ok thanks, I’ll take another look then and check the bearings.
EDIT - so I removed the bearings although there didn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong with them. Can’t see where else the noise would be coming from though so I’ll just replace them and see how it goes !
Any " 6003-ZZ" bearings should work I suppose ?
I think so, there are different tolerances, the set I posted were C0 (normal) a lot of the other ones on amazon were C3 which are a bit looser. I wasn’t initially sure which to get and Wahoo didn’t tell me which tolerance to use. When researching I saw someone reviewed the Timken’s on Amazon for this exact use case so I went with them.
Mine also didn’t feel very bad when I removed them, one just a tad looser than the other, but man did it make some noise when I rode on them.
I found a picture of mine before I replaced it, you can see the ring around the shaft is slightly “tan” compared to the outer ring, this is the heat discoloration I was talking about. Unloaded it didn’t make really any noise, but you could feel an extremely slightly play in it when you wiggled the shaft from the flywheel end.
Thanks for the closeup picture, same design here. After looking it up it seems that C is a temperature tolerance, the higher the number, the higher heat it can cope with. Standard (so C0 I suppose) is -20/+100 Celsius so that should be fine for the Snap.
I “pushed out” that little “collar” that can be seen in your picture but it was difficult and it lost its shape somewhat, I should probably get a new one but I’m not sure where to look as I don’t it’s correct name.
It is just a “snap ring”, you might be able to find one the same size at Lowes or Home Depot if you bent it removing it. It is really only to keep the shaft from sliding out, so it it goes back on you should be ok. They also sell specific pliers for installing/removing them.
And you are correct, I believe the C3 is for higher temperatures used in high speed electric motors where the shaft would swell with heat so the inner diameter is larger by a few thousands or something.
Hey, I’m having the exact same issue with my Kickr Snap as you guys have described and I’ve been riding through the obnoxious noise since it hasn’t affected power readings…but now the noise is getting on everyone else’s nerves! I read up to your last post about replacing the bearings and I wanted to know if this resolved your issue? I’m getting ready to try the same method since Wahoo wants $250 for a rear assembly…thanks!
I too have a 2017 ( I think?) Kickr Snap that seems to be starting to have similar issues to the above poster.
Just curious…how long do people expect these to last in terms of a reasonable life expectancy before repairs become significantly costly? 3 years? I have used mine quite a bit so I don’t feel like I didn’t receive a quality product.
On the other hand, I have a Kurt Kinetic that has a lifetime warranty and have had them replace the resistance unit 3 times. Each time, the resistance unit lasted about 3-4 years. Yes, that’s correct, I’ve had it since 2008 and it still gets used a lot.
It seems the lifespan on the rear assembly is about 3 years before the Kickr Snaps give out…or the bearings. Either way, Wahoo will not help because of warranty. Sounds like Kurt Kinetic is the way to go if their product comes with a lifetime warranty…can’t beat that!
Replacing the bearings solved the issue with mine. Not a hard job and worth doing to get rid of the noise.
I’ve got a feeling that a 3mm allen key is to small, to remove the bolts. A 4mm is to big.
I am a bit scared to damage the bolts.
Hey, I want to add to those guys that replaced the bearings with the above posted from Amazon. I ordered them, replaced them and they work! The obnoxiously loud noise is gone and I’ve saved $230. If Wahoo won’t cover a repair or send new, I highly recommend taking this course of action. Big thanks to @MuddyPuddle and @webvan for all the input!
Glad it worked for you ! Mine was still under warranty so Wahoo offered to send me a new “rear assembly” (they also offered to ship a full unit after I shipped back the old one but I didn’t want to be out a trainer for a week or more so I chose the rear-assembly) that I was able to switch without too much difficulty.
Since I was a bit worried something similar might happen again I changed the bearings on the old one but it didn’t help so it would have been a different problem. Couldn’t troubleshoot it…Oh well I have the bearings now in case something happens to the new one !
Did anybody record the noise? a video? audio?
I would like to see what you all were hearing.
Question, do you also need to remove the plastic cap, on the right side of the flywheel ( with the power and bt lights) first. In order to remove the flywheel, and to push out the shaft?
I recorded video of before and after…unfortunately it says I cannot upload them because of the format. Maybe they are too large? They’re on my iPhone but for some reason will not upload here.
I removed as much of the plastic covering as possible…just made it easier to see what I needed to get at. In short, yes, it helps although it may not be 100% necessary.
There are only 2 plastic pieces that needs to be removed. The 1st is the small plastic cover on the side of the fly wheel, exposing the 19mm bolt that holds the fly wheel on. The 2nd piece is on the non fly wheel side. 2 screws (2mm, I think) remove these and the cover will drop down exposing the bearing, shaft and snap ring.
@jraeside819
@Bluebird_1980
or anyone who has removed the axle…
I have the flywheel off, the set screws removed, and the snap ring removed. How hard to I need to tap on the axle to get it to come out? Did you use a small dowel or similar to access the end of the axle and hit it? Seems like mine is very stuck in there. Thanks
You might try spraying WD-40 and let it soak for a while. I used a small dowel and it came out fairly easy. You might have to get creative, using a C clamp and press it out. Just be careful as I don’t remember how much plastic is on the fly wheel side.
I also experienced the humming and knocking noise. After a lot of trial and error I finaly fixed it to eliminate the humming and knocking noise.
Short story: dissasemble untill you removed both bearings, clean the surfaces where the bearings touches the housing and axle and put grease on it, clean (or replace) the bearings and put grease on the sides of the bearings, assemble it al and enjoy your smooth rides again!
Long story with tips:
Ì used a soldering iron instead of a heat gun to remove the roller bolts. I prefer the soldering iron because at this way you only heating up the bolts and not other (plastic) parts of the hometrainer like you do with a heatgun. I also replaced the roller bolts, because of the many attempts i had’nt grip anymore on them.
Removing the flywheel was very easy following the steps of Craigmanning. You really dont need to remove the plastic cap at the innerside of the flywheel side with (with the 3 screws)).
The next step was removing the axle. After you removed the rollerbolts and flywheel, you have to remove the cap at the non-flywheel side and the lock-ring by the bearing. I removed the axle by placing (in my case) a screwdriver only(!) to the axle at the non-fly wheel side and tap with a hammer against it. Also my axle came out at the flywheel side with one bearing attached at the axle and the other was still at the housing at the home trainer at the non-flywheelside. The last one I tapped gently out via the innerside of the housing. The bearing attached to the axle was more difficult. I used a vise/vice to get it out.
I replaced both bearings, because there came out a nasty brown substance…
I cleaned the housing and installed the new bearings and put everything back in place.
The knocking sound was gone, but I still experienced an annoying sound. It was like some metal scraping sound. It was only not a regular metalscrape, which you expect when the roller twists and hits something. Then you will hear it by every twist, but that was not the case. I tried a lot to locate the sound (spinning the axle with and withouth flywheel, with and without roller, with and withouth roller and flywheel) but I still experienced that noise with every testride. After 4 times assembling and dis-assembling everyting I was almost at the point to give it up. So the sound was coming somewhere from the axle/bearings. Then I noticed the bearings are also twisting a little bit in the housing. I set a mark at the place where the bearing touches the housing of the hometrainer, and where the axle touches the bearing. And after a testride, when I still experienced the noise, I noticed the bearings twisted in the housing and also from the axle: which maybe caused the metal-scraping sound.
After I noticed that, I removed the axle and the bearings and I cleaned the housing where the bearing touches the housing. But then: in contrast to the previous times I used grease at the surfaces where both bearing touches the housing of the hometrainer, and I also used grease instead of wd40 for the sides of the bearing so the grease goes into the bearings.
After I used grease at the bearings and housing (where I used the previous time nothing) all the sounds where gone.
So, I would really recommend to replace the bearings, it is not that difficult. And use grease!
The bearings costed me just €10, but a lot of time.
If you follow the steps from everyone in this topic(thank you all) and using grease, you will be done within half an hour.
Good luck, and I hope everyone can get rid of these noises by following these steps and tips!
enjoy your smooth rides!
