Kickr Snap "control w/ Ant+ Power Meter" enabled---still need to calibrate?

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On the standard Kickr model, there’s no need to calibrate the actual trainer if using the “control w/ ANT+ Power Meter” feature, but I’m wondering if the same is true for the Snap (Wahoo KICKR: Third Party Power Meter Control - YouTube)? I’m not sure what difference calibrating the trainer will make if the reading is coming from the power meter (which will be calibrated before every workout). In my mind, as long as the tire pressure and barrel adjustment are the same on every ride, it shouldn’t make a difference, right?

Am I missing something there?

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I have a Kickr Snap paired with a Stages power meter with Powermatch. I don’t calibrate my Kickr Snap at all and I calibrate/zero my power meter before each ride. So I would say you are right.

Although I don’t think the tire pressure is a big issue. I think you just need enough to so that the tire can “respond” to the changes in resistance from the Kickr Snap (as dictated by Powermatch).

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I have the Control w/ ANT+ Power Meter feature enabled AND use TR power match. After the first 20 seconds or so, power tracks pretty much right on. I also then do a calibration about 10 minutes in (though I would think that both the features I’ve enabled means I wouldn’t need to do that). I’m using an Assioma UNO power meter.

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Interesting. Having you tired using TR without PowerMatch? Curious if you notice a different with it off since you have Control w/ PM on in your Kickr settings.

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I don’t get the logic or magic that happens, but here is how I use it. Stages controls the SNAP w/ ant+. SNAP is the PM recognized in TR. I don’t use powermatch. It makes a huge difference vs. just using the SNAP. It doesn’t make sense to me, but it works.

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So wait, you don’t even connect your Snap to TR?

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Yeah, I did try it without Power Match, but it didn’t seem to work very well.

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I do. Not sure if you were asking me. snap is the PM used in TR. Stages is grayed out. In my mind it should be that TR uses the Stages, which in turn controls the SNAP. But then I do that, it doesn’t work as well.

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Gotcha. I currently have the Stages set to control my Snap, but both are connected to TR—Stages is set to “cadence only.”

May toy with enabling Power Match as well to see what that does.

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I see. That is how I have it set up then. I have a separate cadence sensor on my shoe and use that.

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Wondering if anyone within the TR team (or anyone who knows definitively) can chime in on what is the ‘correct’ way of setting up a Kickr Snap with Stages (left only) with regards to powermatch. Should we turn on the ‘use ant+ device to control’ in the Wahoo app? Should we turn on powermatch in TR? Both?

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The definitive answer is “it depends” at least for me on a Kickr 2017 (wheel off direct drive) with Stages power meter. After a bunch of testing I found TR PowerMatch to be a little more reliable, as “control with ANT+” would sometimes not connect to Stages. So roughly 1 out of 10 workouts the Kickr failed to use Stages as power meter. And I’ve been unable to duplicate GPLamas results meaning the Kickr using “control with ANT+” was not reporting identical power as Stages with newer firmware. I’m sure GPLama results were accurate with the Kickr firmware version he used at the time, so Wahoo changed something in later firmware. For those reasons I’ve standardized on TR PowerMatch.

I’d suggest trying both and seeing what works best for you.

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Hi @Brando - your set-up is identical to mine and before the latest TR app update (iOS), I used to turn PowerMatch off and use the “control with Ant+ power” in the Wahoo app. This was due to the long lag in the old version of PowerMatch in adjusting to power targets changes and maintaining target power.

Now with the updates to PowerMatch, I am satisfied with using it (and therefore not using the “control with Ant+ power” feature). I find it much more responsive and while my power fluctuates slightly above/below target (which is to be expected), the average for each interval is within a couple of watts from the target. Kudos to the TrainerRoad team for making these improvements!

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I have stages and snap and don’t calibrate or use power match. it is the best combo for me. Matches my outside power very well.

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So you just use your Snap’s power and find that it matches your Stages?

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I realized I wrote in this thread months ago too – I don’t get the logic or magic that happens, but here is how I use it. Stages controls the SNAP w/ ant+. SNAP is the PM recognized in TR. I don’t use powermatch. It makes a huge difference vs. just using the SNAP. It doesn’t make sense to me, but it works.

If I just use the Snap, without the stages, the power is way off (Snap always read higher than Stages, by ~30 watts).

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Gotcha. That’s exactly how I use mine, for the exact same reason.

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Thanks for the responses everyone, good info

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How does the kickr snap power compare to your stages? Just curious

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It’s been a while since I compared the two, but if memory serves the Snap was routinely 10-20 watts low.

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