in with my bike shop. They are sending the unit back to Wahoo to repair the knock issue with no idea how long it will take to get back to me. Will keep you all posted on the status of the repair. When i get it back, I will remove the cowling to see if the woodruff key has been replaced with some other kind of bolt and will also check the belt tension.

 

[mattobrien]

Another one with Kickr 2018 issues. I got the knocking noise within a couple of hours of it arriving. Raised with with Wahoo who have agreed to replace it (15th Oct). Currently waiting for the warranty team to contact me to arrange for collection and a new one to be shipped to me.

It sounds like it may be better if they actually fix the problems before sending me a replacement unit, so I won't start hassling them too much about it taiga too long.

That said, I didn't spend rather a lot of money on their product, so it would be nice if it actually worked as designed and quickly.

 

[bobinski]

Well, I just got back from the bike shop. Was hoping they'd just refund me and deal with Wahoo directly on this faulty unit but no such luck. They're going to contact Wahoo to see about repair/replacement and get back to me. So I'm without a trainer indefinitely and not sure what the outcome will be. If they send a replacement unit I may just return it and get a Neo. To be continued....

If you check online you will see you can generally return faulty goods for a full refund within 14 days.

https://www.gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds