Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One review: a largely unchanged smart trainer but still one of the best

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Originally launched in 2018, Wahoo’s Kickr Core Zwift One was one of the first accessibly priced direct-drive smart trainers.

Given its age, many indoor cycling fans might have been expecting a new version with upgraded specs. Instead, earlier this year, Wahoo relaunched the Kickr Core in partnership with Zwift, the popular virtual indoor cycling app, with the only spec change coming in the form of a bundled Zwift Cog single-speed adaptor.

Despite this relatively meagre update, the Kickr Core Zwift One remains a benchmark mid-range smart trainer, offering easy setup, excellent ride feel, and dependable power and cadence data.

That it’s come down in price to £449.99 / $499.99 / €499.99 has also helped it retain its competitive edge.

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One specification

Aside from the Zwift Cog single-speed adaptor, the Kickr Core Zwift One is essentially the same smart trainer we reviewed in 2019.

The Kickr Core Zwift One is Wahoo’s most accessible direct-drive trainer, sitting above the wheel-on Kickr Snap (£299.99 / $299.99 / €299.99) but below the Kickr Rollr (£699.99 / $799.99 / €799.99), Kickr V6 (£1,099.99 / $1,299.99 / €1,299.99) and Kickr Move (£1,399.99 / $1,599.99 / €1,599.99).

Although it’s an old trainer on paper, the Kickr Core’s spec remains competitive, especially because the price has dropped significantly from £699.99 / $900 / €800.

It has a maximum power output of 1,800 watts and can simulate gradients of up to 16 per cent.

That’s a little lower on both counts than Van Rysel’s D900 (£549.99 / €600), but more closely in line with Elite’s Suito (£499 / $599 / €549).

In practice, though, such differences aren’t things many riders are likely to notice in use – how many of us can put out more than 1,800 watts in a sprint, for example?

Flywheel weight is often more noticeable (because a heavier flywheel tends to correlate with a more ‘realistic’ ride feel at the pedals), though, and Wahoo hasn’t skimped here.

At 5.4kg, the Kickr Core’s flywheel is 200g heavier than the Van Rysel D900's and nearly two kilos heavier than the 3.5kg flywheel found on the Elite Suito.

In terms of power-data accuracy, the Kickr Core has a claimed rating of +/- 2 per cent, which is par for the course at this price.

Zwift Cog

As with most smart trainers, the Wahoo Kickr Core can be paired with practically any of the best indoor cycling apps.

The addition of the Zwift Cog complicates – or perhaps simplifies – things, though.

With this installed, you’re effectively locked into using Zwift, because you can only change gears using the bundled Zwift Click shifter. This only works with the platform’s virtual shifting protocol (that modulates the resistance of the trainer to simulate changing gear).

For a closer look at this tech, check out the Zwift Cog first look we published when it launched last year.

Fortunately, it’s a soft lock – the Zwift Cog can be disassembled and removed from the Kickr Core Zwift One (using a chain whip and cassette lockring tool), if you’d rather install a standard bike cassette and/or use a different indoor cycling app.

The upside of the Zwift Cog, though, is that it enables compatibility with “almost any” bike with an 8- to 12-speed drivetrain.

If you, or those you live with, have multiple bikes with various drivetrains, then, you’ll no longer need to swap the cassette on the trainer to mount a different bike.

In my case, for example, this makes it a doddle to swap between my Giant TCR Advanced Pro Disc with a 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset and my time trial bike, which has an 11-speed Shimano Ultegra R8000 groupset.

As we’ll come to later, the only notable downside on paper is it’s slightly noisier than a standard cassette (although Zwift says the recently launched Zwift Cog v2 – which will be added to new Kickr Core Zwift One trainers as a running upgrade, or is available separately for £79.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 – aims to address this).

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One setup

Out of the box, the only setup required for the Kickr Core Zwift One is to bolt on the support legs using the tools provided.

With no cassette to install, though, the Kickr Core can be plugged in and your bike mounted on it as soon as the legs are secured and folded out, and the correct axle adaptors are installed.

For experienced riders, all of these steps will be easy, although it feels a shame Wahoo didn’t adopt the colour-coded parts from the now-discontinued Zwift Hub, just to guard against any confusion during setup.

If you want to stow it away for storage between rides, the front leg of the Kickr Core folds in to reduce its footprint slightly.

At 18.79kg fully assembled, it’s not overly difficult to move around, although there’s no dedicated handle for picking it up, as found on the pricier Kickr V6 – which makes things a little more awkward.

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One performance

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One connectivity

Once plugged in and switched on, the unit can connect to smart devices and indoor cycling apps and via Bluetooth or ANT+.

Before connecting to Zwift, I used the Wahoo app to update the Kickr Core’s firmware.

The app can also be used to adjust settings, such as turning ERG mode power smoothing on or off, or to perform spin-down calibrations.

It’s worth noting that since Wahoo added an automatic calibration feature, it’s no longer possible to perform in-game calibrations in the Zwift app.

For the most part, this shouldn’t be an issue (the trainer will automatically calibrate itself anyway). However, if you want to do a manual calibration – if you’re having accuracy issues, for example – then you need to disconnect the trainer from any apps you’re using and connect to the Wahoo app instead.

As already noted, the Kickr Core Zwift One is compatible with other indoor cycling apps, but you’ll want to remove the Zwift Cog and install a cassette before using anything other than Zwift.

Although the connection between the trainer and my laptop was rock-solid during testing, I experienced some dropouts from the bundled Zwift Click shifter and a set of Zwift Play controllers (£99.99 / $99.99 / €99.99).

This is something I’m fairly used to with these devices, and normally it’s not too much of an issue – the dropouts tend to be infrequent and the controllers typically reconnect after a few button presses.

When stuck with virtual shifting (thanks to the Zwift Cog), though, a controller disconnect effectively means losing the ability to shift and can therefore be incredibly frustrating if it happens at an inopportune moment.

In the end, I found better stability using the Zwift companion app on my iPhone as a connection bridge for the controllers.

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One ride feel

With its relatively heavy, 5.4kg flywheel, the Kickr Core’s ride feel is excellent.

It feels fluid through the pedals, with plenty of inertia, and reacts quickly and smoothly to virtual gradient changes.

Despite its relatively small footprint and basic design, the Kickr Core Zwift One is also impressively stable when sprinting or climbing out of the saddle.

Granted, I’m not the heaviest or most powerful rider, but I didn’t experience any wobbles or instances where the Kickr Core Zwift One shifted around underneath me.

It also handled ERG mode workouts impressively, with smooth transitions between the intervals.

On that topic, it’s worth noting ERG mode power smoothing – which displays artificially smoothed power data when using ERG mode, to make it feel as if you’re hitting the target power precisely – is turned on by default.

This can be switched off via the Wahoo app if you want a more honest picture of the power you’re putting through the pedals during a workout.

Assuming the maximum power and gradient spaces suit your needs, the only thing missing from the Kickr Core’s ride experience is Race Mode. This enables a trainer to broadcast data at 10Hz, instead of 1Hz, over Bluetooth, for a more responsive experience in apps such as Zwift.

It’s a feature present in Wahoo’s more expensive trainers, the Kickr V6 and Kickr Move, but Wahoo hasn’t brought it to the Kickr Core.

There are few trainers at this price that come with Race Mode – the now-discontinued Zwift Hub offered it, as does JetBlack’s new Victory (which we also have in for testing, so look out for that review coming soon). However, given the only barrier to having it on the Kickr Core appears to be a lack of will on Wahoo’s part, it’s a small shame to miss out.

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One noise

With regards to noise, Wahoo says simply that the Kickr Core offers the “quiet training experience you expect from Wahoo”.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t surprised to see the general noise levels the Kickr Core Zwift One produces are slightly elevated – to around 65 decibels – when riding along at around 150 watts / 25kph.

This is because the engagement of the chain with the thicker, less-profiled teeth of the included sprocket on the Zwift Cog is noisier than with the narrower, more profiled sprockets of a mid- to high-end cassette from the likes of Shimano or SRAM.

The noise levels from the Kickr Core also ramp up a bit when sprinting, peaking at around 70 to 73 decibels.

It also has a fairly loud freehub, so any time you’re freewheeling, noise levels ramp up to similar levels as when sprinting (with a different, more metallic sound). Of course, it’s unlikely you’ll be freewheeling much while riding indoors, but it’s something to be aware of.

Compared to the competition, the Kickr Core Zwift One is louder than Van Rysel’s D900, for example, which averaged around 63 decibels at 150 watts / 25kph, rising to around 68 decibels at 45kph during sprints.

In use, though, the Kickr Core was perfectly ‘quiet enough’ once in the mix with a large fan (for cooling me), and considering I always wear in-ear headphones while cycling indoors anyway. My partner, who works in the room below my ‘office’ space, didn’t have any complaints about the noise levels during my test rides either.

It’s also fair to say that since you shift virtually with the Zwift Cog, you don’t get the same continual spikes of noise from changing gears as with a standard cassette – which can be especially loud when clunking down a cassette to wind up a sprint.

All of these figures were measured using my standard smart trainer noise test, which involves recording decibel data from a ride on an iPhone placed one metre away from the trainer, parallel to the drivetrain side of my bike.

It’s worth noting that since I last tested a smart trainer, I’ve had to change the location in which I test noise levels. While I previously tested in a carpeted room, the Wahoo Kickr Core’s noise levels were tested in my kitchen, where there is vinyl flooring – which may have affected my results.

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One power accuracy

Data accuracy on the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One was generally solid.

Overall, my sample trended a few per cent higher compared to on-bike power meters, such as a Verve InfoCrank Classic crankset and a set of Favero Assioma Duo pedals, even after performing a manual spin-down zero calibration.

This isn’t what I’d generally expect, considering there will naturally be some frictional losses in the drivetrain (even when running a waxed chain and a relatively straight chainline thanks to the Zwift Cog) between the cranks and the rear hub.

Nevertheless, the magnitude of the difference wasn’t so severe that it affected the in-app experience while riding, and the consistency of data was good thanks to the auto-calibration feature.

This means you wouldn’t have any trouble doing workouts, following a training plan or racing with the Kickr Core Zwift One.

Cadence accuracy was also good across the board, especially for a trainer at this price. This remained true even at higher flywheel speeds, which can trip up some smart trainers.

Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One bottom line

The Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One is much the same smart trainer as the Kickr Core that launched back in 2018, but that’s no bad thing.

The addition of the Zwift Cog is a clear win for simplicity and compatibility, but it’s easy enough to remove if you’d prefer the slightly quieter operation or mechanical feel of a standard cassette.

While it faces stiffer competition compared to six years ago, the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One still distinguishes itself as one of the go-to options at its price point.

In fact, unless you’re an exceptionally powerful rider, there’s a case to be made that it’s more than enough smart trainer for the vast majority of riders.

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