Not opened it yet, but this isn’t exactly encouraging (especially given they’re known to be sensitive to rough shipping).
Just a heads up that the Victory wasn’t compatible with my 2021 Giant TCR Disc (specifically the Advanced 1 model). The narrow part of the non-drive-side thru axle adapter was too short and this resulted in the thicker part of the adapter pushing against my chainstay (knocking off some paint and scratching the frame before I realized what was going on).
It’s possible that something is weird with my bike frame, but I’m posting because this could also be a general compatibility problem – I see now that the Jetblack adapter is similar to the original Kickr Core adapter before it was updated (in 2020 or 2021?) to address known frame incompatibilities (https://support.wahoofitness.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018850859-Updated-KICKR-CORE-thru-axle-adapter-installation). The updated Kickr adapter features a much longer narrow section.
Hopefully this is just a one-off thing with my bike, but please make sure you don’t have this problem before fully tightening a 2021-2023 TCR onto a Victory.
Been a bit sick this last week so haven’t trained much. The one session I did do on the replacement trainer showed new issues that the old one didn’t have (yay!).
Problems with the Zwift hub making an odd noise / moving out of position, and also (worse), the trainer no longer seems to be detecting my cadence properly, halving or more on a regular basis.
Having more issues with my Victory. When riding along in Zwift, I get sudden resistance changes. Like I’m cruising along at 200W and then it suddenly get harder for a few seconds, then really easy, then settles back. I dual recorded with my Assiomas and noticed this:
I’m getting cadence spikes, but they’re not real. They are cadence glitches. And I think that the cadence spikes are causing a sudden change in the resistance. Due to the way the trainer is calculating power using cadence, it’s messing with the target power. And it happens very frequently. Anybody else notice similar problems?
I’ve noticed multiple issues with mine. Feels like it’s hunting for resistance some times, other times it feels like pedaling through potato salad, reported power is all over the place. Hopefully they fix it with future software updates. Hardware seems solid and build quality is very good.
Sigh - I think that has been asked before, but are there people for whom the “Victory” is flawless? I’m considering canceling my preorder because of this thread. Also, I’m not really in “need” for a new/second trainer, but for the price I’d thought I’d take a look. But I certainly don’t want additional hassle.
I haven’t had any issues with mine, I don’t have any other power meter to compare it too, but resistance changes are working fine. No drop outs or anything, I am solely using trainer road and not zwift.
Started “clunking” now, which is the last thing I need when fighting for my life on high intensity intervals. FFS.
As another person with a unit on the way, I’d also appreciate any happy comments and success stories to balance out the tech issues
I’m guessing the faulty units can only be a small percentage?
JB said they were on track to deliver late Feb but not heard anything for a few weeks.
Yeah, trainer is a wreck, even worse every time I use it. I’ll try and post a video later.
I’m really glad I cancelled my pre-order that was supposed to arrive before Xmas.
While it’s possible that’s coming from the trainer, that honestly seems super unlikely. The sound exactly matches your cadence (including when you increase cadence), not anything at the flywheel/cassette layer.
Not at the end when he slows down. It seems to be every rev of the flywheel, I’d think maybe a bearing in there. You might be able to confirm by just turning the flywheel, but last turbo I saw that did similar didn’t do it under that little load.
If I’m reading right you’ve already eliminated the bike from suspicion by running it on another trainer, so it’s either the trainer or the interface with it (thru axle loose or similar) IMO.
This is where I would start
Not sure I follow. If you watch the timing, even at the end of the video when slowed down, it’s matching his pedal stroke (bottom right to be precise)
As for flywheel wobble, that’s actually more normal than you might think on trainers. As one that has taken a stupid amount of footage of trainers from that vantage point, you’d be surprised at how imperfect they are (across the board). Obviously, there’s a point where the flywheel is too imperfect that it touches something, but the frequency (timing) of the noise would be faster here.
(I spent some of yesterday troubleshooting a similiar issue in my wife’s bike when she put it on a different trainer. Definitely my wife’s bike, not the trainer, since I’ve been using it with other bikes just fine. Just haven’t figured out exactly what yet, but seemingly in bottom bracket or perhaps pedals, based on pedal stroke matching akin to yours). That said, you’ll likely notice that changing gears will change (or get rid entirely) of the sound.
Yeah, I put it on my KK Rock N Roll right afterwards, it ran perfectly.
Edit - KK Vid… basically only the noises you’d expect: https://youtu.be/aaTO4Iwdh7I
Axle definitely wasn’t loose on the Victory, and cassette had been torqued to 40nm. Had been careful to properly line it up when mounting the bike too.
@dcrainmaker - It made this noise right across the gears. I have another video of a different noise it makes when there’s not a lot of power going through it too.
Edit - Rattling noise video: https://youtu.be/XuU5O1ENiIE (starts being noticeable a couple of seconds in, then very noticeable around 20 seconds)
I received my Victory a couple of days ago, and have done one quick test ride, and a Zwift event (big spin) - I’m coming from a dumb wheel-on trainer with power meter combo I’ve been using for years. Here were some of my observations both for the Victory and smart trainers in general:
- I now have more items to think about, power on and connect, but they do work well together (trainer, click, laptop, phone app, headphones etc). I thought switching between indoor and outdoor mode now spring is here was going to be faster, but yeah same or a bit more hassle tbh
- Feels very stable and solid
- Virtual shifting super weird and accidentally did manually shift a couple of times, I’ll get there though. Must play around with the different gearing options Zwift seems to have too- what do most ppl use?
- It takes quite a push to get the flywheel moving until I can virtually change down in Zwift - I was used to moving up the cassette gradually on my dumb trainer to warm up - should I just htfu or not pedal until the software compensates?
- Once I get going after a few mins, especially with high cadence, the erg feels really good and I think allows me to get good extended power out - the Elite dumb trainer always felt a bit like wading through treacle as the fluid system gets a lot harder as power increases.
- Im using PM currently to record watts, as others have mentioned it feels 20w lower than the 4iii crank, but I didn’t give it much time to warm up. 20mins is like a 3rd of a workout some days!
- I thought the new trainer would be quieter than the dumb one, I don’t think it is, and I have the Cog and drivetrain pretty well dialled - not worrying noise, but its there.
All in all I’m pretty happy, nothing life-changing but good piece of kit at a good price, a bit more motivation to stay indoors Mon-Fri for a few more months! 4/5 ![]()
I received the JetBlack Victory with Zwift Cog/Click a couple of weeks ago and have had the chance to put it through its paces on TrainerRoad and Zwift. I hope you find my takeaways helpful.
GOOD:
- Updated to 4.15 firmware, and using BT connection during workouts - no dropouts, everyting connects just fine.
- Power modulation is very flexible - I’m not encountering low power floors or high power ceilings.
- TR ramps up power nicely, flywheel response is light and quick. 30x30 intervals start and finish on the spot. Longer intervals are stable without power oscillations.
- Zwift race mode is great - trainer responds very quickly to power input @ 50% setting. Zwift Click and virtual gears work well after getting used to click the button rather than to shift. Really happy here.
- Construction feels simple but sturdy. Legs keep the trainer planted even druing out-of-the-saddle sprints.
INCONLUSIVE:
- The power readings on the Victory seem to be temperature-dependent. It performs best when it’s warmed up. During the first 10 minutes of a workout I’m seeing power readings about 10% lower compared to Favero Assiomas. Later it evens out nicely so I’m prone to think that could be solved with future firmware upgrades. Not a big issue to me.
BAD:
- The Zwift Cog doesn’t work well with my setup—it causes cobble-like vibrations through the frame and pedals. I’m using a gravel bike on the trainer (1x11 Shimano GRX Di2) with a chain that’s only a couple of months old. I also tried my road bike with a 2x12 Ultegra drivetrain, but had the same issue. After taking a closer look, it seems the tooth profile on the Cog is quite different from Shimano’s. I’ve since switched to a regular cassette with the Zwift Click, and everything is working smoothly now.
Overall, I’m very happy with the JetBlack Victory. The main issues I’ve encountered are with the Zwift Cog, not the trainer itself. I’ll report back later in the year after I’ve logged some substantial time on it.
Thought I’d chip in. I just unboxed, assembled and setup my JetBlack victory ready for a TR workout in the morning. This is my first smart trainer and I have been using an analogue Kinetic Rock and Roll.
For non-pedants:
TLDR: Setup went OK, no issues so far. The JB Victory seems to be priced reasonably well for component quality.
No one on this forum seems to have covered initial experience at a nitpicking pedant level, so here are my thoughts are so far:
Shipping & instructions
- No protective outer shipping box, the box arrived in OK condition, with some dings and a corner a little worse-for-wear.
- You could hear some things moving around inside the box.
- Opening the box, you need to scan a QR code for the instructions - my phone, a PIxel 8a, couldn’t pick up the QR code, likely due to the orange QR code against the brown box background.
- The accessories paper bag had opened itself within the box, but hadn’t emptied itself yet.
- The kit list on the instructions and the received kit do not fully match.
Assembly and setup
- Assembly was straight-forward, attach the legs with four 4mm allen screws and set up for your axle type.
- Screw threads on the feet weren’t that smooth and the resistance gave me that “Am I cross threading?” feeling.
- Welds on the feet for the screw threads have pinholes - if that was on my bike, I’d make a warranty claim.
- Anodisation of the non-drive side QR adapter is a little pitted with some minor surface defects.
- Power cable might be a little short for some.
- Trainer handle shifts by a couple of mm when you pick up the trainer - screws are tight.
- Trainer handle end bar tape area is a bit loose and has 5mm rotational play.
- App is nothing to get excited about, basic, but has what you need and works well enough.
- Firmware update went perfectly.
- WiFi connection took a couple of tries and I had to restart the JB app.
- TR desktop app connection via Bluetooth saw the trainer and connected immediately.
- The Zwift cog adjustment and rear derailleur placement took a bit of fiddling to get smooth.
- Quick 5min spin produced no significant noises or vibrations.
Overall I think it seems reasonable quality for the price. Unlike my outgoing KK R&R, I don’t expect that I’ll be handing this trainer down to my future children. Some things about the initial experience feel like teething problems. The double digit percentage power swing some you have reported as the trainer warms, I do not like the sound of, I’ll be experimenting to understand if my single side 4iiii for power metre needs to be used for primary power readings in ERG mode.


