KICKR Core Spindown

Equipment
21

Hi All

I’m new to trainers and i’m just trying to set up my Core. The spindown seems incredibly hard to actually perform. Trying to do it through the app set up didn’t work as the speed wasn’t detected. I had to cancel that and go into sensors and perform the spindown there. The issue was reaching 36 kmph. I can do that relatively easily on the road but to reach that on the spin down i had to go literally nuts and even then barely reached 36kmph for a second. Is that right? or normal? It seems a bit strange to me. I’m wary of retrying it as i’m not sure i can even get to that level again.

has anyone experienced this?

I have to say this plus issues with the core turning up without fittings the first time. after talking to support they promised to send everything i needed plus a heart monitor as an apology. The second package turned up with just one screw and bolt for the legs and no heart monitor so i had to buy the fittings myself i’m quite disappointed.

23

Thanks for the response. i use The big at the front and the middle at the back.

24

Switch to the smallest cog on the back and you should reach speed pretty easily. Start off in the middle of the cassette and just keep shifting until you reach speed.

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25

Thanks, strangely it seems to have righted itself after having a little pootle around on zwift. I can reach the required speed quite easily now. I have to say the whole process seems quite clunky. Bluetooth connection on the macbook takes forever if it connects at all yet the iphone and ipad connect instantly. Very strange

26

MacBook may not be able to connect to multiple devices via Bluetooth as mobile devices are. Also, if you have a mobile device connected to your trainer then your MacBook won’t be able to connect to the same device. Apparently there are some interferences happening. Might help to turn off bluetooth on all mobile devices when using your MacBook.

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27

Unless you use powermatch right? I haven’t done a spin down in 2 years.

28

Correct, as long as you are using a power meter all the time.

My comment is intended for those using the trainer as their primary or only source of power data.

29

When you say “the app,” do you mean the wahoo app? I can’t do a spindown using that app, either. Once, I kept going faster and faster trying to hit the target speed and about blew up and … the spindown still failed. However, spindowns in TrainerRoad have always worked without any problem at all. I think something is just wrong in the wahoo app.

30

I’ve experienced the opposite, I can perform a calibration in the Tacx app (I have a Tacx Flux S) but calibration has always failed in TR (either it fails as soon as I start pedaling or I get up to speed, stop pedaling, it spins down to 0 and then says failed due to timeout).

31

I normally calibrate before starting the workout. Is this ok or is the trainer supposed to be 'warm?

32

It is considered best practice to do a spindown calibration after about 10 minutes of riding to warm up the trainer to proper operating temps.

33

At ~ 10 mins I simply access my Trainer on the TR app (currently running on iPad Air) and calibrate. If I am concerned over losing an interval I calibrate a little early or bump up my warm-up to catch ~10 mins prior to the first major interval in the workout.

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34

Hi all, I have a new problem. When I run TrainerRoad on my iPad and try to do a spin down after 10 mins of riding via the TrainerRoad app, it just hangs up. I am riding a KICKR Core with current firmware. Customer Support suggested rolling my firmware back, which I will try. I have two questions prior to doing that.

  1. Today I did a spin down via the Wahoo app on my iPhone after my 1-hour workout. Is that OK? I did it afterwards due to the pain of switching Bluetooth connections prior to my workout.

  2. Does it matter if I am using Powermatch? I use Garmin RallyXC 200 pedals and it seems like TrainerRoad just makes the trainer resistance generate the required power as reported my my pedals.

Thanks for any help. FWIW, I’ve compared my KICKR Core to my Rally’s with respect to reported power and it seems like they either match or the KICKR Core reports a couple of percent higher.

Cheers,

Tim

35

  1. Generally speaking, if you leave a wheel-off trainer in place and in the same basic environment (temp and humidity), you only need to calibrate the trainer about 1-2 times per month. This is one of the benefits of the design, because it is very consistent over time. So, there is no need to calibrate more frequently unless you are moving it around.

    • Adding a bit, it is recommended to do any calibration with the trainer “hot”. This means using it for at least 10 minutes to get all the parts to operating temperatures.

    • I prefer to do this after completing a workout. I do this since I leave my trainer setup and only do a calibration about once per month. Doing this after the workout is quick and easy, and leaves it all set for running for the next month.

  2. If you are using a power meter and TR Powermatch, you don’t really need to calibrate the trainer. TR will use the power meter as the source of truth, and simply increase or decrease the resistance of the trainer to hit your power target. So, you can largely skip calibration when using Powermatch.

36

Thanks Chad! I read your older response but felt it was about a year ago so it seemed worth asking the first question. As for the second question, that’s exactly what I thought. Perfect answers and I appreciate your insight.

Cheers,

Tim

1 Like